PROPOSAL FOR AN
UNDERGRADUATE MAJOR IN
INFORMATION SCIENCE

October 6, 2000

The School of Information and Library Science is requesting authorization 
to offer a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Science.

Information science is the study of cognitive, social, technological and organizational roles of information in all its forms.  As embodied in this degree program, information science rests on three foundational pillars:

•	Content:  the substance of the information being created, communicated, stored, and/or transformed
•	People who interact with the content; they may be creators of information, recipients of information, or intermediaries in the communication process
•	Technology used to support the creation, communication, storage, or transformation of the content

Three academic disciplines at UNC-CH that are most closely related to information science are business administration, computer science and journalism.  The points that distinguish information science from other academic disciplines are:
i.	Information science studies the role of information in all organizational settings, for all cultures, and for all application areas.  Other disciplines tend to be specific to types of organizations, cultures or application areas.
ii.	Evaluation of information use emphasizes the perception of the user, more than system-based performance or organizational outcomes such as profit.
iii.	Information science studies information in its many roles, rather than focusing on the roles themselves. 
While the BSIS will not duplicate or significantly overlap with any existing program at UNC-CH, it will allow students to take courses, concentrations or minors related to these areas, as well as others.  

Graduates with the BSIS will:
-	Understand the many ways in which information can be created, communicated, stored, and/or transformed, in order to benefit individuals, organizations, and society at large.
-	Possess practical skills for analyzing, processing and managing information and information systems in our knowledge-based society.  They will possess problem solving and decision-making skills, be able to effectively utilize information tools, and be able to take a leadership role in our information economy.  
-	Comprehend the value of information and information tools, and their role in society and the economy.
-	Be prepared to evaluate the role of information in a variety of industries, in different organizational settings, for different populations, and for different purposes.
-	Maintain a strong sense of the role of information in society, including historical and future roles.

Job prospects for BSIS graduates are outstanding.  There is a large amount of evidence, both anecdotal and objective, that indicates that there is and will continue to be a large demand for graduates trained in information science. A survey conducted jointly by Virginia Tech and the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA - http://www.itaa.org/), indicates a severe shortage of workers in information technology - on the order of 350,000 current vacancies nationwide.  According to informal data gathered by Melanie Cinche in UNC-CH's University Career Services, 60 companies interviewing on-campus during the current academic year have indicated that computer and information skills are extremely important for prospective employees.  The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts over 100% job growth for professions such as computer support specialists and systems analysts.

Sample job titles:
Information consultant 	Database trainer
Information architect 	Competitor analyst
Navigation designer 	Evaluation and research specialist
Web editor 	Network programmer
Web database implementer	Network support specialist

The BSIS Curriculum

All entering students must have completed two years of general college and perspectives requirements, or elective courses.  Students will submit an application packet in the fall semester of their sophomore year.  During the admissions process, SILS will attempt to maintain the high student quality and diversity we have experienced with the undergraduate minor.  

All students in this degree program will gain a strong foundation in the basic principles of information science.  To accomplish this goal, each student will take the following required courses (course descriptions are provided in Attachment A):
INLS 40, “Retrieving and Analyzing Information”
INLS 50, “Information Technology Applications”
INLS 55, “Information Use for Organizational Effectiveness”
INLS 60, “Information Systems Analysis and Design”
INLS 72, “Database Concepts and Applications”
INLS 92, “Emerging Topics in Information Science”  

In addition, each student will choose one of the three concentrations described here, or propose their own concentration, to be made up of a minimum of four courses in the selected concentration area.
i.	Information Technology.  This concentration will emphasize concepts and principles for understanding, implementing, evaluating, selecting and integrating technologies for information storage, transmission and use.
ii.	Management of Information Resources.  This concentration will prepare students for important roles in managing the information resources of their organizations, especially those organizations that deal with information as a commodity.
iii.	Information Design.  This concentration will focus on effective means of communication and knowledge discovery through appropriate information design.

The BSIS also has several other distinctive features:
Developing depth in a second discipline:  Students will be encouraged to complete a minor in another discipline or a second major.  Each student may take a maximum of 40 credits within SILS.
Gaining practical experience:  Students may enroll for an internship (INLS 91) or participate in a service learning project.
Working independently:  Students may elect to complete an honors thesis (INLS 95) or an independent study (INLS 90).

Similar Programs

The minor in information systems at SILS has been very well received on campus, since its inception in spring 1997.  Each semester, highly qualified undergraduates apply for admission to the minor, but only about 40% are accepted due to the relatively small size of the minor (about 70 students).  SAT scores and GPA’s of minors are well above the campus mean, and the minor draws students from nearly every major on campus.  The minor emphasizes information skills and concepts such as systems analysis, Web page authoring, database design, and information retrieval.  These same concepts will be among the skills and concepts forming the core of the major.

No program offers an undergraduate major in information science in North Carolina, including public and private institutions.  Programs that have some similarities to the proposed program include the new MS in Information Technology recently approved at UNC-Charlotte, and a new concentration in e-commerce offered as part of the Master of Science in Management and Master of Science in Computer Networking at NC State. The BSIS will be a unique degree in North Carolina, with fewer than 10 comparable degrees at other institutions in the United States.  

Among the 48 schools of information and library science ranked by US News and World Report in 1999, SILS tied for first place.  Among schools ranked in the top 20, only four offer undergraduate majors that are at all similar to the proposed BSIS:  Syracuse University, University of Pittsburgh, Drexel University, and Florida State University.  Because of the stature of UNC-CH, we have a unique opportunity to contribute to undergraduate education in information science.

Projected Enrollment

Applications from the first cohort of students will be accepted from sophomores, for admission in the fall of their junior year.  During the first year of implementation, we will accept only 60 students.  Thereafter, we will admit approximately 90 students each fall.  We anticipate most students will graduate on time, resulting in an ongoing production of 90 graduates per year.

	Year 1
2002-2003	Year 2
2003-2004	Year 3
2004-2005	Year 4
2005-2006	
Admissions		60		90		90		90	
Total enrollment		60		150		180		180	

We expect the major to be in high demand, based on the success of the SILS minor in information systems.  Each semester, highly qualified undergraduates apply for admission to the minor, but only about 40% are accepted due to the relatively small size of the program (about 70 students).  SILS has received many inquiries from minors and others about the possibility of an undergraduate major.  We anticipate that the BSIS, like the Minor, will be extremely competitive, and fully subscribed.

Resources Needed

The ongoing resources needed to implement and support the BSIS include additional faculty and staff (8 additional faculty positions, plus adjunct faculty and support for student services, placement, and faculty research), equipment and supplies (primarily computers and networking for classrooms, labs, and faculty), and library services (library staff and materials).  The anticipated costs of these resources are summarized here.

	Year 0	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	
Teaching faculty/staff	$79,959	$728,495	$1,021,947	$1,215,545	$1,283,398	
Equipment/supplies	$20,660	$719,505	$510,895	$42,695	$28,720	
Library services	$7,000	$52,694	$53,616	$54,634	$55,753	
TOTAL	$107,619	$1,500,694	$1,586,459	$1,312,874	$1,367,872	

The bulk of these resources are the teaching faculty/staff needed to adequately support the program.  The following table displays the number of additional sections of courses taught each year in the BSIS, and the average number of student credit hours taught per year per faculty member.

	Year 0	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	
Number of majors		0		60		150		180		180	
Number of course sections added		2		22		29		31		35	
Number of credit hours per year 1		4352		5271		6640		7110		7129	
Number of faculty		17		21		23		25		25	
Credit hours per faculty		256.0		251.0		288.7		284.4		285.2	
1Includes undergraduate IS minors, masters’ students, and Ph.D. students; graduate student data is taken from the ALISE 1999 Statistical Report.  Assumes no expansion of the minor, 0.5% growth per year in the masters’ programs, and more rapid expansion of the Ph.D. program in order to support teaching of the undergraduate major.

It is important to SILS and, we believe, to the University that the undergraduate major in information science be equivalent in quality to the highly-ranked SILS graduate programs.  In order to accomplish this goal, students must have access to and regular interaction with full-time tenured/tenure-track faculty, within the context of courses and in individual consultations.  The teaching loads represented above reflect these values, as well as our experience with a successful minor in information systems.

In addition to the resources already described, additional space will be needed.  Currently, Manning Hall provides approximately 45,000 square feet of floor space for SILS, including four classrooms, a teaching lab and a general computer lab, faculty offices, and administrative offices.  There is no available space for research or student team meetings, or for individual or group studying (outside the Library).  All classrooms and the teaching lab are being used to full capacity.

As a first step, the remainder of Manning Hall should be renovated for use by SILS.  This space would provide an additional classroom, additional library and lab space, a meeting room, and three faculty offices.  It is estimated that these renovations would cost approximately $1.6 million.  They would need to be accomplished prior to launching the BSIS program.

In addition, nearby buildings would need to be renovated or a wing would need to be added to Manning Hall, essentially doubling the currently-available floor space.  All newly-acquired space would need to be fully networked, so that the teaching and research capabilities are equivalent to the current SILS space in Manning Hall.  The new space would be used for classrooms, laboratories, meeting rooms and offices.  It is estimated that this project would require a capital investment of approximately $6 million.
Attachment A.  Course descriptions (courses required for all majors or for a particular concentration)

INLS 40	Retrieving and Analyzing Information (3)
Introduction to and application of the processes that can be used in seeking information, evaluating the quality of the information retrieved, and synthesizing the information into a form that is useful.  Development of personal skills in the use of a wide range of information resources, both general and discipline-specific.  

INLS 50	Information Technology Applications (3)
Study of the functional capabilities of major classes of information technology applications and how they can be effectively applied within the context of today’s information society.

INLS 55	Information Use for Organizational Effectiveness (3)
Basic concepts in the way that information, people and technology interact to affect organizational effectiveness.  Principles of problem solving, team work, leadership, and organizational change/innovation.  The unique contributions of and interactions among information-related units within large organizations.  
 
INLS 60	Information Systems Analysis and Design (3)
Analysis of organizational problems and how information systems can be designed to solve those problems. Application of database and interface design principles to the implementation of information systems.

INLS 62	Human-Machine Interaction (3)
Design, implementation and evaluation of interfaces for computer systems.  User-based techniques, usability issues, and human factors. 

INLS 64	Information Architecture (3)
Pre-requisite: INLS 60.  Techniques for organizing, presenting, abstracting, storing and retrieving information.  Information analysis and encoding, interface issues, implementation issues, user-based evaluation.

INLS 72	Database Concepts and Applications (3)
Design and implementation of basic database systems.  The relational database model.  Semantic modeling and entity-relationship theory.  Table layout, normalization, SQL.  (May not be taken for credit for students who have taken INLS 70.)

INLS 80	Data Communication and Networks (3) (existing course; revised content)
Introduction to networking concepts and technologies in a modern enterprise computing environment. Topics include layered network architectures, data communication principles, evolution of telecommunications networks and the Internet, common network technologies and standards, impact of the Internet on business telecommunications solutions, and enterprise network planning and management.

INLS 90	Independent Study in Information Systems (1-3)
Study by an individual student on a special topic under the direction of a specific faculty member. A prospectus/plan for the work is required in advance of registration.

INLS 91	Internship in Information Science (3-12; not repeatable)
Prerequisites: BSIS majors only.  Supervised observation and practice in an information science-related position. The student will work a required amount of time in the work setting under the supervision of an information professional and will participate in faculty-led group discussions for ongoing evaluation of the practical experience.

INLS 92	Emerging Topics in Information Science (3)
Prerequisites: senior standing, BSIS majors only.  Contemporary topics of information science, information systems, information technology, information design and information management.  Study of current readings and events.  Assessment of future impact of new developments.

INLS 96	Honors Thesis (2)
Prerequisites: senior standing, BSIS majors only.  Co-requisite: INLS 92.  Completion of an original written thesis on a topic of interest as approved by the instructor.  (Note: INLS 96 will have limited contact hours due to the independent nature of the student work.  Students will identify a SILS faculty member to serve as advisor.)

INLS 102	Information Systems, Structures and Algorithms (3)
Pre-requisite:  COMP 14.  Programming concepts for information systems, especially text processing systems.  Practical design and evaluation.  Commonly used data structures and algorithms.  (May not be taken for credit by students who have taken COMP 114.)

INLS 134	Developing Information Products and Services (3)
Planning, design, implementation and evaluation of information products and services.  Entrepreneurship, product development, marketing and forecasting.

INLS 150	Organization of Information (3)
Introduction to the problems and methods of organizing information, including information structures, knowledge schemas, data structures, terminological control, index language functions and implications for searching.

INLS 168	Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) Design (3)
Fundamental principles and technology used to design computer-supported cooperative systems or groupware. Topics covered include collaboration technology, intranets, enterprise-wide computing, human-computer-human interaction, and collaborative work.

INLS 176	Digital Libraries (3)
Pre-requisite: INLS 174.  Design, implementation and evaluation of digital collections.  Technical issues, social concerns, copyright, funding mechanisms.