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Computer Science

The undergraduate programs prepare students for careers in diverse areas of application of Computer Science and Computer Information Systems. The MS program provides a strong graduate-level core foundation in Computer Science while also allowing exploration into various areas of interest in the discipline.

The department offers students the opportunity to earn the distinction of Honors in Computer Science or Honors in Computer Information Systems. This recognition appears on the permanent transcript and diploma. The Honors award confers a distinction that enhances opportunities for graduate school and employment.

Faculty and Facilities

The breadth of faculty expertise is evident from the many courses offered in operating systems and networks, programming languages, security, artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, computer graphics, computer architecture, database systems, computer theory, security and computer forensics, mobile computing, software engineering, and web programming, as well as from the variety of professional consulting and research projects in which the faculty are involved.

The College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Construction Management (ECC) is housed in the O'Connell Technology Center. ECC maintains a large site to support its computing and technology needs. Currently, the College manages 19 labs with a combined total of more than 300 machines (not including machines in faculty and department offices), several physical and virtual servers and multiple operating systems, supporting approximately 20,000 users. ECC buildings have upgraded networking and full coverage Wi-Fi access.

Computing facilities available to computer science majors include three general-purpose labs containing high-end PCs, two of which are Windows-based while the third runs Linux. The department also has an Apple lab for Mac/iOS development projects. One of the labs is designated as a computer networks laboratory where students get hands-on experience in computer security and network management by designing, configuring, and reconfiguring various types of networks and through the analysis of data obtained from network analyzers. All of our students also have 24/7 remote access to our Linux file server. The department is also a member of the Microsoft MSDN Academic Alliance, giving all students free access to Microsoft software including operating systems and various development tools.

Student Organizations

Student chapters of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), and the Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE) international honor society are active on campus. Additionally, the Chico State Linux User's Group (CSLUG), American Institute of Mechatronic Engineers (AIME), the Web Programming Club and the Computer Graphics Consortium (CGC), and many other student organizations and clubs provide opportunities for various student activities.

Cooperative Educational Experience

The computer industry holds the department in high regard, in part due to its active participation in the Cooperative Educational Experience Program. Students are placed in internships with both local and remote companies. Local companies such as 11 Main, Build.com, EXL Landa, Milestone Technologies, Sunguard-Bitech, Wanderful Media have numerous internships available. Other non-local companies such as Amazon, Cyan, E & J Gallo, IBM, Chevron Corporation, Microsoft, Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, VEEVA and various government laboratories also actively recruit interns from the Department of Computer Science. Selected students take a planned educational leave for a term and a summer (six to eight months) to work in their discipline and receive normal employee salary and academic credit for their valuable experience.

Career Outlook

As reported by Science Careers in March of 2013, ‘the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, projects that 62% of the growth in jobs in science-related fields will be in computer science. That's more than 750,000 new jobs, and a total of more than 1,350,000 job openings. Occupations that are expected to grow rapidly include software engineers, mobile application development, computer systems analysts, computer security analysts, big data analysts, network analysts, and database administrators. Browse through the various types of Computer Science jobs at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/home.htm for descriptions of the various types of related positions and the median pay for each. Graduates of the BS or MS programs can look forward to a stimulating variety of career opportunities, as employment prospects for trained computer science and computer information systems professionals are expected to remain very high. The Minor in Computer Science or the Minor in Information Technology will benefit students of all disciplines, given the current trend toward hiring graduates who have strong technology skills.

Accreditation

Both the BS in Computer Science and the BS in Computer Information Systems degree programs are accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET, 415 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201-4405, telephone: (410) 347-7700.

Catalog Cycle:17