Computing and Information Sciences

Learn more about the Department of Computing and Information Sciences at Valpo online.

Professor Yayimli (chair); Associate Professors Glass, Rosasco; Lecturers Poposki, Streuber, Wainwright, Wichlinski.

Computing and programmable devices permeate modern culture, and most intellectual disciplines have been transformed by computational thinking. Computer science thinks about problems in terms of the logical operations machines can perform; put more informally, computer science considers how to make machines do things. Students learn modern programming languages and environments, algorithms, professional practices, and computational reasoning. This understanding is useful for becoming a computing practitioner and understanding cyber security, as well as being able to engage with computational processes in other disciplines. Careers in computer science include systems programming, applications programming, cyber security, and data management.

In addition to the major and minor listed below, students are eligible to enroll in a 5-year program that leads to both a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Master of Science in Cyber Security. For more information contact the chair of the department.

A student planning to major in Computer Science should begin taking both Computer Science and Mathematics courses in the freshman year.

Cooperative Education

Credit in Computer Science may be obtained for cooperative education experiences relating to Computer Science. Students must prepare a brief proposal describing the intended experience and secure a Computer Science advisor, who will decide whether the work merits Computer Science credit. For each term of Computer Science related work, students may receive 2 credits for a summer experience, or 3 credits for a full-time semester experience. No more than 3 credits may be counted toward the minimum major requirements or the Computer Science minor. (An exception may be made in the case of the Bachelor of Science degree, where up to 4 credits in Cooperative Education may be counted toward the 36-hour single major.) If these credits are used to fulfill minimum credit hour requirements for a major or minor, at least two Computer Science experiences are required, at least one of which must be a fulltime semester experience. In addition to meeting the College of Arts and Sciences 2.500 cumulative grade point average requirement, students must present a 2.500 grade point average for all required Computer Science courses in the major taken prior to participation in the Cooperative Education program. For further information, refer to Cooperative Education, College of Arts and Sciences .