Undergraduate Degree Information

In Fall 2021, the department's degrees had a major update and have continued to have minor changes. In some cases, the differences between the pre-Fall 2021 requirements are significant. This page primarily applies to the current versions of the degrees.

In most cases, current students, especially current students nearing graduation, will not be affected by these changes. Current students will remain under their current degree plan with the same set of required classes that they have been working on completing. Any student with questions about the new requirements and whether or not they apply to their individual situation should talk to their academic advisor before making any changes to their degree.

• Summary of changes
• Computing core requirements
• Major core and concentration requirements
  • B.S. Computer Science
  • B.S. Computer Information Systems (includes minor requirement)
  • B.S. Computer Information Technology

Summary of all degrees

The classes for each degree are grouped into three categories:

1. Computing core - a common set of courses that all students in Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, and Computer Information Technology are required to take.
2. Major core - each degree contains a set of classes that required for that degree.
3. Concentration requirements - each concentration within a degree has requirements unique to that concentration.
4. Minor requirements
   • Between Fall-2021 and Fall 2023, Computer Information Systems requires a non-computing minor chosen from a list of approved minors.
   • Starting Fall 2023, Computer Information Systems does not require a minor.
   • Computer Science and Computer Information Technology do not require minors.

Computing core requirements

A new requirement for all degrees is a set of classes called the computing core. All students in Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, and Computer Information Technology, regardless of the degree, are required to take the same set of core classes. The computing core consists of these classes:

• (
     CSCI 1010/1011 Introduction to Programming I / Lab
         and 
     CSCI 2010/2011 Introduction to Programming II / Lab
  )
  OR
  CSCI 2000 Programming for STEM
  • NOTE: Most students will take the CSCI 1010/1011 CSCI 2010/2011 sequence. Refer to the Course Information page for details who should take which course.
• CSCI 2600 Computer Ethics
• CSCI 2700 Data Communications and Networking
• CSCI 4200 Principles of Information Security
• CSCI 4400 Principles of Database Management
• CSCI 4800 Computer Science and Information Systems Seminar

Major cores and concentration requirements

Each degree has a major core unique to that degree, and each concentration within the degree has an addition set of requirements.

B.S. Computer Science

The major core for Computer Science:

• Computing requirements
  • CSCI 3005 Graphic User Interfaces
  • CSCI 3250 Data Structure and Algorithms
  • CSCI 3400 Computer Organization I
  • CSCI 4100 Operating Systems and Architecture
  • CSCI 4230 Programming Languages
  • CSCI 4805 Computer Science Capstone
       or
    CSCI 3900 Internship
  • CSCI 4270 Algorithm Design and Analysis
• Science requirements
  • Computer Science students are required to take a science class appropriate for science majors.  These courses also fulfill the university's requirements for the general science core. 
  • Some students may have taken one or two science courses that fulfill the university's general core science requirement but do not fulfill the major core's science requirement.  In those situations, these guidelines apply:
    
    • If a student's current degree plan does not have a requirement for a major core science requirement, the student is not required to take any additional science courses beyond what is required on their current degree plan.
    • If the student declared the Computer Science major with major core science requirements BEFORE Fall 2020 and completed one or both general core science requirements before updating to their degree plan to the current requirements, they are grandfathered in according to these guidelines.
      • If the student completed two science courses before Fall 2020, the student's advisor will submit a waiver request for any missing major core science requirements.  The student will not need to take additional science classes.
      • If the student completed one science course before Fall 2020, the student's advisor will submit a waiver request for any missing major core science requirements.
    • Students who
      • Update their Computer Science degree from an older catalog and have not yet taken a science class.
      • Transfer into the Computer Science degree from another university.
      • Change their major from another non-Computer Science major, including CIS and CIT.
      are required to take two science classes that fulfill the major core science requirements, even if they previously met the university's general science core requirement.
  • Major core science classes. Select 2 from the following:

    ASTR 1010/1011	ASTR 1020/1021	BIOL 1110/1111	BIOL 1120/1121
    BIOL 2010/2011	BIOL 2020/2021	CHEM 1110/1111	CHEM 1120/1121
    GEOL 1040/1041	GEOL 1050/1051	PHYS 2010/2011	PHYS 2020/2021
    PHYS 2110/2111	PHYS 2120/2121

• Math requirements
  • MATH 1910 Calculus I
  • MATH 1920 Calculus II
  • MATH 3000 Discrete Mathematics
  • MATH 3450 Linear Algebra
  • Select 1 of
    • MATH 4670 Numerical Analysis
    • STAT 3250 Statistical Methods
    • STAT 4240 Probability

The Computer Science degree does not require a minor.

The Computer Science degree offers two concentrations.

• General Computer Science Concentration - previously name the Computer Theory and Systems Concentration
  • Select 4 CSCI courses 3000-level or above, 12-credits or above.
    • Courses cannot be used to fulfill requirements in the computing core or the major core.
    • If a student selects both the General Computer Science concentration and the Software Engineering concentration, the required classes in the Software Engineering concentration may not be used to fulfill the requirements in this concentration.
• Software Engineering Concentration
  • CSCI 4600 Introduction to Software Engineering
  • CSCI 4601 Testing and Quality Assurance
  • CSCI 4602 Software Design and Architecture
  • CSCI 4603 Requirements and Project Management
• Intelligent Robotics Concentration is no longer offered. Students interested in this area may want to add the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics minor. Students who have selected the Intelligent Robotics Concentration under older degree plans will be able to complete their degree without changes.

B.S. Computer Information Systems

The major core for Computer Information Systems.

• Computing requirements
  • CSCI 4018 Cloud Computing
  • CSCI 4603 Requirements and Project Management
  • CSCI 4750 Systems Analysis and Design 3

• English requirements
  • ENGL 1100 Technical and Report Writing
• Math requirements
  • MATH 1530 Elements of Statistics
  • Choose 1
    • MATH 1810 Elements of Calculus
    • MATH 1910 Calculus I
    • CSCI 2500 Discrete Structures

CIS Information Systems Environment requirement

Beginning Fall 2023, the CIS degree no longer requires a minor.  In place of the minor, the degree has an Information Systems Environment (ISE) requirement.  Students are required to choose 1 of two 15-hour focuses:

1. Business focus 
   • The Business focus exposes students to several business-related topics including accounting, economics, management, marketing, and management information systems in order to prepare them for critical roles, both technical and non-technical, in a wide variety of companies.
   • Courses
     • ACCT 2010 – Principles of Accounting (3)
     • ACCT 201L – Principles of Accounting Lab (0)
     • ECON 2100 – Principles of Macroeconomics (3)
     • MGT 2010 – Principles of Management and Organizational Behavior (3)
     • MGT 3100 – Management Information Systems (3)
     • MKT 2010 – Principles of Marketing (3)
       • Total credits: 15 credits
       • General core credits: 3 credits
         • Social and Behavioral Sciences: 3 credits (ECON 2100)
       • Upper-level credits: 3 credits (MGT 3100)
2. Earth and Environmental Science focus
   • Earth and Environmental Science (EES) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) prepare students for careers using specialized software to make decisions based on spatial data. Students learn to manage geospatial databases, create scripts to automate analyses, and visualization techniques to depict the results of their spatial analyses. Graduates from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences have gone on to work in private industry; for nonprofit, NGOs, or with consulting firms; and local, state and federal governmental organizations.
   • Courses
     • GEOG 1015 – Physical Geography (3)
     • GEOL 1040 – Physical Geology (3)
     • GEOL 1041 – Physical Geology Lab (1)
     • GEOL 1050 – Historical Geology (3)
     • GEOL 1051 – Historical Geology Lab (1)
     • GEOG 3150 – Geographic Information Systems I (3)
     • GEOG 3151 – Geographic Information Systems I Lab (1)
       
       • Total credits: 15 credits
       • General core credits: 11 credits
         • Social and Behavioral Sciences: 3 credits (GEOG 1015)
         • Natural Sciences: 8 credits (GEOG 1040/1041/1050/1051)
       • Upper-level credits: 4 credits (GEOG 3150/3151)

Students must complete all 6 courses in a single focus in order to meet the ISE requirement. Students cannot complete the ISE requirement by taking some classes in one focus and some classes in the other focus.

Although there is no minor requirement, interested students may want to consider adding a minor related to their focus.

CIS Information Assurance and Security concentration and CSCI 2500

CIS students in the Information Assurance concentration are required to take CSCI 4613 Cryptography, which has a prerequisite of CSCI 2500 Discrete Structures. CSCI 2500 also counts towards the CIS math requirement. In order to meet the CIS math requirement and keep the students from taking additional classes, Information Assurance students should be advised to take CSCI 2500 instead of MATH 1810 or MATH 1910.  if students do not take CSCI 2500 to meet the CIS math requirement, they will still have to take CSCI 2500 since it is a prerequisite for CSCI 4613, which will mean taking two classes instead of one.

CIS minor requirement

Depending on the student's catalog year, the CIS degree has different requirements for a minor.

Catalog Years Fall 2023 and after: Beginning Fall 2023, there is no requirement for a minor.

Catalog Years before Fall 2021: CIS students whose catalog is earlier than Fall 2021 must have a minor. They can fulfill the requirement with any minor, concentration, or major from any department or program.

Catalog Years Fall 2021 and Fall 2022: CIS students whose catalog year falls between Fall 2021 and Fall 2023 are required to complete a non-computing minor from a list of approved minors. This requirement can be met with either a minor or second major. For second degree students, the student’s first degree or minor may fulfill the requirement if it falls into one of the approved categories.  The requirement may also be met by petitioning the Department Chair as discussed below.

The current list of approved majors and minors for students whose catalog is falls between Fall 2021 and Fall 2023 are listed in the table below. Details and requirements of each minor can be found in the University Undergraduate Bulletin.

Minors and majors offered by the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology may not be used to fulfill CIS minor requirement. For second degree students from other schools, this would include majors and minors such as, but not limited to

Second degree students whose original major and minor are not in an approved category will be required to add a minor here at APSU.

As an alternative to the list of approved minors and majors, students may petition the Department Chair to either:

• Add a minor or major to the list of approved minors and majors.
• Allow the student to take at least 15 additional semester credit hours (or equivalent) of a cohesive set of topics that provide an understanding of an information systems environment. These credit hours cannot be from computing courses (CSCI).

Students should not select non-approved minors or majors nor take non-approved classes to fulfill the minor requirement without prior approval.

Students are allowed to have two or more minors.  For example, some students may still want a computing minor, even though it does not fulfill the CIS minor requirement.  In these cases, the student will choose one of the above options to fulfill the CIS minor requirement, which will be their first minor.  They can then add a computing minor as a second minor.

CIS concentrations

The Computer Information Systems degree offers two concentrations.

• General Information Systems Concentration - previously known as the Systems Development Concentration
  
  • Select 5 CSCI courses 3000-level or above, 15-credits or above.
    • Courses cannot be used to fulfill requirements in the computing core or the major core.
    • If a student selects both the General Information Systems concentration and the Information Assurance and Security concentration, the required classes in the Information Assurance and Security concentration may not be used to fulfill the requirements in this concentration.
• Information Assurance and Security Concentration
  • CSCI 4613 Cryptography
    
  • Select 4 from:

    CSCI 4520 Network Security	CSCI 4611 Computer Forensics and Incident Response	CSCI 4612 Securing Cyber Space (Web, DB, and Platform	CSCI 4617 IAS/Security Policy and Governance
    CSCI 4619 Ethical Hacking and Offensive Security	CSCI 4624 Risk Management	CSCI 4625 Intrusion Detection and Prevention	CSCI 4628 IAS/Defensive Programming
    CSCI 4632 IAS/Secure Software Engineering	CSCI 4635 IAS/Malware Analysis and Countermeasure	CSCI 4760 Linux System Administration

B.S. Computer Information Technology

The major core for Computer Information Technology.

• Computing requirements
  • CSCI 1005 Computer Hardware, Software, and Programming Concepts
  • CSCI 1300 Introduction to Web Development
  • CSCI 2500 Discrete Structures
  • CSCI 3300 Client-Side Web Development
  • CSCI 3350 User Experience Design
  • CSCI 4750 Systems Analysis and Design
  • CSCI 4760 Linux System Administration
• Math requirements
  • MATH 1530 Elements of Statistics

Beginning in Fall 2021, the Computer Information Technology degree does not require a minor.  Students who have declared the Computer Information Technology prior to Fall 2021 are required to have a minor.  Updating to the current degree will remove the minor requirement.

The Computer Information Technology degree has two concentrations:

• Web and Database Concentration
  
  • The department previously offered two concentrations, the Database concentration and the Internet and Web concentration. Those two concentrations have been combined into this single concentration.
  • The courses in the concentration:
    • CSCI 4000 Database-Driven Web Development
    • CSCI 4405 Advanced Database Management
    • CSCI 4460 Content Management Systems
    • CSCI 4650 Introduction to ASP.NET Programming
    • Select 1 CSCI course 3000-level or above, 3-credits or above.
      • Courses cannot be used to fulfill requirements in the computing core or the major core.
      • If a student selects both the Web and Database concentration and the Networking concentration, the required classes in the Networking concentration may not be used to fulfill the requirements in this concentration.
• Computer Networking Concentration (previously called Networking Concentration)
  • CSCI 3770 Windows Server Administration
  • Select 1 of
    • CSCI 3870 Wireless Communication and Networking
    • CSCI 4670 Enterprise Virtualization
  • CSCI 4520 Network Security
  • CSCI 4770 Advanced Data Communications and Networking
  • Select 1 CSCI course 3000-level or above, 3-credits or above.
    • Courses cannot be used to fulfill requirements in the computing core or the major core.
    • If a student selects both the Web and Database concentration and the Computer Networking concentration, the required classes in the Web and Database concentration may not be used to fulfill the requirements in this concentration.