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Minor in Information Science

In every profession, actions are taken, and decisions are made, using information, systems, and/or networks. Companies collect data to determine future product lines, banks and financial institutions depend upon complicated and real-time systems to move money, while all governments depend on the secure and efficient transmission of data across regional and international networks. Whether you plan to work in healthcare, manufacturing, finance, education, politics, or sales, having skills in system design, network management, and data analysis will make you more marketable to employers.  To gain those critical skills, enroll in the Minor in Information Science, which you can complete while completing your BS or BA degree! While mastering your chosen discipline, you can gain a strong foundation in understanding information, analyzing/transmitting/securing information in context, and using information in decision-making.

The 15-credit Minor allows University of Pittsburgh students from any degree program to add technical expertise to their professional capabilities.  You could combine a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science with skills in data analysis, or match your Industrial Engineering Degree with knowledge about how to design and protect the supply chain. The Minor in Information Science is available to students from any undergraduate degree program in the University of Pittsburgh.

Discipline-Specific Information
For Economics Majors For Industrial Engineering Majors
For Mathematics Majors For Physics Majors
For Psychology Majors For Public Health Majors

 

In the IS Minor, students take one required programming course and a select combination of electives to design a program of study that best suits their potential career goals. Students can choose a series of courses that are of interest to them, or courses that will provide more in-depth study on a specific topic by following one of the optional pathways described below.

Courses

Required Programming Course

Students are required to complete an intermediate course in programming. Only ONE of these two courses will count toward the minor.

INFSCI 0201 - INTERMEDIATE PROGRAMMING WITH PYTHON OR
CMPINF 0401 - INTERMEDIATE PROGRAMMING IN JAVA

If students have equivalent skills in programming (Java, Python), they may substitute a different INFSCI course in place of INFSCI 201 or CMPINF 0401. This requires approval from the advisor.

Minor Electives

In addition to the required programming course, students will select four INFSCI courses numbered 0100 or greater. The pathways outlined below are examples of courses that can be clustered together to achieve a specific educational or professional goal. The pathways are optional.

General Minor

The most general path comprises the core components of Information Science - Human Centered Systems, Data Analysis, and Networks and Information.

Suggested classes include:

Cybersecurity Pathway

In the Cybersecurity pathway, students learn fundamental Information Science techniques such as mathematical and agent-based modeling facilitating the establishment of cybersecurity through an understanding of networks (in particular the Internet), and foundational/practical concepts in network and information system security.

Suggested classes include:

Data Analytics Pathway

A rigorous Python programming grounding (INFSCI 0201) is recommended for the Data Analytics pathway. This pathway creates the competencies to (i) scrape, munge, explore data from different sources including the web, (ii) work with database management systems, including relational, graph, and document databases (iii) build models of data in Python/R ranging such as linear and logistic regression, support vector machines, Bayesian inference and time series (iv) do Monte-Carlo and discrete event simulations in Python and (v) examine and visualize network data using Python/R Visualize different types of data and create interactive visualizations using Python, R (ggplot), or D3.js.

Suggested classes include:

 User Experience Pathway

The User Experience pathway prepares students with the skills and capabilities to design and develop technology solutions that address problems and improve the user experience. Guided by the design-thinking process, students tackle problems by assessing the needs and goals of users and other stakeholders; learn how to develop quality solutions through ideation, prototyping, and testing; and strengthen their communication skills in order to work across a variety of stakeholders and users.

Suggested classes include:

Policies for the IS Minor

  • Students who have completed courses equivalent to or similar to the electives noted above will not be able to double-count the courses with other majors, minors, or certificates. These students must replace them with a different INFSCI course.
  • For example, a student who has completed CS 1555: Database Management Systems would replace INFSCI 1500: Database Management Concepts and Applications with a different data-oriented INFSCI course.
  • Only INFSCI courses numbered 0100 and greater can be used in the minor. Internship, capstone courses (courses in INFSCI 17XX) and co-ops cannot be used for the minor.
  • Please note that some classes have prerequisites, which must be taken in order to enroll in the course for the IS Minor.

How to Declare the Minor in Information Science

Students declare the Minor by completing:

Undergraduate Minor Declaration/Change Form .

It is recommended that students declare the IS Minor by the end of the term in which they will earn 90 credits, to ensure enough time to enroll in appropriate and/or desired courses. Students are welcome to declare the Minor in Information Science prior to that time.

PLEASE NOTE:  Declarations of the Minor in Information Science will be effective beginning Fall Term 2023.