The University of Maryland’s information studies college will join the undergraduate studies realm this fall with its new bachelor of science in information science, the details of which were announced to the student body this week.
“This is a degree that focuses on teaching people to use technology and information to solve problems,” said Brian Butler, the college’s dean. “It will be a combination of technical skills, design thinking and information management, not available anywhere else on campus, or anywhere else in the state.”
The program was approved unanimously by the University System of Maryland Board of Regents in October.
Until now, the information studies college did not have an undergraduate program.
“This is us becoming part of the undergraduate mission at the university, which we think is really important,” Butler said.
Vedat Diker, information studies college program director at the Universities at Shady Grove, said the course load will be launched in stages. Initially, there will be four courses offered in the fall, each worth three credits, out of the 10 core courses that will make up the degree. For students who would like to specialize in data science, he said, there will be five other courses offered by the school in addition to the 10 that make up the degree.
“There are courses that deal with how people approach information: How do they seek information, how do they interact with it once they find it, and also how do people interact with technology?” Diker explained. “There will also be courses that deal with information itself: How do you organize information, how do you define databases to store and easily access information, how do you analyze information and data?”
This is the first specialization that will be available in the area of data science or data analytics at the undergraduate level at this university, Butler said, a field which is growing in popularity and demand in technology-related careers.
“We have a 50-year history of educating people in the field of information studies and information management, with our graduate and Ph.D. programs,” Butler said. “Now we are introducing skills and knowledge to people earlier in their careers, which is valuable.”
The undergraduate degree will be added in with the iSchool’s current human-computer interaction, information management and library science graduate programs and information studies doctoral program.
“We see that our graduates are doing pretty well in the job market. There are many jobs and positions that they can fill,” Diker said. “And we believe that people with this undergraduate degree, along the same lines, will be able to compete in the job market.”
Butler said he has spoken with representatives from several other schools and departments on the campus, including the behavioral and social sciences college, the arts and humanities college and the architecture, planning and preservation school, about the possibility of future partnerships involving this new area of study.
These kinds of partnerships will cater to those who might be interested in the intersection of these fields, he said. For example, perhaps there is a student who is interested in the study of politics or business as well as technology, he said.
“The new degree will cover the intersection of issues at the domains of people, information and technology,” Diker said. “In the tradition of the iSchool, we try to address problems at those intersections.”
This is a growing field, he said, and this degree offers new opportunities for students and is a good investment in building a career in the information and technology field.
The iSchool staff is “very excited to be welcoming undergrads into the iSchool,” said Johnna Percell, the school’s communication coordinator. To try and promote the new degree opportunity and attract interested students, the school has been advertising on social media and on its website, and the school’s recruitment coordinator is also making plans to reach area high schoolers, Percell said.
“We are really looking for people who are passionate about working both with people and with technology,” Diker said. “So I would encourage anybody who finds both of those domains of interest to them, to check out the program.”
