Director:
The program in Information Systems is designed to produce scholars who possess a commanding knowledge of the nature of Information Systems, applications of and research on Information Systems, and the supporting technology in Computer Science.
The program seeks to develop individuals who can expand both the practice and theory of information systems for complex applications and/or organizational environments. It deals with integrated information, computer and communication systems that support and augment individuals and groups in any field of application: management, business, engineering and manufacturing, health and medicine, education, social sciences, arts and humanities, etc.
There have been dramatic developments in information systems, computing technology, economics, and related social sciences which have substantially affected the underlying methodological and scientific frameworks of business. The area of information systems has shown explosive growth as organizations have become increasingly complex, electronically integrated, and interdependent.
Graduates will be prepared for research, teaching, and/or practice in this field. The program also emphasizes the behavioral and organizational context of computer-based information systems, their requirements, design, implementation, user acceptance, management, and the evaluation of their effectiveness and consequences.
The program is designed to attract students from different disciplinary backgrounds and encourages an interdisciplinary approach to the concepts of information system design, utilization, and evaluation. It provides students with the ability to analyze and organize the information needs and resources of an application environment and to design and develop systems to respond to those needs.
Students are expected, as a result of the program, to be able to advance the state of the art of knowledge in information systems. They are prepared for research and/or development activities in either academia or industry. They are expected to be able to deal with the evolution and creation of systems to handle new application areas.
An outstanding student with a Bachelors or Masters in any field may apply and be accepted, conditional on accomplishing an appropriate set of bridge courses to make up necessary pre-requisites or knowledge deficiencies in such areas as Computers and Mathematics.
Program
Admission Requirements
A student seeking admission to this Doctor of Philosophy program must satisfy the following minimum admission requirements.
Students must have successfully completed a baccalaureate program from an accredited institution.
Submit:
1. Resume of Experience and Background (This should include details of experience, knowledge, and skills with respect to computer technology and information systems.)
2. Transcripts of academic record; GPA should be 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale.
3. Three letters of recommendation by persons familiar with the student's academic work and/or related work experience
4. GRE, GMAT, or MCAT scores. The normal minimum GRE total score is 1850.
International students must demonstrate proficiency in the English language by scoring a minimum score required by the university (which is currently 550) on the TOEFL exam. However, those seeking support must demonstrate a level of spoken and written English proficiency sufficient for teaching activities (600 or over on the TOEFL). Students may be admitted below the minimum score but will be required to take English and retake the TOEFL to prove proficiency.
Applications should include documented aptitude, interest in and commitment to scholarly activities and research. This may be demonstrated by quality of papers or projects completed by the student or employee, and/or letters of recommendation by individuals qualified to judge your professional performance.
In addition, applicants must have demonstrated superior performance
in the following areas/courses or their equivalents. Applicants who have
not met all these course requirements prior to admission, may be provisionally
accepted and then complete these requirements while in the program. Those
seeking support must have satisfied this knowledge requirement.
Table of Undergraduate Prerequisites or demonstrated knowledge
| IS Technical Background |
Mathematics:
Post Calculus Probability & Statistics Course Discrete Math Methods Course |
| Computing:
Four undergraduate courses in Computer Science in such areas as programming, data structures, data bases, software engineering, communications, etc. Appropriate work experience may be applicable to satisfying part or all of this requirement. A working knowledge of one development oriented computer language such as C++ or JAVA. Computers and Society may be required if no similar course has been taken. |
Admission
to Candidacy Requirements
Admission to the doctoral program does not imply candidacy for a degree. To be admitted to candidacy, the student must:
1. Take an integrated qualifying exam on IS core areas. Students will be provided with a reading list of all course materials that they are responsible for in the four courses involved in the qualifying exam. The objective of the qualifying exam is to determine if the student has mastered the basic knowledge in the field of Information Systems.
2. Maintain a grade average of 3.5 (B+) or better in the core courses. No graduate course may have a grade of less than B and count toward candidacy, this includes potential transfers. A grade of B or better in each core course is required in order to take the qualifying exam.
3. Successfully complete at least 24 credits (8 courses) in advanced courses, including a four- course Application Area ( or "Track") and 4 courses in Computing Systems technical foundations. Credits may be utilized for these requirements, with the approval of an advisor, from a prior master’s degree, if the courses match these requirements.
4. Choose a Research Specialty within Information Systems that will be the focus of the Ph.D. dissertation. A total of at least 8 courses will be needed for this Specialty area; up to two may be Independent Study. At least 4 of these must be at the 700 level.
5. Develop a state of the art paper in your specialty area under the guidance of a faculty member. The State of the Art Paper will usually form the basis for one or more publications and for the student's subsequent dissertation proposal. The state-of-the-art paper, once approved by the advisor, will be submitted to an exam committee approved by the program director but including the student's advisor. The examination committee will determine the nature of any additional comprehensive exam after careful review of the state-of-the-art paper.
After fulfilling these requirements, the student will be a candidate for the doctoral degree with all work but the dissertation completed (ABD).
6. Dissertation Proposal and Dissertation
This comprises the original research leading to a dissertation and demonstrating the student's ability to conceive and carry out independent research.
Six (6) credits of Pre-doctoral research allow the student to identify a research problem and to prepare a proposal for solving the problem in the dissertation. The proposal must be in writing and be defended orally in the presence of a formal review committee before it is accepted. The student is expected to successfully pass the proposal defense within a period of two (2) years after passing the qualifying examination. The committee, chaired by the student's research advisor, will contain at least four (4) faculty members, with at least one (1) committee member from outside CIS. The outside member may be from other institutions or industry provided he or she is currently engaged in relevant research. It is expected this committee will later become the thesis committee.
Dissertation and Defense
At least twenty-four (24) credits of dissertation research is required. After the research is completed, the dissertation will be defended at an open meeting of the NJIT faculty, in the presence of the dissertation committee.
However, if the student does not successfully complete the dissertation within a period of four years after passing the qualifying examination, the student's ABD status will be removed and the state of the art paper must be redone and the examination must be taken and passed again to restore that status.
Summary of Academic credit requirements:
| Area | Courses | Credits |
| IS & CS Core and Application Courses |
12
|
36
|
| Research Specialty |
8
|
24
|
| Predoctoral Research |
6
|
|
| Thesis Research |
24
|
|
| Total |
20
|
90
|
Those entering with a Masters degree are required to complete only 24 additional course credits, which could be as little as eight courses. However, they must also satisfy the candidacy requirements. Up to 36 credits may be transferred from a Master’s degree if the courses are appropriate for satisfying the Ph.D. requirements. The transferability of credits for specialty area courses must have the approval of both the program director and the student’s research specialty advisor.
7. Participation in the Ph.D. IS graduate seminar for at least 4 semesters or credits (CIS 787/788).
8. Teaching or assistance in teaching at least one course in Information Systems or a related area, under the supervision of a faculty member.
9. Submission of at least one research paper for publication in a peer reviewed conference or journal.
10. Submission of the final draft of the dissertation in the format required by the university, with signed approvals of the dissertation committee.
Should twenty-four (24) credits of dissertation research be completed before submission of the final copy of the dissertation and its acceptance by the department, it will be necessary for the student to register for a minimum of six (6) additional dissertation credits per year until the dissertation has been submitted and accepted. The oral examination will be given only after the submission of the final draft of the dissertation.
We encourage part time students to take part in this program but most thesis advisors will require a full time effort after successful completion of the qualifying exam, during the period when the dissertation proposal is being developed and the dissertation research begun.
Many of the courses are available in distance mode, but a period of on campus study will be necessary to complete advanced courses and dissertation proposal requirements.
An extensive foundation of twelve courses (36 credits) which are intended to establish a core of expertise in computing, information systems, and management is required: four courses in Computing Sciences tools and methodologies; four courses in Information Systems; and four courses in an application area or environment. Most of these courses are already core courses or options in the MS in Information Systems. The Ph.D. student is expected to maintain a B+ average in the 12 core courses.
Computing Sciences Tools and Methodologies
To ensure a strong technical foundation, Ph.D. students should choose four courses (to be selected from at least four of the five areas below); MS students should choose a minimum of two courses (selected from at least two of the five areas). Additional courses from this list can be included as electives.
A student program of study must support an application area with a four-course concentration of courses focusing on a specific type of information systems environment. The courses are usually taken outside an area of IS or CS, and must be approved by the Ph.D. advisor This may be a specific application area for Information Systems or an interdisciplinary area that supports the development of improved Information systems. Those entering the program with a masters may have satisfied this requirement as part of their master's degree. Areas that might be included are any management area, health and medical applications, sciences, advanced analysis, engineering, etc.
Examples of such four-course concentrations or "application tracks" include:
Management IS Track (four of the following)
Planned Program of Study
The student must fill in a planned program of study form and update it at least once every academic year to indicate the courses that have been taken.
The student must take the qualifying exam which will cover the IS core area. Full time Ph.D. students usually take the exam within 18 months of matriculation; eg, if they enter in September of 2000, they should plan to take the exam by January of 2002. The exam is given every January, and if needed, in June.
Upon successful completion of the qualifying examinations the student must select a specialty area under the approval of an advisor. These 24 credits (eight courses) must constitute a coherent body of knowledge in support of the student's expected area of specialization and research. This may include courses eligible for transfer credit from a prior program beyond the Bachelor's. This planned program of study will be filed with the program director, but may be changed later with the consent of the advisor. Course choices must be focused and include both the beginning and advanced course or courses in a given topic. At least four courses must be at the 700 level.
This set of courses may be considered in two parts:
1. Computing and information systems specialization courses (12 credits) determined in conjunction with the student's advisor.
Typical courses in this category are: Information Retrieval, Software Engineering, Database Systems, Telecommunications, Decision Support Systems, Management Information Systems, E-commerce, Multimedia and Hypertext Systems, Human Computer Interface Design, Learning Systems, Computer Mediated Communications, Virtual Reality Systems, Expert Systems, Knowledge-based Systems, Legal and Ethical Issues of Information Systems, and Auditing Systems.
2. Specific application oriented courses or additional IS and CS courses (12 credits) for a specialty area within CIS.
State
of the Art Paper and Comprehensive Exam
The state of the art paper is a product the student works on with an advisor during the period when he or she is taking the 24 credits of advanced study. It focuses on summarizing the students’ command and understanding of the current research issues and activity in the specialty area and important related findings from all of the coherent set of courses in the advanced study. The student may include in the advanced study an independent study or seminar course (CIS 776) with the advisor to allow for the compilation of the State of the Art paper under the advisor’s guidance.
The State of the Art Paper will usually form the basis for the student's subsequent dissertation proposal. It will summarize literature in the specialty area, carefully exposing related research areas from relevant topics making up the specialty area. The objective of this requirement is to insure the student has obtained a solid understanding of the research issues in the chosen area of study. Full time students should plan to complete the state of the art paper within one semester of passing the qualifying examination on the IS core areas; e.g., if the student takes the qualifying exam in January 2002, he or she should complete the state of the art paper by September of 2002.
The state-of-the-art paper, once approved by the advisor, will be submitted to an exam committee approved by the program director but including the student's advisor, who will also make recommendations as to other members. The examination committee will determine the nature of any additional comprehensive exam after careful review of the state-of-the-art paper.
Dissertation
Proposal and Dissertation
This comprises the original research leading to a dissertation and demonstrating the student's ability to conceive and carry out independent research.
Dissertation Proposal and Defense
The purpose of the six (6) credits of Pre-doctoral research is to allow the student to identify a research problem and to prepare a proposal for solving the problem in the dissertation. The proposal must be in writing and be defended orally in the presence of a formal review committee before it is accepted. Our objective is to have the full time student successfully defend the dissertation proposal approximately one year after passing the qualifying exam; e.g., if the student takes the exam in January 2002, he or she should try to defend a dissertation proposal by the spring semester of 2003. Students entering with only a bachelor's degree or who are attending part time may take somewhat longer. In any case, the student is expected to successfully pass the proposal defense within a period of two (2) years after passing the comprehensive examination.
The thesis proposal review committee will be made formal when the student has passed the comprehensive examination. The committee, chaired by the student's research advisor, will contain at least four (4) faculty members, with at least one (1) committee member from outside the CIS department. The outside member may be from other institutions or industry provided he or she is currently engaged in relevant research. The members of the committee will be appointed by the student's research advisor with the agreement of the student and the Program Director. It is expected this committee will later become the thesis committee.
Dissertation and Defense
With the approval of the dissertation proposal, the student may conduct research under the guidance of the research advisor. At least twenty-four (24) credits of dissertation research is also required. However, if the student does not complete the dissertation within the twenty-four (24) credits, the student must continue to register for at least three (3) credits of dissertation research each semester until the dissertation is accepted by the dissertation committee as completed. After the research is completed, the dissertation will be defended at an open meeting of the NJIT faculty, in the presence of the dissertation committee.
The formal dissertation committee will be formed after the student has successfully defended the dissertation proposal. The purpose of the dissertation committee is to guide the student to carry out high quality research and to evaluate the student's progress during the research. The primary dissertation research advisor must be a member of the tenure-track faculty of CIS. The Committee, chaired by the student's research advisor, will contain at least four(4) faculty members and at least one(1) committee member from outside of NJIT. The members of the committee will be nominated by the student's research advisor for the Ph.D. Program director's approval. The Ph.D. Program director will formally appoint the examination committee.
Dismissal from the Program
Any student failing any part of the qualifying examination or comprehensive examination including the state-of- the-art paper, or any course work may petition the Ph.D. Program Director for a second try presenting, in conjunction with the Program Director, a plan for rectifying any deficiencies. The student may be required to retake the entire examination or only selected parts. The plan to rectify deficiencies may require the completion of additional course work.
Students failing the qualifying examination or comprehensive examination, including advanced course work, a second time will be dismissed from the program. Students may be denied permission to take a second qualifying examination or comprehensive and be dismissed from the program. Students failing the qualifying examination, comprehensive examination, or advanced course work may, with the approval of the department, elect to complete all requirements for the master's degree in Information Systems or the masters degree in Computer Science provided they do not already have such a degree.
Part-time students
The program welcomes part time students. A great many of the required courses are being offered in a distance learning mode as well as the normal face to face offerings.
It should be recognized that after completing the courses and exams and entering the phase of dissertation work most Ph.D. students need to invest a minimum full time effort for six months to a year to insure success.
Industry Collaborative Doctor of Philosophy
Individuals currently engaged in relevant research areas in industry or other organizations should check the Industry Collaborative Doctor of Philosophy program (See Graduate Catalog) offered by NJIT which allows the waver of residency requirements and more specific tailoring of requirements.
Outstanding full time Ph.D. students are encouraged to apply for support. There may be either Teaching Assistantships or Research Assistantships available. Current minimum requirements for consideration for support are GRE scores of 2100 or above, a GPA of 3.7 or above, and work experience or outstanding accomplishments. However, a student accepting such an appointment will be asked to sign a commitment to pay back the tuition part of their Assistantship if they choose to leave the program for a full time job before becoming ABD. This does not apply when the student is asked to leave the program for poor performance or in the case of medical reasons.
The forms for applying for the above programs may be obtained from the Office of University Admissions (NJIT, University Heights, Newark NJ 07102, Tel: 973 596 3300), Forms for admission also appear on the NJIT website (http://www.njit.edu). A non refundable fee is required with the actual application for admission.
Those seeking work experience credit for admission prerequisites for technical knowledge in computers should include in the application package a detailed resume with specific details of various related job experiences.
Program Director for IS Ph.D. Degree
Those interested in the Ph.D. in Information Systems who have specific questions may contact the program director Starr Roxanne Hiltz (Email: hiltz@adm.njit.edu, homepage: http://eies.njit.edu/~hiltz/). However, it is impossible to express (before the complete application is reviewed) any specific opinions about admission, support, and or transfer credits. If you do wish to visit, please arrange via email first and/or check on office hours with the department secretaries (973-596-3366). There are no office hours during the summer.
Other Information
The NJIT web site is http://www.njit.edu and one may find there web pages for the College of Computing Science Information Systems Department and the School of Management. One can at those sites, and related ones, learn about the faculty, many of the courses and some of the current research taking place. Applications for graduate admission may be found at the web site for the NJIT Office of Admission.
NJIT currently offers M. S. degree in Computer Science and the M. S. degree in Information Systems through the Department of Computer and Information Science. In addition an M. S. degree in Management offered by the School of Management includes concentrations in both Information Systems Management and Information Systems Auditing. The IS degrees at the master levels train individuals to be part of application development teams and to posses a high degree of computer skills for the development of applications. The management degrees are meant to train managers knowledgeable in the utilization of computers in a commercial organization but do not require the same degree of technical capability.
There is also a B. S. in Computer Science and a B. A. in Information Systems offered by the CIS Department at NJIT. While these are adequate preparatory programs for entering the Masters or Ph.D. program in Information Systems, they are not the only path that may be taken.
The M. S. in Information Systems is a subset of the requirements for the Ph.D. program and the student who is unsure about a full commitment to a Ph.D. program should consider that option. Also one may obtain the M. S. in IS along the way to the Ph.D. in IS.
There is also a Ph.D. in Biomedical Informatics offered jointly by NJIT and UMDNJ, New Jersey’s University of the Health Sciences. Students may enroll with either NJIT or UMDNJ. The NJIT enrolled students are required to meet the requirements for the IS Ph.D. with only slight differences. They may also obtain the NJIT MS in Information Systems as part of this program.
The CIS department also offers the Computer Information System concentration in the Ph.D. in Management offered by the Rutgers Graduate School of Management at the Rutgers Newark campus..
Ph.D. Students have the right to choose their research areas and advisors. This is explained in the referenced IS policy document on student rights.
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