The MS in Information Systems (IS) bridges the gap between business and IT. Business organizations are most interested in serving customers with the best products and services. IT is a fast-moving area with many kinds of technologies, tools, and systems. Our MS-IS program emphasizes understanding diverse technology trends, agile project management, digital transformation, analytics systems, and innovation with five major elective domains. Students can interact with local IT leaders at annual IS conferences and participate in prominent companies’ real-world projects. Our curriculum allows students to gain hands-on experience with the latest versions of SAP ERP systems used by Fortune 500 companies and beyond.
| Program Requirements | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|
| Introductory Courses | 0-8 |
| Degree Requirements | 48 |
| Total hours required | 48-56 |
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Determine the main business impact from emerging trends in Information Systems (IS).
- Describe key outcomes in each of the five phases of a systems development life cycle.
- Explain key benefits and challenges of best practices in IS projects.
- Use diagrams for IS requirements and conceptual design specifications (e.g., context diagram, data flow diagram, use case diagram, entity relationship diagram), given a short business case.
Degree Requirements
Course Requirements
No Introductory Course may be substituted for any other course at any level.
Introductory Courses
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| IT 403 | STATISTICS AND DATA ANALYSIS | 4 |
| IS 411 | INTRODUCTION TO PROGRAMMING FOR BUSINESS APPLICATIONS | 4 |
Foundation Courses
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| IS 421 | SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN | 4 |
| IS 430 | FUNDAMENTALS OF IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT | 4 |
| IS 435 | ORGANIZATION MODELING FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION | 4 |
| IS 451 | DATABASE DESIGN FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS (FORMERLY CSC 451) | 4 |
| IS 460 | ENTERPRISE CLOUD COMPUTING (FORMERLY IS 536) | 4 |
| IS 468 | ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS (FORMERLY IS 560) | 4 |
Major Electives
16 credit hours of Major Electives are required and are subject to the following criteria:
- Students take at least 12 credit hours of courses from one of the domains below.
- Students must take at least two (2) 500-level courses.
Project Management and Business Analysis
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| DIGITAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT | ||
| INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT FINANCIAL ANALYSIS | ||
| AGILE ENTERPRISE PROJECT MANAGEMENT | ||
| MANAGING CHANGE FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION | ||
| CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES (FORMERLY ECT 586) |
Analytics-Driven Decision Making
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| DATA ANALYSIS AND REGRESSION | ||
| DATA VISUALIZATION | ||
| SOCIAL MARKETING AND SOCIAL NETWORKING APPLICATIONS (FORMERLY ECT 436) | ||
| BIG DATA & THE INTERNET OF THINGS (IoT) | ||
| ENTERPRISE DATA MANAGEMENT | ||
| BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AND ANALYTICS SYSTEMS |
IT Governance and Legal Responsibilities
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| INFORMATION SECURITY MANAGEMENT (FORMERLY CNS 440) | ||
| ENTERPRISE INFRASTRUCTURE (FORMERLY ECT 424) | ||
| IT AUDITING | ||
| LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY | ||
| CYBERSECURITY LAW | ||
| DATA PRIVACY LAW: US & EU | ||
| BUSINESS CONTINUITY/DISASTER RECOVERY THEORIES AND STRATEGIES | ||
| BUSINESS CONTINUITY/DISASTER RECOVERY MANAGEMENT AND TACTICS | ||
| SOCIAL ISSUES OF COMPUTING | ||
| IT GOVERNANCE |
Data Management
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| DATABASE PROGRAMMING | ||
| DATABASE ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT | ||
| DATA WAREHOUSING | ||
| ENTERPRISE DATA MANAGEMENT |
Digital Transformation and Entrepreneurship
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| DIGITAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT | ||
| INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CONSULTING | ||
| DIGITAL INNOVATION STRATEGIES, PROCESSES AND TOOLS | ||
| TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP |
Open Elective
Students must complete four (4) credit hour of Open Electives.
- Any CSEC, CSC, DSC, ECT, GAM, GPH, HCI, HIT, IS, IT, NET, PM, or SE course in the 421-699 range qualifies.
Capstone Options
Four (4) credit hours are required for the capstone. Students have the option of completing either (a) IS 577 (Information Systems capstone course) or IS 531 (Digital Innovation Strategies, Processes and Tools ), (b) a Graduate Internship (4 credits), (c) two quarters of CSC 500 (a Research Colloquium course), (d) IS 696 (a Master's Project course), or (e) a Master’s Thesis.
- Capstone Course
- Graduate Internship
- An internship offers students the opportunity integrate their academic experience with on-the-job training in information systems. Students must enroll in CSC 697 for four (4) credit hours to satisfy the practicum requirement. These are the steps:
- Secure an internship with a focus in information systems.
- International Students must obtain the appropriate practical training form and meet with an advisor in the CDM Academic Center for approval (http://oiss.depaul.edu/Requests/Forms/index.asp).
- Login to MyCDM and click the “MyInternships”link on the left to start the course enrollment process.
- Research Options
- CSC 500 This is a course for two (2) credit hours therefore students must enroll in the course in each of two (2) separate quarters.
- Master’s Research
- Up to eight (8) credit hours with Major Elective substitutions.
- IS 696
- Master’s Thesis
- A student who has made an original contribution to the area may choose to complete a Master’s Thesis. The process is:
- Complete IS 590 as a Major Elective substitution.
- The student and the student’s research advisor form a Master’s Thesis Committee of three (3) faculty.
- The student enrolls in IS 698 for two (2) consecutive quarters. In the event, the students has not completed the thesis within these two (2) quarters, the student will be allowed to register for the zero (0) credit hour course CSC 698 and the transcript will show the thesis title as the course topic.
- The student will need to submit to the committee a thesis detailing the results of the research project. After a public defense, the committee will decide whether to accept the thesis.
Degree Requirements
Students in this degree program must meet the following requirements:
- Complete a minimum of 48 graduate credit hours in addition to any required introductory courses of the designated degree program.
- Complete all graduate courses and requirements listed in the designated degree program.
- Earn a grade of C- or better in all courses of the designated degree program.
- Maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher.
- Students pursuing a second (or more) graduate degree may not double count or retake any course that applied toward the completion of a prior graduate degree. If a required course in the second degree was already completed and applies toward a previous degree, the student must meet with a faculty advisor to discuss a new course to be completed and substituted in the new degree. This rule also applies to cross-listed courses, which are considered to be the same course but offered under different subjects.
- Students pursuing a second master's degree must complete a minimum of 48 graduate credit hours beyond their first designated degree program in addition to any required introductory courses in their second designated degree program.
Students with a GPA of 3.9 or higher will graduate with distinction.