Programs

Information Systems

(15 credit hours) The information systems (IS) concentration prepares students for entry-level and mid-career positions—such as systems analysts, consultants, Webmasters, and database managers—in the exciting, evolving, and rapidly growing fields of computing and communication technologies as they apply to public organizations. The IS concentration builds on a solid core of three courses and provides the flexibility to add three more electives from a wide range of course offerings. Students are encouraged to combine the IS concentration with other concentrations to strengthen their technical skills in a variety of applied areas.

Required Courses (6 credit hours)

The following two courses are required:

SPEA-I 516 Public Management Information Systems (3 cr.)
SPEA-I 519 Database Management Systems (3 cr.)
Electives (9 credit hours)

Three courses from the following information systems application groups. (Note: Two of the courses must be from group I, II, or III.)

Group I: Geographic Information Systems

SPEA-E 518 Vector-based Geographic Information Systems (3 cr.)
SPEA-E 529 Application of Geographic Information Systems (3 cr.)

Group II: Decision Support and Analysis

SPEA-E 560 Environmental Risk Analysis (3 cr.)
SPEA-P 507 Data Analysis and Modeling for Public Affairs (3 cr.)
SPEA-P 539 Management Science for Public Affairs (3 cr.)
SPEA-P 541 Benefit Cost Analysis (3 cr.)
SPEA-P 562 Public Program Evaluation (3 cr.)
SPEA-V 550 Data Science for Public and Environmental Affairs (3 cr.)

Group III: Design and Management of Information Systems

SPEA-I 611 Design of Information Systems (3 cr.)
SPEA-M 602 Strategic Management of Public and Nonprofit Organizations (3 cr.)

Group IV: Networking and Telecommunications

BUS-S 515 Foundations of Business Telecommunications (3 cr.)
ILS-Z 525 Government Information (3 cr.)
ILS-Z 532 Information Architecture for the Web (3 cr.)
ILS-Z 643 The Information Industry (3 cr.)

Group V: Additional Options

Graduate courses that address issues in information technology, such as programming and the digital economy, are offered in other units such as the Kelley School of Business and the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering. Students may elect to take one of these electives (3 credit hours) in an outside unit with the approval of a concentration advisor and the appropriate Faculty Program Director.

Academic Bulletins

PDF Version

Click here for the PDF version.