Informatics is understanding the impact of technology and information on people; the development of new uses for technology; and the application of information technology in the context of another field. It provides you technology education to solve real world problems. It gives you a structural path to a bright future in information technology careers while also providing the flexibility you need to study what you love. As an informatics student, you won’t just study information technology. You will model how technology impacts the academic disciplines that interest you most. Informatics is the understanding of information technology, its impact on society, and its applications to various fields such as biology, health care, criminal justice, chemistry, arts/new media, business, music, philosophy, and psychology.

The B.S. in Informatics face-to-face (on-campus) degree follows the guidelines set out by the School of Informatics and Computing and other leading professional computing societies. Students in this degree program complete a core curriculum that builds an overall understanding of computers, computing environments, software development, and cognates (such as Bioinformatics, Business, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Criminal Justice, English, Health Informatics, Life Sciences, Mathematics, New Media, Physics, Psychology, Social Informatics, and Web Development).

The degree prepares students to enter challenging computing careers in the workplace or to embark on postgraduate programs in Informatics.

Three to five years after graduating with this degree, an Informatics graduate will:

1. be able to apply fundamental computer science and discipline specific knowledge to develop solutions that meet expectations of their profession
2. conduct themselves professionally demonstrating high ethical standards and professional integrity
3. be able to work both independently and on interdisciplinary teams in a variety of diverse work environments
4. be on track to pursue professional leadership
5. be a lifelong learner in their chosen profession

Students choose a cognate area (or concentration) of focus to better determine what kinds of people or systems that he or she would like to work with. A cognate area is an integrated program of courses that emphasize the foundations, applications and/or implications of information technology in the chosen area. For example, New Media/Arts cognate allows students to explore and learn the new forms of artistic expressions and pattern creation using computers. Artists use computers as their medium in creating, storing, and distributing artifacts. For an up-to-date list of cognates see the Informatics advisor.

• Anthropology
• Bioinformatics
• Business
• Cognitive Science
• Computer Science
• Criminal Justice
• English
• Health Informatics
• Life Sciences
• Mathematics
• New Media / Arts
• Physics
• Psychology
• Social Informatics
• Web Development

What is an Anthropology / Archeology Cognate?

This cognate allows students with interest in Anthropology, Archeology to use their technology skills to these problem domains. Students with this cognate have been able to work with Social Informatics faculty on specific undergraduate research projects and publish in conference proceedings.

What can you do with a Bioinformatics Cognate?

Students with Anthropology / Archeology Cognate can work in various positions supporting anthropology and archeology professions in collecting, organizing, analyzing, and visualizing archeological data. Providing a deeper understanding of these topics to the community.

What is a Bioinformatics Cognate?

This cognate combines computer programming and software engineering, statistics, and biology. The informatics part of the cognate helps use software and computing methods to better understand, analyze, and study biological data.

What can you do with a Bioinformatics Cognate?

You can apply the Bioinformatics Cognate to a variety of areas, like the computer programming field or biomedical field. The study of genomes and individualized medical treatment is directly related to the work done in Bioinformatics.

What is a Business Cognate?

This purpose of this cognate is to introduce you to the fundamentals of business and how information technology informs modern-day business practices at all levels.

What can you do with a Business Cognate?

If you’re interested in working in private industry, starting your own business, or pursuing a graduate business degree, consider this cognate. It prepares you to anticipate how changes in technology will offer new opportunities for businesses in every industry.

What is a Cognitive Science Cognate?

Cognitive science explores how people learn, how they perceive, and how they process information—all of which are intimately connected with how we use technology in daily life. Practically every formal introduction to cognitive science stresses that it is a highly interdisciplinary research area, in which psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, philosophy, computer science, anthropology, biology, and physics are its principal specialized or applied branches.

What can you do with a Cognitive Science Cognate?

Career applications are everywhere, from telecommunications and education to artificial intelligence. Students interested in graduate school should consider further studies in human-computer interaction design, pursuing artificial intelligence or cognitive science at the graduate level.

What is a Computer Science Cognate?

The computer science cognate will give you the opportunity to gain a deeper technical understanding of fundamental aspects of computer science, including network design, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, robotics, computer graphics, etc.

What can you do with a Computer Science Cognate?

Depending on your focus, this cognate provides you with the skills to take on a variety of IT jobs, from product and application development to user experience and Web development. Students interested in graduate school may consider further studies in either computer science or informatics.

What is a Criminal Justice Cognate?

This cognate gives students a comprehensive overview of why individuals engage in criminal conduct and how the criminal justice system operates and how that combines with technology and technological applications.

What can you do with a Criminal Justice Cognate?

There’re many jobs that combine criminal justice and informatics. Potential careers include, but are not limited to, crime analysts in criminal justice, defense and intelligence agencies, and computer forensic agents.

What is a Health Informatics Cognate?

Health informatics or medical informatics is the intersection of information science, medicine and health care. It deals with the resources, devices and methods required to optimize the acquisition, storage, retrieval and use of information in health and biomedicine.

What can you do with a Health Informatics Cognate?

It may lead to careers in medical or health-related areas or to graduate and professional degree programs in public health, health informatics, and medical informatics.

What is a New Media/Arts Cognate?

New Media is a relatively new field of study that has developed around cultural practices with the computer playing a central role as the medium for production, storage and distribution. New Media studies reflect on the social and ideological impact of the personal computer, computer networks, digital mobile devices, ubiquitous computing and virtual reality. The study includes researchers and propagators of new forms of artistic practices such as interactive installations, net art, software art, new interfaces for musical expression, the subsets of interaction, interface design and the concepts of interactivity, multimedia and remediation.

What can you do with a New Media/Arts Cognate?

This cognate is intended for students interested in working in media industries. Occupations in these industries include, data/communication analyst, data journalist, web developer, information graphics specialist, app developer, and multimedia journalist.

What is a Psychology Cognate?

The Psychology Cognate is about the impact technology has made on human behavior and interaction.

What can you do with a Psychology Cognate?

The psychology cognate is useful in many career paths, including graduate school. Interface design and user experience testing are examples of technology careers that use psychology. If you are interested in business and marketing, consider adding this cognate. Students interested in graduate school should consider graduate studies in social informatics, security informatics, human-computer interaction design and cognitive science.

What is a Social Informatics Cognate?

Social Informatics refers to the body of research and study that examines social aspects of computerization – including the roles of information technology in social and organizational change, the uses of information technologies in social contexts, and the ways that the social organization of information technologies is influenced by social forces and social practices.

What can you do with a Social Informatics Cognate?

Some careers include system analyst, data scientist, clinical applications analyst, and also a lot of careers in the medical field such as healthcare data analyst, and various nursing positions.

What is a Web Development Cognate?

This cognate is the middle ground between web design and programming, applying both aspects of using programming to build and web design to utilize. This prepares students for careers in informatics and computing which combine the technical aspects of the informatics major with the fine art aspects required for cutting edge web design and digital media production.

What can you do with a Web Development Cognate?

This cognate leads to careers in both web design and web development. Web design is primarily focused on the front-end of web applications (the look and feel of the application or Web UX), and Web development focuses on the back-end of web applications (Server-Side web programming). This is a very popular employment area and there are many jobs for graduates with web development skills.

There are excellent employment opportunities for our graduates. Based on our recent survey, almost every alumnus of our program is gainfully employed. According to bls.gov "employment of computer and information technology occupations is projected to grow 12 percent from 2014 to 2024, faster than the average for all occupations. The median annual wage for computer and information technology occupations was $82,860 in May 2016, which was higher than the median annual wage for all occupations of $37,040." 

If you have more questions regarding admissions, transfer, requirements, please refer to the program  website and contact the program director

• Students should contact the program director before their first semester to schedule a meeting with an Informatics advisor to develop a plan for their academic course of study.
• For additional questions, please contact the department administrative assistant

• Minor or B.S. in Computer Science
• Online B.S. in Informatics
• Certificate in Computer Programming
• Minor or Certificate in Computer Applications
• Postbaccalaureate Certificate in Applied Informatics