Standardizing the MIS course: benefits and pitfalls

Although many universities require courses in management information systems for their business majors, little information exists as to what objectives should be included in the course, and the course topics vary greatly across institutions. Differences in course objectives even exist within schools if multiple sections of the course are taught by different faculty. Typically, a significant portion of the class is devoted to database concepts. In many cases, the course requirements include developing a database for a small business. This database project can consume faculty time and resources, especially if student teams choose their own projects and no guidelines exist for faculty reference. In this paper, guidelines for developing a standardized database project that challenges students while freeing up faculty resources are presented. Experiences in dealing with these projects in both face‐to‐face and online classes at one university are detailed.