Fall 2009 Issue

 

Rassule Hadidi and the Management Information Systems program

Rassule Hadidi

 

By Amy Spies

UIS’ recent awards for excellent online education and programs have been due in part to the scholarship, innovation and commitment to education that Rassule Hadidi, professor and chair of the management information systems program in the College of Business at the University of Illinois Springfield, exemplifies.

“When I came here,” Hadidi said, “we did not have an MIS (management information systems] program at all.”

Hadidi joined the mathematical systems program with a joint appointment with the former Center for Policy Studies in 1981 when he first arrived at UIS (then Sangamon State University).

MIS as a discipline is young – it’s only been around for around 30 years. But Hadidi saw the writing on the wall; he knew that a systems approach to information management and applications would be the future. He said he wanted to create a degree program in MIS with the help of colleagues from a variety of disciplines: business and accounting, to name two – and put their talents and expertise together to create a new program with new faculty. In 1986, SSU began to offer the master of science in management information systems, which has been around for 23 years.

Hadidi also blazed the trail in online education: An MIS course was the very first fully online course in 1997. In 1999, UIS offered the first full degree program also fully online.

Two years ago, Hadidi submitted a new request to develop a bachelor of science in MIS; the request has received approval from the University of Illinois Board of Trustees and is awaiting approval from the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

The bachelor of science degree program has been a goal of Hadidi’s for more than two decades. Originally, when the master of science was offered, this institution was an upper division and graduate school only; he was told “it was not a good idea to try to create both [a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree] at the same time,” he said. But finally, his vision will come to fruition.

The MIS degree is a unique degree program not only in Illinois but in the U.S. It is offered in a blended format, that is, partially online and partially in person. This arrangement, Hadidi said, “allows us to attract students from other geographical areas and allows us to cover material that would be difficult to cover in an online-only format.”

“And no one,” he said, “offers a B.S. and an M.S. in MIS in blended format.”

The MIS program has received a number of accolades recently. It received a grant from the Sloan Foundation and from the University of Illinois. Two online degree programs at UIS – the master of science in computer science and the master of science in management information systems – were rated among the top dozen programs in a 2008 national survey conducted by GetEducated.com, the only consumer-oriented online degree clearinghouse in the country. The survey looks at tuition costs at accredited, distance-learning computer science and information systems degree programs nationwide. These awards further bolster the expertise and excellence the UIS program offers.

Hadidi has a number of areas of expertise. When he started teaching in 1987 and 1988, Hadidi focused on electronic payment systems and electronic commerce. His current teaching interests include graduate-level courses in electronic commerce and telecommunications.

Hadidi’s research interests include electronic commerce, wide area networks, online education, and MIS curriculum development and quality assessment.

With the online program, Hadidi focused his research interests to online instruction. He has presented papers with colleagues comparing student performance in online and face-to-face classes, as well as why faculty members are more (or less) inclined to teach courses online.

“One of the benefits of being in the field,” Hadidi said, “is that I have to stay up to date on those new methods and technologies and be able to transfer that knowledge to students.”

“To our surprise,” he said, “it was interesting and comparable. Some claim that online exceeds in quality in terms of student performance, interaction and engagement. In face-to-face classes, students come in to class once a week and disappear. They may not speak or interact in class and the instructor only has that one opportunity with students. In online classes, student participation is much more demanding, interaction is more deliberate.”

In face-to-face classes, Hadidi pointed out, “even those who are active in class are only there once a week, whereas online classes are available for engagement 24/7.” He added, however, that online courses do require discipline.

Hadidi’s other research interests include radio frequency identification, which can be used by warehouses and supply chains. Bar code tags on products sold in stores send a signal to indentify themselves. “Envision going through the grocery store and just dashing out the door with your groceries,” Hadidi said. “Each tag on each item would emit a signal and, ultimately, debit your checking account.”

There are drawbacks, however. For example, the cost of a radio frequency identification tag itself might be more expensive than the product. Is it really worth tagging a package of gum? On the other hand, a $10 bottle of wine would account for the cost of the tag. The costs of tags have come down from $10 per tag to a few cents per tag.

“One of the benefits of being in the field is that I have to stay up to date on those new methods and technologies and be able to transfer that knowledge to students,” Hadidi said. “Other fields are not quite like that.”

Hadidi was introduced to management information systems as a discipline when he was working on his dissertation. One of the requirements his PhD program insisted on was that candidates be able to apply their work. His dissertation was on group decision-making. In fact, as a research assistant as the Health Services Research Center/Health Care Technology Center at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Hadidi worked on developing a methodology for evaluating drug information systems, constructing forecasting systems using epidemiological data to predict the need for End Stage Renal Delivery facilities, manpower and financial resources; studying the contributions of technology to hospital costs; and establishing evaluation techniques for existing hospital information systems.

The costs of health care in this country are very high. One way of reducing those costs is to rely more on electronic information systems. “So when I was applying my dissertation,” Hadidi said, “I had many of the same ideas.”

Hadidi has two undergraduate degrees, one in math and statistics and the other in industrial engineering and operations research. He also has a master’s degree and Ph.D. in operations research. Hadidi has completed post-doctoral research in MIS at Indiana University after coming to SSU in 1985. His work was sponsored by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

Hadidi is currently UIS’ Hanson Professional Services Faculty Scholar. The 2006 award recognizes Hadidi for “outstanding efforts in teaching, research and outreach in management information systems.”

Currently, Hadidi is president of the Midwest Association for Information Systems and is also an honorary adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Zhejian University’s School of Management in Hangzhou, China.

Further, Hadidi has brought in more than $350,000 in grants and contracts. His ability to develop systems solutions for an agency’s problems has been paramount to his success, as evidenced by the kinds of grants and contracts awarded. Of the $350,000 grant, $270,000 was awarded between 1995 and 2000 for the specific purpose of developing online courses and content – long before the rest of the university was focused in that direction.