PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Eitel J.M. Lauría, Ph.D.
(845) 575-3610
Eitel.Lauria@marist.edu

Mission and Objectives

The Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS) offers excitement and challenges for the information age. The program helps students become knowledgeable professionals with a balanced combination of technical and managerial skills. Students acquire expertise and experience in information systems, technology, and business management. Specific areas of emphasis include eliciting client requirements, analyzing, planning, designing, developing, and implementing information systems applications, performing data analysis and business analytics, and managing information technology infrastructure and security. Students participate in team situations to enhance both their systems thinking and interpersonal skills. Behavioral, organizational, and financial knowledge and skill development support the technological central theme.

One Degree, Three Concentrations

The Master of Science in Information Systems at Marist College offers three concentrations to choose from while earning your MSIS degree. Graduate students interested in the program are encouraged to explore the concentration that best suits their interest, background and/or career goals.

Information Systems Management (ISM) Concentration

• Business application focus
• Practical applications of information systems in the workplace
• Specific career paths for the graduating ISM professional include systems analyst and/or designer, business analyst, project manager, IS auditor, and information systems manager.
• The foundation for professionals who aspire to become a Chief Information Officer (CIO)

Business Analytics (BA) Concentration

• Helps professionals gain expertise in accessing and manipulating data, and applying analytical techniques to extract information from data and use it to predict future trends and behavior patterns
• Students acquire hands-on experience with cutting-edge analytical methods and software tools, leveraging the use of information technology to help improve decision making.
• Provides exposure to practical applications using real-world data. 
• Specific career paths for the graduating BA professional include data analyst/architect, database administrator, business analyst, data science specialist, and business analytics manager.
• The foundation for professionals who aspire to become a Chief Data Officer (CDO)

Computer Networks and Security (CNS) Concentration

• Provides students with competence to investigate, design, implement, and troubleshoot emerging network and security technology
• Provides students with expertise in assessing an enterprise infrastructure for secure emerging solutions
• Provides students exposure to a practical state-of-the-art networking lab
• Specific career paths for the graduating CNS professional include security administrator, technical manager, systems administrator, network specialist, network operations manager, IT administrator, internet engineer, LAN/WAN engineer, or network administrator.
• The foundation for professionals who aspire to become a Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Effective Communication Skills

As an information-systems graduate student, you should be aware that effective communication is a critical skill required of every student. In order to further develop and nurture a student’s oral and written communication skills, the Marist pedagogy includes the following as critical success factors for students in information systems:

• dialogue, not lecture, is the primary teaching method used. Most of the courses in this program will require you to verbally interact with the instructor and/or your peers on a regular basis in class or online;
• participation in small-group or team situations. These are designed to help develop your systems thinking and to enhance your interpersonal skills both in and out of the classroom;
• oral presentations to your instructor, your class, or to a real client. These may be formal or informal presentations and will summarize your own work or that of some team of which you are a member;
• written reports or research papers which will help evaluate the effectiveness of your written communication skills and provide feedback for improving them.

The above demands and/or standards are applied universally to all students in the
information-systems program.

Application Requirements

In addition to the application materials addressed in the Admissions to Graduate Programs section of the General Information section of this catalog, applicants to the graduate program in Information Systems must submit the following:

• a current résumé;
• a written summary of technical or professional non-credit course training;
• a written statement which outlines the applicant’s career objective(s), the reason(s) for selecting Marist’s IS program, desired specialization, and the applicant’s personal and professional expectations from the program;
• optionally, at the graduate director’s discretion, two letters of recommendation may be required.

Admissions requirements for international students are outlined in the Application Requirements for International Students in the General Information section of this catalog.

Transfer Credit

A student may transfer up to six graduate credits from a regionally accredited graduate program. Only courses with grades of B or better will be accepted. Courses should be equivalent in content and credit value to courses offered in the Marist program. The graduate director of the IS program will determine the status of all transfer requests at the time of the application that includes previous graduate study.

Matriculation Status

Applicants who satisfy all admissions requirements are admitted as matriculated students. Applicants who are required to complete undergraduate prerequisite courses are admitted as either matriculated or non-matriculated students at the discretion of the Program Director. Occasionally, conditional admission is granted; students must meet the specified conditions to continue in the program.

Degree Requirements

To qualify for the Master of Science degree in Information Systems, a student must normally complete 36 hours of work at the graduate level (excluding any prerequisites). Course waivers may reduce this to as few as 30 credit hours.

As a rule, each student is expected to complete the IS degree as outlined at the time of admission to Marist College. Therefore, under normal circumstances transfer credit or waiver requests for graduate work taken elsewhere after admission to this program will not be granted. Such substitutions will only be considered for a substantive reason, such as relocation.

Upon acceptance into the program, graduate students receive a list of prescribed courses to be successfully completed. Specific undergraduate or graduate course work may be recommended to satisfy prerequisite requirements or remedy deficiencies as identified by the graduate director. IS degree requirements must be completed within seven (7) years of acceptance into the program with a cumulative index of 3.0 or higher. Requests for an extension of the seven-year limitation must be made in writing to the graduate director.

Part-time students are normally limited to registering for one graduate course during their first semester, unless special arrangements are approved in advance by the graduate director. Full-time study is defined as a semester load of at least nine graduate credits.

Advisement

The Program Director serves as the primary advisor to all students in the program. The Program Director regularly makes specific recommendations on course sequences to be followed by individual students, and approves all program planning requests made by students. Students should feel free to discuss any questions or concerns that they may have regarding their planned studies with the graduate director.

Capstone Activity

The Information Systems Project course (MSIS 720L ) is the capstone course. It is expected that most courses will have been completed before the student enters this course. This will maximize the student’s experience in the course while minimizing peer knowledge differences.

Academic Standing

All students must maintain a 3.0 or higher cumulative average. Those below this average must repeat courses, starting with the courses in which the lowest grades were received, until a 3.0 or higher GPA is achieved. If a failing grade is received in a course, that course must be repeated at the next scheduled offering. All students requesting enrollment in the capping course must have a 3.0 or higher cumulative average. If, upon completion of the capstone course, the cumulative average falls below 3.0, then the capstone course affecting the average must be taken again.

Students who fall below a 3.0 cumulative average during a particular semester will be warned and placed on academic probation. The student will be given up to two semesters (at the Program Director’s discretion) to recover an average of 3.0 or higher. Should the student fail to do so, the student will be automatically dismissed from the program.

Course Scheduling Considerations

The IS program offers a mixture of graduate courses both online and in the classroom on a regular basis. Specific schedules will be addressed by the Program Director as needs mandate.

Substitute Courses

In certain cases, the Program Director may include one or more substitute courses in a student’s program. When this occurs, these substitute courses will become part of the degree requirements in place of the standard courses.