ISEDJ

Information Systems Education Journal

Volume 13

V13 N5 Pages 37-61

September 2015

Establishing the Basis for a CIS (Computer Information Systems) Undergraduate Degree Program: On Seeking the Body of Knowledge

Bart Longenecker
University of South Alabama
Mobile, AL 36688, USA

Jeffry Stephen Babb
West Texas A&M University
Canyon, TX 79016, USA

Leslie Waguespack
Bentley University
Waltham, MA 02452, USA

Tom Janicki
University of North Carolina Wilmington
Wilmington, NC 28403, USA

David Feinstein
University of South Alabama
Mobile, AL 36688, USA


Abstract: The authors are in search of the “holy grail” of information systems curriculum design, “Does the discipline of CIS really exist?” If it does, we will be able to build a curriculum for it. However with uncertainty about the issue, we proposed to evaluate those who say they are IS members and those who say CIS describes their passion and interest. The computing has an aggregate body of knowledge for all curricula which we will use to obtain sample responses from both groups. In this paper we report data from our Expert Advisory Team made up of mostly CIS members. WE have asked the assistance in structuring an instrument to make these measurements. We have found that the results we are obtaining seem to have a different focus that a group of IS professionals. The primary emphasis is on the building of database systems including programming. Project management is considered very important. To confirm these results we are about launch a revised instrument to a very much larger audience. If the results are consistent we can determine necessary skills and then courses that would help to develop these skills.

Keywords: Body of Knowledge, Computer Information Systems, Computing Discipline, Curriculum, Knowledge Areas, skills

Download this article: ISEDJ - V13 N5 Page 37.pdf

Recommended Citation: Longenecker, B., Babb, J. S., Waguespack, L., Janicki, T., Feinstein, D. (2015). Establishing the Basis for a CIS (Computer Information Systems) Undergraduate Degree Program: On Seeking the Body of Knowledge. Information Systems Education Journal, 13(5) pp 37-61. http://isedj.org/2015-13/ ISSN: 1545-679X. (A preliminary version appears in The Proceedings of ISECON 2014)