UA MIS Program Ranked Fourth Among Public Institutions

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Management Information Systems program at The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce is ranked No. 4 among public universities and No. 8 among all universities, according to the 2013 Bloomberg Businessweek rankings.

“This ranking underscores the effectiveness of our program in bringing businesses and students together in a real-world, team-based, experiential learning environment,” said Dr. David Hale, head of the UA MIS program.

“The ranking is consistent with the feedback from the program’s industry partners who consistently describe the students as being ahead of their competition,” Hale said. “Likewise, recent graduates describe how the program has prepared them to contribute on their first work day.”

As part of the 2013 Best Undergraduate Business-Schools ranking, Bloomberg Businessweek asked undergraduate business students to complete an online survey about the full range of their business school experience, from getting in to getting a job.The specialty ranking is based on responses to a group of questions asking them to rank a school’s offerings in 14 academic disciplines.

Graduates from the UA MIS program are among the most sought. For more than a decade, the program has placed more than 98 percent of its students before graduation. In 2013, graduating UA MIS students’ average starting salaries exceeded $59,800.

The top five public programs are the University of Texas at Austin, Indiana University, Georgia Tech, The University of Alabama and the University of Texas at Dallas.

UA MIS students learn how to realize organizational value by leveraging information technology, business process and software. Sponsored by more than two dozen Fortune 500 companies, consulting firms and business startups, the hallmark of the UA MIS is real-life, team-based IS projects.

All UA MIS seniors conduct projects for program partners, such as developing innovative software solutions for new business startups, creating mobile apps for the world’s largest retailers, and integrating social insights into digital marketing applications.

For the students, these faculty-mentored projects provide hands-on experience that put classroom concepts into action. For the corporate sponsors, these projects provide a tangible product and the opportunity to have close interaction with future employees.

Dr. Charles Sox, head of the Department of Information Systems, Statistics and Management Science, said that as corporations increase their reliance on technology, MIS graduates will be in even higher demand.

“Almost all of our graduates today have jobs before they graduate,” Sox said. “We provide a strong business background, a solid foundation in technology, and a healthy dose of  strategy and project management.”

“The MIS program is a key component of our emphasis on developing business professionals who know how to develop innovative value-added solutions,” said Dr. J. Michael Hardin, dean of the Culverhouse College of Commerce. “We have the people and the expertise to maintain our leadership in this field.”

Other recent honors for the UA MIS program include:

• The UA MIS Student Professional Society was recognized as the Chapter of the Year by the Association for Information Systems 2011-2012, Shanghai

• The UA MIS Student Professional Society placed second in the Chapter of the Year competition by the Association for Information Systems 2012-2013, Orlando

• UA MIS students competed in the Wal-Mart IT Summit Case Competition placing on the 1^st and 2^nd placed teams, 2013, Bentonville

• The UA MIS program hosted the 2013 International AIS Student Leadership Conference, 2013

• Through corporate sponsorship, the UA MIS program awarded more than 140 scholarships in 2012-2013.