<p>What would be the well-regarded accrediting body/ies for MIS programs -- along the lines of AACSB for business or ABET for engineering?</p>
<p>My apologies if this has been covered on the board -- the terms are so common, I didn't have success searching the archives.</p>
<p>Some MIS programs are ABET accredited. Since MIS is a merging of business and IT/CS, maybe look for a program accredited by both bodies.
<a href=“http://www.proc.isecon.org/2003/2211/ISECON.2003.Hilton.pdf[/url]”>http://www.proc.isecon.org/2003/2211/ISECON.2003.Hilton.pdf</a></p>
<p>Is the OP looking for the management side of MIS, meaning, or the technology side? Networking? Analytics? etc? these could be very diverse areas.</p>
<p>More managerially-oriented. The student is a “people-person” with a leaning toward computers, not a math person with a leaning toward people. He is principally interested in business (not interested in studying CS or engineering) and particularly interested in being the business person who understands the computer people well enough to be the bridge between the two disciplines, explain what the business side needs to be able to see or do with information, and help make that happen.</p>
<p>Aha. Then find a good business school, the best school that he/she can get in and afford, and see what they offer in terms of MIS. I’m not talking going to Wharton to study MIS, but in my experience the business skills are the hard part, not the tech parts. </p>
<p>In order to bridge the two, I would even go as far as going an undergrad B-degree and grad MIS, or vice versa, rather than expect the 4 years to cover both. In fact, in this era of super-specialization, I’d even look for a B-school focus into a specific area (supply chain, health care, finance, operations management, etc) and minor in MIS, then pick up a grad MIS degree. </p>
<p>The tech skills are easy to pick up - the people skills, either you have or you don’t have them but a good B-school can help develop them - but the business domain skills, that’s where the big value added is. So, focus on the business skills and acquire some business domain skills via classes, internships, etc.</p>
<p>Gotcha. So the AACSB accreditation at the undergrad business schools are what we’re looking for. This is not the typical College Confidential academic whiz kid, so it’s too soon to assume that a graduate degree will happen, but a kid with very good people sense and skills and lots of ideas about how to reach out to people, collaborate, find customers, and make money. (Ideas that are already making money in HS, with the existing skills set, as he is proactive.) The leaning toward business makes sense, on this basis, and I think it’s OK that he has this parallel interest in computers, and some sense of direction beyond a general business degree. I like your tips for greater specificity. We’re hitting undergrad open houses, as much as possible, as he enjoys talking with the professors about the specific majors.</p>
<p>Reeinaz, thank you for that Hilton abstract. Very informative. I printed it.</p>
<p>I would also look towards humongous state flagship type schools because they have a ton of offerings that smaller LAC type places may not have. Some areas of MIS are still being filled in as we speak (Analytics is a good example). </p>
<p>I’m speaking from experience about the specificity; Mrs. Turbo is an IT consultant and has done the undergrad in CS, grad in Engineering & another grad in Statistics routine, and focuses only on Analytics and Manufacturing Information Systems. The tech part of it is not difficult, and is invariably outsourced, but you really have to be talking to the ‘business side’ (the managers on the floor making stuff) in their own language, not Oracle-ese. Most of the value added there is to be able to translate business rules, processes, and requirements into requirement and design documents, diagrams, and the like that the coders in the home office will develop. The majority of faux-passes that occur in large scale system development are exactly this lack of communication, and a trained intermediary is very valuable.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>My son was looking at MIS but decided he wanted more IS or IT. He ended up majoring in Computer Networking and Information Security with cybersecurity specialty. It’s a field that’s growing by leaps and bounds and (according to my son) really interesting. You might want to look into that. My son is a people person too, but loves technology.</p>
<p>I would also look at business schools that are part of engineering/science schools.
WPI - [School</a> of Business: Undergraduate - WPI](<a href=“http://www.wpi.edu/academics/business/undergraduate.html]School”>http://www.wpi.edu/academics/business/undergraduate.html)
Here is a quote from WPI:
" Because virtually every organization relies on technology to streamline processes, reduce costs, improve quality, and launch new products faster, companies are increasingly demanding professionals who can bring both technological skills and business acumen to the table.</p>
<p>Our undergraduate programs teach students how entrepreneurial thinking and innovative uses of technology can build leadership and problem-solving skills.</p>
<p>We achieve this by providing students with a combination of highly relevant course work, hands-on consulting projects, and close collaboration with faculty members. It’s a comprehensive approach that prepares students to succeed in a continually changing business world. "
They offer Industrial Engineering, Management, Management Engineering, and MIS degrees.</p>
<p>I teach in an MIS program within an AACSB acceredited college of business. Some thoughts…</p>
<p>Do not consider a grad program in MIS. They arer mostly for students that majored in the liberal arts, etc and then have a difficult time finding a job or want to make a career change.</p>
<p>Do a double major as an undergrad. MIS combined with Accounting, Finance, Supply Chain, or Marketing are very common. Most of our undergrad MIS majors do a double major. Many MIS majors only require 18-21 hours so it is pretty easy to do a double. We have a 100% placement rate even in this economy. </p>
<p>While it is possible to learn the MIS/IT stuff after the fact, many on campus employers will only interview people with the actual major. We place lots of people with companies like State Farm, John Deere, etc as system analysts. If you don’t have the degree in MIS, they won’t even bother to interview you.</p>
<p>Thank you, all, for your comments. The student’s own instincts are telling him to pursue a more specific major. Along the lines of much of what was said above, he was most enthused after visiting an AACSB-accredited MIS program in the business school of a uni that’s heavy on tech and engineering. He seems to realize that the more general majors often lead to a need for grad school (familiar with his parents’ life stories). He’s more concerned with employability after the bachelors’, and is not assuming that he would want to go to grad school.</p>