Computer Information Systems
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Computer Information Systems is a discipline that encompasses the specification, design, implementation, management, and application of computer systems. It has transcended its beginnings in business applications, differentiated itself from computer science, and established itself as a useful partner in a variety of enterprises, from the natural resources to geography, from the corporation to the classroom, throughout the social sciences and the applied sciences. Information systems are now developed in the context of most disciplinary enterprises: the modelling of the worldview, the organization of data within that worldview and the collection, maintenance, retrieval, manipulation and transformation of data into a spectrum of outputs as information.
The purpose of the CIS major is to prepare students for active roles across the breadth of information systems. Students explore technical and user-support orientations to determine their individual strengths and preferences, working from a basic core of CIS and closely related areas such as math.
Information systems professionals have the opportunity to work in both domains: the technical and application areas. The technical world is full of continuing challenge for individuals who excel at combining existing tools with new knowledge to create solutions. The application area can be one of many functional areas, such as math or business; one of the applied sciences, such as engineering or natural resources; or one of the disciplines into which computing is now reaching: the arts, psychology and political science. CIS students learn a lot about computing, but when they take this knowledge into the world they find a wide variety of application areas where they also develop depth. For problem-solvers with a service orientation, this is a rewarding field.
Many students who do not actually major in CIS find that the study of their selected major is complemented by the study of information systems. The pursuit of a CIS minor is appropriate to nearly every major course of study: humanities; applied, behavioral and social sciences; education; basic sciences; the arts; and, of course, business administration.
At Humboldt, the CIS program is supported by a department-level network supporting a laboratory with both Linux and Windows, an Internet Teaching Lab that provides hands-on experience with telecommunications hardware and software and campus-level servers for database and Web service. Students also have the opportunity to participate in the Computing Science Club, affiliated with the National Association for Computing Machinery.
Degrees Offered
BS, Minor