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Waitlist for Fall/Summer 2008 Now Open

NSF IGERT Fellowship Opportunities at University of Illnois at Chicago for Business Studnets

MIS/IDS students chosen for "Fifty for Future" honor

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Message from the Head

On behalf of the information and decision sciences faculty, students and staff – welcome to our Web site. Whether you are a prospective student, an alumnus looking to link to our alumni community, a corporate partner seeking qualified candidates, interns, or information from our faculty’s cutting edge research, I trust you’ll find this site interesting and informative.

Information and Decision Sciences’ programs offer an exciting opportunity to study and grow.IDS is a place where knowledge meets practice; where the desire to make a difference fuels the aspirations of future managers. We are committed to educating business leaders in the cutting edge technologies that define successful businesses. 

But we aren’t just about the technology.We look for, and develop creative problem solving strengths in our students; at the same time, we encourage students to develop as effective team players, with a strong set of ethics, communications skills and a passion to excel.

To support our efforts, our IDS programs are being expanded to offer several outstanding features, including:

• Career preparation:  has launched new curricula at both the undergraduate and master’s level that organize courses around today’s primary job markets in technology.

  Our courses for majors require two to three core courses which focus on an intense study of the technology.

  Elective courses are grouped into five tracks which offer students the comprehensive knowledge and problem solving expertise required to excel in their chosen careers:

  • Innovation, technology and project management
  • Computer forensics and litigation support;
  • Management of electronic commerce, social networking technologies and multimedia enterprises
  • Quantitative methods in finance and marketing; and
  • Service operations management

  All of our tracks stress problem solving skills with a focus on students’ ability to frame, analyze and communicate.This prepares students to tackle real-world problems by identifying the main issues, generating and analyzing potential solutions and presenting recommendations.These skills are reinforced in case analyses, projects and competitions in the school.

  Courses in any of these five tracks may be flexibly combined to allow students to customize the program that most closely fits their interests and career aspirations.For majors in finance, accounting, marketing and managerial Studies, any of these tracks may be taken as a Minor (for undergraduates) or Concentration (at the master’s level), offering non-major students technological credentials that will give them a competitive edge in the job market.

• Student Selectivity: We attract the best and brightest students from around the world.We not only consider grades and test scores, but interpersonal skills and leadership potential.


• Teamwork: We emphasize group work, allowing each student to benefit from the quality and diverse cultural and business backgrounds of our school and the Chicago community. We also foster a strong partnership between students, faculty and staff in the learning enterprise. In addition to honing analytic skills, we teach effective writing skills and persuasive oral presentation techniques that ensure success throughout our students’ careers.


• Industry Networking: Our cross-functional curriculum is constantly ‘reality checked’ against the demands of the sponsors of IDS’s internal think tank – the Center for Research in Information Management. CRIM sponsors represent the major technology employers in the greater Chicago area – from Motorola to Harley-Davidson.We continually work with CRIM sponsors to generate internships and job opportunities on one side; and student projects and research reports that benefit these sponsors on the other.Selected students are invited to be a part of our CRIM activities, giving their careers a competitive edge.

An ambitious program such as ours does not simply run itself.I am thankful to have the support – and more importantly the continuing efforts and passion for excellence – of a world-class faculty.Our faculty is actively involved in advising and interacting with the business community as well as government and regulatory bodies. They serve on boards of corporations, financial institutions, law firms and government agencies. Their activities are essential to providing students with a competitive edge.

I hope you take this chance to explore our Web site and find out more about the exciting programs that we at IDS have to offer.I think you will be convinced when we say that IDS is the place that theory meets practice in the ever expanding role of innovation and technology.

J. Christopher Westland, IDS Department Head