In collaboration with several other academic units at UW-Milwaukee, SOIS offers students the opportunity to obtain two Master’s degrees concurrently—one in Library and Information Science (MLIS) and one in a subject area.

Degree Requirements

  • The number of degree credits needed for each of the coordinated programs is usually 12 fewer than the sum of the two programs if they were not taken simultaneously. All degree requirements of each component must be satisfied.
  • The MLIS portion of the coordinated degrees can be completed online.
  • Prerequisite to the award of either degree in this program is the simultaneous award of its counterpart degree.

MLIS Component

The Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) component of each of the coordinated programs includes 30 credits of SOIS courses. These include the MLIS core courses (12 credits). The remaining 18 MLIS credits are selected from the School’s offerings in accordance with the student’s goals in the coordinated degree program.

MLIS/MS Health Care Informatics

The MLIS/MS Health Care Informatics Coordinated Degree Program is designed to provide students with theoretical and practical exposure to the evolving field of healthcare informatics as practiced in hospitals, clinics, professional offices, corporations, the government, the insurance industry, and higher education.

Admission Requirements 

Application Deadlines

Application deadlines vary by program, please review the application deadline chart for specific programs. Other important dates and deadlines can be found by using the One Stop calendars.

Admission

Students are admitted to both graduate programs separately and admission requirements are consistent with those specified by the UWM Graduate School, the Health Care Informatics program, and the MLIS program of the School of Information Studies.

Credit and Courses

Students accepted into this MS/MLIS program complete the following courses:

Health Care Informatics

HI 700Introduction to Health Care Informatics3
BUS ADM 740Information Technology Management Concepts and Languages3
or BUS ADM 813 Social Media Analytics for Business
BUS ADM 747Service-Oriented Analysis and Design3
or HCA 541 Healthcare Information Systems Analysis and Design
Select one of the following:3
Data and Information Management
Introduction to Database Systems
Data Base Organization and File Structure
Healthcare Database Design and Management
BUS ADM 748Managing Information Technology Projects3
Select one of the following:3
Web Mining and Analytics
Enterprise Knowledge & Semantic Management
Computational Models of Decision Making
Text Retrieval and Its Applications in Biomedicine
COMPSCI 520Computer Networks3
HI 721Health Information Technology Procurement3
HI 723Health Care Systems Applications - Administrative and Clinical3
HI 890Health Care Informatics Research and Thesis3
or HI 891 Health Care Informatics Professional Project
Total Credits30

Library and Information Science

Required
INFOST 501Foundations of Library and Information Science3
INFOST 511Organization of Information3
INFOST 571Information Access and Retrieval3
INFOST 799Research Methods in Information Studies (Culminating experience for the degree)3
Electives
Select at least four of the following:12-15
Introduction to Reference Services and Resources
Information Ethics
Metadata
Topics in Library and Information Science:
Information Sources and Services in the Health Sciences
Other Elective
Select 3 credits3
Total Credits27-30

Students also must pass a comprehensive examination, or submit and successfully defend a thesis. The thesis option requires additional credits.

  • Minimum Credits for MS: 29
  • Minimum MLIS Credits: 27
  • Minimum Total Credits for the Program: 56

The credits for the coordinated program would typically be completed in both programs at the same time, rather than one program after the other. A student not completing the requirements for the coordinated degree program would need to complete all requirements for an individual program in order to receive a degree.

Important

You must refer to the catalog pages of both individual master's programs to ensure that you meet all requirements for both degrees.

Additional Requirements

Time Limit

Students in the coordinated MS/MLIS degree program must complete all degree requirements within seven years of the first enrollment semester as a degree student.