Graduate catalog: 2023/24

The Curriculum

The UoPeople MSIT is 100% online and is structured around four curricular components: Core Courses, Required Business Electives, Core Electives, and Program Electives.

The four components of each requirement are described below.

Core Courses

The Core consists of three courses covering the fundamentals of databases, operating systems, and algorithms. These courses provide the academic disciplines from which the student can build their skills and knowledge with any required, core elective and program elective courses that can define the degree’s focus.

      • MSIT 5210 Databases
      • MSIT 5212 Operating Systems
      • MSIT 5214 Algorithms
      • MSIT 5216 Programming Languages
      • MSIT 5226 Foundations of Machine Learning
      • MSIT 5250 Foundations of Software Engineering
      • MSIT 5260 Foundations of HCI (Identity Verification Course)

Business Core Classes

Realizing the commonality of business acumen in the information technology field, the MSIT degree provides students with a unique program that ensures a solid foundation through a set of carefully curated Master’s in Business Administration program course offerings.

      • BUS 5113 Organizational Theory and Behavior
      • BUS 5115  Business Law, Ethics and Social Responsibility (Identity Verification Course)
      • BUS 5611 Managing Projects and Programs

Required Capstone

MSIT 5910 Capstone (Identity Verification Course)

This course is completed as the final required course in the MSIT program. It offers students the opportunity to apply the knowledge and research skills gained in their coursework to an applied system design project which demonstrates attainment of all program outcomes. The Capstone Project also requires incorporation of business-oriented concepts learned from the program’s required Business Administration elective courses in the systems design process. As part of this course students will also present their project (live or via recorded video) to their Course Instructor.

If a student fails to earn a grade of B- or higher they may retake the capstone course one time only. Failure to earn a B- or higher on the second attempt shall result in the student no longer being eligible for degree conferral. In such cases the student will not be permitted reinstatement to the Master in Business Administration program and must wait a full five (5) terms before being eligible to apply to any other UoPeople program.

Core Education Courses

Databases

Developing and managing efficient and effective database applications requires understanding the fundamentals of database management systems, techniques for the design of databases, and database administration principles. This course will emphasize database concepts, developments, use, and management in three main areas: database concepts, practice, and emerging trends. Relational database systems are the focus, but other types, including object-oriented databases, are studied. The practical design of databases and developing database applications using modern software tools will be emphasized.

Course Code:  MSIT 5210
Prerequisites: None
Credits: 3

Operating Systems

This course covers the core concepts of modern operating systems. In this course, we’ll discuss the basic structure of the operating system which is based on three key ideas: virtualization, concurrency, and persistence. Through these three key ideas, we’ll see how an operating system controls the execution of user programs, attached devices and acts as an interface between computer users and the hardware.

Course Code: MSIT 5212
Prerequisites: None
Credits: 3

Algorithms

This course is an introduction to design of computer algorithms and the analysis of sophisticated algorithms. Students learn how to analyze the asymptotic performance of algorithms, and gain familiarity with major algorithms and data structures. They also apply important algorithmic design paradigms and methods of analysis, in addition to synthesizing efficient algorithms in common software engineering design situations. Students will use Python or Java programming language to implement and analyze algorithms to evaluate efficiency.

Course Code: MSIT 5214
Prerequisites: None
Credits: 3

Organizational Theory and Behavior

This course is designed to expose the student to the fundamental principles with which to understand human behavior inside public organizations. The course examines various theories developed in an attempt to explain and predict employee behavior in an organizational context. This course investigates individual and interpersonal behavior in organizations, including personality, decision-making, personal perceptions, teamwork, conflict, leadership, power, ethics and influence. In addition, this course seeks to analyze organizational-level factors affecting behavior, including change management, internal reward systems, culture, and organizational communication.

Course Code: BUS 5113
Prerequisites: None
Credits: 3

Business Law, Ethics and Social Responsibility (Identity Verification Course)

Leaders and managers are accountable to shareholders, they are economically, financially, and legally responsible for what happens with their organizations. Ethical and social responsibility is similarly ascribed to those in charge. The course covers how an organization’s values and actions affect internal and external constituencies. It introduces reasons to promote responsible behavior on the part of organizations, and their employees. Students study real-world dilemmas and gain experience analyzing competing positive values, choosing among fully legal options, and navigating the grey area that frequently surrounds key management decisions. Studying classical cases of business failures will alert students to the ethical steps needed to protect young ventures and the consequences of failing to act ethically in the ongoing conduct of commerce.

This course is required for all MSIT students.

Course Code: BUS 5115
Prerequisites: None
Credits: 3

Managing Projects and Programs

Project management enables organizations to optimize the use of scarce resources to accomplish strategic goals within a fixed timeframe. The course covers the tools and methods available to manage large and small projects and programs from inception to completion. The life cycle of projects and the relationship of people and resources at various project stages is discussed and students are introduced to the principles and practices for contracting and procurement and the role of the project manager in these processes. They utilize this knowledge to develop a project plan that includes needs assessment, articulating rationales, specifying steps and processes, identifying resource needs, assigning roles and responsibilities, predicting costs and timelines, developing controls and pursuing risk mitigation, and articulating methods to monitor and evaluate effectiveness and fit to identified need. 

Course Code: BUS 5611
Prerequisites: BUS 5110, BUS 5112, and BUS 5113
Credits: 3 

Programming Languages

There is tremendous diversity when it comes to computer languages. New languages are created to solve new computing problems. This course covers the basic concepts and design tradeoffs of programming languages. We will examine the different types of languages, their properties, and their uses. We will also look at the history of programming and how computer languages operate to interact with computers and manipulate data.

Course Code: MSIT 5216
Prerequisites: None
Credits: 3

Advanced Databases

Students are provided with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills in advanced topics in database systems, data marts, and data warehouses. The specific topics covered include indexing methods, query processing and optimization strategies for relational database systems, Object Relational Mapping and Object Database design, distributed database systems, data mining on large databases.

Course Code: MSIT 5220
Prerequisites: None
Credits: 3

Advanced Algorithms

The need for efficient algorithms arises in nearly every area of computer science. But the type of problem to be solved, the notion of what algorithms are “efficient,” and even the model of computation can vary widely from area to area. In this second class in algorithms, we will survey many of the techniques that apply broadly in the design of efficient algorithms, and study their application in a wide range of application domains and computational models.

Course Code: MSIT 5224
Prerequisites: None
Credits: 3

Foundations of Machine Learning

This course covers the theory and practical algorithms for machine learning from a variety of perspectives and will introduce the fundamental concepts that enable computers to learn from experience. An emphasis will be placed on the practical application to real problems. Topics include classification, clustering, dimension reduction, support vector machines, learning theory, online algorithms, and classical methods such as linear regression and reinforcement learning. This course will also offer a mathematical and practical perspective on artificial neural networks and will investigate the optimization and regularization techniques.

Course Code: MSIT 5226
Prerequisites: None
Credits: 3

Foundations of Networking

In this course students learn the fundamentals of electronic communications and networking. The course centers on seven key elements of networking:

1. Wire and Wireless Communications
2. OSI model
3. TCP/IP
4. Switching
5. Routing
6. Wireless Access Points
7. Application and Network Security

Course Code: MSIT 5228
Prerequisites: None
Credits: 3

Foundations of WWW Technologies

This course teaches the fundamentals of the World-Wide Web (W3) global information system, its protocols, and data formats, and how it is used in practice. Students will learn issues related to peer-to-peer information exchange and the basic W3 model of hypertext and search indexes. Topics also include the protocols used by W3, Simple Search and Retrieval Protocol (HTTP), and Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) document encoding. The course also teaches the concepts and applications of front end and back end development, including the basic medias formats for audio and video.

Course Code: MSIT 5230
Prerequisites: None
Credits: 3

Foundations of AI

The course introduces the student to the principles and methods used to solve Artificial Intelligence (AI) challenges, with a particular attention to knowledge-based systems, computational logic approaches, smart city applications, industrial and automation scenario. In particular, the Python programming language is used as a tool for implementing Artificial Intelligence systems. Some hints on neural networks and machine learning will be presented. Moreover, the current and future trends in Artificial Intelligence are explored.

Course Code: MSIT 5240
Prerequisites: None
Credits: 3

Foundations of Software Engineering

Foundation of Software Engineering course is designed to prepare graduates for careers that involve the development, design, testing, maintenance, and documentation of various software products. This gives in-depth coverage of the areas of software engineering that are essential for becoming proficient in the field. Software engineering career-track jobs include- software architect, software engineer, quality assurance or QA engineer, CRM project manager, security engineer, front-end engineer, back-end engineer, full-stack engineer, and mobile developer. Graduates will be educated in the foundations of software engineering, as well as the business impact of potential solutions to software engineering problems. By the end of the course, students will be able to apply fundamental software engineering concepts to real-world scenarios through projects and assignments.

Course Code: MSIT 5250
Prerequisites: None
Credits: 3

Foundations of HCI (Identity Verification Course)

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) focuses on the theories, and technologies that establish and understanding of the complexity and relationship between humans and computing systems. The course includes the human-computer interface in the design and development of technologies, using cognitive and social characteristics of people, as well limitations that affects design and implementation decision making.
This course is required for all MSIT students.

Course Code: MSIT 5260
Prerequisites: None
Credits: 3

Foundations of Cybersecurity

The fundamentals of cyber security are introduced in this course. Students will learn to identify attack phases, understand threats and motivations. The course will also introduce student to the tools, resources, and techniques used in cyber-attacks and the techniques for mitigating threats.

Course Code: MSIT 5270
Prerequisites: None
Credits: 3

Capstone (Identity Verification Course)

This course is completed as the final required course in the MSIT program. It offers students the opportunity to apply the knowledge and research skills gained in their coursework to an applied system design project which demonstrates attainment of all program outcomes. The Capstone Project also requires incorporation of business-oriented concepts learned from the program’s required Business Administration elective courses in the systems design process. As part of this course students will also present their project (live or via recorded video) to their Course Instructor.

Course Code: MSIT 5910
Prerequisites: As this is the final course in the MSIT program, all Core Courses, in addition to at least three and elective courses must be completed before taking this course.
Credit: 3