Southern Miss Information Technology Program

The Answer is Both

The Information Technology Program's is regularly updated to reflect the needs of industry through a comprehensive process of feedback and assessment. Feedback from students, alumni and industry provide a comprehensive view of what the program teaches and what industry expects, fueling a process of continuous improvement.

There are programs that specialize in technical training on specific technologies, focusing on the unique aspects of those technologies and the knowledge, skills and abilities required to implement them. Although these programs do provide participants the opportunity to pursue industry certification, they often lack the depth required to transfer the knowledg gained to other similar technologies or other vendor's products. However, the benefit of obtaining industry certification cannot be dismissed.

There are also programs that specialize in the theoretical aspects of information technology, focusing on the history, evolution, and engineering aspects of a wide range of technologies. Although these programs do provide a depth of knowledge that enables its constituents to understand a wide range of technologies and transfer that understanding to other existing and emerging technologies, they often lack the practical, hands-on learning that is required to make the jump from theory to practice.

The Southern Miss Information Technology Program teaches both theory and practice. Our graduates possess both the theoretical foundations and the knowledge, skills and abilities to design, implement and support a wide spectrum of technologies. The curricula are designed to make extensive use real-world tools used in industry. Most courses have a significant hands-on component and facilitate the pursuit of industry certification. Our graduates are communicators, solution providers and problem solvers who possess sufficient breadth and depth to work with existing technologies today and to evolve with the rapidly changing field of information technology.