Basically, two levels of education concerning the computer are required.
1. A minimal level is required for persons who are
users of the results of computer processing. This levelcould be provided through one to four courses, depend- ing upon the using activity. For example, an introduc- tion to information systems might be sufficient for a manager who is communicating with the computer via a terminal. More depth of understanding is required of the user representative on the team which designs the reservations system.
2. At the other end of the educational spectrum is the person who is preparing for a career as an information
systems specialist. Again, the education required for theprofessional depends upon the position. The educational level required of a person preparing computer programs is less than that of the system designer.
1. Education for Users. Earlier work of the Com- mittee reported the status of education for users of the results of computer processing. The report "The State of Computer Oriented Curricula in Business Schools in the 70's" [8] indicated a disparity in curriculum content:
"Various positions were expressed ranging from a pass- ing acquaintance with computer information systems, in order to avoid being taken in by experts and en- thusiasts, to the view that future managers would be their own specialists and therefore need much of the training appropriate for specialists."
A four-phase curriculum is in existence in the ma-
jority of member schools of the American Association
of Collegiate Schools of Business, according to a survey by the Computing Newsletter for Schools of
Business [9],1. Coverage of computer fundamentals, systems analysis, and design and programming through a course required of all students in their academic program.
2. Coverage of the applications of computers through incorporation of this material into the func- tional area courses, e.g. computer applications in finance in the finance courses, and computer applications in marketing in the marketing courses.
3. Coverage of computer capabilities for abetting decision making in a dynamic business environment through computer-oriented business games.
4. Coverage of integration and optimization of computer applications through a course on design and implementation of a sophisticated, computer-based management information system.
Such an approach should adequately prepare com- puter users who received their education through schools of business. A similar approach is needed in other user areas, such as political science and hospital administration.
2. Education for Information System Specialists.
Formal education for computer operators and applica- tions programmers is provided through a two-year program, such as those offered by the community colleges. Other positions such as the information analyst and the system designer required advanced education. This view is consistent with those expressed in the recommendations of the National Advisory Com- mittee for Computer Curriculum of the American Association of Junior Colleges in its report "The Com- puter and the Junior College: Curriculum" [10].
The master's level curriculum [2] provides the depth of education necessary for the systems development function. This report recommends curricula to provide entry-level qualifications.
F r o m a practical standpoint, the ratio of bachelor's to master's candidates dictates the need for under- graduate-level education in information systems. With experience and advanced education, the BS graduate may qualify for the system designer position.
2.4. Approach to the Specifications for Undergraduate Curricula
The basic framework of the recommendations for graduate professional programs is used as a context for specifying undergraduate programs. There are, however, differences not only in level but in program objectives and in envisioned program implementation environ- ments. The approach to the graduate curriculum was to present a single "standalone" program based on 13 specified courses. Using this course material as a base, modified programs were presented for adoption by business schools, computer science, or other depart- ments which have a less comprehensive emphasis in the development area. The modified programs involved the
definition of three additional courses, containing cer- tain pairs of the 13.
Entry-level positions for people with undergraduate degrees are expected to be less demanding, in terms of the knowledge and abilities required. On the other hand, the fact that an undergraduate program is neces- sarily less concentrated on the " m a j o r " subject makes it more difficult to be comprehensive in the coverage of the information systems field, even in more condensed form. Accordingly, instead of a single program of in- formation systems courses, two concentration options are distinguished, labeled "organizational" and "tech- nological." These two terms correspond to the terms
"information analysis" and "system design." Each con- centration option is specified in terms of a set of core courses (seven in the case of organizational, eight in the case of technological). The two sets of core require- ments share four courses in common, so both concen- trations can be offered by implementing a total of 11 courses. These courses are described in detail in Section 4 and in the Appendix.
The contents of the two sets of core courses seem to fit most naturally into two different undergraduate schools—organizational into business and technological into engineering. Each concentration is regarded as essentially based on the idea of a double major covering a field of application. Thus, "typical" programs for each of the concentration options are presented in Section 5. A university desiring to have both concentration options available for undergraduates could achieve this by having the programs separately available in the undergraduate business and engineering schools, but this would require duplication of the common core courses. A collaborative effort would obviously be more satisfactory. It might be further argued that a most desirable solution would be to make the combined program, with both concentration options available, in a school of arts and science or equivalent, thus re- moving the more narrow emphasis in "business" or
"engineering." Although this would undeniably make a broader set of combined application fields possible, the fact that an information systems speciality has an ul- timate aim which is practical rather than intellectual should not be disregarded; and for a particular univer- sity, the compatibility of this with the rest of the arts and science curricula should be carefully considered.
These matters are considered further in Section 6 on implementation.
The question also arises how the undergraduate program will relate to the master's level program.
After the undergraduate program has been completed, only one year is required to complete the master's pro- gram. This is discussed explicitly in Section 5.
The content of the 11 undergraduate courses is
drawn from that of the 13 graduate courses proposed
earlier. Although the present report can be read inde-
pendently, it is desirable to allow readers familiar with
the earlier report [2] to make comparisons; and the
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nomenclature for the 11 courses has been selected accordingly. A key to the correspondence is given at the beginning of Section 4.
The program objectives and prerequisites can also be compared to the earlier ones, and this is elaborated in Section 3.
3. Requirements
The graduate curriculum recommendations provided a list of output qualifications: knowledge, abilities, and experience [2, Sec. 3.1]. This list serves as a set of pro- gram requirements against which specific implementa- tions can be checked.
A similar list is provided for the undergraduate curriculum. It takes into account the difference between the two concentration options (organizational and technological) and recognizes the less comprehensive coverage of the undergraduate curriculum.
3.1. Output Qualifications
The following list is based on the earlier one in which knowledge and abilities are grouped in six categories:
(a) people, (b) models, (c) systems, (d) computers, (e) organizations, and (f) society. In addition to modifying or omitting certain of the '^knowledge" and "ability"
entries of the earlier list, some characterizations in terms of "understanding of the process" and "general knowledge" have been included to reflect the necessarily more modest objectives of an undergraduate program.
F o r example, acquiring the ability to develop specifica- tions requires considerably more course time than merely understanding of the process of developing specifications. The capabilities listed are testable in the academic environment—by written or oral examina- tions, successfully operating computer programs, and other commonly accepted means.
A suggested list of objectives c o m m o n to the or- ganizational and technological concentrations is:
(a) people
ability to interact verbally with others, to listen and under- stand the views of others, to articulate and explain com- plex ideas.
(b) models
ability to formulate and solve simple models of the operations research type, and to recognize the kind of situations in which they apply.
(c) systems
ability to view, describe, define any situation as a system—
specifying components, boundaries, and so forth;
ability to present in writing a summary of a project for manage- ment action (suitable to serve as a basis for decision);
ability to present in writing a detailed description of part of a project, for use in completing or maintaining same.
(d) computers
general knowledge of basic h a r d w a r e / s o f t w a r e components of computer systems, and their patterns of configuration;
ability to program in a higher-level language;
ability to program a defined problem involving data files and communications structures;
general knowledge of sources for updating knowledge of technology;
ability to discuss the major alternatives (assuming current technology) in specifying an information processing system, including data files and communications structures, to the level of major system components;
ability to sketch "rough-cut" feasibility evaluations (in terms of economic and behavioral variables) of proposed new techniques or applications of current technology, identifying critical variables and making estimates and extrapolations;
ability to sketch an economic analysis for selecting among alternatives above, including identification of necessary
information for making that analysis, and also to identify noneconomic factors;
understanding of the process of developing specifications for the computer-based part of a major information system, with details of task management and data base manage- ment components.
(e) organizations
general knowledge of the function of purposeful organizational structure, and of the major alternative for that structure;
knowledge of how information systems are superimposed on organizational patterns, on the operational, control, and planning levels;
general knowledge of techniques for gathering information;
ability to gather information systematically within an organiza- tion, given specified information needs a n d / o r specified information flows;
ability to outline, given information needs and sources, several alternative sets of information transfers and processing to meet needs;
ability to sketch "rough-cut" feasibility evaluations of such alternatives;
understanding of the process of developing specifications for a major information system, addressing a given organiza- tional need, and determining the breakdown into manual and computer-based parts.
(f) society
ability to articulate and defend a personal position on some important issue of the impact of information technology and systems on society (important, as defined by Congres- sional interest, public press, semitechnical press, etc.).
The above should be achieved, in more or less similar degree, by information systems undergraduates in either the organizational or technological concentra- tion. The former group should have in addition the following, originally listed under the " o r g a n i z a t i o n s "
heading:
knowledge of the functional areas of an organization—opera- tions, finance, marketing, product specification and de- velopment;
knowledge of typical roles and role behavior in each func- tional area;
ability to suggest possible short-term and long-term effects of a specified action on organizational goals;
ability to discuss information needs appropriate to issues and roles above;
understanding of the process of developing positive and negative impacts of a specified information system on spec- ified parts of an organization.
The undergraduate in the technological concentra- tion, however, is not expected to be supplied the back- ground in either organizational functions or organiza- tional behavior except to attain a very general notion of the foregoing. The same can be said of the following entry originally listed under the " p e o p l e " heading:
ability to describe individual and group behavior and to predict likely alternative and future behavior in terms of commonly used variables of psychology and economics.
On the other hand, the technological option gives the student considerably more in-depth exposure to
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computer and programming techniques. Therefore, the following three abilities, originally listed under the
" c o m p u t e r s " heading, are appropriate for the tech- nological option graduate:
ability to develop several logical structures for a specified problem;
ability t o develop several different implementations of a specified logical structure;
ability t o develop specifications for a major programming project, in terms of functions, modules, and interfaces.
The student in the organizational concentration is only expected to have some general acquaintance with the process of performing these tasks.
Fig. 1. T h e 11 courses required f o r both undergraduate programs.
UBl. OPERATIONS ANALYSIS A N D MODELING UB2 H U M A N A N D O R G A N I Z A T I O N A L BEHAVIOR U t ' l . I N F O R M A T I O N STRUCTURES
UC2. COMPUTER SYSTEMS
UC.V FILE A N D C O M M U N I C A T I O N SYSTLMS UC4 SOFTWARE DESIGN
UCX. PROGRAMMING STRUCTURES A N D TECHNIQUES UC'y. COMPUTERWARE
UAH.. SYSTLMS CONCEPTS A N D IMPLICATIONS UDS. I N F O R M A T I O N S Y S T t M S ANALYSIS UD9. SYSTEM DESIGN A N D IMPI.EMENTATION
Fig. 2. Core course sequences f o r information systems programs.
One of the primary limitations an undergraduate program has that a concentrated graduate program does-not have is in the a m o u n t of exposure t o prototype
"real w o r l d " situations that can be included. Neverthe- less, it is desirable that the undergraduate have a t least some of the experience listed as desirable for the gradu- ate, in particular:
having gathered information in " r e a l " or hypothetical o r - ganization;
having served as a member of a project team outlining a n information system, then programming a module of that system;
having participated in planning and conducting an oral presen- tation of the results of a team project. '
An individual meeting these output qualifications should be well prepared for an entry-level position. T h e two concentrations are designed t o meet the above list of objectives.
3.2. Prerequisite Qualifications
The areas of prerequisite qualifications for the graduate program are listed in terms of five under- graduate course subjects [1, Sec. 3.3]:
(i) finite mathematics, including the fundamentals of formal logic, sets a n d relations, and linear algebra;
\ P R O G R A M
T H R M
I N F O R M A T I O N S Y S T E M S
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< Technological Concentration >
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UB2 Human and Organizational Behavior
UBl Operations Analysis and Modeling
UC1 Information Structures
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2nd Semester
UC8 Programming Structures and Techniques
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UA8 Systems Concepts and Implications
UC2 Computer Systems
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FOURTH YEAR
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k . /
FOURTH YEAR
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UC9
Computerware
UD8 Information Systems Analysis
UC3 File and Communication Systems
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UD9 System Design and Implementation
UC4 Software Design
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(ii) elementary statistics, including the fundamentals of probability, expected value, and construction of sample estimates;
(iii) elementary computer programming, including prob- lem analysis and algorithm synthesis, and com- petence in a higher-level language;
(iv) elementary economics, including microeconomics and theory of the firm, and price theory;
(v) elementary psychology, including fundamentals of personality formation, attitudes, and motivation.
Essentially the same prerequisites, in terms of sub- ject matter, are assumed for the undergraduate informa- tion systems program, in either concentration. Since the prerequisite courses in this case would necessarily have to be taken in the first and second undergraduate years, a somewhat less comprehensive coverage of the sub- jects may have to be assumed. Typical schedules in- corporating these prerequisite courses for both the organizational and technological options are given in Section 5.
4. Course Descriptions
The 11 courses prepared for the two undergraduate concentration options are listed in Figure 1. Of these, six are undergraduate versions of courses specified for the graduate program: UB1, UB2, UC1, UC2, UC3, UC4. In each case the number is like that used for the original, prefixed by a " U . '
nThe course titles are iden- tical. Comparison with the descriptions of these with the earlier courses B l , B2 shows that the material is comparable but the coverage is less comprehensive, appropriate for undergraduate offerings.
The remaining five courses are combinations of pairs of earlier courses. In particular, UA8 combines material from earlier courses A l and A4, with major emphasis on A l . Courses U D 8 and UD9 combine material from A3 and D l , D2 and D3. Specifically, U D 8 combines A3 and D l material, with major emphasis on D l ; and U D 9 combines D2 and D 3 material, with major empha- sis on D2.
Finally, U C 8 and UC9 are combinations of C courses, specifically CI and C4 for U C 8 ; and C2 and C3 for UC9. These two combined courses substitute in the organizational concentration for the more expanded offerings of UC1, UC2, U C 3 and U C 4 in the tech- nological option. In contrast, the other combined
' T h e 13 courses specified for the graduate program are:
(Course G r o u p A, Analysis of Organizational Systems) A l In- troduction to systems concepts, A2 Organizational functions, A 3 Information systems for operations and management, A4 Social implications of information systems; (Course G r o u p B, Back- ground for Systems Development) B l Operations analysis and modeling, B2 H u m a n and Organizational behavior; (Course G r o u p C, C o m p u t e r and Information Technology) C I Information struc- tures, C2 Computer systems, C 3 File and communication systems, C4 Software design; (Course G r o u p D, Development of I n f o r m a - tion Systems) D l Information analysis, D2 System design, D 3 Sys- tems development projects.