Please note:

To view the Spring 2025 Academic Calendar, go to www.sfu.ca/students/calendar/2025/spring.

Information Systems in Business Administration and Computing Science Joint Major

Bachelor of Business Administration or Bachelor of Science

This program is offered co-operatively by the Beedie School of Business and the School of Computing Science. In general, students are expected to meet the requirements of both the department and the School with respect to admission, continuation and graduation requirements.

Students may opt for a bachelor of science from the Faculty of Applied Sciences, or a bachelor of business administration from the Beedie School of Business. Faculty requirements will be governed by the faculty from which the student chooses to complete a degree.

Admission Requirements

Beedie School of Business Admission Requirements

Joint major applicants should apply to Beedie through the Internal Transfer process, which is outlined on the Beedie School of Business website, after completing 24 units, of which at least 12 units must have been completed at SFU, and the required courses for joint major program admission with a minimum C- letter grade. Students must already be accepted to the computing science portion of the joint major or be eligible for admission that term.

Admission to the Beedie School of Business is competitive. Applicants must meet minimum GPA requirements to be considered; attainment of minimum admission requirements does not guarantee admission. Applicants are encouraged to review admission policies and requirements specified on the Beedie School of Business admission website.

Supplemental Application

The Beedie School of Business requires all applicants to submit a supplemental application as part of their admission evaluation. The supplemental application will be used to assess factors beyond academics such as engagement, achievement, and additional qualities. For further information on the supplemental application, please visit: https://beedie.sfu.ca/programs/undergraduate-2/bba-major/how-to-apply.

The supplemental application may include:

  • An explanation of extra-curricular experience (i.e. in the areas of: athletics, arts, community leadership/involvement, work experience, and/or entrepreneurship)
  • Short answer questions
  • Online video interview
  • References with at least one being academic in nature
  • Any additional information in support of the application

Application Procedures

Internal transfer applicants (current SFU students) should apply for admission to the faculty upon completion of the admission requirements.

Students not accepted upon initial application may reapply. Unsuccessful applicants are permitted to appeal.

Students applying for a second degree in business must consult with a Beedie Academic Advisor. Students who have a business degree (e.g. BBA, BCom, business major/joint major, MBA, etc.) or have significant curriculum overlap will not be eligible for admission to the BBA program.

Application Deadlines

Visit https://beedie.sfu.ca/programs/undergraduate-2/bba-major/how-to-apply for application deadlines.

Grade Requirements

In addition to normal university grade point average requirements, the Beedie School of Business requires a minimum 2.30 overall SFU Business course grade point average for entry into all 300 and 400 division business administration courses.

A minimum 2.30 overall SFU Business course grade point average is required for graduation from a business major, joint major, or double degree program.

For a course to be accepted as fulfilling a prerequisite, or for a lower division requirement, or for a core course to be accepted in a student’s program in business administration, a student must have obtained a minimum grade of C- (C minus).

Letters of Permission

The Beedie School of Business does not normally approve letters of permission for students already enrolled at Simon Fraser University.

Program Requirements

Lower Division Requirements

Students complete one of

BUS 232 - Business Statistics (3)
ECON 233 - Introduction to Economic Data and Statistics (3)
STAT 271 - Probability and Statistics for Computing Science (3)

and either both of

CMPT 120 - Introduction to Computing Science and Programming I (3) *
CMPT 125 - Introduction to Computing Science and Programming II (3) *

or both of

CMPT 130 - Introduction to Computer Programming I (3) *
CMPT 135 - Introduction to Computer Programming II (3) *

and all of

BUS 217W - Critical Thinking in Business (3)
BUS 251 - Financial Accounting I (3)
BUS 254 - Managerial Accounting I (3)
BUS 272 - Behaviour in Organizations (3)
CMPT 201 - Systems Programming (4)
CMPT 210 - Probability and Computing (3)
CMPT 225 - Data Structures and Programming (3)
CMPT 276 - Introduction to Software Engineering (3)
CMPT 295 - Introduction to Computer Systems (4)
MACM 101 - Discrete Mathematics I (3)

and one of

ECON 103 - Principles of Microeconomics (4)
ECON 113 - Introduction to Microeconomics (3)

and one of

ECON 105 - Principles of Macroeconomics (4)
ECON 115 - Introduction to Macroeconomics (3)

and one of

MATH 150 - Calculus I with Review (4)
MATH 151 - Calculus I (3)
MATH 157 - Calculus I for the Social Sciences (3)

and one of

MATH 152 - Calculus II (3)
MATH 158 - Calculus II for the Social Sciences (3)

and one of

MATH 232 - Applied Linear Algebra (3)
MATH 240 - Algebra I: Linear Algebra (3)

and one of**

ENGL 111W - Literary Classics in English (3)
ENGL 112W - Literature Now (3)
ENGL 113W - Literature and Performance (3)
ENGL 114W - Language and Purpose (3)
ENGL 115W - Literature and Culture (3)
ENGL 199W - Writing to Persuade (3)
PHIL 100W - Knowledge and Reality (3)
PHIL 105 - Critical Thinking (3)
PHIL 110 - Introduction to Logic and Reasoning (3)
PHIL 120W - Moral and Legal Problems (3)
PHIL 150 - Great Works in the History of Philosophy (3)
WL 101W - Writing in World Literature (3)
WL 103W - Early World Literatures (3)
WL 104W - Modern World Literatures (3)
WL 105W - World Literature Lab (3)

* To aid your choice, prior to enrollment, consult a CS advisor

** Any one of these courses may be replaced by any three unspecified transfer units in English or in ENGL-Writing at the 100-or 200-level

Upper Division Requirements

Students complete all of

BUS 312 - Introduction to Finance (3)
BUS 343 - Introduction to Marketing (3)
BUS 361 - Project Management (3)
BUS 468 - Managing Information Technology for Business Value (3) ^^
BUS 478 - Strategy (3) ^
CMPT 307 - Data Structures and Algorithms (3)
CMPT 354 - Database Systems I (3) ^^

and one of

BUS 374 - Organization Theory (3)
BUS 381 - Introduction to Human Resource Management (3)

and one of

BUS 466 - Web-Enabled Business and Emerging Technologies (3) ^^
CMPT 371 - Data Communications and Networking (3)

and 18 additional upper division CMPT units. At least one of the courses must be at the 400 division or above.

BUS 360W is recommended but not required. BUS 360W will be waived as a prerequisite for 400 division business courses for those in approved business joint programs, provided that an alternative approved upper division W course is in progress, or has been completed. Students should consult with a Beedie School of Business Academic Advisor for further information on obtaining a waiver.

BUS 360W must be completed at Simon Fraser University in accordance with the WQB requirements.

^ Must be completed at Simon Fraser University

^^ BUS 362 will be waived as a prerequisite for BUS 466 and BUS 468, provided that CMPT 354 is in progress or has been completed for information systems in business administration and computing science joint major students. Students should consult with a Beedie School of Business Academic Advisor for further information on obtaining a waiver.

Business Concentration

Students may choose to complete one or more business concentrations by meeting the concentration requirements listed on the business major page of the calendar.

Degree Choice

Upon successful completion of the above requirements, students will be awarded a bachelor of business administration degree, offered by the Beedie School of Business.

To be eligible for a bachelor of science degree, offered by the Faculty of Applied Sciences, students complete all of the requirements listed above and two additional courses: MACM 316 and a course from the School of Computing Science’s table I, II, or III.

Table I - Computing Science Concentrations

Artificial Intelligence

CMPT 310 - Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (3)
CMPT 340 - Biomedical Computing (3)
CMPT 410 - Machine Learning (3)
CMPT 411 - Knowledge Representation (3)
CMPT 413 - Computational Linguistics (3)
CMPT 417 - Intelligent Systems (3)
CMPT 419 - Special Topics in Artificial Intelligence (3)
CMPT 420 - Deep Learning (3)

Visual and Interactive Computing

CMPT 361 - Introduction to Visual Computing (3)
CMPT 363 - User Interface Design (3)
CMPT 365 - Multimedia Systems (3)
CMPT 412 - Computer Vision (3)
CMPT 461 - Computational Photography and Image Manipulation (3)
CMPT 464 - Geometric Modelling in Computer Graphics (3)
CMPT 466 - Animation (3)
CMPT 467 - Visualization (3)
CMPT 469 - Special Topics in Computer Graphics (3)

Computing Systems

CMPT 303 - Operating Systems (3)
CMPT 305 - Computer Simulation and Modelling (3)
CMPT 371 - Data Communications and Networking (3)
CMPT 379 - Principles of Compiler Design (3)
CMPT 403 - System Security and Privacy (3)
CMPT 431 - Distributed Systems (3)
CMPT 433 - Embedded Systems (3)
CMPT 450 - Computer Architecture (3)
CMPT 471 - Networking II (3)
CMPT 479 - Special Topics in Computing Systems (3)
CMPT 499 - Special Topics in Computer Hardware (3)

Information Systems

CMPT 353 - Computational Data Science (3)
CMPT 354 - Database Systems I (3)
CMPT 362 - Mobile Applications Programming and Design (3)
CMPT 372 - Web II - Server-side Development (3)
CMPT 441 - Computational Biology (3)
CMPT 454 - Database Systems II (3)
CMPT 456 - Information Retrieval and Web Search (3)
CMPT 459 - Special Topics in Database Systems (3)
CMPT 474 - Web Systems Architecture (3)

Programming Languages and Software

CMPT 373 - Software Development Methods (3)
CMPT 383 - Comparative Programming Languages (3)
CMPT 384 - Symbolic Computing (3)
CMPT 473 - Software Testing, Reliability and Security (3)
CMPT 475 - Requirements Engineering (3)
CMPT 477 - Introduction to Formal Verification (3)
CMPT 489 - Special Topics in Programming Languages (3)

Theoretical Computing Science

CMPT 307 - Data Structures and Algorithms (3)
CMPT 308 - Computability and Complexity (3)
CMPT 404 - Cryptography and Cryptographic Protocols (3)
CMPT 405 - Design and Analysis of Computing Algorithms (3)
CMPT 406 - Computational Geometry (3)
CMPT 407 - Computational Complexity (3)
CMPT 409 - Special Topics in Theoretical Computing Science (3)
CMPT 476 - Introduction to Quantum Algorithms (3)
MACM 300 - Introduction to Formal Languages and Automata with Applications (3)

Table II – Application Courses

Currently no courses.

Table III – Computing Mathematics Courses

MACM 316 - Numerical Analysis I (3)
MACM 401 - Introduction to Computer Algebra (3)
MATH 308 - Linear Optimization (3)
MATH 340 - Algebra II: Rings and Fields (3)
MATH 343 - Applied Discrete Mathematics (3)
MACM 442 - Cryptography (3)

Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements

Students admitted to Simon Fraser University beginning in the fall 2006 term must meet writing, quantitative and breadth requirements as part of any degree program they may undertake. See Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements for university-wide information.

WQB Graduation Requirements

A grade of C- or better is required to earn W, Q or B credit

Requirement

Units

Notes
W - Writing

6

Must include at least one upper division course, taken at Simon Fraser University within the student's major subject; two courses (minimum three units each)

Q - Quantitative

6

Q courses may be lower or upper division; two courses (total six units or more)
B - Breadth

18

Designated Breadth

Must be outside the student's major subject, and may be lower or upper division:

Two courses (total six units or more) Social Sciences: B-Soc
Two courses (total six units or more) Humanities: B-Hum
Two courses (total six units or more) Sciences: B-Sci

6

Additional Breadth

Two courses (total six units or more) outside the student's major subject (may or may not be B-designated courses, and will likely help fulfil individual degree program requirements).

Students choosing to complete a joint major, joint honours, double major, two extended minors, an extended minor and a minor, or two minors may satisfy the breadth requirements (designated or not designated) with courses completed in either one or both program areas.

Residency Requirements and Transfer Credit

  • At least half of the program's total units must be earned through Simon Fraser University study.
  • At least two thirds of the program's total upper division units must be earned through Simon Fraser University study.

Please see Faculty of Applied Sciences Residency Requirements for further information.

Elective Courses

In addition to the courses listed above, students should consult an academic advisor to plan the remaining required elective courses.

Co-operative Education and Work Experience

All computing science students are strongly encouraged to explore the opportunities that Work Integrated Learning (WIL) can offer. Please contact a computing science co-op advisor during your first year of studies to ensure that you have all of the necessary courses and information to help plan for a successful co-op experience.