About

The Information Technology Program is a campus-wide program. Our office is in 350 Campus Center Way (UWW building).

UMass is a leader in its an interdisciplinary approach to IT education. We seek to educate a broad spectrum of students to be the leading IT practitioners and thinkers. Campus-wide courses, offered by ten different schools and colleges, contribute to our curriculum.The IT Program also coordinates the annual Information & Communication Technology Summit and collaborates to facilitate the Open Education Initiative, as well as, outreach through Five College, Inc. and local colleges. We also continue to explore, initiate and support new ways to integrate technology in order to sustain a quality education and academic environment for our campus community.

Staff • Faculty ListingSteering Committee

 Courses

Students at UMass can pursue a major discipline of their choice and complement that study with the IT Minor. The curriculum includes courses on technologies and technical capabilities along with courses that focus on the application of IT in particular disciplines.   Over a hundres courses, offered by ten different schools and colleges, contribute to our curriculum.

Learn More

 IT Minor

The Information Technology Minor at UMass allows students to pursue a major discipline of their choice and complement that study with the IT Minor.

The curriculum includes courses on technologies and technical capabilities along with courses that focus on the application of IT in particular disciplines. Some courses turn the lens around and apply knowledge gained from diverse departments across campus-such as Law, Art, and Economics.

Learn More

CCC Flyer

CCC

The Computer Competency Certification educates and tests students about the fundamentals of the use of computers. It consists of 12 modules with topics ranging from computer hardware to production software to digital living. 

Now Available:

The CCC course--UNIV 290C--is now available for students to take online in the U1 and U+ session. This 2-credit course also serves as the foundation requirement for the IT Minor.

Learn More

 

Office Location

The IT Program is located in the Office of Interdisciplinary Programs.

Our office is located at 350 Campus Center Way. Advising is conducted by appointment only. 

Come in the main entrance, and there is a waiting area to the right. The advisor will come out to get you at the appointed time.

See you soon!

__________________________

 

New! Public Interest Technology Certificate

The UMass Amherst PIT Certificate is available to all undergraduate students in every major across the campus, regardless of their primary field of study.

The goal of this certificate is to give students a background in Public Interest Technology though the opportunity to develop social literacy, pragmatic strategies to promote the public interest, and technological literacy. Students with this background, no matter their major, will be able to address problems in a more socially responsible way.

For information on this new IT Program certificate in collaboration with Public Interest Technology Initiative at UMass, click HERE.

 

 

Program History

The UMass Amherst Information Technology Workforce Task Force was formed in 1998 by faculty and staff of the Amherst campus who were members of a President's Office Information Technology Workforce Development Task Force, established to foster linkages between the UMass system and the state's key industries. The UMass Amherst Task Force expanded to include representatives from a number of academic units, including the social sciences, and the humanities and fine arts. At the suggestion of Dean Joseph Goldstein of the College of Engineering, the group took up the subject of IT education at the undergraduate level. 

1999

In Fall 1999, UMass Amherst convened a two-day conference and workshop of business, government, and academic leaders to discuss the IT labor shortage. The goal of the conference was to lay the groundwork for a UMass response. See: "Formulating a UMass Response to the Information Technology Labor Shortage."  A short time later, a Curriculum Committee of the IT Task Force formed to sketch out a preliminary IT curriculum for the campus. 

2000

On October 13, 2000, some 120 UMass Amherst faculty and staff collected in the Campus Center to focus details of an IT curriculum: who should be involved, what should be taught, what links needed to be formed across the campus in order to move the program forward. The day-long program, sponsored by the Provost, ended with a first request for faculty proposals under the CITI program. By Spring 2001, 20 courses had been developed. 

One highlight of the October 2000 workshop was a keynote address by Dr. Cheryl Harris, a UMass alum active in the high-tech sector. While IT programs in institutions around the country have begun with technical roots, Dr. Harris argued that the future of IT requires an even broader approach -- one consistent with the breadth, traditions, and culture of UMass Amherst.

OEI

The Open Education Initiative is a faculty incentive program that encourages the use of existing low-cost or free information resources to support our students’ learning.

Open Call to Faculty

We encourage UMass Amherst faculty and staff with interest in Information Technology to join us. Approximately 70 faculty and staff contribute to our IT Program in a variety of ways, such as program leadership, standing or ad hoc committee work, or teaching courses in the IT curriculum.

In return for our contributions, we build relationships with others from across campus that benefit our students and ourselves. Please contact us if you are interested in learning more.