About the MIS Board of Advisors

The MIS Board of Advisors is comprised of ten to twenty senior executives from a cross-section of private and public sector organizations. Each serve a two year renewable term. The Board meets twice a year in Tucson, AX.

The mission of the Board is to move the MIS program forward along its three basic missions: educate students, conduct research, and engage in outreach activities.

Educate Students:

A significant part of our success over the years has been our ability to place our students in companies that develop technology as well as use it. Due to our reputation as one of the strongest technology-intensive MIS programs, our students were hired by firms that develop technology (such as IBM, HP, Microsoft, Cisco Systems), use technology (such as Raytheon, Honeywell, and Boeing), or consult in technology issues (such as Accenture, Deloitte and PriceWaterhouseCoopers).

Hence, our board members come from many of these organizations and recruit our students. But, most importantly, they help the students gain practical experience through internships, enlighten them through panel discussions on critical issues, and improve their marketability with mock interviews, presentation evaluations, etc. They also help the department review the MIS curriculum so it remains state of the art. 

Conduct Research:

Many research opportunities were identified and pursued by the faculty members as a result of our interaction with t he board. Some of our recent work on telecommuting, wire-less technologies, inter-organizational data and application integration, data mining and web-based marketing came out of discussions with the board. 

Outreach Activitites:

The board plays an active role in our ability to reach external community. They participate in grant/fund generating activities, sponsor our conferences, help us reach executives that are interested in our research, and participate in many of our social endeavors. 

Board of Advisors Alliance:

A subset organization of the Board of Advisors has been established to provide individuals who cannot commit the time and effort to the Board but can serve as a valuable resource and relationship to the department. Alliance members share many of the benefits available to the Board of Advisors such as:

•     Continuous exposure to “breakthrough” R&D activities prior to publication, as they  emerge
•     Opportunity to collaborate with faculty in research and technology transfer.
•     Ability to affect the training and development of students.
•     Opportunity to counsel and inspire students as they make education and career choices.
•     Lifetime learning opportunities for member organizations through customized or open-enrollment classes or seminars.
•     Opportunities to get objective responses and evaluations from faculty on organizational IT initiatives and ideas.
•     Self-satisfaction in participating in the building of a foundation for the future.