1. © Heikki Topi MSIS 2016 Progress Report ACM Education Council Denver, CO August 24-25, 2015 Heikki Topi, Bentley University

2. Background Preliminary ACM/AIS task force recommendation in 2013 to launch a comprehensive review of MSIS 2006; ACM and AIS decisions to move forward in 2013-2014 Funding commitment from ACM and AIS for three years 2014-2017 Joint ACM/AIS task force formed in 2014 (4+4 members) Task force work started in December 2014

3. MSIS 2016 Task Force ACM Heikki TopiBentley University, USA (co-chair) Brian DonnellanNational University of Ireland, Ireland Mark ThouinUniversity of Texas at Dallas, USA Jun ShenUniversity of Wollongong, Australia AIS Eija Helena KarstenÅbo Akademi, Finland (co-chair) Susan BrownUniversity of Arizona, USA João Alvaro CarvalhoUniversidade do Minho, Portugal Bernard C.Y. TanNational University of Singapore

4. Schedule Task force work started in December 2014 First face-to-face meeting in April 2015 First public deliverable in June 2015 – a position paper to articulate key process and design architecture decisions (www.msis2016.org)www.msis2016.org Three conference sessions in 2015: ECIS, PACIS, and AMCIS – active discussions at all of them Second face-to-face meeting before ICIS 2015 (Fort Worth, TX) in December 2015

5. Schedule First draft of the curriculum in January/February 2016 Second draft of the curriculum in May/June 2016 Third face-to-face meeting of the task force in August 2016 Submission to ACM and AIS in September 2016

6. Key Process Elements Highly global process (including the task force composition) Comprehensive review of existing programs Strong focus on understanding the key graduate competences at the time of graduation Gaining a deeper understanding of the IS profession Comparisons with medicine, engineering, etc. Acknowledging the multiple existing forms of master’s degrees in IS Comments from a variety of stakeholder groups Utilization of existing competence frameworks, such as e-CF 3.0 and SFIA v. 6

7. Core premises MSIS is a professional master’s degree that integrates computing with a specific domain of practice MSIS requires an undergraduate degree in IS or another computing discipline (or equivalent bridge studies) MSIS requires an academic background in its domain of practice (or equivalent bridge studies) Different MSIS programs require different levels of practical IS experience; it is possible to offer an MSIS to students without any IS work experience Four key elements: computing, IS/IT management, domain of practice, and individual foundational competences

8. © Heikki Topi

9. Key Feedback Elements from Summer 2015 MSIS degrees should be available for students with multiple experience levels Broad undergraduate backgrounds should be acceptable Existing competence frameworks are not sufficiently forward looking – it is essential to try and understand the future competences (“need for a crystal ball”) Importance of engaging various stakeholder groups, particularly recruiters and industry thought leaders At the master’s level, the curriculum is only one source of graduate competences – others have to be considered carefully, too National and regional differences are truly significant

10. Work Continues – Your Feedback is Essential With questions or comments, please contact Heikki Topi (htopi@bentley.edu)htopi@bentley.edu Thank you very much!