Computer Information Technology

This course introduces students to security and data confidentiality. The course presents a broad overview to help the student become more aware of computer security. Topics include securing data, confidentiality, integrity of data, password policies, and issues related to liability. One hour of lecture per week. Instructional Support Fee applies.

This course is an overview of electronic game development that takes students from the conception of electronic games in the 1970s up through the next generation console and PC games of today. Students study the game design process, the research and development of the game, and prepare a game proposal. Three lecture hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Information Literacy.

This course is an introduction to visual concepts and the software that supports their development. Students will learn what game developers need to create the realistic visuals seen in many popular game titles. Emphasis is placed on concepts needed to create actual assets for use in actual games. Pre- or co-requisite: CIT 140. Three lecture hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Information Literacy.

This course provides an introduction to planning and building game levels with a level editor. Students learn the importance of good level building and puzzle creation. Students are exposed to more than one level editor, and their strengths and weakness will be discussed. Pre or co-requisite: CIT 140 or permission of the instructor. Three class hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Information Literacy.

This course introduces programming concepts and techniques used in game development. Students learn fundamental programming skills through the creation of simple games and interactive programs, beginning with basic logic and progressing to more structured and object-oriented approaches. Emphasis is placed on problem solving, program design, testing, and debugging. The skills developed in this course prepare students to understand how programming concepts apply to modern game development environments and tools. Prerequisite: CIS 120 or permission of the instructor. Three lecture hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Information Literacy.

This course introduces the principles and practices of information systems security in computer networks. It covers the foundation of securing computer networks, including cryptography models, authentication, communications security, infrastructure security, operational and organization security. Students learn the risks, threats, and vulnerabilities of computer networks and countermeasure strategies. Topics include definition of terms, concepts, elements, and goals of incorporating industry standards and practices with a focus on confidentiality, integrity, and availability aspects of information systems. This course prepares students to sit for the current CompTIA Security+ certification exam. Prerequisite: CIS 134 Networking Technologies or permission of the instructor. Three lecture hours per week. Instructional support fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Critical Thinking, Information Literacy, and Scientific Reasoning and Discovery.

The course covers an introduction to game scripting. It will be both an introductory programming course and an intro to game modification and design using scripting languages. Offers students an opportunity to understand the basic principles of game engines and how to control games and game engines through relatively simple scripting techniques. Examines several different game engines including those where scripting is visual and those where scripting is textual. Studies critical concepts, including the game loop and triggering/collision events. Students choose game engines and scripts to implement based on critical analysis of existing games and on their own aspirations for being innovative game designers. Prerequisites: CIT 142 and CIT 143 or permission of the instructor. Three lecture hours per week.

This course is a continuation of CIT 140 and focuses on more advanced concepts of game development and production. Students work on scripting and developing characters, as well as exploring and understanding the concepts of game shells and game engines. Prerequisite: CIT 141 and CIT 142 or permission of the instructor. Three class hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Information Literacy.

This course expands the knowledge base in programming that was begun in CIT 143. Students further their knowledge of programming and DirectX and focus on more complex gaming techniques. Topics include advanced use of graphics, sound, and input, and an understanding of new and emerging software technologies as they relate to game development. Prerequisite: CIT 143 or permission of the instructor. Three class hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Information Literacy.

This is a project-oriented course. Students work together to create an end product. Students gain an understanding of sound and how to effectively incorporate it into games and multi-media projects. At the end of the course, students will develop and disseminate a simple game. Prerequisite: CIT 241. Three lecture hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies.Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Information Literacy.

In this course, students create games on paper only. Understanding the history of paper games is a key to understanding game design. The course includes analysis of games ranging from Tic-Tac-Toe to Dungeons and Dragons. No computers are used in the course. Prerequisites: CIT 140 and ENG 101, or permission of instructor. Three lecture hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Information Literacy.

In this project-oriented course, students work together to design and plan the development cycle of one or more games, which they will develop cooperatively in CIT 276. Students learn to write a game proposal and to schedule development resources. Students examine various game development tools used to create all the necessary game assets. Pre or co-requisite: CIT 241 or permission of the instructor. Three hours of lecture per week. Instructional Support Fee applies.

This is the third of a sequence of programming courses, following CIT 143 and CIT 242. This course focuses on data structures and algorithms commonly used in computer games. Topics include tables, lists, trees, queues, and stacks, as well as algorithm analysis. Prerequisite: CIT 242 or permission of instructor. Three lecture hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Information Literacy.

This course continues the study of visual concepts and the software that supports their development. Students will work on more advanced concepts. Emphasis is placed on the concepts and skills needed to create actual assets for use in actual games. Prerequisite(s): CIT 141 or permission of the instructor. Three lecture hours per week.

This course offers an introduction to firewalls and virtual private networks (VPNs) for securing a network. Various network security-related issues, such as threats and business challenges, are introduced and examined. The course addresses firewall functionality and how to select, construct, configure, and manage a firewall. Different types of VPNs for securing data in an organization are also addressed including the benefits, various architectures, and implementation considerations. In addition, students will learn the essentials of secure network design and management. Prerequisite: CIT 150 with a grade of C or better, or permission of the instructor. Three lecture hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Critical Thinking, Information Literacy, and Scientific Reasoning and Discovery.

This course addresses the broad topic of risk management and how risk, threats, and vulnerabilities impact information systems. Topics include risk management fundamentals, legal and regulatory compliance, performing risk assessments, identifying and protecting assets, and using appropriate frameworks. Areas of instruction also include how to assess and manage risk based on defining an acceptable level of risk for information systems. Elements of a business impact analysis (BIA), business continuity plan (BCP), disaster recovery plan (DRP), and computer incident response team (CIRT) plan will also be discussed. Prerequisite: CIT 150 with a grade of C or better, or permission of the instructor. Three lecture hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Critical Thinking, Information Literacy, and Scientific Reasoning and Discovery.

This course provides a foundation for access control and identity management methods used to secure networks, data, and information systems in both the public and private sectors and in organizations large and small. Topics include data classification, identification, authentication, authorization, and accounting protocols and services for information systems whether local, remote, or cloud-based architectures. Security controls for access control including tokens, biometrics, and the use of public key infrastructures (PKI) will also be covered. Prerequisite: CIT 150 with a grade of C or better, or permission of the instructor. Three lecture hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Critical Thinking, Information Literacy, and Scientific Reasoning and Discovery.

This course focuses on the areas of computer and digital forensic analysis. Topics include data acquisition, computer forensics analysis, recovering image files, network forensics, mobile devices, and email investigations, as well as the boot process and file system of Windows, Linux, and Macintosh computer systems. Pre-requisite(s): CIS 134. Three hours of lecture and two hours of laboratory per week. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Information Literacy.

This course covers a variety of issues that are important in game development. Topics include artificial intelligence, game world dynamics, human interfaces, and supporting tools. The course incorporates new developments in the programming area as they emerge. Students use their foundation in C++ to apply each topic to a computer game program. Prerequisite: CIT 242 or permission of the instructor. Three lecture hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Information Literacy.

In this course, students examine current computer and console games with a critical eye. This process solidifies their experience in mod development and game design. Students increase the depth of their understanding by continual review of a variety of games. The course also focuses on developing student awareness of the differing quality levels of games. Pre or co-requisite: CIT 245 or permission of instructor. Three class hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Information Literacy.

This capstone course provides students with the opportunity to apply cybersecurity and digital forensics principles to complete a comprehensive capstone project. Students will plan, design, implement, troubleshoot, and document an enterprise network such that access to internal services, both to the LAN and the Internet, can be allowed or denied in a secure manner. Students will work with Windows and Linux workstations, servers, switches, VLANs, firewalls, and routers to complete the project. Students will also work with forensically sound procedures in collecting, analyzing, and documenting digital evidence. Prerequisite(s): CIT 250 and CIT 251; pre or co-requisite(s): CIT 252, CIT 255 or permission of the instructor. Three lecture and two lab hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Critical Thinking, Information Literacy, and Scientific Reasoning and Discovery.

This project-oriented course brings together all components of the game development program to create a unique game. At the end of the course, students each have a game that they can show to prospective employers. Pre or Corequisite: CIT 241 or CIT 247. Two lecture hours and four laboratory hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies.

The capstone course for the Cybersecurity Certificate is a practical application of the control framework that guides an information security plan. It includes boundary controls, access controls, integrity controls, cryptographic controls and auditing controls. Prerequisite(s): CIT 250, CIT 251, pre or co-requisite(s): CIT 252 or permission of instructor. Three lecture hours per week.

Students learn how to deploy cloud-based computing services including executing a deployment plan, the most common service models, and the various ways that clouds are delivered such as public, private, and community. Topics include virtualization, service-oriented architectures, migrating to the cloud, implementing cloud security, cloud operations, cloud performance, and cloud troubleshooting. This course prepares students to pass cloud-based certification exams including the CompTIA Cloud+ CV0-002 exam and Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud Practitioner. Prerequisite: CIT150 Cybersecurity Principles with a grade of C or better, or permission of the instructor. Three lecture hours per week. Instructional support fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Critical Thinking, Information Literacy, and Scientific Reasoning and Discovery. Prerequisite: CIT150 Cybersecurity Principles with a grade of C or better, or permission of the instructor. Three lecture hours per week. Instructional support fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Critical Thinking, Information Literacy, and Scientific Reasoning and Discovery.

This course is an introduction to hacking tools, techniques, and incident handling. Areas of instruction include an evolution of hacking and penetration testing; the basics of cryptology for information security; foot printing; vulnerability scanning and exploit; wireless, web, and database attacks; malware and system exploit; traffic analysis; incident response; and defensive technologies and controls. In this course, the students will learn how to discover vulnerabilities, how to attack and defend systems, how to respond to attacks, and how to identify and design controls to prevent future attacks. This course prepares students to pass the EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker certification exam. Pre or co-requisites: CIS 115, or permission of the instructor. Three lecture hours per week. Instructional Support Fee applies. Gen. Ed. Competencies Met: Critical Thinking, Ethical Dimensions, Information Literacy, and Scientific Reasoning and Discovery.