I/S course designed for non techies - UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management's Managing the Information Resource continuing education course

Health Management Technology, Oct, 1995 by Shawn Marie Slipy

The University of California at Los Angeles' (UCLA) Anderson Graduate School of Management is throwing a life preserver to CIOs and their staff struggling to stay afloat amid the changes in the sea of information technology.

To help executives remain up-to-date with these crucial fast-growing business tools, UCLA is offering a short-term continuing education course, "Managing the Information Resource (MIR)."

The course, which is offered biannually, is scheduled for Oct. 8-13 and March 10-15 at the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. The 1996 fall offering is Oct. 6-11.

Course directors are Lewis E. Leeburg, director of the information systems research program at the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA, and Thornton A. May, vice president of research and education at Cambridge Technology Partners.

Course geared for executives and high-level managers

Leeburg, faculty coordinator of MIR, said the course is geared for senior executives responsible for information technology resources. This may include the CIO, as well as high-level managers preparing for expanded responsibilities or moving from a functional area into information technology.

"The course is intended to address the larger uses and better management of information systems," he said. "We don't throw a lot of bits and bytes around. It is a strategically oriented course."

He added that because the class is strategically oriented, it also can be attended by those who are not CIOs, but people who just want to learn more about the field.

Three main focus areas

According to Leeburg, MIR has three main focus areas: emerging technology, creative thinking and leadership as well as management.

He said that within the emerging technology framework, participants will learn about the following:

* client/server systems,

* groupware and workflow,

* alternative platforms,

* prototyping tools,

* object-oriented programming, and

* telecommunications (the I-way)

Within each of these areas, Leeburg said attendees will be able to participate in several breakout sessions and class discussions, as well as do some actual case work.

He said the course format consists of reviews of emerging technologies by Cambridge Technology Partners and Gartner Group, while UCLA faculty and industry leaders provide participants with the framework for understanding these evolving work environments and innovative management techniques.

Regularly updated curriculum

Leeburg noted that the MIR curriculum is regularly updated to draw upon methodologies, practices and strategies currently in use at leading organizations.

He also said that MIR participants will hear guest speakers from major organizations, top professional service firms and leading publications.

UCLA began offering the MIR course in January of 1980, a time when CIOs were called "data processing managers," Leeburg said.

"The academics of information systems were just starting to come of age," he said. "In the late '70s we were starting to see practitioners come out of the "glass house" and people started realizing [information systems] were something that was important and needed to be taken seriously."

The cost of the MIR course is $4,200. The price includes five nights at the UCLA guest house, all breakfasts and lunches, two dinners and all course materials.