Frequently Asked Questions
How Does IT fit in the Organization or Corporation?
Information Technology's purpose is to provide for the information needs of the organization or corporation so that the work and decisions can be done in an efficient and effective manner. Hardware and Software are often the productivity tools for organizations - the key is networking these tools in order to share data among employees.
Why do you use the acronym IST for the courses instead of CIS and IT?
At one time, the department was Computer Information Systems or the CIS department. With the arrival of technologies, the name changed to CIS/IT department. This latest enhancement is to show that we here at La Roche are looking to the future. Although the computer will still be a productivity tool, other "appliances" will enable the employee to do work and we hope that our course content will reflect the use of new and improved technologies. To simply refer to the use of computers, we hope to open the world for our students and their abilities to use new and improved technologies.
Why must students take the COBOL course?
Although COBOL programming was used many years ago, the CIS/IT major will probably run into it in the work place. It is a legacy system and many accounting departments as well as banks have archival data and databases that depend on this programming language. It is like studying history, once you are aware of what happened in the past, you may be able to understand the future.
How can I find an internship?
The IT department on campus often looks for students to help them with installations and hardware updates. La Roche also has several contacts in the area that provide internships for worthy candidates.
Must I be a member of the AITP?
The AITP (Association of Information Technology Professionals) is our college chapter of the National Organization. Through this affiliation, the member has an opportunity to network with working professionals, attend monthly meetings in Pittsburgh , and attend workshops throughout the Tri-State to learn more about current technologies. However, you do not need to join this organization if you are a CIS/IT or CS major. The organization is just another adventure in the lives of LaRoche students.
