Merging business sense with computer know-how, Bryant College is adding an optional Accounting Information Systems (AIS) concentration to its business administration major.
School officials believe the program, among just a handful in the country, is necessary in learning how to tap into high tech resources that have become so essential in today’s business environment.
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V.K. Unni, Bryant’s vice president of academic affairs, said the new concentration, which will give students more realistic and practical skills, has been in the works for the last two years and will be in place by the fall. Students in the program will have to take at least 10 computer-related classes, ranging from computer programming to end user applications.
The concentration, created jointly by the accounting and computer information systems departments, is designed to provide a technical groundwork for business students so they can use financial and non-financial information to develop business solutions.
“Our AIS graduates will extend their technology skills into virtually every part of the business enterprise, both modifying existing software and creating new software to service virtually every business need,” said Wallace Woods, chairman of the Department of Computer Information Systems at Bryant.
Woods said students and faculty have asked about such a course for some time, but he is not sure how many students will enroll in the concentration for the fall semester. It’s possible students could be graduating with an AIS in their major as soon as 2000. “Right now I doubt that all of our students even know about this being offered, but we are getting the advertising out there so they can learn about it,” said Woods.
Saeed Roohani, chair of the Department of Accounting, said it is important for all facets of academia to understand the deficiencies graduates have and how to fill those gaps.
He said, “While the accounting profession will continue to grow, particularly in the areas of taxation and assurance services (e.g. auditing), it is very exciting to project the possibilities of combining accounting and technology to support business in creative new ways.”
