CIS Overview
The Computer Information Systems (CIS) degree is part of the Computer Science & Information Systems (CSIS) Department. The department is supported by six qualified and experienced faculty members. Many of the members hold the highest degrees in their fields (Doctorates). They are primarily responsible for teaching lecture and laboratory courses and share the academic advising of students. Occasionally, experienced adjunct professors from industry assist in teaching; however, no courses are taught by graduate students.
Due to the small class size in this program, students receive personal attention from the instructors. While emphasis on high quality teaching is the faculty members' highest priority, the faculty members keep up-to-date in their profession through involvement in research, professional societies and other forms of professional development.
The CIS curriculum is supported by the departments of Mathematics, Management, Accounting and Economics. Students gain communication skills, leadership qualities, cultural, social and international awareness through the required general education courses and in the Computer Information Systems classrooms and laboratories.
The student body is a mixture of traditional students and employed professionals. Classes are scheduled both in the daytime and in the evening to accommodate their needs. The CIS core curriculum provides the students with a foundation in traditional topics including programming languages, systems analysis and design, data communications, database and decision support systems.
The CIS curriculum is noted for the many laboratory and project experiences to which the students are exposed. CIS students will combine their computer and business backgrounds to effectively provide solutions to today's computing problems. Software design and development is taught and integrated throughout the curriculum and culminates in a major design experience forming a two-course capstone sequence.
The CS department has Sun Workstations running Solaris, Linux Workstations and servers, PCs running Windows XP at its disposal. Students become versed in both C++ and Visual Basic, and will be exposed to many different experiences and topics that will prepare them for the workplace.