The Information Systems Foundation courses emphasise the critical thinking and technology skills to create IS systems for business solutions. Students with prior background may apply to sit for waiver tests to qualify for exemptions from several of these IS foundation courses.

To equip students with the capability to define, design and deploy robust and secure IS systems for business solutions. The concepts of analysis, integration, architecture and enterprise-wide systems are emphasised. Communications skills are also emphasised.

1. IS Application Project

The application project enables the SMU Information Systems Management student to develop the additional depth and experience required to become a Business IT professional. The student can use the project to realise their own version of our “3 Pillars Strategy” by concentrating on how to apply IT solutions to problems within a particular industry sector (e.g. financial services, logistics & supply chain, or healthcare services) or to one of the functional areas of business (e.g. accounting, economics, finance, marketing, operations). The student can also use the project to build up competence in one of our four recommended Business IT professional track options: 1) data management, 2) business integration, 3) information security & trust, or 4) software engineering.

Projects provide students with practical experience to define, design and deploy business solutions. Students apply their knowledge and skills to effectively participate in a team effort to complete a challenging focused IS project such as :

1. Application development/build – We expect most students to build something – a working system, prototype or proof of concept. Develop a new application or build upon/integrate existing applications into a new system. The focus here is experience in the life cycle of a system from concept through delivery. They will deliver a working, even if small, system.
   
2. Technology demo and evaluation – Create a demonstration comparing and evaluating the capabilities of similar or competing technologies addressing a business-IT problem. The focus here is a deep understanding and benchmarking of existing technology or applications.
   
3. Faculty-directed research – Students may carry out their projects with a research faculty member. The expected project deliverable could be a survey of the state-of-the-art in a selected research area, or novel solutions and techniques targeted at the academic community. The research interests of SIS faculty members can be found here.

An important feature of the BSc (ISM) is the internship programme at established organisations, both local and international. The internship programme provides students with  opportunities to explore many  types of working environments, for example in  different industries and  job roles. Also, students can try out work experiences with local companies, multinational companies and start up entrepreneurial firms. Students can also get overseas working experience, and get deeper cross-cultural appreciation of business practices and research. 

Over a third of SIS students do 2 or more internships. Some SIS students have even done as many as four internships! Students get paid while working as interns. Internships must be at least 10 weeks full time. Most students spend 12 to 16 weeks for each internship. In special cases, students are invited by their host organisation to  extend their internship up to six months, and they take a semester on-leave.

All SMU students are also required to do 80 hours of community service volunteer work at a voluntary welfare organisation. This volunteer, social service component of internship is to inculcate in the students the value of being civic-minded citizens of society. Students can either do this social service work through a two-week full time experience or they can do it a few hours at a time over a longer duration. Many students find the social service volunteer work so fulfilling that they decide to volunteer for more than the minimum of 80 hours.

More on IS Internship Programme.
Also see the BSc (ISM) Handbook.
For SIS students, please visit OASIS>SIS Resources, for details and other materials on the SIS Internship.

The compulsory Foundation courses provide students with a basic background in mathematics and economics. Students who have obtained good grades in these courses taken previously may be eligible for exemptions.

The University Core is the heart of all SMU undergraduate programmes. The University Core aims to equip all students with the intellectual skills needs to operate in a dynamic and challenging environment. Students are expected to develop and fine tune analytical skills, adopt a creative approach to varying and rapidly changing situations, communicate effectively, and lead ably and successfully.

To enlarge their scope of knowledge and widen perspectives, students are required to complete 4 General Education courses. Each student must choose at least 1 course from the Arts list and from the Science list. Students may be given exemptions of up to 3 courses on the basis of good grades in the relevant courses at the GCE A-Levels, Polytechnic Diplomas, or all other recognised qualifications.

Note: Please refer to OASIS for the full and updated list of GE courses. You can access OASIS once you are a registered SMU student.