Information Technology

Dominican University New York’s program in Information Technology (IT) will qualify students for career positions in the rapidly growing Information Technology sector. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 15.2% growth rate in the information and technology field between 2022 and 2032. This growth rate is much faster than the national average for all careers. We offer four tracks within the IT program – Infrastructure, Application Development, Public Health Informatics and Technology, and Cybersecurity.

The IT program is part of the Division of Business, Innovation and Leadership and focuses on how IT supports businesses and organizations of all types and sizes. The program is based on the current demand for technology skills. We have three courses based on current industry technology certifications, Comp TIA A+ (IX 300), Comp TIA Network+ (IX 310) and Microsoft Server Certification (IX 330). We highly encourage students to take these certification exams while they are still students or soon after graduation.

As an IT professional, you may work with end-user technology, local area networks, network servers, databases, e-mail systems, cybersecurity, or Internet-based technologies. The IT Infrastructure program will expose you to all these areas. Alternatively, you can focus on developing software, games, or other applications in the IT Application Development track. Our third track, IT-Public Health Informatics and Technology covers the rapidly expanding field of data and information systems in public health and other health care sectors. The Cybersecurity concentration has courses offered through a partnership with LCMC (https://www.rize.education), a national consortium of private colleges. These courses are designed by top academics, reviewed by industry leaders, and taught online asynchronously by qualified faculty from other colleges within the LCMC consortium.

Experiential Learning Requirement

In order to graduate, students in the IT program must complete an experiential learning requirement related to their field of interest for their IX 490 Senior Project required capstone course. The experiential learning requirement can be met through 3-credits of internship, 3-credits of practicum or an equivalent non-credit experience in a real world or "out of the traditional classroom" context. The requirement offers students the opportunity to initiate lifelong learning through the development and application of academic knowledge and skills in new or different settings.

Experiential learning may fall into one or more of the following categories:

• Undergraduate Research, where students engage in systematic inquiry that contributes to the discovery or interpretation of knowledge significant to their field of study.
• Community/Civic Engagement, where students interact with people from diverse backgrounds, to challenge their understanding of community needs, and to explore ways of partnering with community members to address problems or improve community life. Examples could include a semester-long community engagement, or civic project where a student’s business studies assist them in serving the community.
• Career and Practical Experiences, where students use skills and concepts learned in the classroom while engaging in work-like settings that relate to their field of study or possible career path. Examples include internship, co-ops, student teaching, or tutoring experience.

Both credit-bearing and non-credit bearing experiences, paid or un-paid, may be proposed for meeting this requirement. All student experiential learning experiences must be approved by the student’s academic advisor. Furthermore, all internships must be approved by the Career Development Center. All such experiences must include the following:

• significant opportunities for the student to apply academic ideas, concepts, theories and/or skills to practice;
• significant experience-based learning beyond that which typically occurs in the undergraduate classroom;
• sustained and significant interaction throughout the experience between the student and their faculty/staff advisor(s);
• sustained student involvement or immersion (with the total amount of time committed by the student being roughly equal at least to that required for a three-credit-hour course);
• a meaningful opportunity for student reflection (e.g., with a portfolio, final essay, faculty/student meeting or other opportunity) at the conclusion of the experience;
• and a level of academic rigor and education effectiveness comparable to what is found in a typical Dominican University New York undergraduate course.
• Up to 6 internship credits may be applied to the degree.

Dominican University participates in the Purdue Data Mine Program, offering students paid internships working alongside corporate leaders, faculty and mentors to use data to solve real-world problems. Students participate in cohorts with a group of students through Purdue University, analyzing data from organizations to provide insight into current issues. The Purdue Data Mine Program participation can be used for credit in IX 490 Senior Project or as an IT Elective.

The Dominican University New York IT Program

• The IT program emphasizes a close connection between the program’s educational requirements and skills needed for careers in the field. In order to bring real world work into the classroom, Dominican University New York’s In-formation Technology Department works closely with the academic IT program. As a result, the IT programs keep current with the rapidly developing IT profession.
• All students have access to both IT faculty and IT department professionals as they complete their degrees.
• Students may be offered work study internships in Dominican’s IT department. This provides more hands-on time repairing and upgrading laptops and desktop computers.
• A dedicated lab for the IT program, equipped with commercial grade hardware and software provides students with the opportunity to work with real web servers, net-work servers, database servers, network switches, and routers.

Summary of Requirements  

The Information Technology program consists of a minimum of 120 credits, distributed as follows:  

• 60 credits in Liberal Arts
• 2 credits in Freshman Seminar (for Freshman Day Students)
• 58 credits in Division and Program Requirements
  • 18 credits core IT courses
  • 21 credits IT courses (depending on track)
  • 19 credits free electives (depending on track)
• Students must achieve a C or better in all of their core and program courses.