Prerequisites can be taken at any area college or university including Northern Virginia Community College, George Mason University, and George Washington University, all of which offer undergraduate courses.

The Master of Information Systems (M.I.S.) Degree program focuses on the design, implementation, operation, and evaluation of complex systems. All M.I.S. students must take a minimum of 33 credit hours.

Working with an advisor, each student develops a Program of study that includes a firm grounding in the theory and design of information systems, supporting coursework in computing technology, specific work in systems analysis techniques, and an exposure to engineering problems and solutions. Most important is the career-track electives requirement, by which a student devotes extensive attention to the area of engineering science, data management, knowledge engineering, information assurance, multimedia, and mobile computing applications. Written and oral communication skills are stressed in the program.

A candidate selects one of the following two options, namely, Coursework Only and Thesis, to complete the degree requirement.

The Coursework Only Option for MS degree students requires that a student complete coursework satisfying the requirements defined by the Credit Distribution Table.

MIS Coursework Only Option - Required Foundation Courses

CS 5014 Research Method
CS 5214 Modeling and Analysis of Computer Systems
CS 5614 Database Management Systems

MIS Coursework Only Option - Required Core Courses

CS/ECE 4560 or CS/ECE 5560 Network and Computer Security
CS/ECE 5565 Computer Network
CS 5604 Information Retrieval or CS 5804 Artificial Intelligence
CS 5704 Software Engineering
CS 5974 Independent Study

Note: The independent study course (CS 5974) above is used to fulfill the final exam requirement. The instructor for CS5974 must meet the Departmental requirements for a research advisor. An individual coursework-only student has a 3-person final examination committee composed of his CS5974 instructor and two members appointed by the department. These three individuals examine the written document and determine whether the student passes or fails the MIS degree final examination.


MIS Coursework Only Option - Career-Track Elective Courses

Coursework option students must take two approved cognate courses from an engineering discipline offered at the NVC; and one approved cognate course from another engineering discipline offered at the NVC or one course from CS5xxx/6xxx including ECE6504. ECE6504 Information Assurance Engineering in combination with CS5560, CS5565, and CS5704 core courses would allow to obtain a Graduate Certificate in Information Assurance.

The Thesis Option for MS degree students requires that a student complete coursework satisfying the requirements defined by the Credit Distribution Table and successfully defend his or her thesis.

The thesis defense is an oral examination before the student's committee, as described in the section Advisors, Committees and Program of Study.

MIS Thesis Option - Required Foundation Courses

CS 5014 Research Method
CS 5214 Modeling and Analysis of Computer Systems
CS 5614 Database Management Systems

MIS Thesis Option - Required Core Courses

CS/ECE 4560 or CS/ECE 5560 Network and Computer Security
CS/ECE 5565 Computer Network
CS 5604 Information Retrieval or CS 5804 Artificial Intelligence
CS 5704 Software Engineering

MIS Thesis Option - Career-Track Electives Courses
Thesis option students must take one approved cognate course from an engineering discipline offered at the NVC or one course from CS 5xxx/6xxx including ECE6504 Information Assurance Engineering which in combination with CS 5560, CS 5565 and CS 5704 core courses would allow a student to obtain a Graduate Certicate in Information Assurance.

MIS Thesis Option - Thesis Research (9 credit hours)

Spring 2002 - Fall 2004

Before Spring 2002