Telecommunications Curriculum
Computer Science & Telecommunications | College of Arts and SciencesThe Information Revolution
The use of computers and other forms of advanced information technology are revolutionizing the way people and businesses work. Not since the dawn of the industrial revolution has the world seen such dramatic and rapid changes in the nature of work. These same technologies are beginning to change our personal lives as well, in areas ranging all the way from banking to shopping and entertainment. In short, it's becoming a "digital world."
Telecommunications technologies lie at the heart of many of these amazing changes. Telecommunications is to the information revolution what railroads were to the industrial revolution: the means of critical connectivity. Railcars loaded with machinery have given way to networks teeming with information.
What about the workers in this new global economy? Who will create and manage these networks and information technologies? It is from this need for a new type of worker that Roosevelt's programs in Telecommunications were developed.
Roosevelt's Role: Historical Overview
The field of telecommunications is of course very young by any standard, but as an academic disciple it is even less established. Until very recently one could scarcely find it in any college catalogs. Thus Roosevelt can be seen to have been a real pioneer when it offered its first course in Telecommunications back in 1980. This first course was developed at the request of Mr. Roney Harlow, the founder and CEO of Illinois based Pritech Communications. At that time the telecommunications industry was monopolized by the then gigantic AT&T Corporation. Telecommunications training was thus virtually synonymous with AT&T training.
When Mr. Harlow turned 75, his friends asked him what his ideal birthday gift would be. His reply was that he really wished there were some good independent training programs in telephony. With major funding provided by these individuals, Roosevelt's first course in telecommunications was developed, which included topics in telemarketing, cost control and reduction methods, and some traffic engineering analysis. The class proved to be quite successful and popular among both traditional aged and returning adult students.
In 1984, concurrent with the break-up of the Bell system, Roosevelt obtained a federal grant to fund its development of a complete undergraduate degree program in telecommunications. In 1986 a telecommunications laboratory was built, which included 20 IBM PC (8086 processor) student workstations, a network IBM PC (80286) server, and 3Com Local Area Network software and hardware.
Key players in the design and implementation of this new program were Mr. William Maury, a veteran of Illinois Bell and AT&T, and Dr. Roger Clery, a computer science faculty member who received additional training at AT&T in traffic engineering, digital switching, and fiber-optic systems. Six new courses were developed: telephone systems, telecommunications analysis, telecom. management, telecom. regulations & policies, local area networks, and network design. Thus Roosevelt became the first school in Illinois, and one of the first in the nation, to offer an undergraduate degree in telecommunications.
Undergraduate Programs
Roosevelt currently offers three programs in telecommunications at the undergraduate level: the Bachelor of Science in Network Computing (BSNC), the the Bachelor of Professional Studies with a concentration in Telecommunications (BPS), and the Certificate in Network Computing and Security. The BSNC is a traditional 120 semester hour BS degree program with the normal general education components, including 12 hours in Natural Science. The BPS is an accelerated degree completion program open to adult learners aged 25 and older (offered by Roosevelt's Evelyn T. Stone University College).
Graduate Programs
Roosevelt currently offers two programs in telecommunications at the graduate level: the Master of Science in Telecommunications (MST) and the Graduate Certificate in Network Computing and Security. For BPS students, there is a transitional program from BPS to MST.
