Bachelor of Science in Information Systems
Program Director: John Baker
Academic Adviser: Denise Dean, 301-294-7234, d.dean@jhu.edu
For more information on the BS in Business, please contact Louise Lancaster at 410-516-0775 or louisemba@jhu.edu
The Johns Hopkins Bachelor of Science in Information Systems is the best choice for students who want to gain an edge in the fast-paced field of Information Technology (IT).
The pace of today's technology development and implementation demands professionals who are educated in the theory of good systems development and the best practices of system implementation. The Bachelor of Science in Information Systems is designed to provide students with the theoretical grounding needed to understand the history, development, and technological underpinnings of information technology. Simultaneously, it is intended to provide practical exposure to real system development and the issues faced by modern professionals.
Through the program, highly motivated individuals learn to analyze requirements, design and develop systems, acquire components, configure applications, and install a system. The concepts and practical issues required to accommodate these approaches are viewed from both a stand-alone perspective and a networked approach. In addition, the program provides students with a broad general education through its interdisciplinary component, along with a conceptual and practical education in business. Components include required courses in the core curriculum, business, information technology foundation, specific concentration areas, program completion areas, and electives.
The major technology components of the curriculum are divided into three parts: information technology foundation, concentration areas, and program completion. The foundation courses provide the student with a core set of knowledge needed to function in any aspect of the technology arena. These courses cover the broad issues of understanding the effective use of technology from the organizational perspective, addressing timely issues, such as understanding hardware and other components, and examining and understanding the process of designing and creating a system. The concentration courses allow the student to explore a specific area of information systems in greater depth, including enterprise (traditional) systems development, Web-based applications, security, digital forensics, health care information systems, or general systems studies. Finally, the program completion courses provide the student with a higher-level approach to technology, incorporating management issues and the senior project.
In developing the program, strong consideration was given to the needs of technology professionals and their organizations. These include both the technical and nontechnical aspects of the program. In addition, the program includes recommendations of national educational standards for undergraduate information systems programs indicated by groups such as the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the Association for Information Systems (AIS), and the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP).
The Bachelor of Science in Information Systems is an accelerated degree completion program designed for professionals seeking a career change or advancement in the rapidly expanding information systems field. It offers students the opportunity to complete the upper-level 60 credits of work required at the university within two and a half years. The first 60 credits of the bachelor's degree program must be transferred from another institution.
To be most effective and provide an in-depth learning experience, several educational approaches are utilized, including lectures, case studies, presentations, practice assignments, in-class discussions, group work, and hands-on exercises or other methods deemed appropriate for the course. In addition, skills necessary for today's technology professional are emphasized in the program, including communication, information research and analysis, interpersonal skills, presentations, teamwork, and writing.
