TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR FUTURE IT MANAGERS IN UNIVERSITIES OF THE USA: CONTENTS ASPECT

Abstract

In the article, the content of the notion «curriculum» is revealed and the basic structural elements to be present in curricula in accordance with the Law of Ukraine «On Higher Education» are identified. By examples of three U.S. universities of different types (a public research university, a private for-profit university and a private nonprofit online university), the structure and the content specifics of IT management curricula are singled out and compared. In particular, basic structural elements of the curricula (including academic program names, learning goals, requirements for enrollees, instructional methods and resources, credit hours, program duration, expected learning outcome, and courses) are analyzed in detail. It is concluded that although the curricula have a similar structure, the content differs significantly. Generally, all the disciplines can be roughly divided into 3 groups (Information Technology, Business and Leadership/Innovation) although this distribution is uneven. While two courses (Project Management and Financial Management/Cost Control Techniques) appear to be present in all the three curricula, other courses are rather different. Only one of three universities included the integrated course «IT Management» in its curriculum and combined technical and business or management components in the lion’s share of other courses. At that, all the three universities emphasize the prospects of IT management as a highly promising area and the high demand for IT managers in the labor market. The three curricula are also practice-oriented and aimed at effective development of students' skills.

Key words: curriculum; professional training; information technology management, IT manager.