Kelley School to offer new e-business degree

With the advancements in technology, the digital world of business is progressing and growing at a rapid pace. But while technologies are expanding, Anne Massey, associate business professor, said more than 200,000 positions are vacant in the information systems field.\nIn response to employers' demands for obtaining and retaining staff with a good understanding of business and the ability to enable new technologies, IU is offering a new master's degree program to prepare students for leadership roles in facilitating e-business solutions. The Kelley School of Business' Systems and Accounting Graduate Programs office will offer the Master of Science in information systems degree beginning in the fall semester of 2001.\nThe degree will include classes covering the development, testing and deployment of e-business applications, and give students hands-on opportunities to build hardware and software infrastructures. Students in the program can choose one of two tracks, e-business applications and systems services or e-business Infrastructure, Massey said.\nMassey said students will work in groups of four to five on company-sponsored, team-oriented project management tasks. Ford, IBM and Microsoft are some of the companies sponsoring the projects.\nThe degree program will be offered to students with a wide range of academic backgrounds, Massey said. The University will also offer an intensive summer session for students who do not have an undergraduate degree in business or computer science but are interested in joining the program. Massey said the summer session will benefit students who have limited experience with business-related topics such as accounting, marketing and organizational behavior.\nProgram designers anticipate the program will include all types of people: recent graduates with degrees in a variety of fields, experienced information systems professionals upgrading their skills and understanding management skills, and professionals interested in changing their careers.\nBusiness Dean Dan Dalton said the school will offer the program to students with diverse academic backgrounds because the business school has had success placing students with diverse bachelor's degrees in other master's programs.\n"They are all able people no matter what background," Dalton said.\nJunior Matt Parsons, a computer information systems major, said offering a master's program in information systems to all students is a good idea.\n"People from all areas will require a background in the IS (information systems) field, due to the rapid growth of technology in all occupations," Parsons said.\nMassey said the program will offer students the basic skills they will need in a professional environment and will show them how the systems work together.\n"The year-long program includes 30 hours of classes that will provide students with an integrated set of information system courses that ensure employers that MS graduates are competent in a fundamental set of professional knowledge," Massey said. "The classes will also show students how pieces integrate into a whole"