FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
How does MIS fit into the College of Business at SJSU?
MIS "lives" in the space that intersects technology and business. We are
housed in the College of Business where all undergraduates earn a BS in
Business Administration. MIS is one of the concentrations that students
select within that degree, just like Finance, Accounting or Marketing
but MIS has its own department, found in BT 250, just off the elevator
lobby. We invite you to stop by and learn more.
What kind of jobs are there in MIS? Haven't they all been
outsourced to other countries?
MIS professionals work as systems analysts, project managers, systems
administrators, etc., communicating directly with staff and management
across the organization - challenging and stimulating jobs - and the
interpersonal communication required means they can't be outsourced they
way pure technical jobs like computer programming have been. Indeed,
last year our MIS graduates had the highest salaries offered among all
the business concentrations - higher than accounting, finance,
marketing, management - all the rest. Our MIS grads are working at HP,
Google, eBay & Cisco, etc.
What is the MIS program like?
MIS students take all the same "core" business courses as any
business major
- intro to marketing, accounting, finance, etc. - but they also learn
database, networking, systems analysis, application development, project
management, etc. There's even a "practicum" course - that means you try
out your skills and knowledge on a real project for a real sponsor such
a the City of SJ Parks Department, for example. There are also MIS
electives in mobile computing, web computing and information security,
to name a few.
What about the MIS faculty?
Our faculty of twenty (seven women) include graduates from the top
MIS academic programs in the country, such as U of Az, Claremont,
Oklahoma, and Texas Tech, along with practicing MIS professionals from
IBM, Cisco, Accenture and others. Three of our faculty have won College
of Business awards for Best Instructor of the Year and another was
recognized by the SJSU campus for the highest achievement in Community
Service Learning (student teams partner with local non-profits, learning
as they help enrich the community - the MIS dept as a whole has also
been recognized for this initiative.) All are caring, dedicated teachers
and just good people, too.
For example, at last spring's SJSU Day of Service, 9 business faculty showed up to volunteer - eight of them were from MIS.
What is the job outlook for the
MIS profession?
Outstanding. According to the US Dept of
Labor,
"Employment of computer and information
systems managers is expected to grow faster
than the average for all occupations through the year 2014."
And they say:
"Despite the downturn in the technology
sector in the early part of the decade, the outlook for
computer and information systems managers remains strong."
And:
"With the explosive growth of
electronic commerce and the capacity of the Internet to create new
relationships with customers, the role of computer and information
systems managers will continue
to evolve. Persons in these jobs will become increasingly vital to their
companies."
See the full report at:
MIS Career Advice & Information