Management Information Systems Support

The Certificate of Achievement in MIS Support prepares students for employment within business as a MIS Support Specialist.  Students will be introduced to the primary functions of a business, professional conduct, and concepts in software programming, business information systems, and computer support. The courses incorporated in this certificate program are also transferrable towards a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a concentration in Management Information Systems.

 

Program Learning Outcomes - Upon completion, students will be able to:

·      Communicate effectively with business professionals, understand fundamental programming concepts, and track computer systems problems related to a variety of technical areas, such as software applications, database management systems, web sites, and/or computer security.     

 

Based on the completion rates for existing Certificate Programs in Business, it is expected that approximately 30students per year will complete this Certificate.  However, Business department faculty are currently mounting a concerted effort to market Certificate programs to transfer students, in order to enhance students' qualifications for junior year internship opportunities.  It is hoped that this will increase demand for the Certificate beyond historic levels.

 

Our projection is 30 certificates per year, but the annual demand is 636,000 positions in the US.  Recall that the state occupational long-term projections site predicts 2300 positions opening annually in California. So, our projections are very conservative if you compare these two numbers.  We hope this certificate will do as well as the COA for Business Administration but hope that our marketing will help local students to take advantage of these growing occupational opportunities.

 

	Year 1	Year 2
CB01: Course Department Number	CB02: Course Title	Annual # Sections	Annual Enrollment Total	Annual # Sections	Annual Enrollment Total
BUS 10	Introduction to Business	39	1913	39	1857
BUS 56	Human Relations in the Workplace	5	221	4	195
CIS 3	Business Information Systems	20	751	19	760

The Certificate of Achievement in MIS Support will prepare students to take on entry-level Information Technology positions in business.  The coursework will prepare the student to perform as a help desk technician in a business, while also allowing them to make progress on lower division coursework applicable towards a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, with a concentration in Management Information Systems. 

 

Help Desk Representatives are also known as computer user support specialists. According to the Bureau ofLabor Statistics, these positions are projected to grow 10% from 2016 to 2025, faster than average for all occupations. These MIS employees have the following typical responsibilities:

 

•     Understand customers’ descriptions of their computer problems, and properly log those problems in the firm's tracking system.

•       Ask customers questions to properly diagnose the problem, and suggest recommended problem-solving steps

•       Set up or repair computer equipment and related devices

•       Train users to work with new computer hardware or software, such as printers,word-processing software, and email

•       Provide other team members and managers in the organization with information about what gives customers the most trouble and about other concerns customers have.

Course	Title	Units	Year/Semester (Y1 or S1)
BUS 10	Introduction to Business	5	Yr 1, Fall
BUS 56	Human Relations in the Workplace	5	Yr 1, Fall
CIS 3	Business Information Systems	4.5	Yr 1, Fall

                                   

Requirements	Dept. Name/#	Name	Units	Sequence
Required Core (14.5 units)	BUS 10	Introduction to Business	5	Yr 1, Fall
	BUS 56	Human Relations in the Workplace	5	Yr 1, Fall
	CIS 3	Business Information Systems	4.5	Yr 1, Fall
One course (4.5 units)	CIS 36A	Introduction to Computer Programming Using Java	4.5	Yr 1, Winter
	CIS 40	Introduction to Programming in Python	4.5	Yr 1, Winter
One Course (4.5-5 units)	BUS 59	Promoting Your Business with Social Media	5	Yr 1, Winter
	BUS 70	Principles of E-Business	5	Yr 1, Winter
	CIS 64A	Database Management Systems	4.5	Yr 1, Winter
	CIS 108	Personal Computer Security Basics	4.5	Yr 1, Winter

 

RequiredCore Total:          14.5 units

TOTALUNITS:                       23.5-24units

 

ProposedSequence: 

Year1, Fall = 14.5 units 

Year1, Winter = 9-9.5 units

TOTALUNITS: 23.5-24 units

 

None

Mission College has a Certificate of Achievement in Business Computing. It is more general, aimed at administrative assistant positions as well as help desk staff. The Mission College certificate focuses mainly on Microsoft Application software. Our certificate would be stronger preparation for help desk staff to understand the major functions of the business (Bus10), how to interact professionally (Bus 56), and programming concepts (CIS 40 or 36A). These are closely related to the responsibilities they would undertake as MIS Support staff. We reached out to Jeff Pallin the Dean of Business, Technology, and Kinesiology at Mission College and he confirmed that Mission College had no issue with our proposal. Mission College has a similar certificate program in Business Computing which is very similar to the prior CIS Help Desk Certificate. Other nearby colleges (West Valley, Canada, Foothill, San Jose City College, Skyline) do not have a business information systems certificate. Given the growth of MIS employment opportunities in Silicon Valley, there is strong evidence to suggest this would be a strong certificate program. Furthermore, this certificate program offers the opportunity for students to earn while they work towards transfer to a four-year institution to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in M.I.S. Required coursework for this BSBA degree program from SJSU and SFSU were considered in the preparation of this certificate program.