Overview

The department at California State University Chico, offers students the opportunity to earn the distinction of Honors in Computer Science or Honors in Computer Information Systems. This recognition appears on the permanent transcript and diploma. The Honors award confers a distinction that enhances opportunities for graduate school and employment.

Faculty and Facilities

The breadth of faculty expertise is evident from the many courses offered in operating systems and networks, programming languages, security, artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, computer graphics, computer architecture, database systems, computer theory, security and computer forensics, mobile computing, software engineering, and web programming, as well as from the variety of professional consulting and research projects in which the faculty are involved.

The College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Construction Management (ECC) is housed in the O'Connell Technology Center. ECC maintains a large site to support its computing and technology needs. Currently, the College manages 19 labs with a combined total of more than 300 machines (not including machines in faculty and department offices), several physical and virtual servers and multiple operating systems, supporting approximately 20,000 users. ECC buildings have upgraded networking and full coverage Wi-Fi access.

Computing facilities available to computer science majors include three general-purpose labs containing high-end PCs, two of which are Windows-based while the third runs Linux. The department also has an Apple lab for Mac/iOS development projects. One of the labs is designated as a computer networks laboratory where students get hands-on experience in computer security and network management by designing, configuring, and reconfiguring various types of networks and through the analysis of data obtained from network analyzers. All of our students also have 24/7 remote access to our Linux file server. The department is also a member of the Microsoft MSDN Academic Alliance, giving all students free access to Microsoft software including operating systems and various development tools.

Student Organizations

Student chapters of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), and the Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE) international honor society are active on campus. Additionally, the Chico State Linux User's Group (CSLUG), American Institute of Mechatronic Engineers (AIME), the Web Programming Club and the Computer Graphics Consortium (CGC), and many other student organizations and clubs provide opportunities for various student activities.