Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology Volume 3, 2006 Preparing Undergraduate Students for IT Certification Akram Al-Rawi, Faouzi Bouslama, and Azzedine Lansari College of Information Systems, Zayed University Abu Dhabi, UAE akram.alrawi@zu.ac.ae faouzi.bouslama@zu.ac.ae azzedine.lansari@zu.c.ae Abstract Current demand for Information System (IS) graduates requires that they master specific techni- cal skills needed by industry and government institutions. Revising the IS curriculum to keep it up to date while meeting demands of the Information Technology (IT) labor market continues to be a challenging task. In order to graduate students that are competitive, post-secondary educa- tional institutions must adopt a new methodology where IT certification is an integral part of the IS curriculum. The IEEE and ACM recognize the importance of IT certification and provide its members with over 800 online courses that lead to various IT certificates. The selection of the appropriate IT certificate for integration into the IS curriculum is a complex task as it entails a thorough knowledge of the curriculum and the certificate objectives. The goal of this paper is to propose a selection of IT certificates which can be readily integrated into the IS curriculum. Three potential certification tracks for the purpose of this study are identified: Networking, Program- ming, and IT hardware and software. A list of vendors and non-vendors IT certificates and their exam requirements is developed, and the IS courses which can lead to the listed IT certificates are identified. This identification is based on matching specific course objectives with the IT certifi- cate and the timeline needed for the certificate completion. The selection of the IT certificates for each track is optimized to facilitate both student learning and the completion of the certificate. Integrating IT certification in computing curricula makes IS programs more attractive to students. Moreover, the acquisition of IT certification is a valued asset for graduates seeking employment or advancement in the computing field. Keywords: Information Systems, IT certifications, Curriculum design, IS courses. Introduction Certification establishes a standard of competency in specific area and job roles (Montante & Khan, 2001). This helps industry to determine that employees meet the required credentials for different jobs roles thus requiring less training during the initial employment period. Hence, some job criteria require individuals to be certified in order to be considered for employment. To the cer- tified individual, certification provides a greater sense of confidence in their abilities and a measure of professional expertise and understanding of the job role and products used in that role. It is for these reasons that certification is be- Material published as part of this publication, either on-line or in print, is copyrighted by the Informing Science Institute. Permission to make digital or paper copy of part or all of these works for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage AND that copies 1) bear this notice in full and 2) give the full citation on the first page. It is per- missible to abstract these works so long as credit is given. To copy in all other cases or to republish or to post on a server or to redistribute to lists requires specific permission and payment of a fee. Contact Publisher@InformingScience.org to request redistribution permission.