ARCHIVED 2014-2015 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Computer Science
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Professors: Godfrey Muganda, Stephen Renk, Caroline St. Clair
Associate Professor: Judy Walters
Mission Statement
The mission of the Computer Science department is to create effective, ethical problem solvers who understand and can apply the principles of computer science and information management to serve the research and business communities, as well as society in general.
The Computer Science department offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees with a curriculum based on national guidelines developed by the ACM and IEEE computer societies.
The objectives of the curriculum are to:
- Introduce students to the fundamental concepts of computer science applicable to a variety of computer systems, languages and areas;
- Help students develop strong problem-solving skills leading to the construction of effective problem solutions;
- Provide students with pragmatic, usable knowledge built on a strong theoretical foundation;
- Promote the development of effective communication skills;
- Allow students, through a variety of advanced electives, to gain knowledge and experience in areas of special interest.
North Central College supports an excellent computing environment with up-to-date hardware and software. Students have access to over 200 Windows-based PCs and 65 Mac workstations, all connected to the College’s fiber-optic network and the Internet. Laboratories include scanners, black and white and color laser printers, photo printers, video capture equipment and additional hardware and software for creating and editing digital audio, video and image files. DSLR and point-and-shoot cameras, audio recorders and microphones are available for student projects as well as a sound booth and green screen room.
Coursework exposes students to a wide variety of software for the development of client server, desktop and web applications. Through coursework students gain experience with operating systems such as Windows, Linux and Android; databases such as ORACLE and MySQL; programming frameworks and APIs such as OpenGL, XNA, Maya and ZENworks; and programming languages such as Java, C, C++, C#, Perl, Ruby, Python, PHP, SQL, JavaScript and ActionScript.
Working one-on-one with a faculty member, students have the opportunity to perform original research and explore areas and topics of personal interest.
Internships: North Central’s ideal location offers students many opportunities to engage in paid internships and cooperative learning experiences with leading corporations and research laboratories. Students are encouraged to take advantage of these opportunities and it is common for our undergraduates to work in areas related to their computer studies during much of their junior and senior years.
Degrees offered: B.A. and B.S.
Internships: While internships in the computer industry are not required for majors and minors, they are highly recommended. A maximum of six credit hours of internship can be applied to a computer science major. A maximum of three credit hours of internship can be applied to a computer science minor.
Transfer Students: Many computer science courses from other institutions can be used toward an NCC degree. However, transfer students should be aware that some work at other institutions may not be accepted by the College. For example, courses focusing on topics like computer center operations, hardware repair or JCL do not transfer. Computer science course work more than five years old is evaluated to determine if it is sufficiently current.
Graduate Work: North Central undergraduate students may transfer up to six credit hours of work at the 500-level into the master’s program in computer science, provided these credits are in excess of the minimum credits required for their undergraduate degree program. Courses at the 600-level are not open to undergraduates.
Integrated Five-Year Bachelor’s/Master’s Programs Students may not take more than 12 hours of graduate work prior to earning a bachelor’s degree.
Graduate probation and dismissal policies apply to all graduate coursework, regardless of when it is taken.
ProgramsMajorMinorCoursesComputer Science
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