User:Aves/UAB Information Engineering and Management (IEM) Program

Information Engineering and Management (IEM) is a twenty month Master of Engineering program offered by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in the United States. The curriculum focuses on developing leadership skills through a combination of courses that balance technical and soft skills with a heavy emphasis on entrepreneurship. Classes meet one Friday and Saturday each month during a semester with a considerable amount of work occurring outside of class in group or individual projects. Traditional classroom and online degree registration options are available; online clients retain the option to attend any classroom meeting.

The Beginning
The UAB IEM program started by fulfilling various industries’ standard needs and has grown into a program equipped to train effective leaders. Early in 2000, UAB School of Engineering Dean Steve Szygenda, received feedback from industry executives that no graduate school programs trained leaders, Master of Business Administration programs focused too much on middle management development, and technology-focused programs provided no leadership development whatsoever. Dean Szygenda asked executives for input on what universities should be teaching and what they’d like to see in graduates to address their concerns. The executives provided a bulleted list of objectives that ultimately became the blueprint for the IEM program. IEM’s vision quickly became providing leadership training for future executives of technology-driven companies.

The Evolution of the Program
In March 2000 Dale W. Callahan, Ph.D., P.E. stepped in to develop and manage the UAB IEM program. Initially, the program was part of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The department’s experience with professional programs and student development oriented material provided a firm foundation for the infant IEM program and earned a candidate a Master’s of Science in Electrical Engineering. As this was the same degree graduates obtained by going through the normal thesis process, several complications arose in developing a plan for both paths which led to a program change in 2003. Growing pains and similar programs hitting the professional market prompted IEM to change the degree offering to a Master's in Engineering in Fall 2007. October 2010 saw IEM become a completely autonomous department housed in the Business and Engineering Complex operating independently of other departments or budgets.

The Goal
IEM originally wanted to reach out to CEOs and send IEM graduates directly into their respective industries. The training model gradually shifted to a strong focus in the program’s individual graduates with an emphasis on self-development and discovery of new or improved career paths. As the program started to focus in this direction, IEM suddenly hit its stride. Fall 2000 saw the official start of IEM classes. Since 2002, IEM has graduated one class every year. As of fall 2011, over 200 clients have successfully completed the program with 75% making career changes. Even though not all graduates change jobs or companies, many end up promoted and approximately 20% start ventures either full-time or part-time. IEM has traditionally averaged one startup company each year per class with more recent classes starting between two and five companies. Some examples are Softtech Solutions and American IP; however, other examples can be found at http://www.dalecallahan.com/uab-faculty/courses/ee616/iem-results move this external reference

General information
IEM’s emphasis is on learning how to deal with practical problems in business and how to obtain non-traditional solutions. The general aim of the program is to train clients through an overview of all primary and secondary business processes to approach current and potential positions in a manner conducive to career advancement. The curriculum consists of technical courses and management skills development courses.

Advisory Board
The program is guided by the UAB IEM Advisory board which has 18 members:

The advisory board meets three to four times a year and makes various decisions regarding curriculum changes, taking the program online, and focusing the curriculum toward generating future leaders.

Leadership Team
The IEM leadership team consists of the following people:

Curriculum
The IEM program takes a client-centric approach to the curriculum of courses it provides. Course work is focused on giving clients the skills needed to reach professional success toward their own goals and less on traditional academic exercises from textbooks that force everyone through a rigid model. Coursework emphasizes the following: Leadership, Professional Communication, Project Management, Entrepreneurship, Team Building, Information Management, Business Processes, Management of Technology, Technical Ventures, Financial Analysis, Strategic Management, Innovation and Emerging Technology. After every semester the faculty survey the clients on each course and use that feedback to alter or redesign content to keep the curriculum fresh and relevant to the needs of current and incoming clients.

Admission Requirements
The UAB Information Engineering Program seeks clients who are looking for leadership and growth opportunities. Its purpose is to attract clients who have different backgrounds, professions, goals and interests. To be considered for IEM, a client must submit the following: Final admission to the program requires an interview with a program representative.
 * Resume and multiple recommendations
 * Undergraduate academic transcripts
 * Non-refundable application fee
 * Work experience as evidenced on resume
 * An Undergraduate degree from an accredited college

Client Profile
The IEM program has an average yearly enrollment of 30 clients. 90% of the clients that enroll in the two year program come from local companies and businesses in the state of Alabama. 20% of IEM clients have started and grown their own business as a of the program. The average active client in the program is approximately 38 years old.

Clients who have joined the IEM program have seen reasonable increases in their salary. In 2011, a survey was taken by clients to report the difference seen in their salary after they began the program. 31.9% of clients reported that they were earning $90,000 or more before the program. After completion of the program, the percentage of clients reportedly earning $90,000 or more increased to 44.7%.

In addition to traditional classes, the IEM program began offering online classes in 2010. The program currently has an online enrollment that makes up 34% of the student body. Online enrollment is expected to continue to increase over the next several years adding to the diversity of the program.

Notable Alumni
The IEM program has produced several leaders in the technical community.


 * Brian Cauble is among these leaders and founded Birmingham Entrepreneur, an organization designed to serve and foster local startups.
 * Todd Collier cultivates talent in others by serving as event chairman for Birmingham’s TechMixer University, an annual event of free training made available to technical and non-technical professionals alike. Collier is also a senior systems analyst with the University of Alabama at Birmingham.


 * Denise Jefferies serves as Director of Data Warehousing at BBVA Compass. Jefferies, like many IEM alumni, often speaks at many user groups and technical conferences.
 * Johna Ledlow is a senior consultant with more than fifteen years experience in the areas of project management, information technology and telecommunications serving accounting, banking, construction, finance, insurance, and pharmaceutical industries.
 * Todd Miranda is also an entrepreneur that currently owns and operates NxtDimension, a company that provides a wide range of software solutions.


 * Dan Retzer is an active board member at the Alabama Information Technology Association (AITA), an group that organizes public forums, conferences and business networking platforms. Retzer also serves as managing director and CIO at XcitekSolutionsPlus, LLC, a company specializing in automation software for the global financial service industry.