Department of Computer Science

Vetria L. Byrd, Academic Unit Head
Phone: (540) 568-3335
Email: byrdvl@jmu.edu
Location: King Hall, Room 222
Website: http://www.jmu.edu/cise/cs

Professors
D. Bernstein, F. Buchholz, S. El-Tawab, M. Heydari, M. Kirkpatrick, C. Mayfield, E. Salib, S. Simmons, N. Sprague, B. Tjaden, X. Wang, D. Weikle

Associate Professors
M. Aboutabl, J. Bowers, V. Byrd, C. Johnson, M. Lam, S. Lee, K. Molloy, M. Rizvi, A. Salman, M. Stewart

Assistant Professors
A. Ayub, P. Belsare, Z. Duan, B. McCoy, C. Shrestha, I. Wang

Lecturers
A. Chao, P. Riley

Mission

The computer science department strives to be an intellectual community that continually explores the broad field of computing, applies this knowledge to solve problems in a variety of domains and engages with the profession and society at large. Undergraduates join this community when they become majors, participating with faculty and other students in exploring computing through classes, projects, clubs and internships.

Goals

The goals of the computer science department are to:

Offer small classes that provide opportunities for personal interaction with students.
Provide a broad, inclusive and up-to-date computing curriculum.
Provide students opportunities for professional and community engagement and real word experiences.
Help students to become computing problem solvers and good communicators.
Produce graduates who will succeed in the computing profession.

Career Opportunities and Marketable Skills

Computing technology pervades modern society and demand for computing professionals is strong and projected to remain strong for the foreseeable future. Careers in computing range from technical positions specifying, designing, building and maintaining networks and systems of all kinds, through project leadership and technical management. The Computer Science major prepares students for entry-level technical positions as programmers, software developers, requirements analysts, software designers, testers, software quality assurance professionals, system architects, network engineers, information security specialists and computing consultants. The Information Technology major equips students with the necessary skills to work on projects that have the potential to make a significant impact on society. From developing life-saving medical technologies to addressing environmental challenges, Information Technology can contribute to a better world. Additionally, this major allows for various career options such as network administration, cybersecurity analysis, data analytics, cloud computing administration and development, and more.

Co-curricular Activities and Organizations

The James Madison University Student Chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery is the local student chapter of the national association for computing professionals.

The JMU chapter of Upsilon Pi Epsilon, the international honor society in computer science, recognizes outstanding academic achievement by students and outstanding contributions to education by faculty. The department also sponsors the Robotics, Cyber Defense and Women in Technology clubs.

Students are encouraged to intern in a business or government organization during the summer.

Cross Disciplinary Minor

Robotics Minor

Admission and Retention Requirements

Information on admission to programs within the Department of Computer Science, retention and minimum grade requirements may be found on the individual program pages listed below: