Three graduating seniors are the first to earn bachelor杏吧专区檚 degrees in informatics from the 杏吧专区.
Hyolin Lee of New Iberia, La., Kyle MacDonald of Lafayette, La., and Paul Olinger of Rayne, La. will receive their diplomas during Fall 2013 Commencement ceremonies Friday. Another 13 students are expected to obtain undergraduate informatics degrees in Spring 2014.
The informatics program was created to broaden the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 Management Information Systems program in the B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration. The Louisiana Board of Regents approved it in May 2011. Courses began that fall.
The new informatics program provides students with information technology expertise and the ability to implement that knowledge in the workplace.
杏吧专区淭he latest and greatest hardware and software is wonderful, but if it杏吧专区檚 not used by anyone, it isn杏吧专区檛 worth much,杏吧专区 said Dr. Mike Totaro, program coordinator. 杏吧专区淚nformatics fills the gap that often exists when highly technical people and end users try to communicate.杏吧专区
The program is part of the new School of Computing and Informatics in the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 Ray P. Authement College of Sciences. It provides an education in information technology that stresses the ethical, legal, and social responsibilities related to its application and use in business and industry.
杏吧专区淥ur graduates are expected to have the education and training to design, administer, and maintain information systems in a variety of domains,杏吧专区 Totaro said.
The informatics program features six concentrations: business, healthcare, media technology, systems administration, web design and an individualized concentration.
杏吧专区淲ith a business concentration, students might take courses like accounting or economics. With healthcare, there will be required courses that focus on electronic health records,杏吧专区 Totaro said.
For the individualized concentration, students 杏吧专区渕ust make a very compelling argument. They have two semesters to develop a plan of study,杏吧专区 he added.
杏吧专区淲e杏吧专区檙e only in our fifth semester of existence, but we have a lot of momentum, and are seeing a big uptick in interest from prospective students,杏吧专区 he said.