How to make the IS discipline relevant to non-IS stakeholders?

A recent survey of IS academic leaders revealed that a prominent concern of many IS academic leaders relates to making the IS discipline relevant to non-IS stakeholders within their university. Some examples of this challenge include:
• MIS/IS is not well understood as a flagship area to strategically develop and improve by the university administrators;
• Understanding of IS by those outside of the discipline and how to market the IS discipline to a larger audience, including students;
• Managing the collaboration with other departments on emerging technologies initiatives (such as analytics, AI) and programs;
• Rewarding cross-disciplinary research and navigating tenure when publishing in other fields;
• Student and faculty recruitment and retention.
This professional development symposium (PDS) is meant to leverage the vast experience of Senior Scholars who have dealt with this issue and to hear their guidance and recommendations as to how to address this. This PDS is sponsored by the AIS College of Academic Leadership and the College of Senior Scholars.

This PDS will address the concerns of the IS faculty and the leaders on how to make the discipline more relevant and viewed as a flagship area among business disciplines. The speakers drawn from the AIS College of Academic Leadership and the College of Senior Scholars are academic leaders with experience in creating and managing IS programs. The speakers will share their perspectives with guidance and recommendations that could help in facilitating collaborations and relationships with non-IS stakeholders. The PDS would also allow the audience to engage with the speakers. We anticipate that this PDS would interest aspiring or current academic leaders.

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