Welcome to the IS Department at UMBC

Dr. Andrew Sears, Professor and Chair, Department of Information Systems, UMBC

As frequently seems to be the case, there continue to be new and encouraging advancements within the Department of Information Systems (IS). Recently, we added several new undergraduate offerings including certificates in Management Science, Auditing for Information Systems, and Project Management as well as a one-semester study abroad option in Ireland at the Nation University of Ireland (NUI) in Galway, and an MBA Preparatory Studies program. At the graduate level, our new Master's and Ph.D. programs in Human-Centered Computing continue to grow as does our online MS in Information Systems.

Our students make significant contributions

Overall, we have nearly 1,100 students enrolled in our programs who, along with our research faculty, examine, design, and evaluate information technologies to address the needs of a broad range of individuals and organizations. Our students are true problem solvers, making them ideal employees for public and private sector organizations with significant IT requirements. Our undergraduates continue to be in high demand for both full-time positions. Hundreds of companies visit campus each year to fill internships, with numerous positions remaining open due to a lack of students. Upon graduation, our undergraduates command average starting salaries that are comparable to or better than the national average for the IT field. Our Master's students are employed by public and private sector organizations across the country and overseas, and our Ph.D. students are actively engaged in numerous cutting edge research projects. Ph.D. students regularly present papers at international conferences. While our Ph.D. students can claim numerous significant accomplishments, perhaps the most noteworthy include being recipients of the prestigious National Science Foundation's Research Fellowship and the IBM PhD Fellowship.

A research faculty with national ranking

The department and its faculty continue to receive national recognition. Perhaps the most visible example was the department being ranked 8th in the nation for scholarly productivity in a recent study conducted by Academic Analytics. This is particularly noteworthy since we share our top 10 ranking with other prestigious universities including Harvard, Georgia Tech, and Carnegie Mellon. Our location in the Baltimore-Washington corridor affords access to many major federal and private R&D facilities, agencies, and businesses that provide excellent opportunities for internships, field work, and employment.

Our core research areas and funding

Presently, we have 26 full-time faculty and more than 30 part-time instructors. Most research within the IS Department fits within five core areas: Artificial Intelligence/Knowledge Management, Database/Data Mining, Decision Making Support Systems, Human-Centered Computing, and Software Engineering. Research funding continues to increase with the National Science Foundation (NSF) being the single largest source of external funding for IS research at UMBC. Additional support comes from government agencies (e.g., the U.S. Department of Education, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs), corporations (e.g., Google, IBM, Motorola), and foundations (e.g., the Verizon Foundation).

Once again, welcome to the IS Department at UMBC. I hope you will visit our Web site periodically to read about the department as well as the accomplishments of our faculty, staff, and students.

Andrew Sears