Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Science

at Shorelight Group - University of Massachusetts - Boston USA

The communication major is an 12-course program that focuses on the social and scientific study of human communication. The curriculum offers students the chance to explore coursework in interpersonal, mediated, political and health communication, among others. Our courses emphasize communication across a variety of channels diverse cultures.

The Information Technology major offered through UMass Boston's College of Management is designed to offer pathways to highly-demanded careers in IT for both high school graduates and students of Massachusetts community colleges. Our small classes ensure personalized attention from IT faculty while our ties to the Greater Boston business and technical communities add an extra dimension of learning to our program of business information technology education. The IT major offers an “applications-path” format for students which includes a core of technical knowledge (nine courses), an area of specialization or track within IT (four or five courses, depending on track selection), three professional electives in an application or domain area (preferably outside of IT but within business), and two wrap-up courses (project management and IT capstone), in addition to general education requirements.

The IT major is project based.  Every exercise assigned throughout the BSIT is designed to be of the kind that a student might encounter in his or her work: collaboration, competence, and outcomes assessment are the hallmark characteristics of the program.  Students will learn how to use IT to solve real-world problems within the context of a field in which they wish to work. Graduates will be familiar with, and be able to apply, the following core information technologies to solve business problems:

• Programming
• Networking
• Databases
• Web technologies

In addition, the BSIT program offers four specialization tracks: business intelligence1, computer forensics1, information architecture1 and systems administration.

Information Architecture Track
The Information Technology (IT) major is a jointly offered program between the College of Management (CM) and the College of Science and Mathematics (CSM) at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The BSIT consists of a common core of ten courses, a track of four to six courses in a particular area of specialization (the information architecture track requires four courses), a common capstone course, and three professional electives.

A full range of business courses and concentrations is offered through the Management major, which prepares students for specific management responsibilities, and results in a bachelor of science degree from the College of Management (CM) at UMass Boston. The program is built on a solid foundation in the arts and humanities achieved by completing CM's general education requirements while also being immersed into business theory and practice.

Learning Goals
As part of its program to maintain accreditation with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the College of Management faculty has formally adopted learning goals for each of its degree programs and periodically conducts assessments for each learning objective to identify opportunities for curriculum improvement.

The learning goals for the bachelor of science in management (BSM) program are for students to:

• Demonstrate proficiency in oral and written communication skills.
• Develop critical thinking and quantitative reasoning skills.
• Demonstrate sound ethical reasoning skills.
• Integrate understanding of issues concerning diversity and globalization in business.

Information Systems and Business Analytics Concentration
Information and data analytics technologies are transforming all aspects of business. Students who concentrate in Information Systems and Business Analytics (ISBA) can acquire the knowledge and skills needed to take a leading role in these innovative fields. The curriculum of the ISBA concentration covers the topics in business analytics and its information systems foundation.

This interdisciplinary major introduces students to a number of perspectives from which to study American social and cultural life.  The work we do begins from the premises that “America” itself has been a contested term for centuries, and that the people who call themselves “American” have consistently been engaged in conversations over and around the meaning of that term.  Our courses offer investigations of America’s past and present in a global context through critical analysis of the ways that race, class, gender, and sexuality help constitute American institutions and people.

From our introductory courses (“American Identities” and “American Dreams, American Realities”) through a variety of intensive capstone seminars students develop the ability to understand the texts and contexts, and the representations and realities that have most powerfully shaped the political and aesthetic landscape of the United States.

The Computer Science Department offers a BA degree in Computer Science. It provides a similar education in the theory and practice of computer science with more of an emphasis on outside humanities. Either degree can be used as a basis for many jobs in industry or for graduate work in computer science and other fields. 

Our BS program in Computer Science is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET. ABET assures quality for degree programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology. The program provides a rigorous education in theory and practice of Computer Science in addition to outside science courses. A BS degree can be used as a basis for many jobs in industry or for graduate work in Computer Science and other fields. We have an Honors Program for students who complete an Honors Thesis.

We offer a curriculum stressing software development. It provides training appropriate for students with interests in areas such as cybersecurity, data mining, artificial intelligence, database management, and software engineering. An aptitude for logical reasoning and mathematics is needed to complete the major successfully, partly because designing programs to solve problems requires good problem-solving skills and partly because some of the requirements are relatively advanced theoretical Computer Science and mathematics courses.

Management major prepares students for specific management responsibilities and results in a bachelor of science degree from the College of Management (CM) at UMass Boston. The program is built on a solid foundation in the arts and humanities achieved by completing CM's general education requirements while also being immersed in business theory and practice.

The learning goals for the bachelor of science in management (BSM) program are for students to:

• Demonstrate proficiency in oral and written communication skills.
• Develop critical thinking and quantitative reasoning skills.
• Demonstrate sound ethical reasoning skills.
• Integrate understanding of issues concerning diversity and globalization in business.

Entrepreneurship is one of the fastest-growing areas of business, and one of the major directions of management education. The entrepreneurship concentration is closely connected to the College of Management’s Entrepreneurship Center (EC), and the concentration draws on the EC’s vision and strategy:

The Entrepreneurship Center provides core knowledge and expertise for starting new businesses, creating innovations in growing companies, and thriving in high-growth environments. Through university-wide courses and hands-on learning, we provide a complete toolkit for every student–fundamentals and opportunities for career-long entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurship concentration allows students to develop skills in entrepreneurial innovation and action, effective communication, capitalizing on opportunities, and new business creation and growth. Interdisciplinary electives let students focus on e-commerce, international venturing, operational innovation, or starting their own company with mentoring from successful entrepreneurs.

The IR major gives students the opportunity to explore how peoples and nations interact across political boundaries.  Students in the major study international relations from the perspective of multiple disciplines and examine topics such as:  international political economy, conflict and cooperation, human rights and international organizations, regional and socio-cultural studies, globalization and transnationalism, and international development.  Students in this major are able to take courses drawn from many different academic departments and programs at UMass Boston.

The Economics department has approximately 400 declared undergraduate economics majors and serves students from many other departments and programs in the College of Liberal Arts, as well as students from other colleges of the university.  Currently 8% of declared undergraduate majors in the College of Liberal Arts have chosen Economics as their major. Their interests include Economic Development, Economic History, Environmental Issues, Health Economics, Industrial Organization, Immigration, International Economics, Labor Economics, Macroeconomics, Marxism, Monetary Theory, Political Economy of Race and Gender, Public Policy, Public Sector Economics, Social Welfare, Statistics and Econometrics, and Urban Economics. In addition to teaching, faculty members are engaged in research, writing, consulting, and other professional activities in their areas of interest.

Management major prepares students for specific management responsibilities and results in a bachelor of science degree from the College of Management (CM) at UMass Boston. The program is built on a solid foundation in the arts and humanities achieved by completing CM's general education requirements while also being immersed in business theory and practice.

The learning goals for the bachelor of science in management (BSM) program are for students to:

• Demonstrate proficiency in oral and written communication skills.
• Develop critical thinking and quantitative reasoning skills.
• Demonstrate sound ethical reasoning skills.
• Integrate understanding of issues concerning diversity and globalization in business.

The purpose of marketing is to find and keep customers. Employers in today’s economic environment actively seek competent, committed individuals for a variety of upwardly mobile careers in the field of marketing. The marketing concentration provides students with an in-depth understanding of the most current thinking and practices in strategic marketing techniques along with the analytical, communication, and computer skills their employers expect.