Information Systems (IS)

Program Admission Requirements
Financial Assistance
Programs and Courses

ARYYA GANGOPADHYAY, Department Chair
GEORGE KARABATIS, Associate Chair for Academic Affairs
ZHIYUAN CHEN, Graduate Program Director, IS
DONGSONG ZHANG, Graduate Program Director, ISO

Degrees Offered

M.S., Ph.D. (Degree Types )

Faculty

Professors

GANGOPADHYAY, ARYYA, Ph.D., Chair, Rutgers University; privacy preserving data mining, knowledge discovery in structured and unstructured data, health information systems
NORCIO, Anthony F., Ph.D., The Catholic University of America; theoretical interests: human-computer interfaces, complex systems design, health informatics, application interests: adaptive/personalized interfaces, air traffic control, internationalization of interfaces, usability, user modeling
ZHANG, DONGSONG, Ph.D., University of Arizona; context-aware mobile applications, mobile Web adaptation, social computing, computer-mediated communication and collaboration, E-business

Associate Professors

CANFIELD, GERALD, Ph.D., University of Utah; Medical informatics, networks, databases
CHEN, ZHIYUAN, Ph.D., Cornell University; database systems and data mining, including privacy preserving data mining, data exploration and navigation, data integration, XML, automatic database administration, and database compression
JANEJA, VANDANA, Ph.D., Rutgers University; spatial data mining, anomaly detection, disease informatics, data mining for e-government and homeland security applications
KARABATIS, GEORGE, Ph.D., University of Houston; database systems, cyber-security, semantic integration of enterprise systems, data integration, mobile data management
KOMLODI, ANITA, Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park; human-centered computing, information storage and retrieval, computer supported cooperative work
KORU, A. GUNES, Ph.D., Southern Methodist University; health information technology, privacy, data mining, measurement, quality improvement, project management, and open source systems
KUBER, RAVI, Ph.D., Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland; human-centered computing, universal access to technology, haptic and multimodal interface design and evaluation
LUTTERS, WAYNE, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine; computer supported cooperative work (CSCW), human-centered computing (HCC), knowledge management (KM), online communities
OZOK, A. ANT, Ph.D., Purdue University; School of Industrial Engineering; human-centered computing, human-technology interaction in health care, human factors in patient safety, user aspects of e-commerce, survey design and implementation, usability design evaluation methodologies, multiple-method approaches in human factors
SAMPATH, SREEDEVI, Ph.D., University of Delaware; software engineering, software testing, testing web applications, software maintenance, program analysis
SEAMAN, CAROLYN, Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park; software engineering, software maintenance, knowledge management, software development organizations, qualitative research methods
ZHOU, LINA, Ph.D., Beijing University; deception detection, computer-mediated communication, intelligent decision support, social network analysis, ontology, and knowledge management

Assistant Professors

HURST, AMY, Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University; human-centered computing, assistive technology, interaction design, context-aware computing, democratizing technology
MENTIS, HELENA, Ph.D., Penn State University; human-computer interaction, computer supported cooperative work, and biomedical informatics. I specifically focus on engaging in a translational research approach to align coordinated clinical practices with information technology such as gestural interaction in the OR, informal data sharing in the emergency room, and health information sharing
PAN, SHIMEI, Ph.D., Columbia University; natural language processing, intelligent user interfaces and user modeling, interactive machine learning and data mining
ROY, NIRMALYA, Ph.D, University of Texas at Arlington; pervasive healthcare, sensor-driven health and green technologies, design and modeling of smart environments, and mobile and pervasive systems
ZHOU, BIN, Ph.D., Simon Fraser University, Canada; privacy preserving data publishing and data mining, web search and mining, social network analysis, database systems
ZHU, QIAN, Ph.D., Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science; applying informatics approaches, emerging computational and web technologies in biomedical and clinical fields to facilitate meaningful use of big medical/clinical data to better support drug discovery and patient care

Program Description

The Information Systems Department offers MS and PhD degrees in Information Systems (IS), Human-Centered Computing (HCC), and an M.P.S. in Health Information Technology (HIT). Prospective MS students can choose from three campus-based MS degrees (IS, HIT and HCC) or one completely online MS degree (IS only). All programs are designed for students who wish to further their knowledge and experience in the area of Information Systems, Health Information Technology or Human-Centered Computing. These programs may also be of interest to individuals whose undergraduate academic backgrounds are not in a computer or information systems discipline but who meet the department’s admission requirements.

The IS department offers two Ph.D. programs. They are research oriented and intended for graduate students who desire to make research contributions to the field of Information Systems (IS) or Human-Centered Computing (HCC).

The MS programs in IS (campus-based or online) focus on using computer technologies to provide methods, practices, and algorithms that transform data into information and knowledge desired by, and useful for, individual and group users in organizations.

Research Areas

The department’s faculty and programs have a broad view of information systems. Research areas include, but are not limited to:
•   Artificial Intelligence/Knowledge Management
•   Database/Data Mining
•   Health Informatics
•   Human-Centered Computing
•   Systems and Software

Program Admission Requirements

Admissions decisions are based on the following criteria:

Bachelor’s degree: A four-year bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university or an equivalent degree from a comparable foreign institution.
Language requirements: All applicants are expected to read, speak, write and understand English fluently upon entering the program. A TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or an IELTS test is required for students who have earned an undergraduate degree from a non-English-speaking college or university. Applicants whose native language is not English, but who have a post-secondary degree from an Englishspeaking institution will not be required to take the TOEFL or IELTS. The minimum acceptable TOEFL score established for admission into the program is 550 (written), 213 (computerized), or 80 (iBT). The minimum acceptable IELTS score is 6.5. TOEFL information and applications are available from Educational Testing Service (ETS) at TOEFL, Educational Testing Service, P.O. Box 6151, Princeton, NJ
08541-6151, Phone: 609-771-7100 or online at www.toefl.org. IELTS information can be obtained from www.ielts.org.
GRE scores are not required for any of the MS programs. However, all applicants for either doctoral program must submit their GRE Aptitude Test scores before the application deadline.
The majority of successful applicants have an undergraduate GPA well above 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale). Applicants with GPA slightly under 3.0 may be granted for conditional acceptance, depending on their past working experience and other evidence that shows applicants’ potential in succeeding in the M.S. program.
The application deadline dates for the programs are as follows:
- Domestic Application Deadlines:
  - M.S.: May 1 and October 1
  - Ph.D.: February 1 and September 1
- International Application Deadlines:
  - January 1 and June 1

Note: All original application documents for the Campus Based Programs must be sent directly to the Graduate School, rather than to the graduate program. UMBC’s assigned TOEFL code is 005835. TOEFL test must have been within 2 years of matriculation to be valid.

For details on all of our graduate level programs, please visit the department’s website at www.is.umbc.edu.

Financial Assistance

A limited number of graduate teaching assistantships are available to students enrolled in the Information Systems and Human-Centered Computing Ph.D. programs. Interested students are asked to apply the semester before.

For More Information

Visit:
www.is.umbc.edu

Contact:
Zhiyuan Chen
Graduate Program Director for IS Programs
410-455-8833
zhchen@umbc.edu

Shannon Keegan
Graduate Program Manager
410-455-2650
keegan@umbc.edu

Anita Komlodi
Graduate Program Director for HCC Programs
410-455-3212
komlodi@umbc.edu

Dongsong Zhang
Graduate Program Director, IS Online
410-455-2851
zhangd@umbc.edu

Krystl Haerian
Graduate Program Director
kfrank2@umbc.edu

UMBC Graduate School
1000 Hilltop Circle
Baltimore, MD 21250
410-455-2537
www.umbc.edu/gradschool/
umbcgrad@umbc.edu

Programs

Courses

Information Systems