Nov 09, 2024  
2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalog [Not Current Academic Year. Consult with Your Academic Advisor for Your Catalog Year]

Management Information Systems, B.B.A.


C.T. Bauer College of Business  > Department of Decision and Information Sciences  > Management Information Systems, B.B.A.

Information systems are used in virtually every profession. Sales representatives use information systems to advertise products, communicate with customers, and analyze sales trends. Managers use them to make multimillion-dollar decisions, such as whether to build a manufacturing plant or research a cancer drug. Corporate lawyers use them to develop contracts and other legal documents. Automobile manufacturers use them to develop, test, and manufacture new cars. From a small music store to huge multinational corporations, organizations of all sizes could not survive without information systems to perform accounting and finance operations.

The MIS professional is involved in the identification, creation, and maintenance of the above information systems. He/she operates as an internal consultant to all functional areas of the organization, being knowledgeable about their strategic and operational needs as well as competent in bringing the power of information technology to support these needs. The MIS professional views issues through a global perspective that encompasses the entire organization and the broader industry and business environment in which it operates. As such, the MIS professional is tasked to help an organization thrive in a highly interconnected and highly competitive global environment. And though low-level programming jobs are being offshored to countries such as India, the need for MIS professionals described here are increasing greater than the average of all professions (see the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website at http://www.bls.gov/oco/). The following are examples of the jobs the MIS graduates at the University of Houston take on:

  • Business/Systems Analyst - is responsible for analyzing the business needs of clients to help identify business problems and propose solutions. The business analyst typically functions as a liaison between the business side of the enterprise and the providers of information technology services to the enterprise.
  • Business Application/Systems Developer - is a person who uses a set of tools (e.g., programming languages, application generators, database package, etc.) and develops a software product.
  • Business Intelligence Analyst - use computer tools to query data repositories and generate reports that help managers make business decisions by identifying trends and patterns in a company’s data (concerning inventory, sales, customers, etc.) that are usually stored in companywide repositories called data warehouses.
  • Database Administrator - manages the design and development and maintenance of organizational databases in order to guarantee the databases’ performance, integrity, and quality.
  • Database Analyst - designs, implements, and maintains organizational databases, thereby ensuring database performance and system integration.
  • Information Systems Manager - directs IS operations including computer operations, technical support, systems analysis and programming, database management, telecommunications, IS training, and microcomputer technology.
  • Information Systems Development Project Leader - plans, organizes, and controls the activities of business systems analysts and system developers to ensure that project goals, timelines, and budgets are met.
  • Information Systems User Liaison - provides the link between user departments and the information technology group by answering and/or obtaining answers to technical questions, ensuring that user department hardware and applications are properly working, and providing guidance to business analysts and developers during new systems development and maintenance projects.
  • Network Administrator - installs, configures, and maintains the organization’s local area network (LAN) server and workstations. He/she sets up and monitors network systems, resolves network problems, and provides technical assistance to users.
  • Web Developer - determines user strategies and goals and develops and maintains internal and external web pages that meet these needs.

Management Information Systems (MIS) students at the Bauer College learn how to identify and create the types of information systems and take on the jobs described above. Some characteristics that make successful MIS students and great MIS professionals include the following:

  • You like to solve problems and to work with people
  • You like to take on responsibility for developing and implementing your ideas
  • You are good at managing your time and resources

If you are interested in business and would like to keep up with what is technologically hot but don’t want to write programs all your life, then you should seriously consider majoring in MIS.

Management Information Systems Major Coursework (42 Credit Hours)


General B.B.A. Requirements


In order to earn a Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) degree, students must complete credit hour requirements:

  • UH Core Courses & College Requirements
  • Business Administration and Management Field of Study Courses
  • Advanced-Level Business Requirements (required for all business majors),
  • Major Coursework Requirements
  • Additional Elective Requirements

along with noncredit requirements:

  • Assenting to the Bauer Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, and
  • A passing score on an Excel Competency Exam as a prerequisite to filing a degree plan, and
  • A business writing evaluation (BWE), administered through BUSI 3302. Clearing the BWE is required to file a degree plan.

Credit Hour Requirements

Students seeking the Bachelor of Business Administration degree must complete freshman-sophomore core and Business Administration and Management Field of Study requirements, upper-level business core and required courses, major requirements, pass an Excel Competency Exam, and clear the business writing evaluation (BWE).

The total hours required for a Bachelor of Business Administration degree are summarized below. Students in the Bauer Business Honors Program have additional requirements as specified under the description of the Bauer Business Honors Program.

Students pursuing the Global Energy Management Professional Program (GEM-PP) track in Finance have specialized degree requirements listed under the GEM-PP track for a major in finance. Other specialty programs, such as the Professional Program in Accounting, the Entrepreneurship Program, and the Program for Excellence in Selling, may have additional admission and program requirements as specified by the program.

B.B.A. requirements also listed as approved UH core courses may fulfill both requirements, but students must have a minimum of 120 credit hours to earn the B.B.A.

Specific course requirements in each category are discussed in the following sections. ECON 2304 and ECON 2305 may count for Core Social and Behavioral Science requirement and Field of Study (students without either ECON 2304 or ECON 2305 and substituting Intermediate ECON would be required to take a Social and Behavioral Science course in place of a General Elective Requirement.

UH Core Courses & College Requirements


6 Credit Hours

Business Administration and Management Field of Study Courses


24 Credit Hours

Courses require completion with a grade of “C” or higher in all Business Administration and Management Field of Study courses unless a transfer student has completed the Business Administration and Management Field of Study at another Texas public institution.

3 Credit Hours


Additional UH Core Courses


24 Credit Hours

Advanced-Level Business Required Courses


21 Credit Hours

This section is required for all business majors.