Computer Science is centred around the study of information. It is concerned with the nature and properties of information, its structure and classification, its storage and retrieval, and the various types of processing to which it can be subjected. It is also concerned with the physical machines that perform these operations, with the elemental units of which these machines are composed, with the organization of these units into efficient information processing systems, and with the exploration of the limits of the abilities of these machines.
Computer Science is recognized as an independent discipline with an inherently mathematical nature. Its activity ranges from theoretical areas such as the theory of automata, system organization and logic design, formal languages and computability theory to applied areas such as scientific computing, programming languages, bioinformatics, software management, and computer systems.
The advent of the computer has facilitated a systems approach to solving many problems in science, business, and industry. There is currently a great demand for information analysts to define how systems will perform these functions and for programmers to implement production systems on computers.
The following regular and co-operative plans are accredited by the Computer Science Accreditation Council, which is sponsored by the Canadian Information Processing Society (www.cips.ca).
- BMath Honours Computer Science
- BMath Honours Computer Science/Business Option
- BMath Honours Computer Science/Digital Hardware Option
- Honours Bachelor of Computer Science
- Honours Bachelor of Computer Science/Business Option
- Honours Bachelor of Computer Science/Digital Hardware Option
- Honours Bachelor of Computer Science/Software Engineering Option
- Any double Honours plan involving an accredited Computer Science plan
- Any accredited Computer Science plan with a minor
Plans involving the Software Engineering Option are also accredited under the Software Engineering criteria.
This accreditation recognizes that the quality of these plans meets published, generally accepted criteria for sound education in the discipline. A student who graduates from an accredited plan is eligible to be designated as an Information Systems Professional (www.cips.ca/standards) after two years of professional level experience.
Accreditation for Bioinformatics and plans involving Joint Honours Computer Science has not been sought.