Audience: the program is intended for students who already have an educational background in business and management studies and in information technology. Students who lack in either of these areas (see prerequisites) will be required to acquire this knowledge before being admitted to the program. In certain cases, students who have most of the required background may complete the needed prerequisite courses while being enrolled in the program.

AN MBA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIZATION OR AN M.SC.?

• The MBA program contains a major component of general management, non-MIS, courses. This includes the Core and about half of the modules (which together amount to over 60% of the program). There is no dissertation requirement in the MBA program.
• The M.Sc. contains a thesis as a significant component. The thesis work can be either on an applied project or on a research topic.
• The M.Sc. provides opportunity for more in-depth study of MIS and IT that cannot be accomplished within the MBA Program..
  
  

When to Choose the MBA Specialization in MIS

If (1) your career goals are purely professional and (2) you are also interested in general management education.

When to Choose the M.Sc. program

There are three main types of reasons to choose an M.Sc over an MBA.

1. If you interested in more in-depth knowledge of MIS and IT, than an MBA program would provide.
2. If you are interested in pursuing a research and development career in industry.
3. If you are interested in continuing your studies towards a Ph.D. in MIS.

1. Business analyst with emphasis on the deployment, application and management of IT.
2. Business consultant for projects that include a substantial dependency on IT.
3. Research and development of information technologies and related products and services.
4. Management of information system development projects.
   
   

EXAMPLES OF CAREERS OF FORMER M.Sc. STUDENTS

Following are examples of positions taken by M.Sc. students in MIS in the last several years:

1. Analyst/developer with a major information systems firm
2. Business analyst with a major utility company
3. Systems consultant of a major hardware firm
4. Consultant with a major consulting firm
5. Founder of own consulting firm
6. Designer in start-up Internet companies
7. Manager of a major railway company
8. Instructor of a college/university teaching information systems courses

1. Specialization courses (24 credits).
2. A thesis (6 credits)
3. Regular participation in the MIS Workshop (no credits)

A full-time student who is not required to take any prerequisites can complete the program in 18 months. An optional component of the program is an internship.

4.1 Research Methods (6 credits)

These courses will typically include empirical research methods (COMM525), modelling and statistics courses relevant to the student's masters thesis work.

4.2 MIS Knowledge Modules (18 credits)

• BAIT 500: Information Technology and the Organization
• BAIT 502: Foundations of E-Business Technology
• BAIT 503: Developing Business Information Systems
• BAIT 504: Business Database Technology
• BAIT 505: Business Data Communications Technology and the Internet
• BAIT 506: Business Modelling for Information Technology Applications
• BAIT 510: Managing Business Information Technology Projects
• BAIT 511: Managing Information Technology
• BAIT 513: Implementing e-Business in the Organization
• BAIT 514: Technology and Development of e-Business Applications

(To know more about courses in MIS division, please click here).

Note 1: Students who join the M.Sc. program with prior background equivalent to some of the courses above can instead take other MIS and Information Technology courses subject to the approval of the advisor. Some possibilities to consider are :

• COMM 633: Modelling Methods in MIS Research and Practice
• COMM 634: Empirical Research Methods in MIS
• COMM 635: Advanced Topics in MIS
• CPSC 310 (Introduction to Software Engineering) and CPSC 319 (Software Engineering Project)
• Artificial Intelligence
• Human-Computer Interactions
• Telecommunications

Note 2: Faculty of Graduate Studies allows no more than 6 credits to be taken at the 3XX or 4XX level toward the fulfilment of the 24 credit course requirement. Such courses will normally allowed by the Faculty of Commerce only if there are no equivalents at the graduate level.

5.1 MIS Workshop

Students are required to attend the MIS Workshop (COMM 636) regularly during the course of their studies and are expected to participate actively. In addition, a student is expected to present in the Workshop at least once.

Note: There is no need to enrol in COMM 636, and enrolling in it cannot substitute any other course.

5.2 M.Sc.Thesis

A required and major component of the M.Sc. program in MIS is the thesis. The thesis work can comprise basic research or a practical project. The amount of work will be the same in both cases. Although the thesis is counted as 6 credits, the amount of work involved may exceed considerably the work done in two typical courses.

Students are encouraged to start their thesis work as early as possible. Usually after completing two semesters of course work the student will be asked to work with a faculty advisor to choose a suitable Masters thesis topic and prepare a thesis proposal. It is expected that this proposal will be approved by the advisor and presented at the MIS Workshop within the five months period following two semesters of course work (normally by September of the second year of studies).

• "View Integration in Database Design", Victor Ng (1996)
• "Object-Oriented Modeling: From Analysis to Logical Design", Darrell Jung (1997)
• "An Object-Oriented Workflow Management System", Samson Hui (1997)
• "The Visualization of Object-Oriented Enterprise Modeling", Aaron Xu Zhang (1998)
• "Developing and Testing an Effective Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System for the Workers' Compensation Board of British Columbia", Gaurav Mehra (1999)
• "The Adoption of Internet Banking: A Model of Decision Factors", Stan Chan (1999)

8.1 Business Courses

• Microeconomics
• Human Resources Management
• Financial Accounting (or Finance) and Managerial Accounting
• Policy or Marketing
• Quantitative Methods: Calculus, Statistics, and Management Science.
  
  
  

8.2 Computer Science

• Principles of Computer Science /Programming
• Principles of Computer Science Program Design and Data Structures

Notes:

1. Depending on background, an applicant might need to take only some of these courses.

2. A student who has completed most of the prerequisites successfully, can be admitted to the program and complete a few (normally up to three) courses while being an M.Sc. student.

3. The full set of prerequisites are equivalent to a full year of studies.

4. Applicants can take these courses by being enrolled as unclassified students at UBC, or by taking appropriate courses in another university or college.