UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
Austin, Texas
School of Information

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BACKGROUND:
Title: MSIS (Master's of Science in Information Studies) and PhD
Est: 1949
Semester
Granted last 3 years: MSIS 294, PhD 11 (AY 2006-2009)
Part-time: yes
HFES student chapter: not currently but would start if it was HFES approved
Program: The program leads to an MSIS (Master's of Science in Information Studies) or a PhD. A master's student with an interest in cognitive human factors can take a series of courses in usability, information architecture, digital media design, research methods, and human information processing. Master's students may also focus on other areas of information studies from a human perspective. Doctoral students pursue dissertation research in any area of human information processing. The school has 23 faculty, approx. 300 master's candidates and approx. 30 doctoral students.
Contact: Andrew Dillon, Dean, School of Information, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78701; 512/471-3821; http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~adillon/
Catalog: (free) School of Information, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78701. See also http://registrar.utexas.edu/catalogs/

APPLICATION:
Deadlines: Master's students: 1/15 (fall), 9/1 (spring); doctoral students: 12/15.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
The school employs a holistic approach to admissions, with no one variable making or breaking an applicant's chances of admission. GRE, GPA, and previous education are all considered, as are letters of reference and a student statement of interest. Median GRE score (Q+A) for successful applicants is 1240.
Other: Doctoral students are not required to hold a master's degree, though most do before admission.
Research experience: low importance as methods courses are required
Research interest: high importance for doctoral students
Work experience: low
Letters: high
Interview: medium
Personal statement: high

ADMISSIONS:
Students applying last year: Master's program - 355; doctoral program - 32
Accepted: Master's program - 209; doctoral program - 8
Openings/year: Not fixed

TUITION AND FEES:
Resident: $4561
Nonresident: $7812

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE:
% receiving: 25
Amount: varies
Available: tuition waiver, fellowship, TA, RA
Apply: with application and annually/every semester thereafter

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS:
MSIS: 40 hours; master's thesis or master's report or capstone project; no exams, languages, or practical experience; 2-3 years; nonthesis option also available
PhD: 90 credit hours; qualifying exam and qualifying paper/dissertation; 4-5 years

CURRICULUM:
Required courses (master's): 12 credit core sequence required: Understanding Users, Organizing Information, Research Methods and Statistics, Management of Information, plus Capstone Experience. Thesis or project based for 3-6 credits.
Required courses (doctoral's): Two-course sequence in Doctoral Research and Theory and four courses (University wide) in quantitative and qualitative research methods.
Required courses outside department: 0, though 9 hours possible in MSIS. 9 hours are required for PhD.
Recommended courses outside department: N/A
Distance-learning option: No
Offered: Spring, Summer, and Fall
Class size: varies from 5 - 40

RESEARCH/TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES:
Research facilities: The iSchool has an Information eXperience Lab, with one-way mirror and hardware and software to facilitate local and remote usability testing and research on human-computer interaction and other human acquisition and sharing of information resources. Other labs and research spaces are available in the School's facilities. A digital media lab is available for development projects; 40 seat computer classroom and lab; connections with local industries (e.g., sponsorship of research by IBM, Vignette, AT&T, etc.) provide opportunities for research in applied settings.
Teaching: Most students in the program periodically serve as teaching assistants or assistant instructors for undergraduate or graduate courses. Doctoral students are invited to take a course in Supervised Teaching in Information Studies.

STUDENT STATISTICS:
Active (master's): 56 men, 193 women
Active (doctoral): 12 men, 19 women
First-year students (master's): 113
First-year students (doctoral): 5
Mean scores (master's): GRE 1238
Mean scores (doctoral): GRE 1255

FACULTY:
Andrew Dillon, Dean, PhD 1991, Loughborough University of Technology, UK; human factors psychology
Diane Bailey, Assistant Professor, PhD 1994, UC Berkeley; industrial engineering
Randolph Bias, Associate Professor, PhD 1978, UT - Austin; cognitive psychology
Luis Francisco-Revilla, Assistant Professor, PhD 2004, Texas A&M University; computer science
Gary Geisler, Assistant Professor, PhD 2003, University of North Carolina; information science
Unmil Karadkar, Lecturer, doctoral candidate, Texas A&M University; computer science
Yan Zhang, Assistant Professor, PhD 2009, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; information science