1. University of Maryland
Baltimore County
Online Master’s in Information Systems
Program Overview
Dr. Dongsong Zhang
Graduate Program Director
Online MS in IS
zhangd@umbc.edu
Shannon Keegan
Graduate Programs Manager
onlinems@umbc.edu
Presented by

2. UMBC Facts
• Member of the University of Maryland System
• Accredited by the Middle States Commission
on Higher Education
• Medium sized university
– 2,600 graduate students
– 13,979 total students
• Undergraduate Programs
– 54 Majors
– 32 Minors
– 23 Certificate Programs
• Graduate Programs:
– 40 Master’s degree programs
– 24 Doctoral degree programs
– 23 Graduate Certificate Programs
UMBC is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education; the
Accrediting Board for Engineering Technology, Inc.; and the National Council for
Accreditation of Teacher Education.

3. UMBC’s National Recognition
Ranked #1 in “Up-and-Coming
Universities” again in 2015 U.S.
News and World Report.
“This midsize state university has earned a
reputation as one of the most innovative schools in
the country.”
—“60 Minutes
(segment available on You Tube)
Ranked #11, 2015 Best Online
Graduate Computer Information
Technology Programs
Top 10 List of “Best Buy”
Public Colleges, 2015

4. UMBC President
Freeman A. Hrabowski
• Included in Time Magazine’s annual list of “100
Most Influential People in the World” in 2012
• Recently named by President Obama as the chair
of the newly created President’s Advisory
Commission on Educational Excellence for African
Americans
• Recipient of 2013 “Black Engineer of the Year
Award”.
• Recipient in 2012 of the Heinz Foundation “Gold
Medal Award” for support of higher education in
science, technology engineering and math,
especially for those historically underrepresented in
those fields.

5. Department of Information Systems at UMBC
Dr. Aryya Gangopadhyay
IS Department Chair
Dr. George Karabatis Dr. Dongsong Zhang
Associate Chair Online Master’s in IS
of Academic Affairs Program Director
Dr. Anita Komlodi Zhiyuan Chen
Graduate Program Director, Graduate Program Director,
Human Centered Computing Information Systems

6. UMBC Department of Information
Systems Facts
• Students
– 1572 total (one of the largest departments on campus)
– 394 Master’s Students
– 75 PhD Students
• Faculty
– 29 Fulltime Faculty
• Disciplines
– Information Systems (IS)
– Human-Centered Computing (HCC).
• Programs
– 2 PhD Degree Programs - 3 Master’s Degree Programs
– 2 Bachelors degree program -1 Undergraduate minor
– 6 Undergraduate certificates
• Research Areas
– Artificial Intelligence/Knowledge Management/Decision Making Support Systems
– Human-Centered Computing
– Software Engineering
– Database/Data Mining
– Health IT

7. Who attends UMBC Online MS in IS?
• Designed for working professionals, at any stage of their career who
wish to advance their career and/or take their career in another
direction.
• Many but not all are working in the field of IT.
• Diverse academic and professional backgrounds:
– Recent and not-so-recent graduates
– Reside in many different parts of the US and some reside
abroad
– Military, both home and deployed, as well as civilian
– Wide spectrum of career stages
• The online program is designed to help people pursue higher
education while balancing work and life – at a time in life in which a
traditional graduate education may not be possible.

8. Why UMBC’s
Online Master’s in IS Program?
• UMBC’s Online MS program provides you the flexibility of a
100% online program while earning a degree from a well
known and respected academic institution.
• Cost competitive with other online programs and online
universities.
• No additional fees – tuition covers everything – including
books!
• Fully accredited.
• Online MS students are educated by many of the same IS
graduate faculty as the traditional classroom IS program
students, with access to the same University resources.
• Federal financial aid and GI Post 9/11 Bill eligible.
• No GRE admission requirement.
• Opportunity to advance and/or change your career while
maintaining a work/school/life balance.

9. Admission Requirements
• Bachelors in any field with a cumulative
GPA of 3.0 or higher.
• GPA lower than 3.0 but higher than
2.75 should submit additional
documents for possible consideration
of conditional admission (resume,
personal statement, transcripts,
certificates, recommendation letters,
awards received, etc.).
• No GRE requirement.
• Tuition rate includes text books.
• No additional course fees.

10. Degree Requirements
Fundamentals Course:
IS 607 - Introduction to Information Systems (4 credits)
*Note: This course may be waived based on experience and is determined during the admissions review process
Core Courses
(must complete all 4)
IS 631 - Management Information Systems (3 credits)
IS 632 - Networks (3 credits)
IS 633 - Database Management Systems (3 credits)
IS 634 - Structured Systems Analysis and Design (3 credits)
Advanced Courses:
Next Slide

11. Degree Requirements (cont.)
Advanced Courses:
(All students must complete a total of six advanced courses)
IS 667 - Interaction Design (3 credits)
IS 668 - Enterprise-Wide Computing (3 credits)
IS 669 - Project Management Operations (3 credits)
IS 670 - Health Informatics (3 credits)
IS 671 - Electronic Commerce (3 credits)
IS 672 - Computer and Network Security (3 credits)
IS 673 - Readings in Human-Centered Computing Research (3 credits)
IS 674 - Information Architecture for the Web (3 credits)
IS 675 - Introduction to Data Mining (3 credits)
IS 676 Information Integration (3 credits)
IS 698 - Special Topics in IS (3 credits)
IS 701 - Independent Study for IFSU (3 credits)
**Thesis option is available**

12. Common Post-Graduation Career Roles
• Network Engineer
• Network Administrator
• Systems Analyst
• Systems Designer
• Database Developer
• Database Administrator
• Interface Specialist
• Product Support Developer
• Software Engineer
• Programmer Analyst
• Usability Engineer

13. Testimonials from Our Graduates
• “The flexibility is obvious, but the professors and TAs did a great job with the material
and the interaction through Blackboard. The courses were challenging but enjoyable
and I can honestly say that enrolling in this program was the best decision I’ve made
from an educational and career advancement perspective. “
• “This was a fantastic program! I cannot express how happy I am that I chose UMBC to
obtain my master’s degree. I was very impressed with all of the courses and professors. I
learned a great deal that directly correlates to my job and will benefit from it now and in
the future.”
• “Nothing was glossed over. This was no 'diploma mill' program. I learned a great deal
and I was able to immediately put into action at the office what I learned in class.”
• “What I really liked about the program was that the instructors treated me like a
professional colleague.”
• “I appreciated the pace and flexibility since I am currently working 55 hrs. per week,
this format was a perfect fit to my schedule. Overall, the professors came across as
actively engaged with the class…....”
• “The support staff were wonderful and always helpful when I reached out to them. I
also thought that the level of attention the online students received kept us from feeling
like second class citizens. Overall, the quality of the courses was excellent.”

14. For More Information
• The Online MS in IS program’s website
http://www.onlinems.umbc.edu is your best source for
information.
• Call us at (800) 353-8622, option #1 or email Onlinems@umbc.edu.
• This presentation will be posted on the program’s website.

15. Thank you!!
Any Questions?
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