Information Technology (BA/MS)
The BA/MS Information Technology program is an accelerated program giving students the opportunity to pursue admission to and begin classes for the MS Information Technology while an undergraduate student. This program reduces the total number of courses needed and the total time needed for the combined degrees. The BA is awarded by the School of Continuing and Professional Studies and the MS by The Graduate School.
Curriculum
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Information Technology BS Major Courses | ||
| COMP 170 | Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming | 3 |
| COMP 271 | Data Structures I | 3 |
| COMP 317 | Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues in Computing | 3 |
| CPST 250 | Foundations of Organizations | 3 |
| CPST 310 | Accounting Principles and Application | 3 |
| CPST 291 | Dynamic Programming Languages | 3 |
| CPST 325 | Data Processing, Analysis, and Visualization | 3 |
| CPST 342 | Introduction to Web Application Development | 3 |
| CPST 343 | Software Development for Mobile Devices | 3 |
| CPST 345 | Introduction to IT: Networking, Cloud & Security | 3 |
| CPST 349 | Project Management | 3 |
| STAT 103 | Fundamentals of Statistics | 3 |
| SCPS Courses | ||
| CPST 200 | Introduction to Degree Completion | 3 |
| CPST 201 | Civic Identity and Development | 3 |
| CPST 397 | Capstone | 3 |
| Core Requirements | ||
| The number of hours remaining toward Core requirements can vary due to transfer credit. | ||
| Mission Specific Requirements | ||
| Mission specific requirements can vary from 0 to 15 credit hours based on your prior credit. | ||
| General Elective Requirements | ||
| Students may have some general elective coursework to complete if their transfer credit and remaining required hours (Core, mission specific, major, etc.) do not total 120. | ||
| BA/MS Requirements | ||
| Students may take up to 9 credit hours of 400 level courses required for the MS Information Technology while an undergraduate student. The three graduate courses, taken during the students’ senior year will count toward the degree requirements for both the undergraduate and graduate degree. | ||
| Social and Ethical Issues in Computing | ||
| Software Development for Wireless and Mobile Devices | ||
| IT Project Management | ||
| Information Techonology MS Requirements | ||
| COMP 417 | Social and Ethical Issues in Computing | 3 |
| Select Three Courses in Track | 9 | |
| Data Management Track | ||
| Database Administration | ||
| Data Mining | ||
| Rapid Applications Development | ||
| Database Programming | ||
| Computer Science Topics | ||
| Technology Management Track | ||
| Operations Management | ||
| Organizational Development | ||
| Software Systems Analysis | ||
| IT Project Management | ||
| IT Security Track | ||
| Computer Security | ||
| Computer Forensics Investigations | ||
| Intrusion Detection and Computer Forensics | ||
| Network Security | ||
| Wireless Networking and Security | ||
| Enterprise Networking Track | ||
| Computer Networks | ||
| Network Security | ||
| Wireless Networking and Security | ||
| Enterprise Networking | ||
| Select six (6) graduate level COMP electives | 18 | |
| Total Hours | 75 | |
Students in the BA/MS program are permitted to take up to 9 credit hours of 400-level courses that would apply toward their MS program requirements while completing their undergraduate degree. If you have general elective hours to satisfy for your undergraduate degree, your 400-level courses can be courses taken in addition to your undergraduate major courses. Additionally, there are three 400-level courses that can be applied both toward your BA and MS Information Technology program requirements:
The following are required to complete the BA/MS dual degree program:
- Successful completion of the BA Information Technology within the School of Continuing & Professional Studies.
- 30 credit hours of 400-level graduate courses, including those counted while an undergraduate, completed with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Please note only 400-level courses will apply toward graduate requirements. Additionally, a student with credit for a 300-level COMP course that has an equivalent 400-level COMP course may not take the 400-level course for separate credit. Example: COMP 317 and COMP 417 are equivalent courses and credit can only be earned once.
Suggested Sequence of Courses
The School of Continuing and Professional Studies provides a high-touch advising model in order to incorporate the professional and educational outcomes of the student as well as any transfer credit accepted. In order to provide students with maximum flexibility in their education and because everyone’s academic background will vary, advisors will work directly with students to determine an appropriate sequence of courses starting at admission into their respective program based on their needs and expected time to completion.
Students in BA Information Technologyprogram will be able to:
- Apply a structured approach to solving problems on a computer; create algorithms for solving problems and implement solutions to problems using a programming language.
- Identify elementary data structures, describe their implementation and choose an appropriate data structure to solve a given problem; evaluate algorithms to select from a range of possible options, provide justification for that selection, and implement the algorithm in a particular context.
- Design, implement, test, and debug a program that uses each of the following fundamental programming constructs: basic computation, variables, expressions, I/O, standard conditional and iterative structures (loops), the definition of functions, parameter passing, and recursion.
- Describe principles of object-orientation (abstraction, delegation, inheritance, and polymorphism) and basic design patterns; practice programming with mainstream object-oriented languages such as C++ or Java.
- Apply a variety of strategies to the testing and debugging of simple programs; construct, execute and debug programs using a modern IDE and associated debugging tools; construct and debug programs using the standard libraries available with a chosen programming language.
- Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of dynamic languages, versus static typing. Practice programming in Python or some other dynamic language, such as Ruby or PHP.
- Organize data in ways to emphasize relationships, write simple programs to process, visualize and graphically display data, mine data for patterns, and design web interfaces to data.
- Apply the relational model to solving real world problems and implement those models using SQL on standard DBMS platforms and to use a declarative query language (SQL) to elicit information from a database.
- Analyze laws and issues in areas such as privacy, encryption, freedom of speech, copyrights and patents, computer crime, and computer/software reliability and safety; assess philosophical perspectives related to Ethics and the basics of the U.S. legal system; and identify ethical issues that arise in information technology and determine how to address them technically and ethically.
- Make informed and strategic decisions in a complex work environment; apply quantitative analysis to business problems; and impact organizational goals through project management strategies
Students in the MS Information Technology program will gain familiarity with the broad outlines of computer technology and will gain specialization in one of the track areas (Data Management, Technology Management, IT Security and Enterprise Networking).