The department is based at Caulfield but teaches on both the Caulfield and Clayton campuses.
Information systems at Monash has a strong professional orientation. The majority of academic staff have significant industrial experience and the department enjoys close links with industry through its Associate program, industry-sponsored staff positions, cooperative research and consulting activities. The department's research program is also closely linked to industry practice.
Information systems is the study of how people working in organisations can use information technology to achieve their goals. Much of the discipline is concerned with describing and analysing complex organisational problems. It is also concerned with systems development - the design and implementation of systems which involve people, technology, information and organisational procedures working systematically together.
Courses in information systems cover the planning, analysis, design and management of information systems. Courses draw upon a number of reference disciplines, including computer science, psychology, economics, and management. In the study of information systems human factors are at least as important as technical factors. A systems analyst must be able to work in a variety of industrial settings and must communicate effectively with clients, users and programmers.
Courses address the core of information systems practice - the modelling of systems. While other professionals, such as engineers, model physical systems (bridges, machines, buildings), systems analysts use a variety of modelling techniques to define organisational functions, processes, data and behaviour.
For undergraduate study the department offers the Bachelor of Information Systems as a specialised course in information systems. This degree enables students to graduate with a qualification which gives recognition to their special skills and training in the information systems aspects of the computing profession. The department also offers subjects in either a major or minor sequence within the Bachelor of Computing course at the Caulfield campus, and to a lesser extent within other undergraduate courses such as science, arts and business on both the Caulfield and Clayton campuses. All majors are accepted as qualifications to gain level 1 membership of the Australian Computer Society. The department has an active honours program with students undertaking research across all the areas described below.
A range of graduate studies is offered by the department. Coursework programs include the Graduate Diploma of Information Systems and the Master of Information Systems. Research programs include the Master of Computing and the Doctor of Philosophy.
Career options for graduates with a major in information systems typically occur within the information systems departments of large organisations such as banks, insurance companies, government departments and semi-government instrumentalities. Career opportunities include applications programming, systems programming, systems analysis, project management and a range of specialist positions. In smaller organisations the employment positions are often less specialised and include a number of the above roles.
The department is one of the most active information systems research departments in Australia. Research in information systems has a strong professional orientation and is aimed at improving the development and use of information systems in organisations. The department's research program is centred around two research groups. Both groups have large numbers of research and honours students and are well known internationally. In addition a major research project has been established which is also becoming a focus for further research work.
The department maintains close links with the national and international information systems research community through presenting at and organising major conferences, and by working with scholars from other universities. It also has close links to industry with senior information systems professionals holding Associate appointments, by means of joint research projects and through specialised professional development courses.
Decision support systems research group
The decision support systems research group, led by Professor David Arnott, is investigating DSS development methods, executive information systems, decision aids, intelligent decision support (including knowledge-based systems and neural networks), and managerial and organisational issues in DSS. This group takes a strong behavioural view of decision support.
The electronic commerce research group, led by Dr Paula Swatman, is investigating electronic commerce and inter-organisational systems.
The requirements acquisition and modelling research project is investigating requirements modelling, soft systems methods and CASE.
Individual members of the department are also involved in research relating to information systems strategy, human-computer interfaces, quality management, systems design, information systems security and geographic information systems.
In the first instance, prospective research students should contact the department's academic services officer or the director of research training, Dr David Wilson.
Further information including the brochures listed below may be obtained from the department's academic services officer, level 7, 26 Sir John Monash Drive, Caulfield campus, telephone (03) 9903 2612, fax (03) 9903 2005. Information may also be requested electronically by email from desk@ponderosa.is.monash.edu.au
Brochures
Current details about the department's teaching and research are displayed at URL:http://www.is.monash.edu.au
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