About IT at UMass Amherst

The goal of the program is to enable any interested student to confidently employ IT, and to secure an intellectual platform from which to develop capacity to innovate, using IT in his or her field. At base, the point of the program is to combine the myriad strengths of this great university to expand knowledge in information technology. We believe that the precise requirements for an appropriate IT education should vary across disciplines and students. However, promoting this tailored IT fluency for all students is increasingly important and will favorably affect the intellectual, social, and economic base of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Faculty from across the disciplines administer the Program and teach its classes, ensuring that UMass addresses the needs of students across the curricula. UMass faculty already apply IT in such disciplines as English, public policy , dispute resolution, natural resource conservation, art, journalism, and nursing, to name just a few. The IT Program consolidates this expertise into opportunities—most notably our IT Minor—for all students to study IT in a form that is relevant to their interests and needs. For faculty, the Program promotes opportunities for cross-campus IT collaboration in teaching, research, and outreach.

Background on the IT Program

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.

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.

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.

UMass IT Steering Committee

W. Richards Adrion
Computer Science

Michael Ash
Economics

Donna Baron
Five Colleges, Inc.

David Mix Barrington
Computer Science

Marilyn Billings
Library

Steve Brewer
Biology

Wayne Burleson
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Glenn Caffery
Resource Economics

Paula Chakravartty
Communication

Leda Cooks
Communication

Helene Cunningham
Nursing

Seshu Desu
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Laszlo Dienes
Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

Beth Ebacher
Office of Information Technology

Linda Enghagen
Hotel and Tourism Management

Graham Gal
Accounting and Information Systems

Copper Giloth
Art and Office of Information Technologies

Joe Goldstein
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Jarice Hanson
Communication

Karen Hayes
Industry Liaison & Economic Development

Beth Henneman
Nursing

Bill Israel
Journalism

Jim Kurose
Computer Science

Laetitia La Follette
Art History

Bob Maloy
Education

Lori Mestre
Library

Marla Michel
Industry Liaison & Economic Development

Robert Moll
Computer Science

John Nelson
English

Mari Castañeda Paredes
Communication

Brenda Philips
Engineering Research Center

Elaine Puleo
Biostatistics and Epidemiology

Cheryl Reilly
Nursing

Richard Rodgers
Foundation Relations

Karen Schoenberger
Social and Behavioral Sciences

Charles Schweik
Natural Resources Conservation and Public Policy Administration

Norm Sondheimer
Accounting and Information Systems

Gino Sorcinelli
Accounting and Information Systems

Dave Toomey
English

Ruth Verock-O'Loughlin
Education

Bill Verts
Computer Science

Cleve Willis
Natural Resources and the Environment