The Curriculum

The Information Technology Minor is available to all students on the UMass Amherst campus, regardless of their major.

The curriculum provides students with technical and scholarly capabilities in areas of visual and creative applications, programming, data analysis, research methods, media theory, and an array of other fields. This generalist background enhances disciplinary specialization by allowing students to apply skills and knowledge in a variety of academic areas.

The curriculum for the IT Minor provides a wide range of courses to choose from. The 18-credit minor requires a foundation course, a technical core (two courses), broadened inquiry (one course) on the uses and implications of technology in society, and electives (two courses) applying aspects of technology at a more advanced level in disciplines across the campus.

Although these courses may coincide with requirements for your specific field of study, at least two of the courses used to complete the IT Minor must be taken outside of your major. Further, no more than two required courses within your major may be used to fulfill the requirements of the IT Minor. Please note that, per University regulation a course may only be applied to two credentials (major, minor or certificate).

Acceptance of Transfer Credit from another institution is not assured and must be pre-approved. A maximum of one transfer course is allowed. This can only be used to fulfill the Elective category of requirements and must have received a grade of B or better. No courses with Pass/Fail as a grade are accepted towards completion of the IT Minor. Any exemptions to Curriculum or Foundation course waiver must be approved by the IT Program Director.

We encourage you to enroll as early as possible in order to help you plan your academic progress and ensure timely completion within the IT Minor. Enrollment form is available on our website.

Please refer to IT Program's website for the complete list of courses currently available.  https://www.umass.edu/itprogram/

Requirements (minimum of 18 credits or 15 if foundation course is waived)
The complete list of courses currently offered for each category is available through the IT Program website. Listed below are examples of courses approved for the IT Minor.

Please note that some of the courses may have pre-requisites. If so, it is suggested you contact the instructor for permission to enroll.

Foundation Requirement (minimum of three credits):
Upon enrolling in the Information Technology Program, students need to complete a foundation course that will provide them with knowledge of the concepts of computer information systems and the rudiments of electronic technology to succeed in the required technical courses. Students may satisfy this foundation requirement by completion of one of the following courses:

CMPSCI 105 Computer Literacy; COMPSCI 190IN Introduction to Informatics; RES-ECON 112 Computing Foundations to Frontiers; OIM 210 Introduction to Business Information Systems; EDUC 592A Tools for Learning & Instruction; PHIL 110 Introduction to Logic; SUSTCOMM 297L Design Principles and Digital Skills. The level of knowledge provided by these courses will be required for success in the two technical courses which follow. Students who have acquired, through other courses, the requisite level of knowledge may petition the IT Minor Advisor for exemption from the foundation requirement.

Technical courses (minimum of six credits): Full list of approved courses can be found on our website. At least two courses, selected from two of the following three categories, are required to provide a durable, technical core on which to build the minor:

Principles of Object-Oriented Programming:
Representing, Storing and Retrieving Information:
Internet Technology and Multimedia Systems:

Broadened Inquiry (minimum of three credits): At least one course exploring social issues of technology. This is a partial list of approved courses for this category: 

COMM 334 Media History and Communication Policy
COMPLIT 236 Digital Culture
COMPSCI 290NW A Networked World
ENGLISH 382 Professional Writing & Technical Communication III
ENGLISH 494DI Dystopian Games, Media and Comics?
JOURNAL 494MI Media, Technology and Culture
LEGAL 491S Law and the World Wide Web
MARKETNG 491F Topics in Social Media
MARKETNG 497C Technology-Enabled Marketing and Analytics
RES-ECON 397A Economic Issues of Contemporary Information Technology

Electives (minimum of six credits): This is a partial list of approved courses for this category:

Students may, with pre-approval, substitute courses listed on our website in the Technical or Broadened Inquiry categories for the Elective requirement.
ACCOUNTG 311 Business Applications of Computers
ART 374 Introduction to Computer Animation
ART 397MM Media/Motion Graphics
BCT 320 Introduction to CAD in Construction/Architecture
BIOLOGY 572 Neurobiology
CMPSCI 325 Usability
EDUC 593A Integrating Technology with the Curriculum
ENGLISH 391C Advanced Software Professional Writing
FINOPMGT 373 Business Process Simulation
GEOGRAPH 352 Computer Mapping
GEOGRAPH 426 Intro to Remote Sensing
HISTORY 181 Western Science and Technology II
JOURNAL 393N Reporting for Podcasting and Radio
JOURNAL 397DJ Infographics and Journalism
LEGAL 491S Law and the World Wide Web
MARKETNG 455 Internet Marketing
MUSIC 586 MIDI Studio Techniques
NRC 497MS Applications in Open Source Science and Innovation
NRC 585 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
OIM 321 Business Process Simulation
NURSING 290B Introduction to Healthcare Informatics
SCH-MGMT 397B Internet Technology for e-Business
SCH-MGMT 597G Internet Business Design and Development

Restrictions: At least two of the courses in the IT Minor must be taken outside the student’s major department. No more than two required courses within your major may be used to fulfill the requirements of the IT Minor. Students must have a minimum 2.00 cumulative GPA for courses applied to the minor. All courses must be taken on a graded basis.