College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Our goal is to develop and maintain a mutually beneficial alliance between our department and local, regional, and national organizations. Such an alliance will provide our students with the opportunity to experience the demands and excitement of solving real-world problems. Organizations can benefit from faculty expertise, actively engage in technology transfer, and recruit from some of our most talented students. Our faculty can benefit from discourse and feedback from industry leaders, which we find crucial in improving and refining our overall academic program, course contents and teaching methods.

The Department of Computer and Information Sciences has offered an internship program since 1994 to students with junior and senior standing. Students can enroll in CSCI-Y 398 course for up to 3 internship credits per semester and work in a supervised position at an approved organization. Students could use upto 3 credits towards their CS elective requirement. The requirements for a typical 3 credit internship can be satisfied by working for a minimum of 15 hours per week for a period of approximately 4 months (one semester). During this period the intern is jointly evaluated by his or her supervisor at work and the internship faculty supervisor at IU South Bend.

We have around 200 majors in our programs, and many juniors and seniors who are eligible for internship. The majority of our students come from Michiana and have strong ties to the area. Our student body ranges from traditional (18-25 years old) to the non-traditional (25-45 years old) to professionals who are returning to the University to enhance their skills. Read Award Winners and Scholarship Recipients Profile and Interviews and Hear what our students have to say!

The Department of Computer and Information Sciences and Informatics programs have twelve tenured full-time faculty members with terminal degrees, a lecturer, and a number of associate faculty. Additional information about the faculty and their research interests and teaching can be found in their profiles in this Resident Faculty. For a quick list of faculty research interests please visit this Research page..

The Department offers Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees in Computer Science (since mid 1980s), minors in Computer Science, Computer Applications, and undergraduate certificates in Computer Programming, Advanced Computer Programming, and Computer Applications. COIS also offers a graduate certificate in Technology Administration. In collaboration with other departments and programs the COIS offers a Master of Science (M.S.) in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science (since 2000s) with focus areas in Computer Science and Data Science, B.S. in Informatics (since 2000s), Online B.S. in Informatics (since 2017), minors in Informatics and Cognitive Science, and a Postbaccalaureate Certificate in Applied Informatics. a complete description of these programs can be found on this Future Students or download the department brochure

Computer Science Curriculum:

The B.S. in Computer Science is offered since 1980s with the first degree awarded in 1984. The degree curriculum follows the guidelines set out by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), ABET/CAC, and Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the leading professional computing societies. The degree prepares students to enter challenging computing careers in the workplace or to embark on postgraduate programs in computing.Students in this degree program complete a core curriculum that builds an overall understanding of computers, computational thinking, computing environments, and theoretical issues. In addition, each student must take a number of elective courses which help them specialize in areas such as Database Systems, Computer Networks, Parallel and Distributed Systems, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Security, Applied Data Mining, Computer Graphics, Game programming, Computer Vision, Mobile App Development, Embedded Systems, Design Patterns, Web Programming, Advanced Java, Introduction to C#, and Applied Deep Learning.

Every computer science student is required to take the following core courses:

• C101 Computer Programming I (C++)
• C151 Multiuser Operating System (Linux)
• C201 Computer Programming II (C++)
• C243 Data Structures (C++)
• C250 Discrete Structures
• C308 Systems Analysis and Design
• C311 Organization of Programming Languages
• C335 Computer Structures
• B401 Fundamentals of Computing Theory
• C421 Hardware System Design I
• C435 Operating Systems
• C455 Analysis of Algorithms

Every computer science student is required to take the following Mathematics courses:

• M215 Calculus I
• M260 Combinatorial Counting and Probability
• M261 Statistical Inferences
• M301 Linear Algebra

In addition to the above core courses, each student is required to choose three electives. Some of the current electives are below

• CSCI-B 424 Parallel and Distributed Programming
• CSCI-B 438 Fundamentals of Computer Networks
• CSCI-B 451 Security in Computing
• CSCI-C 442 Database Systems
• CSCI-C 463 Artificial Intelligence I
• CSCI-C 481 Interactive Computer Graphics
• CSCI-C 490 Seminar in Computer Science (choose topics such as Applied Data Mining, Game programming, Computer Vision, Mobile App Development, Embedded Systems, Design Patterns, Web Programming, Advanced Java, Introduction to C#, and Applied Deep Learning.)
• CSCI-Y 398 Internship in Professional Practice

Our students are exposed to various hardware and operating systems: The department operates a number of laboratories with Linux, Windows and Mac operating systems. The majority of the above facilities are also accessible remotely to students with home computers.

Interested in partnering or have questions?

If you are interested in hiring our students, please contact the Department Chair or the Internship Coordinator by visiting our Have questions page..