Program Structure

Students are required to complete 12 credits (four courses) in the Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Information Technology Management program.

Program Status

To maintain program status, students must complete at least 6 credits of course work during each academic year—September 1 to August 31 or January 1 to December 31—depending on when the student was admitted to the program.

In core courses, the lowest acceptable grade is B-. Students who receive a grade lower than B-, or receive more than one grade of B- or lower, may be required to withdraw from the program.

In electives courses, the lowest acceptable grade is C+. Students who receive a grade lower than C+, or receive more than one grade of C+ or lower, may be required to withdraw from the program.

Full- and Part-Time Involvement

Students may study in the program on a full- or part-time basis. Part-time students must complete a minimum of six credits (two course equivalents) per calendar year. In order to comply with Alberta Students Finance Board requirements, and to qualify for full-time status at the graduate studies level for funding and T2202A purposes, students must complete a minimum of nine credits (three courses) per calendar year (one course per term).

Definitions

Guidelines

To be considered for a 60 per cent course load, students are required to register in at least one three-credit course per term to be considered full time.

To be considered for a 100 per cent course load, students are required to submit a full year's study plan (three terms). Students will need to identify at least 12 credits of study covering a full 12-month period.

Verification of Enrolment

Students who request verification of a 100 per cent course load must identify their full 12-month study plan at the commencement of their first term of studies. Students are permitted to use any number of combination of credits in their three identified terms, provided the total number of credits is equal to 12.

Residency

To meet the residency requirements, students must complete a minimum of two courses (six credits) through Athabasca University.

Relationship to MSc Information Systems (MSc IS) Program

Students who complete the Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Information Technology Management (PCB ITM) program successfully, may apply for admission to the MSc Information Systems (MSc IS) program. If admitted, credits completed by the student towards the PCB ITM will be accepted for credit towards the MSC IS degree in accordance with the MSc IS program regulations. Please not that students must achieve minimum required grades in various courses as per the MSc IS program regulations to be able to count the credits towards the MSc IS program.

Courses

PBC ITM students take their courses alongside MSc IS students, and are required to complete the same activities and achieve the same standard. Courses are designed to encourage self-study either at home or in the workplace. Students will be supplied with a basic course package of print and other media, if required, and access to a course website for each course. In addition, students are expected to use computer mediated communications for the following purposes:

• instructor and student-to-student interactions in computer conferences;
• email, both with in and outside of the course structure;
• file transfer or file attachment of assignments and feedback between instructor and students and between students on joint projects; and
• accessing electronic databases (for example, Athabasca University's library).

Curriculum Content

The Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Information Technology Management will be awarded upon completion of 4 courses (12 credits). Students are required to complete the following:

The core courses in operations management and organizational behaviour are intended to provide the core competencies needed in the information technology management in organizations. The effective management of operations, through the application of tools and processes to develop competitive strategies, is critical to organizational success. Organizational behaviours course adds to the understanding of IT issues such as technology design, implementation, and adoption. The course on ethical, legal, and social issues in information technology is designed to equip students with the intellectual tools to make effective, reasoned and justifiable moral decisions relating to the IT domain within the appropriate legal and social frameworks.

The COMP 635 option represents an emerging discipline, which givens students a technical edge. Project management, on the other hand, will assist students to grasp the skills needed to move from conceptualization through implementation—key in the workforce. It is expected that some students may already have project management expertise.

Permission of the program director is required before courses are taken for PBC ITM program credit outside Athabasca University.

Transfer Credit

Students can apply for transfer of credit on the basis of appropriate graduate level coursework completed at other post-secondary institutions. These courses should have been completed before joining the program.

Students will not be awarded transfer credit for courses previously used towards the granting of another credential.

Transfer credit is limited by the PBC ITM program residency requirements (a maximum of 6 credits can be transferred). The course work should be less than seven years old at the time of application to the transfer of credits.

Requests for Transfer Credit should be made after the applicant is admitted to the program.

To apply for transfer credits, please complete the following steps:

1. Complete the Transfer Credit Assessment Form, making sure to include the following information for each course:

• Complete information about the course you have completed (course title and number, number of credits awarded and the institution where the course was completed).
• If the course will be used for core credits, indicate which core course in the PBC ITM program you are targetting by the transfer.
• If the course will be used for elective credits, explain the pertinence of the transferred course to the program or indicate which elective course in the PBC ITM you are targetting by the transfer.

2. Submit a complete syllabus for each course, including course descriptions, learning outcomes or objectives, list of the course materials, outline of covered topics, and course regulations related to marks for passing grades.

3. Pay a non-refundable transfer credit evaluation fee for each course at the time of application for the transfer credit.

Letter of Permission

Students enrolled in the PBC ITM program may take courses from other post-secondary institutions in fulfillment of the program requirements, provided such courses are applicable to Athabasca University's PBC ITM program and residency requirements are met.

• Students wishing to take courses from other institutions must submit:
• a Letter of Permission Request Form and applicable fee;
• a written request; and detailed course outlines

to the Graduate Program Director for review. If approved, the School of Computing and Information Systems will issue a Letter of Permission. To allow for mailing time, requests for a Letter of Permission should be made at least one month before the registration deadline at the institution where the student will be taking the course. Upon completion of the course, the student must submit an official transcript to the School of Computing an Information Systems in order to obtain credit for the course.

Students can also use the following agreements to take courses from other Canadian post-secondary institutions:

• Western Canadian Deans' Agreement.
• Canadian University Graduate Transfer Agreement (CUGTA).

Time Limit

The changing nature of the subject matter requires that the PBC ITM program must be completed within two academic years. In exceptional circumstances, students may apply for program extension.

For further information on Program Extension Requests, please refer to the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Graduate Handbook.

A program (continuation) fee will be paid by the student upon approval of the program extension.

Students authorized to extend their programs will be required to replace credit for courses that are deemed to have lost their currency. In no circumstances will students be allowed to extend the program by more than two years.

Program Deferral

While enrolled in the program, there may be situations in which a student is temporarily unable to meet the program requirements at that time. One alternative for the student is to request a deferral in order to suspend the program requirements for a period of time. The maximum length of one deferral is one year. For further information on Program Deferral Requests, please refer to the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Graduate Handbook.

Program Withdrawal

Students who have been admitted to the program and have not registered in any graduate courses within one academic year will be automaticaly withdrawn from the program. Students may withdraw from the program by submitting their requests in writing to the program director.

Program Re-Enrolment

Students wishing to re-enrol in the program must apply for re-admission and have their program reassessed in terms of the regulations in effect at the time of re-application. Students requesting re-admission to the program will be competing with all other applicants and will not recieve special consideration. The student will be required to pay all application and admission fees in effect at the time of application submission. Please refer to the application procedure.

Program Delivery

The program is offered during three semesters each year. The fall semester begins in September. The winter semester begins in January. The spring sessions begins in May. Each semester is 13 weeks in length.