College of Business Graduate School Program
Images of various graduate faculty and students
Master of Business Administration; Information Assurance Concentration
An MBA with a concentration in Information Assurance is available. The Information Assurance (IA) courses follow the National Security Agency guidelines and will meet 4011 and 4016 certification requirements. These IA courses will develop your skills for positions in systems and network security. Learn to detect, report, and resolve cyber threats. Course content also covers the use of code encryption to securely pass information between systems, building and using secure audio and video communications equipment, developing tamper protection products, and providing trusted information solutions. Students master the skills of assessing, auditing evaluation, testing network and systems security, and conducting forensic investigations. Students also learn how to perform information systems risk analysis and plan for disaster recovery and business continuity.

IA Course Sequence
CIS 521: This course examines basic enterprise information systems assurance principles and examines operational, technical, and administrative aspects of information assurance.
CIS 522: Prepares students to collect examine, and preserve digital evidence; and examines techniques used to prepare for, respond to, and investigate computing incidents.
CIS 523: Presents principles of disaster recovery and business continuity planning, and examines countermeasures that may be used to prevent system failure for an organization.
CIS 524: Presents the organizational issues of risk analysis including reliability, safety, security, and privacy. Methods for risk assessment and security evaluations are examined.
  • Course
  • CIS 521 Introduction to Information Assurance*Description
  • CIS 522: Incident Response and Computer Forensics: Preq. CIS 521Description
  • CIS 523: Disaster Recovery and business Continuity: Preq. CIS 521Description
  • CIS 524: Information Systems Assurance Risk Analysis: Preq. CIS 521Description
  • TOTAL
  • *CIS 521 is a prerequisite for the other IA courses. There are no other prerequisite requirements for the courses.

    The IA courses may also be used as a concentration for the MBA degree. For this option, you must be admitted to the MBA program.

  • Hours
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 12

Admission Requirements
To qualify for admission to the MBA program, applicants must meet the admission requirements of the Graduate School of the University and the admission requirements of the Graduate Division of the College of Business. Any applicant who holds a bachelor's degree, or equivalent, from an accredited college or university will be considered for admission regardless of the undergraduate field of study. An applicant for admission should understand that graduate work is not merely an extension of undergraduate work. Graduate study operates at a significantly higher level of rigor, demands scholarship of a higher order, and places more emphasis on research and student responsibility.

Once the admission requirements of the Graduate School have been met, the MBA Admissions Committee will grant admission only to those individuals who demonstrate significant accomplishment and/or high potential for success. The decision of the Admissions Committee is normally based on a combination of the applicant's previous academic record and the applicant's score on the Graduate Admissions Test (GMAT). For consideration, the GMAT score must be no more than five years old. Also, significant business experience may serve as an indicator of an individual's ability to complete the program, thus may be considered by the Committee.

Foundation Requirements
Students entering the MBA program may come from areas other than business, but need to demonstrate a knowledge base sufficient to enable them to complete graduate-level work in business. Evidence of such foundation knowledge can consist of the completion of undergraduate courses constituting a business core, recent business experience, and/or satisfactory performance on standardized examinations (GMAT). At a minimum, each student is presumed to be computer literate and to have had recent, college-level course work in economics (Economics 215), calculus and linear algebra (QA 390), and statistics (QA 233). The Associate Dean for Graduate Affairs and Academic Research of the College of Business determines the acceptability of all work submitted in satisfaction of the foundation and prescribes appropriate courses to be taken to remove any deficiencies.
Foundation Courses*
  • Course
  • Accounting 201-202: Elementary Accounting I & II
  • Computer Information Systems 310: Theory of Computing
  • Economics 215: Fundamentals of Economics
  • Finance 318: Business Finance
  • Management 310: Organizational Behavior, Planning, Control
  • Management 333: Operations Management
  • Marketing 300: Marketing Principles & Policies
  • Quantitative Analysis 233: Business Statistics
  • Quantitative Analysis 390: Calculus & Linear Algebra
  • SUBTOTAL
  • * For the student who plans to earn a specialty in accounting, Accounting 301,303, 304, 305, 307, 308, 413, 414, Business Law 255 and 410 are required.
  • Hours
  • 6
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 30
MBA Core
  • Course
  • Accounting 505: Accounting Analysis for Decision Making
  • Computer Information Systems 510: Information Resource Management
  • Economics 510: Managerial Economics
  • Finance 515: Financial Management
  • Management 510: Contemporary Management
  • Management 595: Administrative Policy
  • Marketing 530--Marketing Management
  • Quantitative Analysis 525--Quantitative Approaches for Decision Making
  • Concentration Courses
  • SUBTOTAL
  • TOTAL
  • * The student who has recently completed an undergraduate program with a specialization (major or minor) in one of the areas of business may be required to substitute a graduate business elective for the course in that area specified in the curriculum. For example, a student with an undergraduate degree in Accounting will be required to take a graduate Accounting elective in lieu of Accounting 505.
  • Hours
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 12
  • 36
  • 66


Transfer Credits
A maximum of 6 semester hours of graduate credit required for a masters degree may be transferred from another institution approved by the Graduate Director, provided the grade earned is "B" or above, and the credits are accepted in fulfillment of the stated requirements for the MBA degree by the College of Business. No graduate credits earned by correspondence are applicable toward a masters degree.

For more information, contact:

Associate Dean of Graduate Studies
Dr. Douglas Amyx
318.257.4528
Academic Vita (PDF)
damyx@latech.edu

Office Coordinator
Sally Strickland
sstrick@latech.edu