Students will have the opportunity to earn a new bachelor's and master's degree from the College of Technology and Innovation beginning in the fall semester.
The task force in charge of creating the new degree spent more than a year putting the program together by looking at more than 30 similar courses across the country, said Tim Lindquist, chair of the task force.
Lindquist said the task force spoke with local industries to see what they needed from ASU graduates who lacked desired skills when applying to work in companies.
The new degree is project-driven, Lindquist said. Students will be involved in collaborative projects every semester, something few IT programs in the country do, he said.
“It’s a whole other area of computing that generally in the state is largely ignored,” Lindquist said.
Several classes were created for this degree, Lindquist said.
Lindquist said the program allows students to work with other people and not just with computers. Communication-focused people do well here, he said.
"(It is) very much a people-oriented type of career that uses technology as one of its tools," Lindquist said.
He said there are many high-paying jobs available in the IT sector for goal-oriented students. There is a lot of demand in those fields and not enough qualified people, he said.
Lindquist said graduates of the degree can go on to become administrators or architects in networking, web or database design. They can also work in technical support or information assurance.
Applied computer science junior Christopher Carter said he is switching his major to information technology, because he’s always dreamed of working in that field. The switch will make Carter a sophomore again, he said.
Carter learned about the new degree when his professor announced it to the class. That same day, he said he approached the professor and filled out the paperwork to enroll.
Carter said although he has cerebral palsy and cannot write well, he built his first computer when he was about 8 years old.
Carter transferred from Chandler-Gilbert Community College to ASU on his parents' advice "to see what would happen."
Carter said he is waiting to hear from the University if it will accept his hardware and network-based classes from the community college as equivalent credit. If the courses transfer over, it will make him a junior again.
Carter said the applied computer science degree was not for him as he is more of a hardware specialist than a programmer or software developer.
However, Carter said it was good for him to learn every area of the computing field.
Carter said he sees computers and IT as part of the future, and in order to be part of that future, they need to be understood.
“I really can’t wait to start the new degree,” he said.
Reach the reporter at smand17@asu.edu or follow her @SarahDeAnderson
