Doctor of Computer Science - Enterprise Information Systems Concentration
The Doctor of Computer Science--Enterprise Information Systems (DCS-EIS) program at Colorado Technical University is designed to develop leaders in designing, implementing and managing large-scale systems in their chosen profession.
Outcomes:
- Critically evaluate, analyze, and solve practical technical and managerial challenges within multiple disciplines of Information Systems
- Demonstrate expertise within the Information Systems discipline by summarizing the state of the art, selecting an important practical problem or phenomenon, conducting research addressing it, extending current knowledge with the results, and developing a research program for further contributions
- Communicate by presenting research results and preparing them for publication
- Make well-founded predictions about future challenges and developments in Information Systems
- Demonstrate ethical behavior in all aspects of the program including honesty, integrity, professional practice, and protection of research subjects
Degree Requirements
Courses: Core
| CS801 | Research and Writing I | 3 |
| CS802 | Qualitative Analysis | 5 |
| CS806 | Research and Writing II | 3 |
| CS811 | Research and Writing III | 3 |
| CS812 | Quantitative Analysis | 5 |
| CS816 | Research and Writing IV | 3 |
| CS817 | Foundations of Enterprise Information Systems | 5 |
| CS821 | Research and Writing V | 3 |
| CS826 | Research and Writing VI | 3 |
| CS831 | Research and Writing VII | 3 |
| CS836 | Research and Writing VIII | 3 |
| CS841 | Research and Writing IX | 3 |
| CS842 | Business Intelligence | 5 |
| CS846 | Research and Writing X | 3 |
| CS851 | Research and Writing XI | 3 |
| CS856 | Research and Writing XII | 3 |
| EIS800 | Strategy, Alignment, and Portfolio Management | 5 |
| EIS805 | Enterprise Management Concepts and Databases | 5 |
| EIS810 | Managing, Planning and Integrating EIS | 5 |
| EIS815 | Enterprise Tools, Concepts and Processes | 5 |
| EIS820 | Enterprise Architecture Technology | 5 |
| EIS825 | Information Technology Service Management | 5 |
| EIS830 | Governance, Quality, Compliance, and Ethics | 5 |
| MGMT852 | Enterprise Change, Innovation and Future | 5 |
Total Credit Hours: 96
Each year of the DCS-EIS program is designed to provide candidates with the theoretical, research and application capabilities necessary in the field. The organization of each year is described below.
Year 1: The Foundation
The beginning of the program focuses on research. Each student will spend the first year learning about analysis and design from a user perspective while forming the ability to think critically and creatively. This experience will enable the student to complete a literature review and develop an enterprise information system designed to improve business processes.
Year 2: Acquisition of Knowledge
Once the foundation is in place, year two is the time the student chooses an area of concentration and gains an in-depth knowledge of four common areas: strategy, structure, requirements engineering, and decision support. This deeper level of understanding will result in a practitioner article and a proposal for research to be conducted in the third year.
Year 3: Leadership and Professional Advancement
The final year of the program involves developing a formal implementation program, taking into consideration budget, training and testing and developing a critical path to completion, anticipating and planning for the future. The deliverables in year three are an applied research project, to be submitted to an academic journal and a proposal for programmatic research.
The program thus includes twelve 5-credit instructional courses, taken one per quarter for three years, plus a research-and-writing class taken each quarter. Each class is conducted online. Twice each year, students attend an intensive residential symposium lasting four and a half days.
Graduation requires successful defense of a research proposal and final dissertation. These documents must be approved by the student’s committee, consisting of a mentor and two readers.
Graduation Requirements
In addition to the successful completion of the above 96 credits with an acceptable GPA, students must also satisfactorily complete and defend their research proposal and final dissertation.
Degree Completion and Post-Doctoral Study
The student must be continuously enrolled until all graduation requirements are fulfilled. A student who has not completed the research requirements by the end of the formal coursework continues by registering for CS893 Research Continuation according to CTU’s re-take policy.
In addition, a student may achieve a Post-Doctoral Certificate if approved for that in advance by the doctoral dean. A typical program would include successful completion of four courses plus creation of two academic papers of publishable quality after the award of the CTU doctoral degree.
The Doctoral Advantage
While a relevant master’s degree is ordinarily required for admission to CTU doctoral programs, there is also the option of completing a CTU MSCS, MSIT, MSM-ISS, MSM-IT/PM, or MSSE degree while starting (DCS) work on the Doctor of Computer Science degree. The program outcomes remain the same for the DCS and the master’s degrees under this option, but the normal completion time for the degrees in the combined program is reduced. Through this program, doctoral work is started after ten of the twelve required master’s courses have been successfully completed. Program plans must be approved by the Dean of Doctoral Computer Science.
Note, however, that for the MSSE degree to be awarded under doctoral advantage the student must successfully complete SE600, SE610, SE612 (for CTU Virtual Campus students), and SE620.
The MSCS, MSIT, MSM-ISS, MSM-IT/PM, or MSSE degree will be awarded upon successful completion of the ten approved master’s courses plus the first two courses in the doctoral degree program: one five-hour 800-level course plus one research and writing course.