Graduate Certificate in Management Information Systems

The Graduate Certificate in Management Information Systems is designed to meet the rapidly evolving needs of information systems and business professionals in the field of management information systems. The goal of this certificate program is to provide a solid understanding of the design, development, technology, and management of information systems. The program focuses on areas in high demand—database management, systems analysis and design, and telecommunication networks. The Graduate Certificate in Management Information Systems consists of six courses and a total of eighteen credit hours.

Curriculum

After you complete the first four certificate program courses, if your cumulative GPA is 3.25 or higher, you may apply for admission into the MSMIS degree program provided you have submitted your MSMIS graduate application form, application fee, and all other required materials. If you do not meet the 3.25 GPA requirement with your first twelve credit hours, you cannot be considered for admission into the MSMIS degree program. Instead, you will need to complete the last two courses of the certificate program and, once you have done so, you will be awarded the Graduate Certificate in Management Information Systems.

Courses

1. Database Management (3), ISM 6205 - An information system is viewed as a user application process interacting with a database in a particular computer hardware and software environment. The general objective of this course is to help you understand how to conceptualize and implement databases and use query languages to manipulate databases to obtain information that can help you make decisions. This course will take a data-oriented, rather than processing view of systems.

2. Telecommunication Networks (3), ISM 6222 - Individuals need data communication, telecommunication, networking, and Internet competencies to succeed in today's environment. This course is designed to assist you in understanding the infrastructure of today's data communication, telecommunication, networking, and Internet technologies for business implications. During the course, you will experience appropriate case studies from the industry as well as practice exercises.

3. Information Security (3), ISM 6326 - The Internet is changing the way the world engages in business. With this paradigm shift comes uncertainty about how e-commerce transactions occur over an inherently insecure medium—the Internet. Businesses have learned the hard way that there is not a “silver bullet” solution—not encryption, not firewalls, and not even secure protocols. Like a chain, the security of e-commerce is only as strong as its weakest link. E-security and e-payments are complex topics that touch on many aspects of traditional computer security, computer architectures, systems design, software engineering, Internet technology, mathematics, and the law. The intent of this course is to highlight the weak links and provide the best defenses for individuals and enterprises connected to the Internet.

5. Systems Analysis & Design (3), ISM 6106 - This course will introduce you to the field of systems analysis and design in general and focus in depth on object-oriented concepts, methodologies, skills, and associated software tools.  While object-oriented programming methods have been around for quite some time, the application of object-orientation to the systems analysis process is relatively new.  This course will expose you to standard O-O methodologies as well as their supporting tools and technologies.

6. Enterprise Information Systems (3), ISM 6156 - This course introduces you to the processes which organizations use to accomplish their goals and objectives. Working in groups, you will use real-world examples of organizational processes to derive process maps from transaction interviews. Groups will then attempt to integrate their individual process maps into one organizational process which spans multiple organizational entities. Also covered are the concepts of incremental change, business process redesign, and re-engineering. The second part of the course discusses and provides insights into two major aspects of enterprise system configuration. The first or top-down approach is the configuration of the enterprise system to match the organization’s structure and the company’s physical layout. The second or bottom-up approach examines the physical configuration of the system itself. This course focuses on the first method and uses examples to illustrate the second approach.
7. Project Management of Information Systems (3), ISM 6316 - Although IT projects are similar in some ways to other types of projects, they pose unique challenges for the managers and organizations that undertake them. IT project management is particularly challenging because of several factors, including: (1) the rapid pace of technological changes occurring in the IT field, (2) the invisible nature of software, (3) the ever-present pressure to add new features and functionality to systems, and (4) the difficulty of managing the organizational changes that accompany most IT implementations.

Prerequisites – Students applying to the program should have:

• a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with a minimum 2.75 GPA based on upper-division classwork in the last two years of study
• a minimum of four years of work experience in the information technology field

Application Procedures - Please use MGIG10CRT as the program code on the application.

Application Deadlines

For the spring term, starting in January:

For more information

Please contact:

Master of Science in Management Information Systems
Chapman Graduate School of Business            
Florida International University
11200 SW 8th Street—RB 227B
Miami, FL 33199

Phone: 305-348-6852
Fax: 305-348-7204

E-mail: msis@fiu.edu