Addressing today’s workforce demands
New Information Technology degree program will produce local technology talent
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Southeastern welcomes the new academic year with a new degree program: a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. The university is offering the new program to meet the need for local talent as the region sees rapid growth in the technology industry.
Louisiana recently landed two important industry giants – IBM and GE Capital – promising a
combined 1,000 jobs in software development and information technology by 2015. Operations centers are planned for New Orleans and Baton Rouge, both just 45 minutes from Southeastern's campus in Hammond. In fact, IBM made Southeastern its first recruiting stop this spring following the center's location announcement. Governor Bobby Jindal's clear goal for the state to bolster its technology industry has generated several similar announcements in recent years.
"IT graduates are highly sought after by government and industry, and their typical occupations include programmers, systems analysts, database administrators and software engineers," said Sebastian van Delden, head of the Department of Computer Science and Industrial Technology, which administers the new program.
According to van Delden, the degree will not require additional resources from the
university in terms of faculty support, classroom space or equipment.Information technology
has been offered as a concentration in the computer science degree program for years,
but a recent spike in the concentration's enrollment demonstrated the need for a stand-alone
degree in the field. The new program mirrors the existing computer science curriculum
of programming and computer science coursework with the exception of extensive calculus
requirements.
The new degree, one of the few of its kind in Louisiana, was approved earlier this year by Southeastern's management board, the University of Louisiana Board of Supervisors and the Louisiana Board of Regents.