Jeff Hemsley, Interim Dean
ischool.syr.edu

About the School

The Syracuse University School of Information Studies (iSchool) is a leader in the information field, advancing innovation in the digital age through our work at the intersection of business, technology, and society.

The iSchool became the original information school in the U.S. when it embraced information technology and the rise of the internet. Today, we offer an innovative curriculum that is continually updated to meet future industry trends and incorporate rapidly changing technologies.

Our faculty combine expertise in information systems, linguistics, computer science, library science, economics, education, business management, school media, digital literacy, management information systems, data science, enterprise and cloud computing, and communication. An active research community explores topics that reflect the faculty’s diverse intellectual backgrounds and interests.

Accreditation

Syracuse University is fully accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) and all programs are registered with the New York State Education Department. The MSCHE is a voluntary, non-governmental membership association that has been dedicated to quality assurance and improvement through accreditation via peer evaluation since 1919.

Vision and Values

The School of Information Studies, established in 1896 and renamed from the Original Information School in 1974, has a long tradition of leading innovation and change. Our ideals and values are the foundation for our success.

Undergraduate Education

Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies (iSchool) students are innovative problem-solvers who are studying at the intersection of technology, business, and society. They explore topics like data science, cloud computing, cybersecurity, machine learning and AI, social media and misinformation.

Our flexible curriculum allows students to pursue a broad array of intellectual areas while providing a core knowledge of the technical, organizational, and communication skills necessary to succeed in our digital economy.

We offer dual degree programs with Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Students from other schools and colleges at SU can enroll as a double major in the iSchool in one of the iSchool’s three minors.

Student Learning Outcomes

In the course of earning their degree, students are expected to achieve the following learning outcomes:

• Identify and analyze the use of information, technologies, and data to solve problems in various contexts in the age of digital transformation
• Present ideas through oral and written communication using data and information technologies
• Identify and propose solutions to issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the ethical use of data and information technologies
• Compare the use of information technologies and data in a global context in the age of digital transformation

iSchool Bachelor of Science Degree Requirements

The B.S. degree in Applied Data Science, Information Management and Technology, or Innovation, Society, and Technology requires 120 credits, distributed as indicated below.

I. iSchool Major (30-31 credits)

Students are required to complete a primary core for each major as a requirement for graduation. See individual program pages for detailed core requirements.

II. iSchool Electives (15 credits)

Students must complete five additional courses to fulfill their elective requirement.

Students are required to complete at least one of our course concentrations as a requirement with a minimum of three courses in that concentration for graduation in the B.S. degree in Information Management and Technology or Innovation, Society, and Technology.

Students in the B.S. degree in Applied Data Science may complete one iSchool concentration or obtain a minor outside the iSchool that leverages the use of analytics (e.g., Sport Analytics, Business Analytics, Computer Science, Applied Statistics, Economics).  Students who choose to obtain a minor (or double major) outside the iSchool can count two analytical focused courses as part of their 15 credit iSchool electives.

Data Science Concentration

Required

Concentration Electives

Digital Retail Strategies Concentration

Required

Concentration Electives

Information Security Management Concentration

 Required

Concentration Electives

Innovation, Design & Startups Concentration

Required:

Network and Cloud Computing Concentration

Required

Concentration Electives

Project Management Concentration

Required

Concentration Electives

Web Design & Management Concentration

Required

Concentration Electives

University-wide Requirements

The iSchool participates in students’ knowledge and skill development through the Shared Competencies, Syracuse University’s institutional learning goals that highlight the knowledge and skills students can expect to gain through their major courses, liberal arts requirements and co-curricular activities.

All incoming and transfer students are required to take a 1-credit FYS 101 First Year Seminar course, and a 3-credit IDEA course that can be selected from an approved list .

IST courses appearing on the approved IDEA course requirement list may be taken to fulfill both requirements.

III. Skills Electives (15-17 credits)

A. Programming Skills

Students are required to complete one of the computer programming courses listed below. Students who wish to take another programming course not listed below must submit a petition and have it approved prior to registration:

B. Communication Skills (9 credits)

Students are required to take 12 credits in communications skills, including IST 344 Information Reporting and Presentation , as well as one course from each of the three categories below:

C. Quantitative Skills (6-8 credits)

Students are required to attain minimum competence in mathematics by completing the quantitative skills requirement of the Liberal Art Core curriculum of the College of Arts and Sciences.

All IMT and IST majors are required to attain minimum competence in mathematics. Students may satisfy this requirement by completing the quantitative skills requirement of the Liberal Arts Core curriculum
of the College of Arts and Sciences.

All ADA majors are required to attain minimum competence in mathematics. Students should take MAT 121 Probability and Statistics for the Liberal Arts I / MAT 122 Probability and Statistics for the Liberal Arts II   or MAT 221 Elementary Probability and Statistics I / MAT 222 Elementary Probability and Statistics II 

IV. Arts & Sciences Divisional Requirements (12 courses; minimum 36 credits)

Students are required to take three courses in each of the three divisions of the Arts and Sciences-Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Social Sciences, and Humanities. In addition, three courses in any of the divisions must be completed to fulfill this requirement.

Students are required to complete a minimum of 60 credits of coursework in the College of Arts & Sciences. Courses from Communication Skills, Quantitative Skills and A&S Divisional Requirements will all count towards the A&S minimum credit requirement. Additional A&S courses will be required to reach the 60 credit minimum requirement.

V. General Electives (20-23 credits)

Students need 120 credits to graduate from Syracuse University.  If after meeting all program and University requirements, a student is still lacking credits to meet the 120 credits needed for graduation, the student can take any undergraduate Syracuse University course to reach the graduation credits total.  Students can concentrate on a minor, a dual degree, a combined degree, an internship experience, or study abroad to reach the minimum of 120 credits required for graduation. 

Courses appearing on the approved IDEA course requirement list may be taken to fulfill both requirements: General elective and IDEA.

VI. International Experience

Students will be required to complete one international experience to graduate with their iSchool undergraduate degree. Students can fulfill their international requirement in one of the following ways:

• Semester abroad
• University exchange
• Short term abroad program
• International Internship
• Coursework (6 credits from approved list)
• Approved international component - by petition

Programs

Major

Minor

Faculty

Jaime Banks, Professor, Katchmar-Wilhelm Professor
Ph.D., Colorado State University, 2013
Human-Machine Communication, Videogames and Avatars, Technology and Interactivity

Carlos E. Caicedo Bastidas, Associate Professor
Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, 2009
Security, wireless networks, software development, telecommunications management

Scott A. Bernard, Professor of Practice 
Ph.D., Virginia Tech., 2001
Enterprise architecture and capital planning, public and private sector chief information officers, federal policy development on information resources management

Renate Chancellor, Associate Professor, Associate Dean for Access, Success, and Belonging
Ph.D., University of California Los Angeles, 2008
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in library and information services, Library, and Information Science Education, Social Justice in LIS, Human Information Behavior

EunJeong Cheon, Assistant Professor
Ph.D., Indiana University, Bloomington, 2020
Human-computer interaction, computer-supported cooperative work, human-robot interaction, design

Rachel Ivy Clarke, Associate Professor
Ph.D., University of Washington, 2016
Application of design methodologies and epistemologies to librarianship

Alex Corsello, Assistant Teaching Professor
B.S., Coumbia
Business, IT Management, project management, systems analysis

Kevin Crowston, Distinguished Professor of Information Science
Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1991
Organizational implications of information technologies, computer-supported cooperative work, open source software development, virtual organizations

Raj Dewan, Professor
Ph.D., University of Rochester, 1987
Ph.D., University of Rochester Simon Business School, 1986
Business Analytics, organizational issues in management of information systems, marketing on the internet, the internet industry, strategic use of technology, the use of standards in managing information systems, accounting and financial information systems

Chris Dunham, Assistant Teaching Professor
M.S., SUNY Buffalo, 2012
Data Science, Machine Learning, Big Data Analytics

Sevgi Erdogan, Associate Professor
Ph.D., University of Maryland, 2011
Data-driven policy and decision-making, data science applications in built environment, human infrastructure, and environment interrelations, smart, sustainable, and resilient communities

Ingrid Erickson, Associate Professor
Program Director, PhD Information Science and Technology
Ph.D., Stanford University, 2009
Work and technology, organizational studies, human-centered computing

Laurie Ferger, Assistant Teaching Professor
Program Director, Undergraduate Programs
M.S., Johns Hopkins 
Web design, development and programming, database management systems

Michael Fudge, Professor of Practice
M.S., Syracuse University, 2006
Database management systems, data warehousing, programming

Paul B. Gandel, Professor
Ph.D., Syracuse University, 1986
Management of information systems, library administration and services, software engineering, information policy, and visualization of information

LaVerne Gray, Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of Tennessee, 2018
Social justice in Library and Information Science, critical and cultural studies, Black feminism, intersectionality, community engagement, critical librarianship, academic librarianship, and critical information literacy.

Jeff Hemsley, Interim Dean, Associate Professor
Ph.D., University of Washington, 2014
Social media, viral events, data visualization

Josh Introne, Associate Professor
Ph.D., Brandeis University, 2008
Collective intelligence in new media, misinformation, data visualization 

Preeti Jagadev, Assistant Teaching Professor
Ph.D., National Institute of Technology Goa
Artificial intelligence, biomedical engineering, computer engineering

John Jordan, Professor of Practice
Program Director, Doctorate of Professional Studies in Information Management
Ph.D., University of Michigan, 1989
Social media, organizational change, social implications of information technology

Kelvin King, Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley
Social media analytics, data science, misinformation, machine learning

Bruce R. Kingma, Professor of Entrepreneurship;
Ph.D., University of Rochester, 1989
Economics of information, digital library economics, cost-benefit analysis

Yiqi Li, Assistant Professor
Ph.D. University of Southern California, 2021
Computational social science, network science, online communities, risk communication

Lee W. McKnight, Associate Professor
Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1989
Wireless grids, Internet economics and policy, national and international technology policy

Sebastian Modrow, Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of Rostock, 2014
Cultural heritage preservation, archives and special collections, history of the book

Megan Oakleaf, Professor, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs
Ph.D., University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 2006
Evolution and assessment of information services; theories, methods, and assessment of user education; information services in academic libraries

Carsten S. Oesterlund, Professor, Associate Dean for Research
Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2002
Distributed and virtual work, organizational learning and knowledge, IT use and organizational boundaries, document and genre analysis, computer-supported collaborative work

Joon S. Park, Professor, Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor
Ph.D., George Mason University, 1999
Information and systems security; security policies, models, mechanisms, evaluation, survivability, and applications

Beth Patin, Associate Professor
Program Director, M.S. Library and Information Science, M.S. Library and Information Science: School Media, and CAS in School Library MediaPh.D., University of Washington, 2018
Crisis informatics, cultural competence, information equity and justice

Christopher Perrello, Assistant Teaching Professor
M.S., Syracuse University, 2013
Interviewing, Communication and Rhetorical Studies, Information Reporting and Presentation, Career Development, Professional Communication, Research Methods, Instructional Teaching Methods

Jian Qin, Professor
Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1996
Representation of learning objects, knowledge organization structure, organization of distributed information, knowledge discovery in bibliographic databases, scientific communication

Jeffrey H. Rubin, Professor of Practice
Senior Vice President for Digital Transformation and Chief Digital Officer
M.S., Syracuse University, 1997
Content/knowledge management systems, web-based management tools (including log analysis), user behavior on the Internet

Jeffrey Saltz, Associate Professor,
Program Director M.S. Applied Data Science, M.S. Applied Human-Centered AI, M.S. Information Systems, and M.S. Information Systems for Executives
Ph.D., New Jersey Institute of Technology
Data science, startup ecosystems, experiential learning

Steven B. Sawyer, Professor, Core Faculty of Renee Crown Honors Program
D.B.A., Boston University, 1995
Social informatics, design and development of information systems, information and communication technologies in organizational and social change

Carl Schramm, University Professor
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, 1973
Economics, entrepreneurship 

Jeffrey M. Stanton, Professor
Ph.D., University of Connecticut, 1997
Cognitive-affective models of motivation, evaluation and behavior, science and technology, research methods including psychometrics and statistics

Jennifer Stromer-Galley, Professor
Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 2002
Strategic communication on social media, online political participation, human-computer interaction

Zhasmina Tacheva, Assistant Professor
Ph.D., Management, SUNY Buffalo 2020
Artificial Intelligence, data science, critical data studies

Bei Yu, Professor
Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Natural language processing, machine learning, opinion mining

Ping Zhang, Professor
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 1995
Human-computer interaction; affective, cognitive, and behavior aspects of human interaction with technology

Courses

Information Technology, Design and Startup

Information Studies