The State of Information Systems in Australian Universities – South Australia Report

Abstract

This paper examines the status of Information Systems (IS) at the University of South Australia (UniSA). On a broad scale this study is part of a larger Case Study regarding the state of the IS Academic Discipline in Australasian Universities but, in view of the face that Information Systems degrees are offered only at one university within the State, the South Australia study, by definition, becomes a study of that university. The paper clarifies the role of IS within UniSA, with particular reference to the degree of professionalism and the impact of local contingencies on IS teaching and research. Data were gathered by means of qualitative surveys with present and former academics of the institution, as well as via statistical information. The results suggest that the State of South Australia’s IS offerings were heavily influenced during the 1990s by the soft systems and critical systems approaches to the discipline, a situation which began to change at the turn of the century; and that the curriculum is depends more heavily on industrial than political factors.