The Computer Science department supports four programs of study:
Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science Bachelor of Arts in Numerical Computation Computer Science minor Pre-Computer Engineering program Computer science is the study of computation. The computation we study is rarely arithmetic though - often the computation is more sym!olic. "e might as# a!out how to compute a good mo$e in chess. %r we might as# how to draw a picture of a three-dimensional scene. As computer scientists we loo# for models of computation. And we as# what we can - or cannot - do with these models. Computer scientists learn to program computers !ecause a program is an e&cellent way of precisely descri!ing a particular computational techni'ue. "e also study programming as a profession !ecause it is an important (o! in today)s society. Thus a computer science student can e&pect to study all of the following 'uestions. *ow do you design an algorithm +a step !y step plan, to sol$e a pro!lem- *ow do you write a computer program to implement your plan- *ow can you analy.e a program)s speed- *ow does a computer wor# to e&ecute a program- "hat social responsi!ilities do programmers ha$e- *ow can we de$elop relia!le software systems- "hat are the mathematical properties of computation- /ou can e&pect a large emphasis on computer programming and on mathematics. E'ually important is what computer science is not. 0t does not emphasi.e the use of computers in a corporate en$ironment. /ou can li#en it to the difference !etween an aerospace engineer and an airplane pilot1 computer science is more li#e aerospace engineering. Computer science students do not learn how to use spreadsheets word processors and other application programs as part of their study of computer science !ut may de$elop those s#ills on their own or through wor#shops offered on campus. "hen we study operating systems or networ#s we emphasi.e the internals not how they should !e configured for use. 0f you want to study these topics you want to loo# for an information technology or information systems program. +2any schools offer a ma(or in information systems1 CSB3S45 does not at this time., "e also are not computer engineering. Computer engineering emphasi.es how computer hardware wor#s. Computer science students learn a!out the fundamentals !ut only as much as needed to understand how computer software wor#s. +CSB3S45 does not offer a ma(or in computer engineering !ut we do ha$e an agreement with the 5ni$ersity of 2innesota where a student can study with us for two or three years and then go to 5 of 2 to complete the engineering degree.,