What Gets Measured Gets Done: Evaluating the Assessment Results of Accredited Information Systems Programs
Bruce White and Richard V. McCarthy
In 2002, the Computing Accrediting Commission of the Computing Sciences Accrediting Board of ABET began accrediting programs in Information Systems. Currently, ten campuses and eleven programs have received accreditation by ABET (one campus has both a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems). In this paper, the authors present an overview of the assessment criteria that is specified in the accreditation process and call attention to the critical role that assessment now plays in information systems programs. Qualitative research was conducted to identify the critical success factors of assessment processes for accredited information systems programs and the results are presented herein.
Keywords: IS assessment, IS accreditation, IS curriculum
Dr. Bruce A. White (Ph.D. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, BS, MS Winona State University) is a professor of Information Systems Management in the School of Business at Quinnipiac University and Chair of the Information Systems Management programs at Quinnipiac University. He is active as an ABET accreditation visiting team member, with the Center for Computing Education Research, has chaired the ISECON conference four times. His current research is in IS education, the IS model curriculum, accreditation and assessment. Prior to coming to Quinnipiac University, he was a professor at Dakota State University.
Richard V. McCarthy (MBA, Western New England College, DBA, Nova Southeastern University) is a professor of Information Systems Management at the School of Business, Quinnipiac University. Prior to this, Dr. McCarthy was an associate professor of Management Information Systems at Central Connecticut State University. He has twenty years of experience within the insurance industry and has held a Charter Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation since 1991. He has authored numerous journal articles and contributed to the current edition of the textbook Decision Support Systems and Intelligent Systems. His current research interests include enterprise architecture, information systems strategy and Information technology education issues.
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