IBM today announced it is working with Nicholls State University to offer new curriculum in its information systems program designed to help students develop skills required to get jobs in emerging fields including electronic medical records, intelligent transportation systems, and smart energy grids.

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Governments around the world are investing in the development of intelligent infrastructures in an effort to improve economic, societal and environmental conditions. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4.6 million jobs will be created in the services sector between 2004 and 2014, and IT will continue to be one of the fastest growing sectors. IT Service Management, managing IT systems in line with an organization's physical assets and services to deliver more intelligent products and services to market, will contribute greatly to this growth.

Beginning the fall 2009 semester, undergraduate, MBA and eMBA students at Nicholls will be able to take courses in IT Service Management. Integrating IT, operations, and business infrastructures to deliver new services and products to customers requires a workforce prepared to address IT within new environments across all industries. IBM is working with Nicholls State University to redefine their curriculum for its Bachelor of Science in Information Systems with a specialization in IT Service Management.

Collaborating with IBM has also enabled Nicholls' College of Business Administration to restructure its BSIS program in adherence with the IS 2002 Model Curriculum and Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Information Systems, which was spearheaded by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Association for Information Systems (AIS), and Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP).

"Nicholls is committed to building tomorrow's experts in IT today," said Neset Hikmet, PhD, Nicholls State University. "Working with IBM to incorporate IT Service Management principles throughout our undergraduate, MBA and eMBA programs better prepares our graduates to help organizations use technology to intelligently respond to the global trends and disruptions affecting businesses, while also achieving a sustainable competitive advantage."

"IBM is working with universities, like Nicholls, to better prepare a workforce that is not only knowledgeable about the interconnection of IT and business, but able to apply these expansive skills across all industries and sectors," said Paul Kontogiorgis, IT Services Curriculum Program Director, IBM Tivoli software. "By introducing this new curriculum, students will be prepared to work on exciting projects that are being funded by government stimulus plans around the world."

With help from IBM, Nicholls has revamped its Information Systems program by retiring many outdated courses and adding 14 new courses to its catalog covering integrated product management, system analysis and design, information resource management, and IT service management. Four of the 14 courses offered focus on IT service management. They involve four consecutive semesters of practicum involving work in IT service management, an apprenticeship, lab and simulation. In addition to undergraduate offerings, Nicholls is offering these courses as electives to MBA and eMBA students who want to specialize in IT service management and receive an accompanying certificate. The IT Service Management Certificate will also be offered online as post baccalaureate course work to those who meet specific admission requirements.

Nicholls State University welcomes incoming freshman and returning students the week of August 16. During welcoming events for incoming freshmen and returning students, Nicholls will be highlighting its new IT service management curriculum for undecided students looking to make decisions for majors.

The IBM IT Services Curriculum is rooted in Service Science, Management and Engineering (SSME). SSME is a new academic discipline designed to produce students with the combined business and technology skills needed to enter today's workforce ready to contribute immediately to their countries' economic and innovation agendas.

IBM's Academic Initiative offers no charge online resources to help community colleges and universities worldwide cultivate more competitive business and IT skills needed to meet the needs of new and emerging industries. Faculty and students at over 1400 institutions world-wide are gaining hands-on knowledge of the new generation of IBM software development tools, data mining technologies, security and systems management software and Web 2.0 technologies transforming healthcare, energy, retail and transportation. For more information, visit: http://www.ibm.com/academicinitiative and http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/spaces/smarterplanet

For more information about Nicholls Bachelor of Science, please visit: http://www.nicholls.edu/cis/

To download IBM IT Services courses, please visit: https://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/devtool/scholar/web/coursewarePickPage.d o?source=ai-course-itservices

For information about IBM Service Management Industry Solutions, please visit: http://www.ibm.com/software/tivoli/features/industry-solutions/

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SOURCE: IBM