UNION COUNTY COLLEGE ACADEMIC PROGRAM REVIEW. Business/Computer Information Systems. Associate in Arts Degree

UNION COUNTY COLLEGE ACADEMIC PROGRAM REVIEW Business/Computer Information Systems I. Program Objectives Associate in Arts Degree The Computer Information Systems Associate in Arts Degree is designed for students who want to continue their education in computer information systems at the 4-year institution level. The program follows the guidelines established through the collaborative efforts of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Association for Information Systems (AIS), and the Association for Information Technology Professionals (AITP) written in 2002. This model curriculum ( IS2002) lists knowledge content areas and not actual course names for the program. According to IS2002 Information Systems, as an academic field, encompasses two broad areas: (1) acquisition, deployment, and management of information technology resources and services (the information systems function); and (2) development and evolution of technology infrastructures and systems for use in organizational processes. The ACM Two-Year College Education Committee, of which Dr. Elizabeth Hawthorne (Chair, ACM Two-Year College Education Committee) is a member, created a report in 2004 which forms the framework for the development, support, and updating of CIS associate-degree programs. In addition to Hawthorne, UCC Professors Michael O Donnell and Patricia Rodihan were part of the task force that produced the report. Graduates with an associate degree in CIS should be able to: apply computing skills to solve problems within the context of business systems; communicate effectively within an organization; work productively in team and individual settings; demonstrate professionalism and ethical behavior; and adapt to emerging technologies and new environments. II. Departmental Organization and Administration The BUCS program is an associate in arts degree program. Department communication is informal with no strict constraints. E-mail and mobile communication devices are used extensively among department faculty. The professors of the BUCS program report to the coordinator of the program, who reports to the chairperson of the department, who then reports to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, who reports to the President of Union County College III. Faculty 1

During the 2007-2008 academic year the BUCS program consisted of four, full-time faculty members. Professor Dzuback taught 12 contact hours in the fall semester, none of which were core BUCS courses, and 15 contact hours in the spring semester, 6 of which were core BUCS courses. Professor Hawthorne taught 9 contact hours in the fall semester, 3 of which were core BUCS courses and 9 contact hours, none of which were core BUCS courses. Professor Rodihan taught 23 contact hours in the fall semester, 3 of which were core BUCS courses and 29 contact hours in the spring semester, none of which were core BUCS courses. Professor Wrice taught 15 contact hours in the fall semester, 3 of which were core BUCS courses and 15 contact hours in the spring semester, none of which were core BUCS courses. Many of the faculty in the BUCS program are involved professional development programs including the League for Innovation, information technology conferences, the Educom Conference, and the New Jersey Community College Computer Consortium. A. Advisory Committee The BUCS program and the ADMS program are in the process of forming and combining an advisory committee consisting of corporation, industry, and four-year University faculty members. The individuals have been identified and invitation letters are being prepared by the president of Union County College. The first meeting of the advisory committee is being planned for the 2009-2010 academic year. IV. Curriculum Accounting (8 credits): Business (6 credits): Economics (6 credits): Mathematics (6-8 credits): Communications (6 credits): Science (4 credits): Humanities/Social Sciences (6 credits): Information Systems (12 credits): History (6 credits): Electives (6 credits): Total (66-68 credits) ACC 103 Accounting I ACC 104 Accounting II BUS 101 Intro to Contemporary Business BUS 201 Business Law ECO 201 Principles of Economics I ECO 202 Principles of Economics II 2 Mathematics courses chosen by advisor ENG 101 English Composition I ENG 102 English Composition II 1 Laboratory Science PSY 101 General Psychology PSY 102 Psychology of Personality or SOC 101 Principles of Sociology CIS 101 Intro to Information Systems CIS 102 Applications Program Development I CIS 201 Applications Program Development II CIS 202 Structured Systems Analysis HIS 101 Intro to Western Civilization I or Modern Language HIS 102 Intro to Western Civilization II or Modern Language Recommended electives-eng 128, Fine Arts 2

The BUCS program is based upon the following as outlined in IS 2002: IS professionals must have a broad business and real world perspective. IS professionals must have strong analytical and critical thinking skills. IS professionals must have interpersonal communication and team skills and have strong ethical principles. IS professionals must design and implement information technology solutions that enhance organizational performance. The total number of credits required in the BUCS program meets the criteria for being awarded an Associate in Arts degree and the distribution of courses is appropriate for a typical Business/Computer Information Systems curriculum. Foundational mathematics, accounting and economics courses are required. The importance of the English communications courses cannot be overemphasized; repeatedly employer feedback highlights the need for good communications skills from employees. The history, science, and humanities/social science courses help contribute to developing students well-rounded general education. The sequence of business courses consists of fourteen credits, including 8 credits in accounting and 6 credits in business. The sequence of information systems courses consists of twelve credits and the sequence of economics courses consist of 6 credits. All of these courses have the appropriate content and level as indicated by the course descriptions in the 2008-2010 UCC course catalog. In preparation for Middle States review the syllabi for BUCS core courses were updated. The syllabus for CIS 202 is being updated for the fall of 2009. The core BUCS course textbooks tend to change every 2 years. V. Articulation Agreements or Joint Admission Agreements The BUCS department has many articulation agreements with four-year colleges designed to facilitate transfer to these institutions. The BUCS program will transfer to Kean University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Rutgers University. NJIT offers a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Information System as a joint degree program with Rutgers-Newark. Please note that these institutions do not agree with course titles for the program. They also do not agree with the mathematics required for the program. VI. Resources, Facilities and Services The computer laboratory facilities available for this program are excellent. Computers are replaced in these labs on a three-year rotation. Most of the labs contain a SmartBoard which promotes student interaction and learning. Software in the laboratories is updated at least twice a year. The library has many texts and databases supporting the BUCS program. Available to students is the ACM Digital Library. This contains links to journals, magazines, newsletters, etc. which are published by the ACM. Also available are two databases that specialize in business: ABI/INFORM and Business Source Premier. ABI/INFORM includes details on virtually every aspect of global business, including company histories, competitive intelligence, and new product development. ABI/INFORM contains bibliographic citations and 25-150 word summaries of articles appearing in professional 3

publications, academic journals, and trade magazines published worldwide. The full text of articles is included for hundreds of journals. There is no print equivalent to the database. The Business Source Premier database includes: cumulative full text for over 3,677 journals including Business Week, American Banker, Forbes, Fortune, The Economist full text for 1,090 peer-reviewed journals indicative abstracts and indexing for over 4,508 business journals, plus coverage of The Wall Street Journal country economic reports from the Economist Intelligence Unit, Global Insight and others over 5,000 company records from Datamonitor VII. Students A. Program Enrollment Analysis The proportionate change in total BUCS majors has a history of fluctuating. The total enrollment in the 2007-08 academic year included 83 BUCS majors, most of whom were continuing (43) or first-time (21) students. Table 2 details BUCS enrollment patterns over the past several years. Table 3 further details fall enrollment patterns by attendance status. As can be seen in this table, there was a small decline in the amount of students enrolled in the Fall of 2006 (69) to the Fall of 2007 (59). There is currently a lack of gender diversity in the IT work force. The amount of women comprising the IT work force has decreased from 43% to 26% from 1983 to 2008, respectively. 1 Table 4 shows that the amount of females enrolled in the BUCS program has a history of decreasing. The amount of females in the program increased only once in the Fall of 2007 and then decreased again in the Fall of 2008. Table 5 shows the number of transfers into the BUCS program. The BUCS program had an increase in the amount of 4 external transfer students into the program from 2001-02 to 2002-03 followed by a decrease of 12 from 2002-03 to 2004-05. The amount of external transfer students increased to 4 in 2005-06 and then decreased to 2 in 2006-07 before settling at 3 in 2007-08. Student attrition throughout the BUCS program has posed an issue for students academic success. As Table 6 depicts, there were 10 BUCS students enrolled in core courses in the Fall 2006 semester, yet only 4 eventually graduated. Of those 4 graduates, only one had taken the core BUCS courses in sequence and one student did not complete one of the required courses. Those who did not graduate are either still continuing in the program (1 student, or 10%), did not re-enroll (3 students, or 30%), changed their major (2 students, or 20%), or were academically dismissed (1 students, or 10%). The average amount of semesters it takes a BUCS student to graduate is 11.1 according to the 2007 graduating class of the BUCS program. This is longer than the average of 9.3 semesters taken by students completing A.A. degree programs. It should be noted that over the 10 semesters from the Fall of 2006 to the Spring of 2009, CIS 102 was only offered twice while CIS 201 was only offered three times. A lack of scheduling of core courses may have had an effect on the ability of students to complete the program. 1 Source: Communications of the ACM 4

Table 7 illustrates the number of graduates from the BUCS program. There were 15 graduates from the BUCS program in 2001-02 which decreased to 14 graduates in 2002-03 and to 7 graduates in 2003-04. The number of graduates then increased to 11 graduates in 2004-05 and decreased to 7 graduates in 2005-06. There was another decrease in the number of graduates from the BUCS program from 7 to 4 from 2005-06 to 2006-07 followed by another increase to 6 graduates in 2007-08. Credit hours generated from BUCS students decreased 2,468 hours to 1,419 credit hours from fiscal year (FY) 2002 to FY 2007. Table 8 contains this information. The BUCS direct instructional cost has decreased over $250,000 between the 2002 and 2007 fiscal years, to $166,074.88 while the cost per full-time equivalent (FTE) student has increased $340, to $3,035.90. Table 9 has figures since FY2002. There are 4 similar Associate s degree programs in the area, 1 Certificate program and 1 Bachelor degree program. Table 10 lists these schools and programs. B. Core Course Scheduling and Enrollment Table 11 depicts the distribution of students among core BUCS courses from the 2001-02 to 2007-08 academic years. Overall, 1,201 (duplicate) students enrolled in 86 sections of core BUCS courses with an average class size of 14.0 students. A total of 289 (duplicate) students enrolled in the core BUCS courses in academic year 2001-02. There were 19 sections that ran, with an overall average class size of 15.2 students. During the 2007-08 academic year, 100 (duplicate) students enrolled in 7 sections for an average class size of 14.3 students. It should be noted that all of the core courses in the BUCS program were offered and ran at least once during the 2001-02 to 2007-08 academic years. It should also be noted that there is a limited number of workstations available for core BUCS courses therefore there cannot be more than a certain number of students enrolled in each course. Additional required course enrollment is presented in Table 12. Table 13 contains core course scheduling information. There were a total of 92 core courses offered, of which 86 actually ran, over the seven year time period. Most BUCS major courses were offered (and ran) on the Cranford campus. Saturday courses dominated the schedule, with 20 of the 21 offered courses running. Apart from Saturday courses, the most popular days for courses were Monday/Wednesday (17 that ran) and classes that started between 9:00am 9:59am (19 that ran) and 6:00pm - 6:59pm (19 that ran). C. Student Outcomes The Office of Assessment, Planning and Research conducts an annual survey of UCC graduates. 10 students transferred to a 4-year institution after graduating from UCC. Five of the 10 graduates that transferred attended Kean University, two attended Rutgers University, one attended the University of Massachusetts, one attended Bloomfield College and one attended Kaplan College. See Table 14. Table 15 lists the degrees that the graduates who transferred were pursuing. The most common degrees being pursued were computer science (2), and management (2). The amount of credits that transferred from UCC to the new institutions are listed in Table 16. 5

All of the BUCS respondents reported that they accomplished their objective at UCC. Survey results over the past five years also emphasize that the majority of BUCS graduates are generally satisfied with UCC. Further details from this survey are presented in Table 17. An analysis using the CCbenefits occupational projections tool revealed that the job forecast for students graduating from BUCS programs in the Newark-Union Labor Area may be a concern. The area fell short of the expected change by 477 jobs showing an increase of 55 jobs instead of the projected 532 over a ten year period. Highlights of this analysis can be found in Appendix I. While most students completing this degree will transfer to a 4-year institution, some will need to be employed because of family and financial obligations. According to the ACM report students graduating from a career-oriented associate degree program in Information Systems may enter the workforce with job titles such as: Database programmer, database administrator, database manager, records manager; Systems administrator, network administrator, network specialist; Technical writer, documentation specialist; Technical support specialist, help desk specialist; E-business specialist, e-commerce specialist; Web designer, web specialist, web developer, webmaster, instructional designer; Programmer, applications programmer, programmer/analyst, information systems developer, software tester; Business process specialist, business automation specialist; and Computer sales associate. The BUCS department is evaluating options for requiring a portfolio for assessing student learning throughout the BUCS core courses. The portfolio will be beneficial in assisting the students in admissions to four-year colleges and potential employment after graduation. VIII. Summary and Conclusions The cost per FTE of the BUCS program, i.e., $3,035.90, exceeds the median cost per FTE of programs at UCC which was $2,824.84 in FY 2007. The cost per FTE of the BUCS program has exceeded the median cost per FTE of programs at UCC since FY 2002. Of particular concern is the projected availability of jobs for computer and information systems managers, computer programmers, and database administrators for the Newark-Union labor area. Over the next decade, an increase of 0% is projected in the region computer and information systems managers, computer programmers, and database administrator jobs. Similarly, a 0% increase in employment for computer and information systems managers, computer programmers, and database administrator jobs is forecasted for the State and a small 7% increase in jobs is expected for the nation. 2 The occupation employment projections for computer and information systems managers show ten annual average job openings from 2004 to 2014 for Union County while projections for 2 Source: CCbenefits 6

computer and information systems managers and computer programmers show an annual average of 0 job openings. 3 The BUCS program was not designated as a regional program because it is not unique among community colleges in the State, e.g., Passaic, Camden, Morris, Raritan Valley, and Hudson County Community College offer programs. The main objective of this program is student transfer. According to the ACM report: Students graduating from a career-oriented associate degree program in Information Systems may enter the workforce with job titles such as: Database programmer, database administrator, database manager, records manager; Systems administrator, network administrator, network specialist; Technical writer, documentation specialist; Technical support specialist, help desk specialist; E-business specialist, e-commerce specialist; Web designer, web specialist, web developer, webmaster, instructional designer; Programmer, applications programmer, programmer/analyst, information systems developer, software tester; Business process specialist, business automation specialist; and Computer sales associate. Most employers today are looking for employees with basic skills. CIS employees also need these skills: Communication skills including writing, speaking, listening, and presentation skills; Computation and mathematical abilities; Critical analysis, problem-solving, and decision-making techniques; Familiarity with the liberal arts and Interpersonal skills, and cultural and diversity tolerance. Receptions are actively held by the BUCS department to attract students to the program. A few professors also teach in UCC 101 and have the opportunity to talk with new students about the program. Many students choose other programs that involve computers because they know they would like to work with computers however they are not aware of the other curriculum involved and may choose the wrong program. The BUCS program is going through a transition from an Associate in Arts to an Associate in Science degree. This transition will make it easier for students to transfer into a four-year degree program as most four-year programs result in a Bachelor of Science degree. This transition will change the general education requirements. The change will have to go through the curriculum committee for review and to faculty for approval and finally to the President s Council. 3 Source: State of New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development 7

Business/Computer Information Systems Table 17 Graduate Survey Information Graduate Survey Information -- BUCS Majors 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 n=5 n=0 n=4 n=1 n=2 Accomplished objective 5-4 1 2 Currently employed full-time 3-2 - - Currently employed part-time 2-2 1 1 Satisfied with UCC, in general 4 1-3 3 1 1 1 Would choose UCC again 3 2-2 4 1 1 5 Recommend UCC 5-3 5 1 1 5 1 1 Student was indifferent 2 2 Students were undecided 3 1 Student was dissatisfied 4 1 Student would not recommend UCC and another had no response 5 1 Student was undecided

Appendix I Business/Computer Information Systems Job Forecast CCbenefits provides data, tools and reports for community colleges to use for occupational projections with respect to specific educational programs. For the purposes of this report, the APR office utilized the economic forecaster module to investigate the occupational projections for graduates of the Business/Computer Information Systems, Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code 52.1201. The analysis links the academic program by CIP code to the federal government s Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. CIP code 52.1201 is directly mapped to SOC codes 11-3021, computer and information systems managers; 15-1021, computer programmers; and 15-1061, database administrators. Business/Computer Information Systems (CIP 52.1201) Mapped to SOC codes 11-3021: computer and information systems managers; 15-1021: computer programmers; and 15-1061: database administrators. For the Newark-Union Labor Area (Essex, Hunterdon, Morris, Sussex, Union). Timeframe: 2008-2013 (5 years) Over the next five years, a projected increase of 55 Business/Computer Information Systems jobs (0.77%) is predicted for the Newark-Union Labor area. This compares to a 1% increase throughout New Jersey and a 5% increase nationally. General economic growth throughout the US should create about 532 additional Business/Computer Information Systems jobs in this area over the next five years. An expected 133 Business/Computer Information Systems jobs will be lost in the local area over the next five years. A regional decline of 344 Business/Computer Information Systems jobs is expected by the year 2013. In sum, 532 jobs created - 133 local jobs lost 344 national jobs lost = 55 total projected jobs. The concentration of Business/Computer Information Systems jobs in the Newark-Union Labor area is above the national average however, this concentration is expected to decline over the next five years. Throughout the State of New Jersey, areas that specialize in Business/Computer Information Systems jobs are Somerset, Middlesex, Mercer, Hudson, Morris, Bergen, Monmouth, Burlington, Essex, Union, Hunterdon, and Passaic counties, since these areas are above the national concentration average in Business/Computer Information Systems jobs. Timeframe: 2008-2018 (10 years) The Business/Computer Information Systems job market in the Newark-Union Labor area over the next ten years is projected to have an increase of 10 jobs. Regionally, an increase of 0% of Business/Computer Information Systems jobs is anticipated over the next 10 years, compared to increases of 0% at the state and 7% at the national level. The future health of the economy over the next ten years should account for an additional 903 Business/Computer Information Systems jobs in the Newark-Union Labor area. A projected loss of 309 Business/Computer Information Systems jobs in the local area is a result of occupational performance at the national level. Regional attributes are expected to account for the loss of 584 jobs in this labor area. In total, this equates to a job increase of 10 Business/Computer Information Systems jobs over the next ten years.