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University of Pittsburgh    
2019-2020 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
 
  Nov 13, 2024
 
2019-2020 Undergraduate Catalog [Archived Catalog]

Information Science, BS


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To be awarded a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Information Science, the student must:

  • Earn a minimum of 120 credits with a minimum of 15 of those credits in a related field. A related field consists of five courses from the same academic area. All of the final 30 credits and at least 15 credits in Information Science (INFSCI) must be taken through the School of Information Sciences.
  • Possess an overall cumulative and Information Science GPA of at least 2.50.
  • Satisfy the distribution of studies requirement.
  • Fulfill any remaining requirements that may have been noted at the time of entrance (e.g., English composition, language requirements, and statistics requirements).
  • To apply for graduation, you should make an appointment with the Undergraduate advisor in the term BEFORE you expect to graduate.

Note: The requirements outlined in this section represent minimum degree satisfaction.

Grandparenting and the new School of Computing and Information


The following degree information is relevant only to students enrolled in the School of Information Sciences.

If you were matriculated into the University of Pittsburgh PRIOR to Fall 2017, you should have received a communication allowing you to choose whether you wanted to remain in the School of Information Sciences or transfer to the School of Computing and Information. If you chose to remain in the School of Information Sciences, please refer to these catalog pages for the remainder of your time at Pitt. If you chose to transfer to the School of Computing and Information , please refer to the appropriate catalog pages.

Please note: If you did not specify your decision, you were transferred to the School of Computing and information by default.

For full grandparenting details, please see the School of Information Sciences  main catalog page or contact the School’s Office of Student Services at SCIug@pitt.edu.

Major Requirements


English Composition Requirements


All students entering Arts and Sciences (A&S) as freshmen are required to take a writing placement examination. (For more information on the A&S composition requirement, see Skills Requirements in the Arts and Sciences section .)

In addition, Information Science students are required to take ENGCMP 0200 - SEMINAR IN COMPOSITION  along with ENGCMP 0400 - WRITTEN PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION , ENGCMP 0440 - CRITICAL WRITING , or ENGCMP 0450 - RESEARCH WRITING .

Language Requirements


All students entering the Information Science program are required to satisfy a second language requirement. This requirement can be fulfilled by one of the following:

  • Two years of the same second language in high school completed with a grade of C or better each year,
  • One year of a second language in high school completed with a grade of C or better and one term of the same second language in college completed with a letter grade of C or better, or
  • Two terms of the same second language in college completed with a letter grade of C or better.

If the second language requirement has not been satisfied by the time of admission, the student will be required to resolve this deficiency by the end of the second term at the School. In addition, all Information Science students are required to complete LING 1000 - INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS  or PHIL 0500 - INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC  with a letter grade of C or better.

Quantitative Requirements


All Information Science students must complete one of the following mathematics courses with a letter grade of C or better:

Note:


In addition, a statistics course must be completed with a letter grade of C or better. See this Web site for listing of specific statistics courses.

General Distribution of Studies Requirement


All students are required to complete 9 credits in each of the three traditional divisions of A&S: the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. A copy of the Information Science-approved list of courses may be obtained from the BSIS Web site.

Literature: A minimum of one literature course selected from the Information Science-approved list and completed with a letter grade of C or better.

Music and Art: A minimum of one course selected from the Information Science-approved list and completed with a letter grade of C or better.

Communication: A minimum of one of the following communication courses with a letter grade of C or better:

Social Science: A minimum of two courses from among two different fields selected from the Information Science-approved list must be completed with a letter grade of C or better.

History and Culture: A minimum of one course from the Information Science-approved list must be completed with a letter grade of C or better.

Psychology: All Information Science students must complete PSY 0010 - INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY  with a letter grade of C or better.

Natural Science: Students must complete a two-course sequence in biological sciences, neurosciences, chemistry, geology and planetary science, or physics and astronomy, selected from the Information Science-approved list. In addition, one course in a field different from the two-course sequence will be required. All courses must be completed with a letter grade of C or better.

Note:


Students may then choose to tailor their studies by taking one of our industry-advised specializations.

Information Systems


This specialization in information systems enables students to use object-oriented design tools and state-of-the-art best practices to design, build, implement, and test Web-based information systems. Coursework may include INFSCI 1017 - IMPLEMENTATION OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS , INFSCI 1068 - GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS) , INFSCI 1025 - DESIGN OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS , INFSCI 1026 - MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS , and INFSCI 1092 - SPECIAL TOPICS: SYSTEMS . See the course descriptions here for more details and prerequisites.

Networks and Security


This specialization offers skills needed to design, build, and test LANS, WANS, Wireless, Internet, and Web-based networks. Coursework might include INFSCI 1071 - APPLICATIONS OF NETWORKS , INFSCI 1074 - COMPUTER SECURITY INFSCI 1072 - INTRODUCTION TO WIRELESS NETWORKS , and INFSCI 1073 - APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT FOR MOBILE DEVICES INFSCI 1070 - INTRODUCTION TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKS , INFSCI 1075 - NETWORK SECURITY , and INFSCI 1092 - SPECIAL TOPICS: SYSTEMS . See the course descriptions here for more details and prerequisites.

User-Centered Design


This specialization provides the visual and human-computer interaction skills needed to design and build prototypes of information systems interfaces as well as to perform usability testing of these systems. Coursework might include INFSCI 1052 - USER CENTERED DESIGN , INFSCI 1014 - GRAPHICS , INFSCI 1059 - WEB PROGRAMMING , INFSCI 1079 - COMPUTER NETWORKING LABORATORY , and INFSCI 1092 - SPECIAL TOPICS: SYSTEMS  (see the course descriptions here for more details and prerequisites.)

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