To help meet the expanding need for technology leaders in South Florida, FIU Business has created two new specialty tracks for its Master of Science in Information Systems: Business Analytics and Business Cybersecurity.
The analytics track leverages the department's growing reputation for faculty expertise in business analytics. Faculty members frequently serve as consultants through the ATOM Think Tank, FIU's first faculty consulting practice, which works with small businesses to map out solutions to technology and data challenges.
In addition to its core courses in information systems security, database management and other areas, the analytics track includes courses in data warehousing, business analytics applications, and data visualization and reporting. The 14-month program is offered in-person on Saturdays and online. Karlene Cousins, chair of the Department of Information Systems and Business Analytics, noted that many students in the master's program were pursuing careers in business analytics and expressed a desire for a degreed concentration in analytics.
"Students will not only benefit from learning from the experts, but they will also be offered experiential opportunities to analyze real company data and interact with corporate business analytics executives," Cousins said. With experience in real-world data analysis, "they will be ready to step into roles as business analytics professionals from day one on the job," she said.
The new Business Cybersecurity track, also a 14-month program, focuses on cybersecurity management, includes coursework on security risk management and organization cyber resilience, and ethical hacking for business. The cybersecurity specialty prepares students for careers as information security administrators, security managers and chief information security officers, a growing C-level role.
"There is a great need for cybersecurity professionals in South Florida," Cousins said. "Looking at the demographics, we found that many experienced professionals in the area don't have the educational qualifications for upward mobility. We designed a program to facilitate and accelerate credentialing of that expertise."
