Department Features
Career Opportunities and Placement
Accreditation
Occupational Outlook
I-S Terms and Resources
Conference Room Reservation

Department Features
The Information Systems department is the newest on the UW-La Crosse campus, originating in September 1999. The program houses about 200 majors and has been very active recruiting new faculty who serve as student advisers. Faculty continuously evaluate the curriculum to maintain a cutting-edge program that meets students and the profession's needs. Since the fall of 2001, the department has been housed in the newly renovated Wing Technology Center.

The IS faculty work closely with the Computer Science Department to deliver a curriculum balanced between computer science education and business management. The program is designed to achieve a healthy balance between management knowledge and computer skills.

With solid coursework in the computer science area before entering the professional portion of the program, students will have developed a technical foundation to attain strong abilities to solve business problems.

Students complete courses in computer programming languages, systems analysis, design and implementation, data communications, decision support systems, and e-commerce.

As all other business programs, IS students will complete an extensive array of courses in liberal arts and science, including courses in communication, humanities, multicultural issues and social sciences. Majors must also take core business courses in economics, accountancy, management, marketing and financial management.

The vast majority of IS majors participate in an internship experience in their junior or senior year. The internships are worth university credit that applies to the major program. Most are paid and many lead directly to employment with the firm following graduation.

Career Opportunities and Placement

Typical starting position titles for new IS graduates include:

• computer programmer/analyst
• end user consultant
• software tester
• Web designer/developer
• database programmer
• microcomputer specialist
• network administrator

Graduates can expect to initially assume positions as programmers/analysts and eventually systems analysts and information systems managers in businesses of all sizes. Employers nationally have an unmet need for new employees with skills in information technology. Projections indicate that the demand for this skill set will persist into the future. Placement has been almost 100% over the years, with higher than average starting salaries.

Accreditation

The College of Business Administration (CBA) is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International. Accreditation by this permier association is shared by only 25% of business programs nationally. Our membership is a sign to students and employers of the program's high quality faculty, students, administration and instructional resources.

Occupational Outlook

Information systems graduates will enjoy dynamic career opportunities in work that is challenging, where innovation and initiative are valued and rewarded. There is real flexibility in careers, where graduates have specialized in systems engineering, sales, technical delivery, marketing and communications, customer service, operations and human resources.

For the past several years, IS graduates have been in high demand from many types of industry...financial planning, health care, manufacturing, consumer research and behavior, government, and education.

Conference Room Reservation

The I-S Conference Room is available for I-S students to reserve for group meetings. Reservations must be made two days in advance. We also ask that students please leave the room as they found it.