CSC 505/805 - Foundations of Information Technology
CSC 510/810 - Vocation and Ethical Computing
CSC 515/815 - Applied Artificial Intelligence
CSC 520/820 - Human Computer Interaction
CSC 525/825 - Data Security and Information Assurance
CSC 530/830 - Database and Information Management
CSC 535/835 - Systems Development: Theory and Practice
CSC 540/840 - Networking
CSC 545/845 - System Design and Configuration
CSC 550/850 - System Administration and Maintenance
CSC 555/855 - Project Management
CSC 560/860 - Web Systems and Technologies
CSC 565/865 - IT Integrative Capstone
CSC 505/805 - Foundations of Information Technology
This course is a survey and overview of information technology used in the enterprise today. It includes such information technology fundamentals as: grand ideas of information technology; technology organizational issues; history of information technology; informing and allied disciplines; application domains; mathematical and statistical foundations; and ethical, moral and vocational issues in information technology. This course is the required first course in the Masters of Science in Information Technology curriculum. In addition to providing an overview of the discipline of information technology, the course develops an "IT mindset" in students by illustrating the diverse context and challenges in information technology. - 3 Credit Hours
CSC 510/810 - Vocation and Ethical Computing
This course provides the foundation for professional ethics in the field of Information Technology (IT). Students are familiarized with the doctrine of vocation and its implications for ethical attitudes, policies and behaviors within IT. They also learn the history of computer ethics and the codes of practice proposed by professional societies such as the Association for Computing Machinery and the Institute for the Management of Information Systems. As our society becomes increasingly dependent on IT, it is imperative that students see their work as a means of service with social responsibilities that go far beyond the immediate legal and business-related requirements of their employer. Students learn that although the field of IT poses some unique ethical problems and challenges, these can be evaluated with the same moral criteria that apply in other walks of life. Specific topics studied include: serving the user’s needs; developing sustainable and modifiable solutions; creating ethical products; computer security and privacy (including the problems of malicious software, hacking and identity disclosure); intellectual property rights; and the ethical implications of an electronic global community. Relevant moral criteria are presented and applied to contemporary case studies.
Prerequisite: CSC 505/805. - 3 credit hours.
CSC 515/815 - Applied Artificial Intelligence
This course discusses the concepts of intelligence, both human and machine, and the nature of information, its origin, description, and transmission. This course will offer a practical approach to incorporating artificial intelligence into useful applications. It includes such topics as: face recognition, speech recognition and robotic construction. The nature of human intelligence and the limits of machine intelligence will be treated from a scientific, philosophical, and computational perspective.
Prerequisite: CSC 505/805. - 3 credit hours.
CSC 520/820 - Human Computer Interaction
Information Technology practitioners do not create and manage systems for their own personal interest; instead, they create and manage systems as effective problem-solving tools for others. This course deals with the fundamental IT issue of effective and usable human computer interaction. In addition to technical issues, people and process must be understood to create effective and usable tools. IT practitioners must develop a user-centered perspective within the organizational context. To that end this course will study related issues including cognitive principles, human-centered design, ergonomics, accessibility, emerging technologies and usable environments.
Prerequisite: CSC 505/805. - 3 credit hours.
CSC 525/825 - Data Security and Information Assurance
This course is a survey and overview of methods to safeguard the information technology used in the enterprise today. IT systems are increasingly under attack and therefore knowledge of attacks, protection, and counter-measures is important to the IT practitioner. The IT practitioner must comprehend and manage assurance and security measures within the enterprise. Topics include: operational issues, policies and procedures, attacks and related defense measures, risk analysis, backup and recovery, and the security of information.
Prerequisite: CSC 505/805. - 3 Credit Hours
CSC 530/830 - Database and Information Management
This course provides students with the background to plan, design, implement, maintain, and use database management systems. It addresses the database structures, requirements, functions and evaluation of database management systems. The course focuses on the relational database model, standard SQL language, database structure normalization, conceptual data modeling, and the entity-relationship data model. Concepts of data integrity, security, privacy, and concurrence control are included.
Prerequisite: CSC 505/805. - 3 Credit Hours
CSC 535/835 - Systems Development: Theory and Practice
This course is a survey and overview of creating software solutions using professional programming practice. Programming is a foundational skill for all computing disciplines. This knowledge area develops skills and concepts that are essential to good programming practice and problem solving. It covers fundamental programming concepts, event-driven programming, object-oriented programming, basic data structures, and algorithmic processes. The use of current development environments and languages will be emphasized.
Prerequisite: CSC 505/805. - 3 Credit Hours
CSC 540/840 - Networking
This course is an in-depth view of data communication and networking ranging from the primitive historical approaches to the ever changing modern state of the field. It includes principles of network design, using a top-down approach and focusing on technologies used in the Internet. It will help students learn to design network-aware applications using sockets, threading, and concurrency. It will help students understand how the Internet works, from the transport layer down to the physical layer. It will help students prepare for future positions in research and development by introducing them to the latest research in Internet technologies. It will help students become better writers by emphasizing written work where possible. It will also help students apply networking technology in ways that can enrich their lives and assist in spreading the Gospel.
Prerequisite: CSC 505/805. - 3 Credit Hours
CSC 545/845 - System Design and Configuration
This course provides an in-depth treatment of those concepts practitioners must understand to effectively design and configure information technology systems. Topics include: operating systems, computer organization and architecture, computing infrastructures, enterprise deployment software, firmware and hardware, scripting and task automation, backup, and configuration.
Prerequisite: CSC 535/835. - 3 Credit Hours
CSC 550/850 - System Administration and Maintenance
This course presents concepts and skills the professional system administrator must understand to effectively maintain enterprise information technology. Topics include: operating systems, application packages, administrative activities, administrative domains.
Prerequisite: CSC 545/845. - 3 Credit Hours
CSC 555/855 - Project Management
Project management concepts, skills, and techniques are vital for the successful development of any product using the software engineering process. This course will cover issues such as: requirements, request for proposals, acquisition and sourcing, integration, testing and quality assurance, and organization context.
Prerequisite: CSC 535/835. - 3 Credit Hours
CSC 560/860 - Web Systems and Technologies
From eCommerce to data mining, web systems are the primary information repository of 21st century information technology. This course focuses on: web technologies, information architecture, digital media, web design and development, vulnerabilities and social software.
Prerequisite: CSC 555/855. - 3 Credit Hours
CSC 565/865 - IT Integrative Capstone
The integrative capstone course provides the student the opportunity to showcase computer science concepts and problem solving skills by effectively analyzing a real problem and synthesizing an effective solution. Students choose an acceptable problem and then fully implement the solution to that problem following professional programming practice in a software engineering framework. Students present their progress and project via written reports and oral presentations. The final acceptable project includes an actual product along with both process and product documentation equivalent to a masters thesis.
Prerequisite: candidate status. - 3 Credit Hours
