Does the information systems curriculum meet business needs: Case study of a southeastern college

The ever changing business environment continues to drive the demand for information systems (IS) and information technology (IT) graduates who have the right skills to cope with both business and technological changes. These technological advances have necessitated changes in the contents of the IS undergraduate curriculums to satisfy the required skills demanded by the business communities. As a result of these changes researchers have conducted various studies on the knowledge and skill sets required of IS graduates as well as on revisions to the course content of the IS curriculum in efforts to align the IS undergraduate curriculums with the needs of the business communities. In this study a qualitative single case study was used to explore the skills and knowledge sets IS business managers in the southeastern region of the United States believe are necessary for IS graduates and investigated how IS academic professionals in same region identify and implement these competencies into the IS curriculum in time to prepare graduates. The requirements identified by IS business managers were compared to the IS degree program curriculum of colleges in the same region to ascertain if the IS undergraduate curriculum is in alignment with the knowledge and skills required by business communities. The results from the study showed that IS business managers expected future IS graduates to have a combination of technical and nontechnical skills including basic IS/IT knowledge and communication skills. A comparison of the southeastern colleges and universities' undergraduate IS/IT curricula to the skill sets IS business managers identified as important for future IS graduates revealed that the curricula were lacking in communication skills (customer facing and oral) and in some instances, skills such as team competencies, organizing, and negotiation skills were not addressed directly in the IS program curricula. Based on the study findings, leaders of IS/IT academic institutions need to consider streamlining the process for IS curriculum changes to ensure all IS academic faculty members understand the process of initiating and implementing curriculum changes. This study also addressed alternatives to assist leaders of academic institutions to closing the time gap between the awareness and demand of new skills and the implementation of curriculum changes.