Information Systems Degree

Curriculum Development Proposal

Prepared For
Jeff Hassett
Department Chair
School of Information Systems
San Juan School of Business
John Hopkins University

Prepared By
Brenda Johnson
Assistant Professor/Lecturer
School of Information Systems
San Juan School of Business
John Hopkins University

Originally Submitted
October 15, 2003
Revised
December 1, 2003
Document Purpose

The San Juan School of Business instituted its Business Information Systems (BIS) degree in
2001. Although it had an emphasis in BIS availble prior to that, this was the first time the school
attempted to formally prepare its students for one of the highest growth markets in both the public
and private sectors. Competition has continued to grow by way of other universities and trade
schools offering more intensive and specialized training to prepare students for jobs in this
market.
The current curriculum is a result of a need to have an Information Systems degree implemented
very quickly to keep from losing potential students. The market at the time of the program’s
inception was different than today and the curriculum put together by Dr. Jones met those
demands of the market at that time. The result of this has been an evolution of a barebones
curriculum designed to be an emphasis to a business degree rather than a true Information
Systems Degree program.
John Hopkins University has long been known as a campus that is technologically advanced in
research and teaching and that produces students that are preared for the job market.
Unfortunately, the current curriculum is not meeting this level of service to our students and
community.
I am proposing a formal research program to 1) identify market requirements for technology
professionals 2) identify subject offerings to meet these requirements 3) identify a differentiation
strategy to make our graduates more marketable and 4) test market these new requirements for
validation. An in-depth approach with the proper research and stdy that I am proposing will create
a BIS program that prepares and qualifies students to enter this field and in turn gives the School
of Business a high reputation of excellence that attracts more students to pursue their degree at
John Hopkins University.

Precipitating Factors
Several factors have contributed to initiate this proposal. These factors are:
Current hiring decisions for the technology industry
Trade school offerings
Blue-white collar separation with the industry
Student’s perception of value

These factors are leading to a downturn in our ability to recruit, retain and place quality students
that will make an impact in the BIS field.

Factor 1: Hiring Decisions

I have been involved in the technology field for over 13 years. In this time I have recruited, hired
and managed employees involved in every aspect related to this field including consulting,
implementation, network design and analysis, database design and analysis, develpment life
cycle, programming and management.
As a recruiter and hiring manager there were several factors used in decision making including
education, experience and personal work attributes. Currently I feel that what is offered by the
San Juan School of Business would not adequately prepare our students for 90% of the jobs that
I have recruited for and filled.
Factor 2: Trade Schools
Trade schools focus on job training and understanding how to perform day to day functions, and
they are aggressively marketing themselves as an alternative to four year institutions for both
students and employers. I believe that the most valued IT/IS employees in a company not only
understand their job functions but also understand business from an organizational and market
perspective. This understanding of business and market comes from a full curriculum offered by a
four-year accredited program. A four-year degreed program adds so much value that those in the
market place who understand true employee value still do not recommend hiring a student whose
only background is a trade school. Education and/or exprience are still a must.
However, most employers are leery of hiring a professional that does not already have the basic
skills required by their job, and not many employers want to hire and have to provide a significant
amount of training. This is our greatest threat from trade schools from a market perspective if we
do not add the technical focus required in this market.
I conducted a brief market analysis of Information Technology jobs in the New Jersey area and
over 65% of the technology positions were filled by people with four year degrees. Even more
important was the fact that these people also were in management positions with the majority of
non-degreed persnnel were in “blue-collar” technical positions.

Factor 3: Job Segregation

The information technology job market is like any other market that evolves over time to meet
changes in demand and job duties. The long debate over outsourcing is no longer should we
outsource or not, but more what should companies outsource. Therefore, the market is quickly
diverging into lower (“blue collar”) and upper (“white collar”) class workers within the industry.
Technology requires maintenance, and the majority of the jobs in the IT industry are low-paying,
high turnover entry-level positions. These blue-collar workers are typically your help desk,
desktop support and maintenance workers and are a better fit for trade schools. The white-collar
workers in this field are consultants, managers, implementation specialists and IT designers.
I strongly encourage the school to prepare students for the white collar workforce which will take
the most advantage of their business education and skill sets and lead to career paths with more
lucrative and numerous opportunities. To be successful in these emerging job types, however, a
significant amount of knowledge of or experience in what the lower class workforce does is
necessary. Therefore we cannot properly prepare students unless they are educated in many
technical aspects of information technology such as programming, database design and
development and hardware and software design and support.

Factor 4: Student Perception

Many students have voiced their concerns over their marketability with what the current
curriculum offers. I have personally had students ask not just “what makes me better than other
candidates,” but “am I able to even compet with other candidates.” There is a sound of
disillusionment in their voices that I’m sure they are voicing among their peers that have already
affected enrollment and will continue.

As we explore these many factors it is evident that unless we make a change to our curriculum
the short-term results will be unprepared and non-marketable graduates with the long-term
results being diminishing enrollment, problems with faculty and student retention, and problems
with the financial viability of this particular program.

Proposed Research
The research necessary to achieve a quality offering includes a mixture of internal and external
sources. Internal research would include components such as faculty resources, physical
resources and commitment to this direction both from the San Juan School of Business and also
the University administration.

I would propose the following research activities:

Internal review of current faculty members and their backgrounds and skill sets related to
technology. This would include a review of current and recent adjunct faculty.
External search for potential full-time and adjunct faculty.
Review of the top twenty (20) business schools, focusing on their IS programs.
Survey of small, medium and large nationwide businesses focusing on their short and long-
term hiring goals along with job descriptions and requirements for hire.
Market validation test of job requirements and skill sets through resume submissions for
posted job openings.
Trend growth of information system jobs in existing compnies as well as emerging
businesses.
The proposed research will do the following:
Identify current market trends and future demand
Identify requirements necessary for our graduates
Identify our competition and how they are satisfying these requirements
Identify resources required to meet these market requirements

Project Timeline
The following timeline is a rough estimate and dates are dependent upon an approval date of
December 10th 2003.
Proposal Submission: 12/1/2003
Proposal Review: 12/1-12/10/2003
Research Design: 12/10-1/2/2003
Research Activities: 1/5/2003 – 2/15/2004
Data Analysis/Recomendation Formulation: 2/15-3/15/2004
Present Recommendations: 3/15/2004