CIS Spotlights Computer Field During Celebration
The Computer Information Systems (CIS) Department will share information about the growth in the computer industry and display some innovative student projects at its annual Computer Science Education Week celebration, Tuesday, December 3, noon–1:30 p.m. in the Technology Building lobby.
The event is open to the campus community.
Computer programming jobs are high-paying and growing at two times the national average, yet there aren’t enough graduates to fill those jobs.
"As computer programming becomes more ubiquitous and applicable to many other fields and careers in computer science command some of the top average salary offers from employers, we thought we should create awareness on campus,” said Sarbani Banerjee, associate professor of CIS. “Computer science disciplines help students develop thinking skills that are crucial for success in any education or workplace. We have come together to celebrate CS Education Week, but more importantly, we want to shine a light on this important issue.”
During the celebration, CIS students will demonstrate video games and interactive digital stories they’ve created. Visiting professionals will talk about job opportunities and how women and minorities are contributing to the field.
“This event allows students to see if this major or field is a good fit for them,” said Ramona Santa Maria, assistant professor of CIS. “We hope that people will see how fun and interesting computing is.”
Buffalo State’s CIS program was developed with the cooperation of employers and information systems professionals, noted William Lin, chair and associate professor of CIS.
“Unlike a computer science program, its emphasis is on practical applications of computers rather than theory,” Lin said. “Graduates of the program are prepared to support the technology needs of many organizations, in many different capacities.”
Enrollment has remained stable with about 200 undergraduates who now enjoy courses in the new state-of-the-art Technology Building.
Students looking for strong job prospects should consider careers not only in computer programming, Banerjee said, but also in cybersecurity, web development, and systems analysis.
Organized by the Computing in the Core coalition and Code.org, CSEdWeek is held in recognition of the birthday of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper. Hopper was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer, and she developed the first compiler for a computer programming language. She conceptualized the idea of machine-independent programming languages, which led to the development of COBOL, one of the first modern programming languages.