Introduction

The Media and Information Technology Board has proposed a new interdisciplinary major in Media and Information Technology (MIT). That major involves courses from Communication, Computing Sciences, English, Philosophy, and Physics/EE. That proposal points out that “Majors in the Computing Sciences Department could not take this as a second major without extensive hours beyond the normal requirements for graduation.” For our students, we are proposing to create a third major in our department, based on the MIT major, which will blend software development skills with the non-computing parts of the MIT major.”

As noted in the Introduction to the MIT major:

The fields of computers and communication have come together in a synergy that has created the need for a new type of educational preparation. Businesses use electronic commerce as a major tool both in sales to individuals and in business-to-business transactions. The University has recognized this need by creating a new major in Electronic Commerce. While this business usage is growing rapidly, we see this aspect as only a small part of the effect on society caused by the Internet. We are proposing a new major that addresses the need for people who are knowledgeable in both the technical aspects and the communication aspects of this new paradigm.

While there are programs that are based in Communication departments (usually called New Media) and programs in Computing Science departments (with titles including Information), these programs reflect the strengths of the department housing them. We propose to build on the strengths of several departments at the University to produce a program that has strength in all its parts. Starting with Physics/EE to provide a careful look at the hardware and at the science of communication, we add the technical support of the computing sciences to provide programming tools and network expertise and the practical and theoretical skills of the communication department to produce effective communication specialists. In addition, the student may add additional writing skills as many of the technical documents today are electronic and must be effective on the web or using multi-media.

We feel that there are major opportunities for interdisciplinary research in this area and the cooperation between the concerned departments bodes well for the future success of the program. We see many further directions as we develop more expertise in multi-media and the integration of technical and communication skills.

Goals and Objectives

This program will prepare students for careers as software developers with a specialty in multimedia information communication. They will have the background needed for lifelong learning in a field that is constantly changing.

In the following, we define multimedia as the combination of text, graphics, animation, film and sound to effectively communicate to the user in an effective, interactive manner.

Each student will be able to design and maintain a multimedia Web site.
Each student will be able to design and produce multimedia documents in CD-ROM or DVD formats.
Each student will be able to design network topologies and security features for Intranets and Extranets.
Each student will be able to evaluate the effectiveness of multimedia presentations.

For related University programs, market, model programs, resources and course descriptions, please see the MIT proposal.

Requirements for Major

Catalog Description of Program

The Information Science and Technology Major is a blend of both the Media and Information Technology major and the Computer Information Systems major. Its emphasis is to prepare software development professionals who can engineer large projects incorporating extensive multimedia aspects.

The MIT program is based on the observation that electronic communications has significantly changed the world in many ways. Every field has adopted the computer and the Internet as basic tools. Virtually all aspects of communication within and between institutions and corporations are affected by the need to provide information in multiple media. The fields of computers and communication have come together in a synergy that has created the need for a new type of educational preparation. No longer do we look to print documents and to oral presentations as the only two ways to convey information. There is a great need for people who are knowledgeable in both the technical aspects and the communication aspects of this new paradigm.

Both the IST and the MIT programs build on the strengths of several departments at the University to produce a program that has strength in all its parts. Starting with Physics/EE to provide a careful look at the hardware and the science of communication, we add the technical support of the computing sciences to provide programming tools and network expertise and the practical and theoretical skills of the communication department to produce effective communication specialists. The student may add additional writing skills as many of the technical documents today are electronic and must be effective on the web or using multi-media.

In addition, the students in the IST major will develop significant software development skills that will enable the student to engineer much larger software projects using more sophisticated programming and networking tools. Each student will also be prepared to enter an appropriate graduate program; have a general background in the Computing Sciences; and be cognizant of ethical issues and societal concerns relating to computers in society.

All the programs in the Computing Sciences Department have a common first year allowing the student to postpone the selection of a specific major until consultation with members of the department.

Major Grid

INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

	Dept. and No.	Descriptive Title of Course
		FIRST YEAR	FALL	SPRING
MAJOR	CMPS 134-144	Computer Science I-II	3	4
COGNATE	MATH 114	Analysis I		4
GE WRTG-SPCH	WRTG107-COMM 100	Composition-Public Speaking	3	3
GE C/IL	C/IL 102	Computing and Information Literacy	3
GE PHIL	PHIL 120	Introduction to Philosophy	3
GE T/RS	T/RS 121	Theology I		3
GE HUMN	HUMN ELECT	Humanities Elective		3
GE QUANT	MATH 142	Discrete Structures	4
GE FSEM	INTD 100	Freshman Seminar	1
GE PHED	PHED ELECT	Physical Education	___	_1_
			17	18


MAJOR	CMPS 240-250	Data Structures-Machine Organization	3	3
COGNATE	Electives[1]	Electives	3	3
GE PHIL	PHIL 210	Ethics	3
GE T/RS	T/RS 122	Theology II		3
GE HUMN	HUMN ELECT	Humanities Elective	3
GE S/BH	S/BH ELECT	S/BH Elective	3
GE NSCI	PHYS 104	Intro to Consumer Technology		3
GE ELECT	MATH 204[2]	Statistics		3
GE PHED	PHED ELECT	Physical Education	_1_	_1_
			16	16


MAJOR	CMPS 352-CMPS 354[3]	Operating Systems-Data Comm & Networks.	3	3
MAJOR	CMPS 376-356	Rapid Prototyping-Web Programming	3	3
MAJOR	CMPS 330-Elective	Info. Sys. -Sys. Elective	3	3
COGNATE	COMM 317-318	Digital AV-Multimedia Presentations	3	3
COGNATE	PHYS 204	Information Technology	3
GE S/BH	S/BH ELECT	S/BH Elective		3
GE Elect	ELECT	Free Elective	___	_3_
			15	18


MAJOR	CMPS 490	Computer Projects	3
MAJOR	CMPS ELECT	Major Electives		6
COGNATE	COMM 329	Graphics	3
GE PHIL	PHIL 214	Computers and Ethics		3
GE HUMN	HUMN ELECT	Humanities Elective	3	3
GE NSCI	NSCI ELECT	Natural Science Elective	3
GE ELECT	ELECT	Free Electives	_3_	_3_
			15	15

Total: 130 Credits

[1]Cognate electives must come from COMM 310, COMM 324, PHYS 113, WRTG 218, WRTG 311 or WRTG 318

[3] Major electives must come from courses acceptable to either the CS or CIS major.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Goals and Objectives

Requirements for Major

Catalog Description of Program

Major Grid