Welcome to the website of the Department of Operations Management and Information Systems at Northern Illinois University. I hope that you will find this site both informative and interesting. We have recently completed a strategic planning process to enable us to chart a course for the 21st century and our future looks bright.
Our undergraduate program in operations and information management is extremely successful in terms of student interest, job placement, and graduate starting salaries. Business organizations appreciate the manner in which we have effectively integrated business operations with information technology.
Our graduate program in management information systems, with about 110 majors, has developed a national reputation and a strong tradition of excellence.
OM&IS faculty are an outstanding group of teacher-scholars who have selected Northern for our culture which focuses primarily on the student and the importance of collaboration with business in the solution of "real" problems. I am very proud to be a affiliated with such an impressive group of individuals.
Our students are dedicated, hard-working, and enjoyable to be around. They are diverse in their backgrounds and experiences, yet come together when "duty calls" for either team projects or student organization initiatives. There is a great deal of camaraderie and mutual respect among students, faculty, advisors, and staff which lends a supportive "small college" feel to the department. I believe that our students genuinely enjoy their professors and classes and this makes their learning experiences more gratifying and rewarding.
If there is one aspect of the department which sets it apart from others, besides its strong student orientation, is its significant relationship with business. An executive advisory council advises the department as to the nature of our programs and courses and helps us maintain a strong link to the real world. We have a number of strategic alliances with specific business organizations in which the department and firms work closely together in innovative ways to create mutual value. Our latest initiative is our new experiential learning center through which students, faculty, and business people work together using the latest technologies to solve important business problems.
Please browse though our website and learning more about our department and activities. If you would like any further information about the department or its programs, I encourage you to contact the departmental office directly at (815) 753-1286 or omis@niu.edu.
Sincerely,
Chang Liu,
Acting Chair