SMU COX School of Business ITOM Concentration: A STEM accredited program


My today's post is strictly restricted to the ITOM(Information Technology and Operations Management) concentration at SMU COX School of Business. To give you guys some context, last April I wrote the GMAT. In the following months, I applied to several B schools in US, Canada and India and secured 8 admits with decent scholarships. After weighing down several factors in an excel, IT guy here :) , the cumulative score of COX School of Business came out on top and hence I decided to pursue "My American Dream". For those of you eager to learn more about the school, head straight to this link:  http://coxbschool.blogspot.in/ 


One of the fundamental parameters in my decision making was the STEM accredited ITOM concentration at the school. For those of you not familiar with the term, worry not just read on! STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Math. There are certain programs in US that are STEM accredited which in turn has an impact on the length of the OPT period granted to the students upon graduation. You guys must be like what's OPT now? If not, you are well researched individuals and definitely better than I was an year ago. For the less enlightened souls like me, an OPT stands for Optional Practical Training in US. So? So that is the status you can use to stay in US and apply the concepts you learned in your program, MBA in my case, while working with a U.S. firm. Now here is where the fun starts.

What if I told you that the maximum term available for an OPT is just 12 months. Just 12 months? But I did a 2 year course and thus shouldn't I be granted the same period if not more? I am sure these questions would have popped up in your head when you read that piece of information but I stand by my words: OPT period is only 12 months after which one needs a valid visa to continue working in US which is an H1B in our case. Now I am sure all of us are aware of the complications around H1B visa least of which is the lottery system. Sure there are 20k visas dedicated specially to the Post Graduates in US but the number of applications for those as well is far more than the 20k quota. If a postgraduate student does not manage to get the Visa in the 20k pool, he moves to the general pool where there are 65k visas available on offer. To give an additional data fact, in 2015-2016 there were ~240k applications, inclusive of the postgraduate applicants, for these 85k H1B visas. ~35% hit rate!!!

Moving on, the OPT period for a STEM accredited program is also 12 months to begin with but if certain criteria are met, one can get this extended by another 24 months. I would recommend everyone to take some time out and go through this link: 
http://www.immihelp.com/visas/studentvisa/17-months-extension-optional-practical-training-stem-degrees.html

I am sure everyone would agree that this extension will give you enough breathing space, time to re-plan, look for better opportunities and finally another shot at the highly coveted H1B visa in case you face a rejection in the first attempt. I would also like to highlight that traditionally the MBA degree is not a STEM degree in US and thus if your H1B application is rejected in the first attempt, you will not be entitled to stay in US beyond your OPT period. There are certain workarounds around that situation as well but lets save that for another post. Having spoken to a lot of co-applicants as well as current MBA students in USA, I realized that not many were aware of these caveats around the H1B situation. So don't just go by those rosy stories that you know about your seniors and far-off relatives who are comfortably working in US, wake up call things have changed!

I want to clarify one additional point here. I did mention that the STEM accredited program at COX was one of the fundamental parameters in my decision to join the B School but it was by no means the biggest factor. There are several other exciting programs at Cox that were paramount in my decision making and I would recommend you all to take a look at this wonderful blog to learn more about the B school : http://coxbschool.blogspot.in/

I would also like to highlight that the School and Program fit, Reputation, Location, Faculty and Infrastructure, Global Exposure and Diversity, Internship and Placement trends, Total Debt are definitely the factors worth considering before you make your decision. Just as I mentioned, prepare an excel and come up with a cumulative score for each school based on the factors that are important in your decision making.

The objective of this post was to bring to light one of the lesser known facts about the MBA degree offered by Cox School of Business(major with ITOM concentration). Believe me, none of the admitted students (India Class of 2017) were aware of this fact and we only got to know about it from one of the seniors in a skype session. It just made the deal a lot sweeter for all of us. There are several other outstanding programs at the school and I would like to appeal to everyone to look at the blog I mentioned earlier.

We, SMU COX Class of 2017 students, will keep updating our blog with several useful information about the SMU COX School of Business and thus stay tuned for several such posts in the coming months. Till then stay blessed!!!




Comments

  1. Is Stem the only good thing about the program?

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  2. What is the job placement rate at SMU? Thanks.

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  3. This doesn't tell the entire story.

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  4. The STEM-Works program is sponsored by the Department of Defense and Southern Methodist University.

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  5. This program is taught in a practicum style and involves deep engagement in extended investigations in STEM fields.

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  6. Our program is designed to help STEM professionals, club leaders and teachers find activities, projects and events that allow them to teach STEM skills to young people.

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  7. By providing those volunteers access to quality material on exciting subjects like Robotics, Wind Energy and Forensics, we hope they will help young people gain confidence and interests in STEM fields.

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  8. The STEM-Works program supports volunteers that are working in their local communities to increase science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills in our nation.

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  9. We believe that there are many grass-roots efforts by individuals and small groups across the nation to help kids gain confidence in their STEM skills by providing them with inspiring experiences.

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  10. Students in this course will choose a STEM topic for their “capstone project” for the STEM specialization sequence.

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  11. The project will involve the student in this course first engaging with the topic on their own, and then they will explore how they could use their topic as a vehicle for STEM integration and effective STEM instruction

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  12. STEM education is an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to learning that provides hands-on and relevant learning experiences for students. STEM teaching and learning goes beyond the mere transfer of knowledge.

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  13. STEM engages students and equips them with critical thinking, problem solving, creative and collaborative skills, and ultimately establishes connections between the school, work place, community and the global economy. STEM also helps students understand and apply math and science content, the foundations for success in college and careers.

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  14. "We must never forget what the STEM subjects have in common with sister disciplines like literature and history. Yes, they help us get good jobs, but they also help us grasp what it means to be human and live a good life. That is why STEM is truly among the liberal arts.”

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  15. Many studies highlight the need for a redoubled focus on STEM education to main a vibrant economy, both in Arizona and nationally. Others confirm the economic value of higher education in general. In Arizona, STEM skills have stayed in demand even through the economic downturn.

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  16. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that, during the period 2008-2018, employment in science and engineering occupations will grow by more than double the rate for all occupations.

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  17. Digital marketing, social media, digital communication, cloud computing, revenue management, forecasting, digital strategy and decision analysis are becoming key business levers, and the use of IT solutions will continue to improve the productivity and effectiveness of business operations in the future.

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  18. The Information Technology and Operations Management (ITOM) Department at the Cox School of Business strives to prepare students to meet the challenges of doing business successfully in this digital economy.

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  19. Our faculty members are respected and active researchers in a number of fields, who bring innovative ideas and leading-edge insights from both research and practice into the classroom as well.

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  20. Our curriculum in the fields of information systems, operations management and business analytics provides students with sophisticated analytical and management skills.

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  21. The programs also offer a variety of additional features to prepare our students to become the business leaders of tomorrow. Students work with local companies on projects and case competitions to acquire hands-on experience in real-world business problems.

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  22. And we connect students and local business leaders within the classroom so that the students can relate their education to the issues facing business.

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  23. A new SMU academy for Dallas Independent School District science teachers will help them share the wonders of science and technology with as many as 47,000 middle-school students. A $1.7 million grant from the Texas Instruments (TI) Foundation will help fund the academy.

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  24. Students in the Master STEM Teacher Program will take a series of four graduate courses focusing on STEM Education.

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  25. The courses can be used as a specialization within a Masters in Education (M.Ed.) degree, or can be taken standalone as a professional development sequence.

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  26. The course introduces students to the discipline of the learning sciences and to designing integrated STEM learning environments.

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  27. The course is taught through face-to-face discussions, hands-on investigations, and field trips to traditional and nontraditional sites for STEM teaching and learning in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

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  28. Students in this course complete several projects, including conducting and analyzing problem-solving interviews, leading tinkering sessions where students explore emerging technologies to teach STEM content, and writing integrated STEM lesson plans.

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  29. Topics covered in this course include: the development of expertise in STEM, formal and informal settings for STEM learning, effective approaches to STEM instruction, maker-based learning in STEM, and integrating new learning technologies into STEM classes.

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  30. The course prepares students to develop classroom activities connected to STEM that promote designing and making with new and old technologies.

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  31. 17. The course is taught through a series of class discussions, design experiences in Design Lab and field trips to community sites engaged in traditional and nontraditional activities focused on designing and making.

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  32. Students enrolled in the course will explore the link between designing and making and STEM learning, investigate the attributes of a successful design challenge, and outline the components of school-based makerspaces that make them innovative venues for STEM learning.

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  33. The course introduces students to the fundamental coding and technology skills needed to design computational computing assignments for STEM education.

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  34. The course is taught through a series of hands-on tutorials and programming assignments designed to build skills and confidence in coding.

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  35. Students enrolled in this course explore common approaches to coding in education, including block programming, object oriented scripting, and app development.

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  36. Across the stem, students learn to solve problems with code using these approaches.

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  37. The course culminates with an instructional design project where students design a problem-based coding assignment for a STEM lesson and create sample code to demonstrate how a student might solve a problem with computational computing.

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  38. The courses is taught in a practicum style and involves deep engagement in extended investigations in STEM fields.

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  39. Students in these courses will choose a STEM topic for their “capstone project” for the STEM specialization sequence.

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  40. DALLAS (SMU) – The U.S. Department of Defense recently awarded the STEMPREP Project at Southern Methodist University a $3.78 million grant to support its goal of increasing the number of minorities in STEM fields.

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  41. The professors are not responsible.

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  42. The program needs more career coaches

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  43. too few females students in this program.

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  44. The tuition fees are too high.

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  45. Too much homework in this program.

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  46. You wont have enough time to date a girl if you choose this program.

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  47. You will probably not be able to find a job after graduation.

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  48. I suffer from insomnia after studying this program.

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  49. The professors in the program are so loud that I can not fall asleep during the class.

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  50. Everybody is doing something else such as watching youtube videos or replying emails during the class.

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  51. The program sucks. The government provide stem program because local people hate doing this kind of job. God blesses Trump.

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  52. Choose something you like. Don't waste your time.

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  53. If you want to spend 10 hours in front of computers everyday for the rest of your life, then choose this program.

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  54. I gained twenty pounds after I took this program.

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  55. I break up with my girl friend after I took this program.

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  56. I fell asleep every time I had classes of Itom.

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  57. I would sleep at home than having itom classes.

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  58. I would sleep at home than having itom classes.

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  59. Itom classes are useless. I always do something else during the classes.

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  60. If I have another chance, I will not choose itom as my concentration.

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  61. I would stay at home taking care of my baby than having itom classes.

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  62. I hate itom concentration. It is complete waste of time.

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  63. The only reason why I choose ITOM is that I want to stay in the US.

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  64. If you choose ITOM as your concentration, you will spend most of your time working. You will not have time to spend with your family.

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  65. Many graduate students regret to choose ITOM as concentration.

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  66. I am so depressed to choose itom as my concentration. I want to switch to Finance.

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  67. I would rather study accounting than study Itom classes.

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  68. Very few people choose itom as their concentration.

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  69. I like watching movies when I have itom classes.

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  70. I always go out and have fun with my friends when I am suppose to have itom classes.

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  71. I would spend time finding a job than having itom classes.

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  72. I prefer accounting than Itom.

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  73. I would rather choose strategy than Itom.

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  74. The Information Technology and Operations Management (ITOM) Department at the Cox School plays a major role in the school's research, teaching and outreach programs.

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  75. The ITOM department boasts world-class faculty expertise and educational programs in many key areas.

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  76. Our programs also offer a variety of additional features to prepare our students to become the business leaders of tomorrow.

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  77. Students work with local companies on projects and case competitions to acquire hands-on experience in real-world business problems. And we connect students and local business leaders within the classroom so that the students can relate their education to the issues facing business.

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  78. operations management and business analytics provides students with sophisticated analytical and management skills.

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  79. Amit Basu is the Carr P Collins Chair in Management Information Systems (MIS). His areas of expertise include IS leadership, technology and innovation management, digital strategy, IS in health care, e-commerce, virtual organizations, knowledge management, and workflow analysis. His research has appeared in leading journals such as Management Science, Information Systems Research, IEEE Transactions in Knowledge and Data Engineering, Sloan Management Review, and the Wall Street Journal’s Journal Reports. He has served as a consultant for firms such as Belgacom, Dow Corning, IBM, SAP, and eTex, as well as to public sector organizations such as the State of Maryland and the Province of Flanders in Belgium. He has served on the editorial boards of most of the leading academic journals in his field, and also as the president of the INFORMS Information Society (2012-2014).

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  80. Rajiv Mukherjee is an assistant professor of information technology and operations management (ITOM) at the Southern Methodist University (SMU) Cox School of Business. He joined the Cox School in 2013 after completing a PhD and MS in information systems management from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. He also has BEng in electronics and telecommunication from the University of Pune, India and a masters in electrical engineering specializing in biometrics based authentication systems from the West Virginia University. His research focuses on digital platform design and strategies. Specifically, he is interested in studying how product and platform based firms should innovate and design pricing strategies in modern settings in the presence of network effects, authentication issues and social media. His research used both analytical and empirical methodologies. He teaches Management Decision Analysis and Social Media analytics to MBA and MSBA students at the Cox School of Business. He has extensive industry experience working with big data in authentication systems and his work on the impact of data quality on corporate performance has appeared in leading media outlets such as Forbes.

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  81. Canan Savaskan-Ebert is an associate professor of information technology and operations management (ITOM) at the Southern Methodist University (SMU) Cox School of Business. From 2000 to 2010, Canan was a tenure-track faculty member of the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago, Illinois. Her areas of expertise include supply chain management, reverse logistics, distribution channel management, and quality management. Canan received her PhD and MS in operations management from INSEAD, France and her MS and BS in industrial engineering from Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey. Her research has been published in top-tier journals such as Management Science, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, Marketing Science, and Transportation Science. She has been involved with a number of projects in retailing, high tech, and automotive industries. She is currently an associate editor for Decision Sciences Journal and acts as a referee for a number of top journals such as Management Science, Manufacturing and Operations Management, and Production and Operations Management. Canan teaches the core operations management class in the Full-Time, Professional and Executive MBA programs as well as an elective in Supply Chain Management.

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  82. SMU's Cox School of Business invites applications for an Assistant Professor position in Information Technology and Operations Management (ITOM).

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  83. The Information Technology & Operations Management ITOM department at the Cox School, Southern Methodist University plays a major role in the school's research, teaching and outreach programs.

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  84. The department boasts world-class faculty expertise and educational programs in many key areas.

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  85. Programs-

    Business Analytics:

    MBA Concentration-

    Primary Concentration Business Analytics - 12 credit hours

    At least two (2) foundation courses:

    ITOM 6214 Business Modeling Using Spreadsheets
    ITOM 6217 Data Mining
    ITOM 6222 Predictive Analytics and Forecasting

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  86. Plus additional courses selected from the following electives:
    ITOM 6206 Business Intelligence
    ITOM 6208 Big Data
    ITOM 6212 Data Vizualization
    ITOM 6215 Database Design for Business Applications
    ITOM 6218 Business Process Consulting
    ITOM 6219 Social Media Analytics
    ITOM 6220 Revenue Management
    ITOM 6225 Project Management
    ITOM 6226 Operations Analytics
    FINA 6206 Uncertainty and Strategic Decision-Making
    MKTG 6223 Understanding What Customers Value OR
    MKTG 6230 Customer Loyalty Management

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  87. Fall 2016 Session:

    August 10, 2016 - December 2, 2016
    Wednesday Evenings, 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm
    Dallas Main Campus

    Spring 2017 Session:
    January 14, 2017 - April 29, 2017
    Saturday Mornings 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
    Dallas Main Campus

    Early Registration Discount Deadline: 11/14/2016

    Tuition Payment Due Date: 12/12/2016

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  88. MBA Information & Operations Management Concentration-

    Primary Concentration

    Core courses not included in the 12-hour total:

    ACCT 6202 Financial Accounting II or ACCT 6205 Managerial Accounting I
    ITOM 6202 Management Decision Analysis
    ITOM 6203 Operations Management

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  89. Plus 12 hours with a minimum of 4 hours from the foundation course list and 8 hours selected from the remaining foundation and elective courses.

    Foundation Courses (At least two (2) foundation Courses):

    ITOM 6207 Supply Chain Management
    ITOM 6215 Database Design for Business Applications
    ITOM 6225 Project Management

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  90. Plus additional courses selected from the following electives:

    ITOM 6205 Introduction to e-Business
    ITOM 6214 Business Modeling Using Spreadsheets
    ITOM 6217 Business Intelligence and Data Mining
    ITOM 6218 Business Process Consulting
    ITOM 6220 Revenue Management
    ITOM 6222 Predictive Analytics and Forecasting
    ITOM 6224 Managing Service Operations
    ITOM 6226 Operations Management Strategy
    ITOM 6230 Business Process Outsourcing and Offshoring

    Contact-

    Cox School of Business
    Southern Methodist University
    PO Box 750333
    Dallas, Texas
    75275-0333 | 214-768-3000

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  91. The U.S. Department of Defense recently awarded Southern Methodist University (SMU) $2.6 million in grant money for their STEMPREP program, a project dedicated to enrolling more minority students interested in STEM studies.

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  92. The STEMPREP program is based at the Simmons School of Education and Human Development at SMU, and directed by professors Charles Knibb and Moses Williams.The STEMPREP program is based at the Simmons School of Education and Human Development at SMU, and directed by professors Charles Knibb and Moses Williams.

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  93. You can read more about the STEMPREP program and its success here.

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  94. Tom F. Tan is an assistant professor at the information technology and operations management department (ITOM) at the Southern Methodist University (SMU) Cox School of Business. His research interests include empirical operations management in service sectors with a focus on the entertainment and hospitality industries. He teaches Management Decision Making at both undergraduate and MBA levels and a graduate-level elective on Business Forecasting. He graduated from the Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania with a PhD in operations and information management, an MA in statistics. He graduated from Columbia University with a BS in operations research and two minors in applied math and economics. Tan enjoys singing, playing volleyball, learning foreign languages, and using them during his travels in his spare time.

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  95. From October 2013 to present, Ms. Hettie Tabor has been working as the Director of the Masters of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program at Southern Methodist University. Ms. Tabor is a seasoned senior executive with over 26 years of experience with Accenture in information technology, including 21 years of practical SAP implementation experience and 20 years of analytics experience. Ms. Tabor was Accenture’s SAP Business Analytics Global Practice Lead which lead to a wealth of technical and project management knowledge in the SAP Business Intelligence, High-performance Analytic Appliance (HANA), Business Objects, Business Planning and Consolidations, and Data Management space. Ms. Tabor is recognized as Accenture’s leading expert on business analytics for SAP clients.

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  96. Bryan Smith is an adjunct professor in the information technology & operations management (ITOM) department as well as a data solution architect with Microsoft. He has 20 years of experience in designing, building, supporting & using analytics technologies and applies this experience in helping large enterprises do the same. His areas of specialization include traditional data warehouses, online analytical processing (OLAP) technologies, and Hadoop-based big data solutions.

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  97. John Semple is currently the Charles Wyly Professor of Management Information Systems (MIS) at the Southern Methodist University (SMU) Cox School of Business. He joined the Cox School in 1996 and teaches courses in statistics, decision analysis, revenue management, and spreadsheet modeling. His research uses analytical models to address a broad range of business topics, and his papers have been published in the leading academic journals, including Operations Research, Management Science, and Marketing Science, among others. He has twice won the Cox School of Business "Research Excellence Award". In the classroom, he has been recognized for outstanding teaching in the MBA program five times, won the "Distinguished MBA Teaching Award" twice, the "Boghetich Family Distinguished Teaching Award" twice, the "Eugene T. Byrne Endowed Faculty Innovation Award", the "Most Valuable EMBA Professor Award", and the "Distinguished BBA Teaching Award". He served as chairman of information technology and operations management (ITOM) from 2009-2012.

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  98. Amy Puelz teaches a variety courses in statistics and decision modeling in the MBA, EMBA, and BBA degree programs and in both business analytics and finance graduate certificate programs. She has been recognized for teaching, receiving the Cox EMBA "Most Valuable Professor Award", the Cox "Teaching Innovation Award", SMU’s instructional technology grant, and the Delta Sigma Pi "Faculty Service Award". Her research has been published in leading academic journals including Operations Research, Management Science, and Decision Sciences.

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  99. Timothy McDonough served on the faculty of Southern Methodist University as an Adjunct Professor of Economics and Information Technology and Operations Management from 2011 to 2015 where he taught graduate level courses in quantitative methods and conducted research in econometrics, data mining, experimental methods and marketing attribution. In 2016 he joined the faculty at Cox fulltime as a Visiting Clinical Professor in Information Technology and Operations Management.

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  100. Business Analytics is a collection of technologies and analytical methods that enables companies to be more competitive in today’s digital economy.

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  101. The BA concentration prepares you to take on leadership roles in analytics projects and organizations, or to champion data-driven decision-making as management consultants.

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  102. Information technology increasingly shapes the key business processes of modern organizations.

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  103. The IOM concentration prepares you to take on leadership roles in the operations and technology management areas in all types of enterprises, and also prepares you for management consulting focused on digital transformation and business process innovation.

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  104. Effective modeling and analysis of large amounts of complex, multifaceted and multidimensional data is increasingly critical in our Big Data world.

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  105. The MSBA program teaches you to become critical players in data-driven analysis of business processes, through broad and robust training in analytics methods, tools and technologies, combined with a thorough understanding of business processes, business functions and project management.

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  106. The Graduate Business Analytics Certificate Program is designed to help you transform the terabytes of data that bombard your organization into business intelligence you can use to drive efficiency, maximize your technology investment and strengthen your customer relationships.

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  107. Nice blog! Really this was very useful blog for us. Nice sharing about IT Due Diligence

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