Students and industry professionals alike with an interest in information technology will have an opportunity to further their education at UT starting next summer.

The McCombs School of Business is launching a new master’s degree in information technology and management, MSITM. The program is 10 months long, running from July to May, and the inaugural class is set to begin the program in July 2018.

“Our undergraduate management information system students or those doing a minor in computer science have no time in their degrees to learn about business solutions using technologies like the Internet of Things, cognitive computing, blockchain or machine learning,” said Prabhudev Konana, associate dean for instructional innovation at McCombs.

According to Konana, in the next few decades, there will be a great demand for skills in developing business solutions using these technologies. 

The interdisciplinary program will bring together faculty from both McCombs and the Cockrell School of Engineering, with professors in the electrical engineering department teaching students, according to MSITM program director Caryn Conley. 

“An understanding of how these new developments in technology can generate business and social value … is an important skill for students to have,” Conley said. 

Konana said the program is targeting students who are management information systems majors, computer science minors and anyone with programming experience. The program creators expect half of the potential students to be fifth year master’s students and the other half to be coming in with a few years of industry experience. 

“The program is hands-on and quite technical,” Conley said. “Students will be creating and manipulating technologies in a lab setting.”

In the spring semester of the program, students will also complete a practicum project, or a practical experience component of the course, with a company so they can apply their technical skills in solving real world business issues, Conley said. 

Students can expect to go on to work for consulting firms, startups or IT organizations within larger companies, according to Konana. 

“The demand for these skills will far outstrip the supply,” Konana said. “This is the reason we started the MSITM program.”

The tuition is $38,000 for in-state students and $43,000 for out-of-state students. The program is currently accepting applications; an information session will be held from 4–5 p.m. on Nov. 6th in CBA 3.202.