Academic excellence for business and the professions Which Course? Where Does Your City University Degree Lead? Chris Child Course Director (Games Technology)

Academic excellence for business and the professions Decisions, Decisions… The good news? You do not need to decide which course now All City’s courses offer a focus on academic excellence with... A common first year - you can transfer degrees An exciting range of specialist electives to meet your interests The same recognition to be an IT professional Portfolio modules – professional development and chance to study for industry certifications.

Academic excellence for business and the professions Three-Year Degree Structure The First-Year: Part 1 Teaches you the foundations of computing and their applications The Second-Year: Part 2 worth 40% Teaches you the core knowledge and skills that you need (The Placement Year (where applicable)) The Third-Year: Part 3 worth 60% Teaches you the advanced topics with which you specialise

Academic excellence for business and the professions Part 1: Common First Year Teaches you the basic computing skills Programming in Java Systems Architecture and Software Engineering Mathematics for Computing and Databases Computation & Reasoning (Artificial Intelligence) Business & Professional Development (portfolio) Then you decide Which degree to choose having tasted all of the topics

Academic excellence for business and the professions Part 2: Choose & Consolidate Common modules Professionalism and Personal Development (portfolio) Object-Oriented Analysis and Design Networks & Operating Systems One stream module Data Structures & Algorithms or Human-Computer Interaction Two specialist modules on your chosen specialism Team Project Simulates a real world industrial project

Academic excellence for business and the professions Part 3: Advanced Topics Modules on advanced topics to enhance your degree Research-based and focused on current industry topics Modules are unique to City’s staff and expertise More flexible delivery Most modules are electives - you choose 4 of the 5 Individual project Project on a single topic with a focused supervisor Do what most interests you - develop new products, work with a client, or undertake research

Academic excellence for business and the professions Elective Modules Examples of the over 20 available Agents and Data Mining Electronic Commerce Business Engineering with SAP Products Requirements Engineering Advanced Databases and IT Security Advanced Human-Computer Interaction Entrepreneurship in IT Also take specialist modules from other degrees

Academic excellence for business and the professions Artificial Intelligence BSc (Hons) in Comp. Sci. with Artificial Intelligence Focus on designing computers that act intelligently Builds on research on software agents, creativity, neural networks and evolutionary computing Examples include fraud detection, customer analytics; becoming mainstream in IT industry Available as 3 or 4 year degree (with placement or professional pathway) Job titles include: Technologist, AI developer, systems architect.

Academic excellence for business and the professions Computer Science BSc (Hons) in Computer Science Computing and programming as a science Functional programming, compilers and theory of computation Programming technologies Be at the forefront of the development and application of programming technologies Available as 3 or 4 year degree (with placement or professional pathway)

Academic excellence for business and the professions Software Engineering BSc (Hons) in Software Engineering Developing large complex, reliable, software systems Delivers key development skills Requirements analysis, systems design, metrics and testing Taught by research and industry leaders Available as Four-year degree (with placement or professional pathway)

Academic excellence for business and the professions CS & SE: Software Developer Roles Construct bespoke software and software for sale (Datamonitor predicts $457Bn worldwide by 2013). More than (just) programming – high skill, high value. Requirements analysis, systems design, metrics and testing Job titles include: Programmer, software developer, software engineer.

Academic excellence for business and the professions Business Computing Systems BSc (Hons) in Business Computing Systems Provides bridge between business and computing Not a business degree - computing in business A coherent hybrid degree Targeted at key roles in IT industry such as business analyst, systems analyst, systems integrator Available as: Four-year degree (with placement or professional pathway) Job titles include: Systems/business analyst, IT consultant.

Academic excellence for business and the professions Information Systems BSc (Hons) in Information Systems Developing and manage information systems Technologies that support business decision making Important topics for decision-makers Information management, IT security, decision support Available as 3 or 4 year degree (placement/professional pathway) Job titles include: IT operations, information manager, IS auditor, IT manager, database/security specialist.

Academic excellence for business and the professions Games Technology BSc (Hons) Computer Science with Games Technology Comp. science applied to developing computer games Games industry generates more money than film. Needs graduates with knowledge of games development C++, games AI, physics, graphics... Available as 3 or 4 year degree (placement or professional pathway) Job titles include: Games programmer, graphics programmer Games AI programmer.

Academic excellence for business and the professions Our Advantage: Employability Value-Added A-level grades (unsurprisingly) help graduate employability. Some CS/IT courses enhance graduate employability more than grades would indicate. City adds 4-5 A-level grades worth of employability performance. We perform consistently well. How do we do this? Source: Independent/HESA

Academic excellence for business and the professions Your Future IT Careers IT in the Recession??? Demand for IT staff mainly in the south-east of England Median IT industry graduate salary ~£1K above average. IT grads earn more than business, accountancy and law grads. IT market is vast and diverse, but changing IT industry primarily sells business rather than technical services. Need to achieve more with less – ‘intelligent exploiter’. Demand for higher-level roles such as software engineering and project management (prospects.ac.uk) “The key to success for prospective IT students lies in choosing courses where the content is relevant to industry and key business skills are nurtured alongside technical excellence. An industrial placement can also be a distinct advantage.” (prospects.ac.uk)

Academic excellence for business and the professions Remember: Employer’s View IT industry considers ‘soft skills’ (e.g. business awareness) as important as technical skills. IT graduates can be client-facing in first few weeks. UK IT industry has off-shored its low-skilled work… Expectations of IT graduates higher than ten years ago. Things for you to note in choosing your degree: Opportunities to develop yourself in your degree. You’ll need to engage with those opportunities. HINT: do what you feel you’ll most enjoy!

Academic excellence for business and the professions Expectation Management The world does not owe you a living! To succeed you need to offer something employers want! The degree certificate is not enough! But it indicates problem solving skills, intelligence, creativity, etc. It’s these abilities employers hire graduates for! Project and placement work can show what you can do. The theory taught allows you to cope with change A degree course is like a gym membership We can show you how to use the opportunities and support you in your learning… But if you don’t use it, nothing will happen!

Academic excellence for business and the professions So Ask Yourself…. 1.Are you interested in computing in general? 2.Which specialist courses spark particular interest? When choosing consider The programme as a whole The flexibility and range of electives The industrial placements All courses prepare you as IT professional Whatever your eventual role

Academic excellence for business and the professions The Key Points Again City offers an exciting range of computing degrees We can meet your needs, stimulate your interests The programme is flexible You can choose and change what you want to study A large set of research/practice-led final-year electives The degrees focus on academic excellence We will increase your chances of getting the right jobs Employers like our unique blend of practice and theory You get up-to-date technologies and transferable skills

Academic excellence for business and the professions Any Questions? [Time for Coffee???]