Establishing a new academic department – a case study of Temple MIS
Munir Mandviwalla
Abstract
Near the end of the dot-com boom, a new Management Information Systems department (MIS) was approved by Temple University’s board of trustees on December 14, 1999, and inaugurated during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 11, 2000. In less than a decade during both boom-and-bust times for information technology (IT), the department quickly established itself as a world-class powerhouse in student success, research, curriculum, entrepreneurial ventures, and industry engagement. Our successes were evident through near 100% placement, top 5 research productivity ranking by the Association for Information Systems (AIS), and in the top 15 or 20 ranking in the US News and World Report’s reputational survey for undergraduate and graduate programs; and by taking early leadership in both research and academics as areas, such as ecommerce, analytics, and data science, and digital innovation emerged. We achieved this success by attracting and developing the careers of top researchers in the field, and by evolving a dynamic and engaged faculty, student body, and staff.
Journal of Information Technology Case and Application Research.