Digital Sciences - B.A., B.S. Download to print

The Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees offered by the School of Digital Sciences are designed to provide students with the ability to adapt and succeed in a rapidly changing digital world.

The program provides a broad overview of digital technologies, often from multiple points of view. For example, a student may study the content and visual layout of a web page with a journalism professor and later study the programming aspects of a web page with a business professor. A course with an architect adds more material on design, and a course with a computer scientist adds additional programming skills. This multidisciplinary skill set adds the flexibility needed for many of today' s careers.

Building on this broad overview, the program adds further depth in technical topics, societal issues, and project management. Students gain additional technical competency by studying information management, database systems, and digital security. They also study information ethics and societal issues to better understand how technology can be adapted for different needs. Finally, students learn how to work on a team by studying requirements engineering, project management, and team dynamics.

The program culminates with a multidisciplinary group capstone project. Students put theory into practice in this integrative experience by applying their new knowledge and skills on a large group project. Moreover, this capstone class meets concurrently with a class in another major, with each group contributing their disciplinary expertise to create a richer product than either group could create individually. As a result, both sets of students receive practical experience working on a diverse project team, much as they will do later in the workplace.

Both the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) and Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree programs have the same core coursework in digital sciences. However, the B.S. degree has additional requirements and electives to provide deeper knowledge in the digital sciences and related areas.

The Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree is the ideal complement to an associate's degree or an excellent candidate for part of a dual degree.

The Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree program provides a wide variety of options to customize the degree for each student's interests and career goals. Six optional concentrations target specific career paths:

• The Digital Systems Software Development concentration focuses on the web site and software applications needed by an organization and the design and maintenance of a user interface and software system to meet those needs.
• The Digital Systems Interaction concentration focuses on the educational and interactive applications needed by an organization and the improvement of the user's interaction with those applications.
• The Digital Systems Telecommunication Networks concentration focuses on the communication infrastructure needed by an organization and the design and management of a telecommunication system and computer network to meet those needs.
• The Enterprise Architecture concentration focuses on the business processes and technology infrastructure needed by an organization and the design of software systems that are aligned with the processes and infrastructure to support the goals of the business.
• The Digital Systems Analysis concentration focuses on the business data and software applications needed by an organization and the planning and management of a computer information system to meet those needs.
• The Digital Systems Management concentration focuses on the technical leadership needed by an organization and the management of the computer information system and infrastructure to support the goals of the business.

For students interested in other career paths within digital sciences, a "no concentration" option provides the flexibility to prepare for those careers.

Study Abroad/Study Away Opportunities

There are many study abroad/away opportunities for the B.A. and B.S. degree, including full-semester study at Kent State's sites in Florence or Geneva, exchange programs in Germany or elsewhere, or faculty-led short-term programs. For more information contact the Office of Global Education.

Graduates of the Digital Sciences Bachelor's program are prepared for today's careers and ready to adapt to tomorrow's careers. Typical careers might include web developer, interaction designer, network administrator, solution architect, computer systems analyst, or information technology manager.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, computer-related occupations are among the fastest-growing occupations and will account for more than 488, 000 mew jobs nationally between 2014 and 2024. Computing occupations are projected to be responsible for nearly 70% of the new job growth in science, technology, engineering and math between 2014 and 2024. Graduates are needed in many job sectors, including software, banks, insurance, automotive, healthcare, retail and services. 

General Admissions for Freshman Students: Admission Requirements at the Kent Campus: The freshman admission policy at the Kent Campus is selective. Admission decisions are based upon the following: cumulative grade point average, ACT and/or SAT scores, strength of high school college preparatory curriculum and grade trends.

The university affirmatively strives to provide educational opportunities and access to students with varied backgrounds, those with special talents and adult students who graduated from high school three or more years ago. For more information on admissions, visit the Admissions website for new freshmen.

For more information about admission criteria for transfer, transitioning and former students, please visit the admissions website.

Minimum 120 total credit hours and minimum 39 upper-division hours, with minimum 2.000 GPA in major and overall.
 

Graduates of this program will be able to:

1. Demonstrate broad interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of digital sciences across traditional college and professional boundaries. They will be able to work with technical, business, and design professionals, and will be able to integrate material from these various disciplines. They will be able to adapt their thinking based on how different societies, cultures, genders, ethnic groups and professions approach technology and information and use it in different ways.
2. Demonstrate competence with a broad range of digital technologies. In many cases, they will be able to apply multiple approaches to a problem as practiced by different professions. They will demonstrate theoretical and practical understanding of web page design, web programming, computational thinking, database systems, information management, and digital systems security.
3. Apply design thinking to technological problems. They will demonstrate familiarity with design thinking and the relationship between design and technology.  They will be able to help web designers and programmers make their technology easier to use.
4. Apply critical evaluation and problem solving skills to organizational needs. They will be able to analyze customer needs, consider the impact on various diverse groups or cultures, evaluate solutions from a variety of technical and design viewpoints, and solve a variety of technical and design problems.
5. Demonstrate effective communication skills, both verbally and in written form. They will be able to communicate as individuals or as part of a project team, and they will be able to communicate with technical, business, and design professionals.
6. Participate in, and lead, multi-disciplinary project teams. They will demonstrate theoretical and practical understanding of requirements engineering, project management, and team dynamics. They will demonstrate practical experience working with students from another department on a multi-disciplinary project team.

The B.A. and B.S. degrees include a senior capstone course that provides experience in working on interdisciplinary projects as part of a multidisciplinary team.