Message from the Dean

Today information and technology touch almost every aspect of our society.  Our corporations, our academic institutions, our governments, as well as our professional and personal lives, are either enriched or deflated by the information systems we create and use. Yet we are still in our infancy in understanding how these systems can create lasting value in today’s world.

The College of Information and Computer Science (CICS) is on the educational frontier in responding to that dramatic challenge. Our focus, from the undergraduate level all the way to our Ph.D. program, is solidly on the integration of information and technology, as well as on the critical customer of these services. Our goal is to understand how the marriage of information and technology can be used to solve problems, create better products and services, and enrich lives.

At CICS, every course of study places a strong emphasis on the design of information systems. That means organizing data so that it is easy to use and can be retrieved quickly. It means creating smooth interfaces between different platforms. Essentially it means putting the primary focus on the needs of customers. Our students learn to map those needs to appropriate technologies, information sources, and design elements, which together create superior customer experiences. That is just as true whether we are designing a small business Web site, an elementary school library or the technology platforms that will unite corporate workers in dozens of countries.

Through fostering an understanding of the complex integration and relationship among information, technology, and people, we prepare our students for careers in a field that is both vibrant and rich in opportunity – as well as one that traverses every industry and all sectors of our society. Our graduates will enter the workforce equipped with the ability to create, design and manage information systems. Through their specialized knowledge in the areas of information and technology, and in how that technology can be used to add value and build wealth in today’s world, our students are prepared to create and develop information systems in all sectors of our society.

The future is not only for those who create technology and nor is it exclusively for those who populate it with data. It is – most of all – for those who will help us make sense of the information and technology we have. That understanding will enrich the lives of information and technology consumers everywhere. We look forward to our graduates playing leadership roles in this new frontier—marrying information, technology and people to build better information products, improve information-intensive organizations and enrich the lives of our professionals and our citizens.  

Cordially,
Mary Westermann-Cicio, Dean Pro Tem and Associate Professor
College of Information and Computer Science
C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University