Two Pathways to a Degree
For professionals who have been working in an information field for three or more years, the Information School offers the Executive MSIM program, tailored to meet the needs of busy working professionals. Core classes are held Friday evenings and during the day on Saturdays, electives on weekday evenings; all courses use work-centered projects to allow students to bring their new-found knowledge immediately into the workplace. Students in the Executive MSIM program come from a variety of organizations, including Boeing, Microsoft, the Seattle Times, AOL, Washington State Department of Transportation, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Starbucks, among many others.
Executive MSIM Curriculum Plan.
The full-time MSIM program (often referred to as “Day MSIM”) complements a bachelor’s degree in business, arts, or sciences by opening new doors for career possibilities. Classes are offered during the traditional Monday through Friday schedule. Additional electives and an internship are required for completion of this program to provide in-depth knowledge in areas of student interest. Enrollment in the program is open to national and international applicants, and applicants to this program need not have prior experience in an information field. Day MSIM Curriculum Plan.
Curriculum
Information Core Courses
The information perspective and the skills you need to analyze and organize information.
Social, organizational, cognitive, behavioral, and contextual aspects of information, including basic concepts in human information behavior, conceptual and practical frameworks used to study human-information interaction, and social responses to information technology. User-based and work-based evaluation and design of information systems. Exposure to experimental and interview methodologies.
Concepts, processes, and skills of information involving creation, production, distribution, selection, collection, and services to facilitate access. Analysis of the information mediation process, including determining information needs; searching for, evaluation and presentation of appropriate results; and modalities for delivery of services.
Introduction to issues in organization of information and information objects including: analysis of intellectual and physical characteristics of information objects; use of metadata and metadata standards for information systems; theory of classification, including semantic relationships and facet analysis; creation of controlled vocabularies; and display and arrangement.
Select concepts, processes, and issues related to the organizational contexts within which information professionals practice. Topics include information as public/private good, intellectual property, privacy, confidentiality, information liability, and information policy. Focus on contemporary issues affecting the role of the information manager.
Technology Core Courses
Background and skills in the use of technology necessary to harness information in organizations.
Introduction to the theory and practice of user-centered design. Examines design methods for identifying and describing user needs, specifying and prototyping new systems, and evaluating the usability of systems. Examines design methodologies such as contextual design and value-sensitive design, giving specific emphasis to human-information interaction.
Introduction of database management systems for the storage and access of structured and semi-structured information. Examines the relational model, Structured Query Language (SQL), Entity-Relationship modeling, (database design methodology, conceptual, logical, and physical design), and Extensible Markup Language (XML) for storage, retrieval, and interchange.
Management Core Courses
Background and skills in using information as a management tool in organizations.
Information technology context, planning and decision-making, unit organization, CIO leadership, and unit controls related to managing information resources to achieve organizational goals. Topics include information technology management challenges, operational and strategic planning and decision-making, unit infrastructure, CIO competence, and aligning information technology initiatives with organizational objectives. There are no prerequisites for this course.
Practical application of the critical roles and aspects of information and information processes in the management of organizational change. Topics include organization learning, knowledge management as a process, business process change, change project management, business/competitive intelligence, benchmarking, and best practices.
Integrating Courses
Courses designed to help bring the strands together.
Overview of the major concepts in the MSIM curriculum. Includes an introduction to the concept of information as well as its relation to organizational management, technology, and design and culture
Capstone experience. Addresses system integration and the increasing demand to apply a broad range of technologies to the information needs of diverse user groups during the implementation of comprehensive information systems across an organization. Student-organized individual/team projects are encouraged.
Elective Courses
Elective Courses allow students to concentrate in areas of information management specifically related to their own interests. These range from advanced courses offered by the Information School in each of the three areas of Information Organization, Information Technology and Information Management, to any of hundreds of courses offered by other schools and departments throughout the University related to this area.