School of Information Sciences - Information Science & Technology Program

MSIS Program

Connecting people, information, and technology is at the core of the academic and research programs here at the iSchool. The Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS) degree program builds on that by preparing students for careers as information professionals, including systems analysts and designers, database developers and managers, information security experts, and more. This 36-credit program can be completed in three semesters (depending upon course schedules) of full-time study or as many as four years of part-time study.

Our Curriculum

The curriculum has been designed to equip our graduates with a rigorous program that is also flexible, so that the specific needs of individual students can be met. The MSIS Program offers several options to carefully target your studies. For those not ready to specialize, the School allows you to design a course of study under the direction of your advisor that meets your individual needs, while conforming to the general distribution guidelines found in the MSIS Plan of Study. Many students use this option to sample multiple areas of the curriculum, while other students focus on a defined specialization such as: human-centered computing, database and web systems, information assurance and security, geoinformatics, telecommunications and distributed systems, and cognitive systems.

A minimum of 36 credits is required to complete the MSIS degree. Basic course requirements are as follows:

• Six credits of course work in the Formal or Applied Foundations area (INFSCI 2000 required unless exempted by advisor)
• Eighteen credits of course work in the Systems and Technology areas (INFSCI 2500 required, unless equivalent has already been taken)

• Six credits in the Cognitive Science or Cognitive Systems areas. INFSCI 2300 is recommended as the first course in this area. INFSCI 2130 may be used to meet this requirement with permission of the advisor.

• Six credits of electives. Students may pursue a thesis or a practicum as one of the elective options.  Students should know that a thesis is not a requirement of the MSIS degree program.

Statute of Limitations

The normal full-time course load is nine to 12 credits per term; thus a full time student will complete the program in three or four terms. Those needing to complete the degree program in one academic year (three terms) must be available for both day and evening courses. The normal part-time course load is six credits per term, which permits part-time students to complete the program in six terms.

To maintain active student status, a student must register for at least three credits during one of the terms of a calendar year. It is recommended, however, that part-time students register for at least six credits during two of the three terms of an academic year to maintain reasonable progress toward the degree.

The MSIS degree program must be completed within four years of the first term in which courses were taken after admission.

Exceptions to the four-year limit due to extenuating circumstances must be approved by the SIS faculty via a student petition.

Residence Requirements

Full time study on campus is considered most beneficial to the student, but SIS recognizes that many students hold jobs or have other off-campus responsibilities that make full time study impossible. Degree requirements, therefore, can be met by full- or part-time study or a combination of both. While SIS endeavors to offer a wide variety of courses (day and evening), it cannot offer as full and rich a program of studies to those who are constrained by personal obligations.

To maintain active student status, students must register for at least three credits during one of the terms of the calendar year. It is recommended, however, that part-time students register for at least six credits during two of the three terms of the academic year to maintain reasonable progress through the program.

 

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SIS is a member of the ISchools Caucus