BACKGROUND:
The rate of change in the computer information systems (IS) field has become more rapid and the changes themselves have become more complex. This requires that the MCS major regularly revises its curriculum to meet the expressed needs of business and industry with a quality, viable program and to maintain its ranking as one of the nation’s strongest undergraduate IS programs.

This current proposal will be the eighth extensive curricular revision since the program’s inception in 1979 (8 revisions in 22 years). The last extensive revision occurred in 1996-97 when the database course was moved to the beginning of the program and a two course client/server sequence as well as a network engineering elective were introduced. That proposal represented the culmination of a series of three revisions, beginning in 1991-92, which gradually allowed the program to reflect the fundamental transformations that have now taken place in how computer information systems are analyzed, designed, built and maintained.

Here is an overview of the seven major curriculum revisions to date:

Year        Revision

’79-’80     Include COBOL as a requirement; introduce the Co-op as an elective

’82-’83     More on-line programming; create an end-user support, microcomputer course

’86-’87     Substantially increase database content, focusing on relational database model; introduce a 4^th GL environment

’89-’90      Introduce a microcomputer application prerequisite course; infuse relational modeling throughout the curriculum; more emphasis on networking and communications

’91-’92     Introduce course work in distributed, cooperative processing; more emphasis on networking, communicationand microcomputer application development; introduce CASE tools in the systems analysis and design courses

’93-’94     Replace PL/1 with C++ in the first two MCS courses; introduce object oriented, event driven programming and design

’96-’97     Move database to the beginning of the program; introduce a two course client/server sequence and a network engineering elective course

This proposal builds on this existing framework and focuses on Web-based n-tier application development which features (1) a Java, Web based, GUI front end for data capture and display, (2) numerous middle layers containing integration, messaging services as well as application business logic and (3) a back end data storage schema.

The MCS curriculum was originally developed with input from and continues to be monitored by regional industry, primarily through the MCS Executive Advisory Board. This industry board, currently consisting of twenty-five information systems professionals representing key regional companies, meets with the faculty twice a year to discuss curricular matters and to offer guidance and direction. This proposal, like all MCS curricular matters, has been thoroughly discussed and reviewed by this board.

PHILOSOPHY OF CURRENT PROPOSAL:
The previous ’96-’97 proposal may have been the single most significant, fundamental and far reaching of all the MCS curricular revisions to date. It was truly a watershed change that signaled the end of one era – that of traditional, structured, mainframe system development – and the beginning of another – object-oriented, event driven, microcomputer based, distributed systems development. It was stated at that time that the basic course structure being established would serve as a foundation for the program for years to come. This has proven to be true. For this, the first subsequent, proposal keeps the existing, overall course structure of the major intact and simply revives the topics/technology in the courses to reflect the technological changes that have occurred in industry over the past few years.

Most of these changes have revolved around e-business and use of the World Wide Web by businesses to provide goods, services and information to their customers, suppliers and employees. As businesses are forced to adapt to changing conditions more quickly and to be more flexible than ever before in building dynamic relationships with suppliers and customers regardless of location, so must their information systems. To do so, these systems have embraced a totally new paradigm of object oriented design and programming which treats data and the processes that act on that data as a coherent, logical whole, called an "object". These systems are also developed in an event driven mode, i.e. the order and flow of the processing are totally under the control of the user as indicated by their interactive choices.

The first Web business applications involved a few static Web pages that simply listed products and services and provided telephone/address contact information. As these applications and their technologies matured, static Web pages were no longer sufficient. In response, businesses are focusing on the following three areas which are mirrored in this MCS curricular proposal:

1. Building active Web sites to establish a powerful Web presence where customers can order products directly, customers and suppliers can communicate directly with a business’s internal processes, and employees can communicate with one another.
2. The non-Web, internal business systems are migrating from the mainframe to become distributed, enterprise wide systems that communicate over a network
3. The Web based systems have to communicate with the non-Web based systems to form a single enterprise wide, integrated business system.

In particular, the revision contains the following nine separate proposals:

• Two courses undergoing substantial revision and being renamed but retaining their course numbers (client/server sequence: 950-325, 425 – Form 4)
• Two courses undergoing description and/or prerequisite changes (950-210, 220 – Form 4) – see (3) below
• Five courses undergoing description changes (950-231, 232, 331, 431, and 475 – Form 5)

1. Object oriented design and programming will become pervasive throughout the curriculum
2. Java will replace C++ in the first two MCS programming courses (950-220, 231)
3. The two prerequisite courses to the MCS major, offered by the Mathematical and Computing Sciences Department, will change from a microcomputer application course (765-162) and a Pascal course (765-171)

to a Visual Basic course (765-171) and a Java course (765-172)
4. The client-server course sequence (950-325,425) will migrate to an e-commerce course sequence focusing on Web based n-tier development

Beginning in late 1998, MCS began to form a consortium of interested companies for the expressed purpose of funding these curricular initiative needs. Today, the group is called the MCS Business Partnership Consortium and consists of seven companies (Harley-Davidson, Quadgraphics, CNH Global (Case), TeamSoft, IBM, Deluxe Data, and SC Johnson Wax). Between them, they have pledged $100,000 annually to the MCS program in equipment, cash and services to meet the curriculum’s hardware/software technology, faculty development and technical support needs. The consortium meets monthly; operates through a Steering Committee, Architecture Committee, Membership Committee, and Content Committee structure; and has just published its first annual report.