The Information Technology (IT) Department is headquartered on the USF Polytechnic campus, a first for the USF system, which typically houses all academic colleges and departments at USF Tampa.
Information Technology is designed to bridge the gap between computer science and management information systems, providing students with knowledge of rapidly changing technology. USF Polytechnic's bachelor of science in information technology (BSIT) program emphasizes knowledge-based computer and information technology, traditional computer science concepts, as well as more practical topics including programming, applications, networking, systems administration and the management of a variety of computing environments.
This program features the required core of computing discipline courses necessary to give the future IT professionals a long-term handle on their careers. At the same time, the degree program is unique in its flexibility-because it has to be. IT is an extremely wide-ranging, rapidly evolving field of work, and no "cookie-cutter" degree program will work for such a breadth of career options. Therefore, the BSIT includes five IT-related electives-courses selected by the student as appropriate to the IT specialty or industry sector they wish to enter. These can be courses offered by the department, or even by other departments. A person aiming for an IT career in hospitals, for example, may elect to take some courses in health care or public health. A person who wishes to specialize in security can take several of the information security courses offered by the IT department.
When it comes to preparing students for a career and then helping them find their first position, this program includes two required courses with this specifically in mind. IT Senior Seminar exposes students to outside speakers on a wide range of topics, including IT career opportunities. Our "capstone" course, Senior Project in Information Technology, provides students an opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of IT skills, as well as their communication and critical thinking abilities. The senior project is frequently an internship with a local firm or agency. These experiences not only provide an important item on the student's resume, but may themselves lead to a job offer.
IT courses will not be taught by teaching assistants, but by full-time faculty members of the IT department. A rare exception may occur when the department is able to engage the services of a highly qualified adjunct professor to teach a topic in which he or she has current, real world experience.