Dept. Web Site: http://bschool.washington.edu/departments/isom/
Course Requirements for Majors
Research Methods Minor Area Requirements
A Typical Course Schedule
Requirements for an Information Systems Minor
Faculty and their Research Interests

General Information

The Department of Information Systems & Operations Management (ISOM) supports two areas for doctoral study: Information Systems (IS) and Operations Management (OM). Both areas are designed for persons seeking academic and research careers.

The area of Information Systems deals with the management of development, use, and impact of information systems and technologies in organizations. It is an interdisciplinary area, combining the study of information technologies and systems with other areas such as economics, operations research, decision theory, and psychology. Information systems have impact on all aspects of a modern organization -- from providing solution to current problems to new business models and opportunities. With the rapid growth and globalization of businesses, information systems have taken on a more important role.

Admission Requirements

Applicants must have completed an undergraduate degree at an accredited university and should have a reasonable training in mathematics and economics. An admission committee of faculty members in the Information Systems & Operations Management Department reviews all completed applications. While the committee considers all relevant factors in its recommendations, important factors include past academic performance, GMAT scores (which are usually above 650 for successful applicants), and previous work experience. The GRE exam can be substituted for the GMAT but the GMAT is strongly preferred. In some cases we may request a personal interview.

Recommended Preparation Prior to Entry

It is assumed that students entering the information systems area are knowledgeable in advanced calculus, linear algebra, basic statistics, and a high level programming language. Any student who is deficient in these areas should consider taking appropriate coursework prior to entering the program.

Information Systems Area Faculty Coordinator

Prof. Ming Fan, Information Systems Area Faculty Coordinator, would be glad to answer your questions. You can contact him by phone (206-543-7525) or by email (mfan@u.washington.edu).

Student Advising

The Department’s Doctoral Review Committee will guide new students until they establish a Supervisory Committee. Students are required to establish a Supervisory Committee by the end of their first year. The Supervisory Committee assists the student in choosing appropriate courses, approves course of studies, and monitors the student’s progress.

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Course Requirements for Majors

The following courses are required of all IS majors. The number of credits for each course is indicated in parentheses after the course number.

All IS studens must enroll in the doctoral seminar (IS 599) until all coursework is completed and the IS area examination is successfully completed; after this milestone, we strongly encourage all students to continue participatingin the doctoral seminar.

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Research Methods Minor Area Requirements

All students majoring in Information Systems must select Research Methods as one of their minor areas. The Research Methods area is designed to ensure that all students are knowledgeable with research tools needed to conduct high-level research in Iinformation Systems.

The requirements below are viewed as minimal preparation for conducting doctoral level research; we strongly recommend that students expand their research methods area beyond the courses listed below. Certain substitutions of courses, upon approval from the chair of the supervisory committee may be allowed.

Microeconomics

Optimization / Stochastic Processes / Queuing

Econometrics

Other Suggested Courses

Other Minor Area Requirements

In addition to Research Methods, IS students must select one additional minor area depending on the student's interest. Possible minor areas include:

Computer Science,
Economics or Business Economics,
Finance,
Marketing,
Mathematics,
Operations Management,
Statistics.

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A Typical Course Schedule

Assuming adequate background preparation, students are expected to complete the following coursework in their first and second years. The normal schedule is as follows but course offerings and quarter offerings might change depending on faculty availability.

First Year

Second Year

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Requirements for an Information Systems Minor

Students who select Information Systems as a minor area must take all three courses in Group I and two courses from Group II.

Group I. MBA level courses:

If an MBA course in the above list is not offered, students may take a corresponding undergraduate course with permission.

Group II. Doctoral level courses:

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Written Area or Qualifying Examination

After completing all coursework in his or her major area, each student will take a written area examination consisting of questions contributed by all appropriate area faculty and administered by the chair of the student’s Supervisory Committee. The exam is graded on a high pass, pass, low pass, or fail basis; if appropriate, the departmental faculty members in the Supervisory Committee may require additional work and/or classes as a condition for passing the exam. If the student fails the exam, he or she can take the exam one additional time after satisfying deficiencies.

Second Year Paper

At the end of the second year, in order to demonstrate competency and ability to conduct research in IS, each student is required to write a paper. The work is to be supervised by the chair of the student's Supervisory Committee and then graded by the departmental faculty members in the student's Supervisory Committee on a high pass, pass, low pass, or fail basis. The departmental faculty members in the Supervisory Committee may require additional work as a condition for passing the paper.

General Examination

After successfully completing the written area exam, each student takes a general (oral) examination. Members of the Supervisory Committee which includes a representative of the Graduate School and any other interested faculty and students, administer this examination. Typically, this exam involves a defense of the student’s dissertation proposal; however, the chair of the Supervisory Committee determines the precise format of the general exam.

Dissertation

After successfully completing the general examination, the student is admitted to Candidacy and continues work on his/her dissertation research. A Reading Committee guides the student in working with the dissertation. It is also expected that the student will present hisor herresearch to the Information Systems and Operations Management Department at the doctoral seminar.

Final Examination

When the dissertation is completed, the Supervisory Committee administers a final defense of the dissertation.

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Information Systems Faculty and their Research Interests

Debabrata Dey
Professor and Evert McCabe Fellow and Department Chair, Ph.D. Rochester
206-543-1855, ddey@u.washington.edu
Heterogeneous and distributed systems, data warehousing, network pricing and performance, information security, systems development and contracting, impact of IT in the labor market, and technology diffusion.

Ming Fan
Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Texas
206-543-7525, mfan@u.washington.edu
Information economics, outsourcing, electronic commerce.

Xianjun Geng
Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Texas
206-543-3981, gengxj@u.washington.edu
Electronic commerce, economics of information systems, data communications and networking.

Subodha Kumar
Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Texas, Dallas
206-543-4777, subodha@u.washington.edu
Electronic commerce, web advertisement, combinatorial optimization, scheduling.

Anjana Susarla
Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Texas
206-543-8761, asusarla@u.washington.edu
Data communications and networking, systems analysis and design, database management, electronic commerce.

Yong Tan
Associate Professor and Neal and Jan Dempsey Fellow, Ph.D. Washington
206-616-6785, ytan@u.washington.edu
Electronic commerce, software engineering, economics of information systems, telecommunications.

Arvind Tripathi
Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Connecticut
206-221-5369, tripathi@u.washington.edu
Data management, decision support systems, electronic commerce, management of information systems, modeling and simulation.

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