Dual Credit Program

Understand the impact of technology on sustainability and society, using relevant historical examples and current issues in the news, and gain insight on the cultural frameworks within which ideas such as sustainability and different technologies are understood and evolve. You’ll also explore emerging technologies from the Industrial Revolution through present day, leading to a future that will be complex and challenging, and in many ways look like science fiction.

This course is an introductory course with a dual focus: one focus on organizations and another focus on the individuals who work for them. At the individual level, we will examine how business decision making can be improved when supporting technologies like spreadsheets are leveraged. From the organizational perspective, we will cover strategic analysis frameworks and business strategies that can be fine-tuned for competition in an increasingly digitally transformed world. Humans are inherently limited in how they might approach problem solving because of the cognitive biases we all bring to decision situations. Understanding these biases and how to confront them using the spreadsheet modeling knowledge gained in this class will change the way you face and solve problems. We will cover practical decisions you will deal with in many different personal and professional business settings. You will build models in spreadsheet software that serve to help you analyze problem situations in a completely new light.

Technology fuels the businesses of today, and businesses need competent technology professionals to support the infrastructure that drives their success. In this, you’ll be introduced to this environment and will learn about critical business tech support functions, including managing an organization’s hardware, networking technology, and software, as well as how to solve technical problems for business technology users.

This course is designed to provide a full overview of computer networking.

This course will focus on the practical aspects of the operating system. You will learn how to use the windows and linux OS and how to interact with these operating systems through the command line, which inputs text commands instead of relying on a graphical user interface or GUI. You’ll also learn how file systems work and you’ll be able to assign different user permissions and roles; you’ll be able to understand how to use package managers and consider the trade-offs between different package managers for windows and linux; you’ll also learn about process management so you understand the nuances of running programs that could save you valuable time when troubleshooting in the workplace. Finally, we’ll take a deeper dive into remote connection tools and teach you about OS deployment and how to install on a lot of machines at once.

This course will transition learners from working on a single computer to an entire fleet. Systems administration is the field of IT that’s responsible for maintaining reliable computer systems in a multi-user environment. In this course, learners will learn about the infrastructure services that keep all organizations, big and small, up and running. We’ll deep dive on cloud so that they will understand everything from typical cloud infrastructure setups to how to manage cloud resources. They will also learn how to manage and configure servers and how to use industry tools to manage computers, user information, and user productivity. Finally, they will learn how to recover an organization’s IT infrastructure in the event of a disaster.

This course covers advanced Excel skills using an applied focus on different types of decisions one may analyze using spreadsheet capabilities; graphs and charts to communicate complex analytics; pivot tables to slice and dice data for reporting; what-if analysis for forecasting and predictive analysis. Students will learn to use advanced functions of Excel to improve productivity, enhance spreadsheets with templates, charts, graphics, and formulas and streamline their operational work. They will apply visual elements and advanced formulas to a worksheet to display data in various formats. Students will also learn how to automate common tasks, apply advanced analysis techniques to more complex data sets and leverage Excel’s advanced functionalities.

Analysis and evaluation of business processes in the context of improving operational efficiency. This course examines organizational processes, evaluates & analyzes business process metrics in the context of improving operational efficiency thereby creating business value.

In this course you will learn how to build data visualizations that provide insight into the nature of the relationships of interest within the data, as well as how to build visualizations to effectively convey the insights they discover, using contemporary tools. These techniques will enable them to create knowledge that empowers data-based decision making. Visualizations will use data drawn from business operations and business-relevant societal contexts, and include temporal and geospatial data. In many ways, it can be useful to think of this course as a data-visualization-centric communication class which leverages business, data, design, and communication concepts at their intersection.

This course covers a wide variety of IT security concepts, tools, and best practices. It introduces threats and attacks and the many ways they can show up. We’ll give learners some background of encryption algorithms and how they’re used to safeguard data. Then, we’ll dive into the three As of information security: authentication, authorization, and accounting. We’ll also cover network security solutions, ranging from firewalls to WiFi encryption options. The course is rounded out by putting all these elements together into a multi-layered, in-depth security architecture, followed by recommendations on how to integrate a culture of security into an organization or team.

Introduction and conceptual overview of location intelligence via visualization and analyses of geo-spatial data to enhance business insights and decision making. Learn how location analytics can offer better insights and decision-making support for business by analyzing geo-referenced data with GIS application software such as ArcGIS Online. Explore and geo-enrich the location component of business data to perform market analysis, visualize demographic, customer, and competition data and share analysis insights using engaging maps. Learn how spatial analysis helps organization decrease cost, increase revenue, and reduce risks.

This course addresses the basic concepts and terminology related to privacy and summarizes the important privacy regulations that exist domestically and internationally. In addition, ethical topics & issues in cybersecurity and information technology are also discussed. Major Information Security compliance frameworks used in industry such as: NIST, the ISO 27000 Series, COBIT, PCI-DSS, and Generally Acceptable Privacy Principles (GAPP) are explored in detail. Implementation methodologies and industry best practices of industry frameworks to support adherence compliance and relevant regulatory requirements are also presented.

Business Intelligence (BI) is a critical discipline that includes the technologies and practices used for the collection, integration, analysis, and presentation of information to support a wide variety of business decision-making capabilities. BI systems provide historical, current, and predictive views of departmental or enterprise business operations, most often using data that has been brought together into a consolidated data warehousing environment. This course presents students with a practical yet also visionary perspective of today’s and tomorrow’s BI environments with a particular focus on building and using the highest-return, business-essential BI capabilities.

This course is designed to introduce you to the basic concepts of human communication, processes, and environments. This course surveys communication topics related to culture, identity, organizations, and relationships. By the end of this course, you should have a fuller understanding of appropriate and effective communication based on your knowledge of theoretical concepts and their application.

Public speaking is an important professional skill in many careers. The core of public speaking is to help speakers inform and influence the world around them. It takes practice and thought, and in this course, you will never step up to the podium without a plan. We’ve designed this course to create an environment that gives you confidence through consistent practice, supportive feedback, revision, and reflection.

Every day, computers and algorithms touch the lives of everyone around us in both mundane and profound ways. These algorithms are in the plants and distribution systems that bring you clean water and electricity, sensors that moderate the flow of traffic, in the tractors and combines that sow and harvest our food, and in the satellites that measure and predict the weather trends. If you are curious about what computers can do and how we instruct them to do those things – this course is for you. No prior programming experience is needed for this course. In addition to exposure to programming, you will gain a powerful set of thinking and problem-solving skills that you can use in your daily life. Start taking advantage of the power of computers around us to make our world a better place.

Do you ever think: “There has to be a better way!” Then engineering is for you! Engineering is for anyone with a passion for problem solving. This course actively introduces you to skills and tools that engineers use to solve problems while teaching you to think like an engineer. You will learn to identify opportunities, imagine new solutions to problems, model your creations, make data-driven decisions, build prototypes, and showcase your ideas that will impact the world. Taught by engineering professors and highlighting industry engineers in action, this course will equip you, as an engineer-in-training, with the skills necessary to compete in today’s world of innovation.

Are you excited about new technologies that impact every facet of our lives? Are you concerned about the many problems, big or small, faced by our communities on planet earth, and want to help? This course is for you! This course will provide you with opportunities to explore the global challenges facing society, and to learn about how engineers are making an effort to address these challenges. It will serve as a first step to prepare you to become a well rounded Engineer who is ready to tackle these challenges.

Do you ever wonder why our healthcare system seems so complicated? Perhaps you are an innovative thinker wondering what healthcare might look like in the future and how healthcare technology works. Or maybe you are thinking about going into the healthcare field but are unsure just what path you want to take – and what getting there looks like. This course will set you on a path to discover the answers to all of these questions and more.

Basic introduction to leadership by focusing on what it means to be a good leader. Examines topics such as the nature of leadership, recognizing leadership traits, developing leadership skills, creating a vision, setting the tone, listening to out-group members, handling conflict, overcoming obstacles, and addressing ethics in leadership. Gives attention to helping students understand and improve their own leadership performance.

Explores the different theories, strategies and skills in the fields of organizational behavior and interpersonal relationships. Covers critical skills and perspectives associated with cross-cultural relationships, personality and values-driven behaviors, empathy, perspective-taking, learning and motivation, conflict resolution, stress management, effective communication, group dynamics, and diagnosis of performance-related issues in organizations.

No project exists in a vacuum–projects of all sizes and degrees of complexity are imagined, executed and ultimately evaluated by stakeholders in the context of evolving environmental factors. Projects may fall along a spectrum of simple to complex with some possessing known predictable requirements and implications while others involve a variety of known and unknown variables and implications. Addresses the approaches used to accommodate differing projects along the continuum of project lifecycles.

Explores project scheduling and time management within the broader context of the planning effort. Students learn how important the determination of the timing and sequence of project activities is to the planning process–and ultimate project success. Primarily focuses on understanding bar charts, basic networks, the critical path network, precedence networks, resource allocation, schedule updating, schedule compression, scheduling and schedule risk management.

Concepts and complex processes of effective project cost management. Primarily focuses on project needs assessment, cost estimation, project cost control, project budgeting, cash flow management, financial management, value management, configuration management and supply chain management. Students also learn to appreciate the importance of integrating cost and value management processes.

Major elements of project resource management as well as the broader context of this critical planning function. Students learn that sound resource management is an important part of developing a sustainable competitive advantage in the emerging global marketplace. Primarily focuses on operations and productivity, resources in project management, product design, process strategy, layout strategy, human resources and job design, supply chain, inventory management and scheduling.

This introductory course is organized around Modules that will cover the five pillars of psychology, which include the: biological pillar, cognitive pillar, developmental pillar, social and personality pillar, and mental and physical health pillar. As students progress through each learning Module, they will review up-to-date and relevant content, engage in meaningful active learning exercises, and complete a knowledge check or assessment. In addition, the course culminates with students completing a psychology-based milestone project that students will find applicable to their own life, such in the workforce or their academic journey.

Religion continues to be a site of conflict, confusion and controversy. It maintains a space in the modern world that is either perceived as a source of peace and morality or as an unnecessary and obsolete source of conflict. In this course, students will discuss the many facets of religion in a globalizing world. We will examine why religion persists in its various forms across the globe. In addition, we will analyze the ways that religion interacts and engages within the public realm, in both positive and negative formats. Identity, politics, gender, technology, and media are just a few of the places where we will find religion and religious influence.

Are we alone in the Universe? If so, why? If not, where are our cosmic cousins? Such questions, once the domain of science fiction, are on the verge of being answered with science facts. Astronomers are discovering planets around other stars. Planetary scientists are exploring the worlds in our solar system. Biologists are unlocking the secrets of metabolism and evolution. Geoscientists are determining how the Earth supports life. And as we struggle to build a sustainable future for ourselves, all of us are finding out how technologically advanced civilizations rise and how they might fall. Inspired by this ongoing scientific revolution, Habitable Worlds surveys key concepts from across the major areas of science that help us to understand what makes Earth – or any other planet – a habitable world.

In this online sociology class, you will learn how individuals both shape and are shaped by their communities. You will learn how individuals both actively impact and are shaped by their communities, and you will explore the formation and persistence of societies that consist of diverse groups of people. You will also gain valuable insight into the dynamics of group relationships, including how to effectively interact with others within a group. Finally, you will learn how the study of sociology applies to your daily life as well as the most pressing social events of our time.

This is an introductory course designed to explore the core principles and frameworks of intersectionality and social transformation. The course content examines the social, political and cultural constructions of difference, the relationships and intersections between categories of difference – namely race, gender, sexuality, and dis/ability – and the ways in which individuals and groups experience multiple categories of difference. The course takes a social justice approach to understanding how forces of difference and structures of power impact justice, and determine strategies for creating a just society.