Graduate Programs

The Information Systems Department offers graduate programs at both the master's and PhD levels. The PhD in Information Systems seeks to train future researchers, scholars and teachers to analyze and understand the multi-faceted impact of information and communications technologies on individuals, organizations, and society. The majority of those graduating with a PhD degree will accept tenure track positions in academia. Our program will target the placement of students in top academic institutions with strong research programs. The PhD program takes a broad perspective, favoring an approach in which the impact of information systems is examined from multiple perspectives, including, but not limited to, organizational theories. Students entering our program will complete 54 hours of coursework that includes: 15 hours of Information Systems PhD seminars, 6 hours of research apprenticeship, 21 elective hours in one or more support disciplines, and finally, 12 hours of dissertation credit. Following coursework and comprehensive exams, students spend the remainder of the program working on research (including dissertation) and teaching undergraduate classes.

For more information on the PhD Program, please contact Dr. Dorothy (PhD Program Director) at (254) 710-3493 or by e-mail Dorothy_Leidner@baylor.edu.

The Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS) is a degree option that allows students to gain the technical knowledge that is so crucial in our rapidly changing worlds of business and information technology. The MSIS degree gives its graduates the expertise to begin new careers in information systems through a single year of course work (36 hours). We have two tracks in this degree program: Information Systems Development, and Information Systems Security. The Development track is ideal for candidates with little or no prior background in information systems or computer science. The Security track assumes the candidate already possesses a degree in a technical field. Both tracks include a mix of business courses and technical, hands-on computer courses.

We also offer a joint MBA/MSIS degree, where students obtain the breadth of business knowledge that a MBA degree provides while still receiving the depth of information systems training that the MSIS provides (both MSIS tracks are available in the joint program). By combining these two degree plans, students save 12 hours from the MBA and 9 hours from the MSIS, resulting in almost a two-semester savings over earning the two degrees separately. If you are new to business education, you are required to take the 12-hour Integrated Management Seminar (IMS) in addition to the 36-hour MSIS or 68-hour MBA/MSIS curriculum. Students with business undergraduate degrees who have been out of school for several years often choose to take IMS to update their business skills.

For more information, please contact Dr. Jonathan Trower (MSIS Program Director) at (254) 710-4754 or by e-mail Jonathan_Trower@baylor.edu.