Program directors' perspectives on MSIS outcome expectations and future directions

This paper reports the results of a summer 2014 survey of MSIS program directors. The results are intended to serve the MSIS revision process, but they will also provide insights regarding the current status and future direction of MSIS degree programs for faculty members and administrators interested in the state of graduate education in IS. The results are well-aligned with the recent popularity of graduate programs focused on data and analytics, but at the same time, they indicate that program directors still consider traditional core IS topics (such as systems analysis and design) to be very important. The revision process should carefully address the impact of the capabilities of the students entering the master's programs on program outcomes and the effects of popular highly focused program versions, such as those emphasizing analytics and security.