School of Informatics

The School of Informatics offers programs that study the inter-relationship of people, information and technology to prepare students for today’s digital, global economy. Informatics builds solid technology skills on a traditional liberal arts foundation. As such, Informatics may be viewed as an academic bridge that connects information technology to other “cognate disciplines” such as those within hotel administration, fine arts, public health, the humanities, business and engineering. One of the strengths of Informatics is this interdisciplinary focus. Students who matriculate the program will be able to take advantage of a unique educational experience that integrates Informatics with another academic discipline of interest.

Accreditation

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Undergraduate Major

Bachelor of Science in Informatics

Mission

The mission of the School of Informatics is to provide an academic path for students who are interested in pursuing a career that combines computing and information technology with another academic discipline. The curriculum is inherently interdisciplinary and recognizes that the human, information, and technology dimensions of problem solving are equal contributors in advanced informatics applications areas. The School of Informatics will produce graduates who become successful and internationally competitive educators, entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders in the global information economy.

Graduates from the School of Informatics will possess the skills to apply information technology deeply and effectively in related disciplines, referred to as “cognate” areas. These graduates will be ideally suited to achieve profound advances in these cognate areas. They will also possess general knowledge in the discipline of informatics, which will equip them with the principles and conceptual framework necessary to invigorate any discipline using advanced information technology.

The School of Informatics responds directly to the objectives of UNLV’s macrotheme in informatics (www.unlv.edu/pubs/planning/macrothemes.html).

Goals

The School of Informatics will accomplish its mission by achieving the following goals:

1. Achieve and sustain a world-class academic program at the undergraduate and graduate levels in Informatics.
2. Prepare students for 21st century careers, both integrating and applying advanced information technologies to innovate new methods, and also increase the efficiency of knowledge creation in other disciplines.
3. Provide graduates with a competitive advantage in the workplace by guiding the development of diverse skill sets to meet the complex and variegated challenges of the information technology industry.
4. Build an internationally recognized faculty in Informatics through aggressive recruiting, retention, and advancement based primarily upon the relevance, demonstrated excellence, and international recognition of their work in Informatics.

Program Objectives

The following objectives will enable us to accomplish our goals and satisfy our mission:

1. Build the instructional models around the project-based education, with particular emphasis toward the interrelationships between humans and technology; the centricity of current and future digital media; and the organizational, societal and cultural implications of what humans do with information and the technology that supports its use.
2. Selectively hire and retain faculty with a history of, or strong potential for, transdisciplinary research and a commitment to our instructional model.
3. Create learning environments and laboratories that are qualitatively compatible with the development and production environments in the most advanced technology industries.
4. Maintain objectively documented nationally competitive programs in selective high-profile/high-demand areas such as entertainment informatics, digital media, health information technology, human-computer interaction, and information systems security.
5. Become the focal point in selected research areas that directly support such critical components of the private sector in Las Vegas and Nevada as entertainment, gaming, hospitality, healthcare, and security.
6. Establish close relationships with the local industry executives through advisory boards and cooperative programs.
7. Work with local industry and government agencies to facilitate student transition into the employment market.
8. Encourage strategic research partnerships between faculty and students.
   Additional information may be found on the School of Informatics website at www.informatics.unlv.edu.

Admission to the Major

Entering Freshmen - minimum 3.0 GPA from high school; Transfer students - minimum 2.75 GPA cumulative from all schools, as calculated by UNLV Student Enrollment Services; Students changing majors at UNLV - 2.75 UNLV GPA based on at least 12 academic credits earned at UNLV.

School Policies

1. Students must complete a minimum of 30 credit hours in informatics courses at the 300–400 (junior–senior) level.
2. Students must maintain a minimum GPA of 2.75. Any course taken to satisfy the requirements of the major must be completed with a minimum grade of C.
3. Students are expected to complete the requirements for their undergraduate degree within eight years of admission to the School of Informatics. Students are allowed to continue beyond this time period only at the discretion of the director. If a student has not taken classes for three years or more, that student must satisfy program requirements of the School of Informatics in effect at the time of reactivation. Requests for deviation from requirements listed in the catalog must be approved in writing by the director, whose decision is final.
4. Courses that fulfill the requirements for a cognate area may also meet the general education distribution requirements.
5. Cognate area courses may not count as informatics core courses or informatics elective courses.
6. If a cognate-area course is equivalent to an informatics core course, students must substitute additional informatics elective courses in place of informatics core courses with the concurrence of the director of the School of Informatics, to meet the 30 credit hour requirement.
7. Courses that fulfill the requirements for a bachelor’s degree in informatics may also apply to a minor outside of the School of Informatics.