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Students select two concentrations in the field of information technology as available from the department. These concentrations represent advanced specializations in information technology and are selected by the student and approved by the student's faculty advisor. Since most concentration courses are offered only once or twice a year, students should plan their co-op blocks so that they will be on campus when the courses in their chosen concentrations are offered.
At the present time there are 10 concentration areas, listed below. Some of the concentrations are made up of three specific IT courses, while others consist of four or more courses from which the student would choose three.
The Web Site Development and Interactive Multimedia Development concentrations share one common course, 4002-409, so students who select both of those concentrations may choose an IT elective as the "sixth" course.
Students who want to focus on enterprise-level Web-database deployment may wish to choose the following six-course track, which integrates the database concentration with Web content development and provides a project-based capstone course (4002-486), which requires all the other courses as prerequisites. This track would fill in both IT concentrations (all 24 credits).
The Web Site Development and Interactive Multimedia Development concentrations share one common course, 4002-409, so students who select both of those concentrations may choose an IT elective as the "sixth" course.
These courses represent a relatively new concentration in IT application development. Students can choose any three of these five courses to complete this concentration, as long as they meet the prerequisites for the courses they take.
This concentration consists of courses from the BS in Medical Informatics, which is offered by the IT department. The prerequisite to the concentration is 4006-310, Medical Informatics I, which may be taken as a Free Elective.
This concentration consists of courses from the Department of Networking, Security and Systems Administration (NSSA), specifically core courses from their BS program in Applied Networking and System Administration (ANSA) that are beyond those used in the IT core (4050-350 and 351). You may choose any three of these courses for this concentration in IT, but be aware that there are prerequisites that must be met for some. Specifically, note that 4050-402, OS Scripting, is a prerequisite for 4050-516 and 4050-421. Additional advanced courses from the NSSA department would certainly count in this concentration as well, but they are only available to IT students by permission of the chair of the NSSA department and on a space-available basis.
A student may choose to develop a custom concentration, either by mixing courses from the other IT concentrations or by choosing courses from another subject area with the cooperation and participation of a different department at the Institute. The objective of this alternative is to allow selected students to have the opportunity to follow special study interests. The student must propose a program of twelve upper-division credits that represents an area of interest. This concentration must be approved by a School of Informatics Academic Advisor, and it may be used for only one of the two required IT concentrations.
We have included a discussion of several courses here that are not part of any of the standard concentrations because any of them would fit in a special topics concentration. Alternatively, any of these courses certainly could count as Free Electives.
Digital Audio and Computer Music 4080-527 is a popular choice for students who select both the Web Site Development and Interactive Multimedia Development concentrations and need a sixth course (see note on 4002-409 in the Interactive Multimedia Development concentration).
Similarly, Innovation and Invention 4080-555 is a popular choice for a "sixth course." It is a multi-disciplinary course that explores the intersecting fringes of technology and creativity and is taken by students from many majors across RIT. This course also can count as a General Education Elective, which is unusual for courses outside of Liberal Arts, Math or Science.
We've included three user-centered courses here: Ethics in IT 4002-415, Access and Accessibility 4002-416, and Usability Testing 4002-549. The Ethics course is an in-depth treatment of the ethical and legal issues that confront Information Technologists and would fit in a Special Topics IT concentration or as a Free Elective. Access and Accessibility focuses on the problems people with disabilities have in accessing technology and introduces ways of making technology more accessible. Usability Testing is the first course of a new concentration in user-centered design, but it is not currently in any official concentration. It would certainly count in a Special Topics concentration, as a sixth course (as described above), or as a Free Elective.
We’ve also included Introduction to Bioinformatics Computing 4002-462 and Advanced Bioinformatics Computing 4002-563, a two-course Bioinformatics Computing sequence taught by the IT department for the Bioinformatics program offered by the College of Science. These courses would be a great nucleus, so to speak, of a special topics concentration that focused on this exciting domain in which IT is so crucial.
In any given quarter, there will likely be one or more sections of Seminar in Information Technology 4002-590. Seminars can be one-time special topics courses or trial runs of new courses that are under development. While all Seminars have the same number (4002-590) each section will have its own subtitle and description, which define that specific seminar. Prerequisites will vary, but almost all seminars are intended for juniors and seniors, and most will count in one or more by-the-book IT concentrations. Consult an academic advisor for specifics.
Finally, we have included a listing for the Independent Study 4002-599 course here, even though an independent study could be used in other concentrations. Independent Study is just that -- something you study independently. It is intended to allow students to pursue advanced topics not covered directly in a standard course. It is not intended to replace a required core course that isn't offered at a convenient time. To do an independent study, you need to obtain the approval of a faculty advisor. The best way to do that is to write a brief proposal (one or two pages is usually enough), attach your proposal to the one-page independent study form (available on the forms wall outside the department office), and then pitch your proposal to a faculty member who might be interested in advising you. If you can get a faculty member to sign off on the proposal, you then can register for the Independent Study course in person in the School of Informatics Student Services and Academic Advising Center. You'll need the signed proposal before you are allowed to register for the course. You may not register for Independent Study electronically.
