A joint first year program for computer science and information systems

The Marist College Division of Computer Science and Mathematics offers undergraduate degrees in both Computer Science (CS) and Information Systems (IS). Prior to the fall of 1992, the two programs shared only two computing courses and one math course. Today, however, students who enter Marist with either major take the same courses during their fkeshman year. This common foundation for both CS and IS has provided a better background for students, enhanced their enthusiasm for their chosen fields, increased the retention of students in the major, and helped ensure that students are pursuing the major for which they are best suited. This paper looks at the two majors before the initiation of the joint first yea program and examines the problems with the course sequences identified by faculty and students, It then looks at how the joint first year program, through the restructuring of the course sequence and the introduction of a freshman lecture series, has solved some of those problems.