Be one with IT.

Ask 10 people to define IT, and you'll get 20 different answers. Because IT has gained widespread use in so many different contexts, it is hard to nail down a single definition, so we'll give you two. Big IT and Little IT.

Big IT refers to the computing world as a whole. Little IT is an academic discipline that looks at IT in its many forms and applications. Our program is concerned with Little IT. It consists of five key areas, which we call...

The Five Pillars of IT

In order to “make things work” for people in today’s (and tomorrow’s) sophisticated computing environments, IT Professionals need core competencies in five essential areas:

• Programming and application development
• Web and multimedia content development, or “interactive media”
• Database management systems and enterprise application development
• Networking and system administration
• User-centered design and deployment, including needs assessment, human-computer interaction, technology transfer, and ongoing support.

The fifth pillar focuses on the human element. This is the defining competency of the IT Professional, what distinguishes us from, for example, a Computer Scientist. To be successful users’ advocates, we must see the world through their eyes. We must “be one” with our users, and learn about the tasks they perform and the skills they possess. From this, we can then select, integrate and deploy technology that enhances their lives. This requires skills in information gathering, user-centered design, and deployment. It also attracts the student who cares more about how people use computers than about how computers work under the hood. Creativity, technology, and communication skills—these are the core competencies of IT.

Many students in our BS in IT program focus on one or two technical aspects to prepare for careers in a variety of market niches like enterprise application development, games and interactive media or Web-database integration, to name a very few of the many possibilities. Other students choose a broader path to prepare for “general practitioner” or “Jack of all trades” jobs, which are prevalent in virtually every enterprise and organization in society. In short, the IT program at RIT offers the opportunity to specialize but does not require that you do so. Whatever you want IT to be, IT will be.