The University of Maine has been ranked ninth out of 33 universities as having one of the best Masters of Science in Information Systems (MSIS) programs in the country. The rating is from bestmastersdegree.com, a website that ranks degree programs from a range of the most frequent master’s degree subjects.
The site’s main goal is to aid students in making the best choice for a graduate degree, as well as help them find the right school for their chosen degree.
MSIS is a program that explores the technical, managerial and policy issues related to building and overseeing computer-based information systems for modern organizations and businesses.
The website includes a link for the university’s MSIS webpage. The website gives students a general overview of the MSIS program, a list of what a student can do with an MSIS degree, course requirements, faculty information and application information.
“I am very delighted. This shows that our faculty are on the radar and have achieved national attention,” Dr. Max Egenhofer, Director of the School of Computing and Information Science, said.
“The courses are all very close to our own research interests. We are always making sure that we are at the cutting edge. We are always ahead of the game,” Dr. Egenhofer said.
The objectives of the MSIS program are to reach the increasing demand for graduate students with information system skills and to create a gateway for these students so they can begin transitioning into an information systems based career.
“I’d say a typical student profile is someone who is in engineering or science, but they now find themselves in a job where they have a lot of databases or information technology challenges. This allows them to get up and running in a field where they need more than learning on the job,” professor Harlan Onsrud, Graduate Coordinator for MSIS, said.
The graduate program is meant to help students from different undergraduate degrees and majors. The program is also offered both on campus and online. The online classes are recorded by the instructor but are not live stream. This means that a student does not have to watch the online lecture the same time that the class is being taught on campus.
“This caters towards working students who can watch the online lectures in the evening or listen to it on their iPod on the way to work,” Dr. Egenhofer said.
The program also benefits on-campus students.
“If a student from lecture gets sick or misses a class for whatever reason, they can watch the online lecture video as a substitute. This is an exceptional addition for on-campus students,” Dr. Egenhofer said. Both the online class and in-class lecture are the same course with the same due dates.
“After having completed these classes, the student is getting an actual degree rather than an online degree,” professor Onsrud said. Onsrud also runs an hour and 15 minute session every Wednesday evening for students who have questions about the course.
“This is different than most other online information systems courses that usually have only chat rooms for student questions and not face to face conversations with the instructor,” professor Onsrud said.
The graduate program will continue to evolve and adapt to keep up with changing technologies. Having been recognized as one of the top MSIS programs in the country ensures that the program is on the right path towards further success.
