Tennessee Tech will implement an Interdisciplinary Computing degree program starting next school year.
The program helps students integrate new technology, like AI, into other fields. Trustee Fred Lowery said this degree has a place in the workforce.
“We are looking for students, or colleagues, frankly, that have this kind of multi-diciplinary understanding,” Lowery said. “And that they can speak technology, but can also speak on the science side in my case. Or in a functional area if you will.”
Associate Provost Dr. Sharon Huo said the program increases computer science offerings and addresses demand for technology professionals. Huo said the program is projected to have 40 students and 12 graduates by its fifth year. Some of the integrated fields are agribusiness, criminal justice, journalism, and project management.
“In the proposal, we have 14 cognate areas,” Huo said. “In each area, we will have at least one faculty champion to build up and support students in the program.”
Huo said funding has been budgeted. Trustee Tom Jones said programs like Vibe AI, a software developing artificial intelligence, create software based on spoken input. Jones said similar technology benefits other fields.
“I think a program like this is fantastic,” Jones said. “Because you can have non-computer science engineers in the very near future developing code to do amazing things and get the data you want in a rapid fashion without having to go through a normal software development cycle.”
The interdisciplinary computing undergraduate program is led by engineering and interdisciplinary staff members. It includes 30 credit hours of computing credit hours and 25 credit hours of a selected cognate.
