College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (Architecture and Planning students only)
College of Arts and Sciences
College of Engineering
College of Human Ecology
School of Hotel Administration
School of Industrial and Labor Relations

The Concentration/Minor in Information Science is offered in every undergraduate college at Cornell. Because of small differences in regulations between the colleges, there are sometimes slight variations in the requirements depending on your college  and, in a few cases, your major.

All students interested in pursuing the Information Science concentration/minor must initiate the process by sending an e-mail message with name, college, year of study (e.g. 2nd semester sophomore), expected graduation date, and (intended) major to: minor@infosci.cornell.edu.

Information Science is an interdisciplinary field covering all aspects of digital information. The program has three main areas: human-centered systems, social systems, and information systems. Human-centered systems studies the relationship between humans and information, drawing from human-computer interaction and cognitive science. Social systems examines information in its economic, legal, political, cultural, and social contexts. Information systems studies the computer science problems of representing, storing, manipulating, and using digital information.

The concentration/minor has been designed to ensure that students have substantial grounding in all three of these areas, as well as in statistics. To this end, the requirements for the undergraduate concentration/minor are as follows:

• All courses must be chosen from the list in Appendix A (below); no substitutions are allowed. Appendix B (below) lists special requirements for certain departments.
• In addition, a letter grade of C or better is required; S/U courses are not allowed.

Some courses in the minor/concentration count toward college distribution requirements. Use the Courses of Study search page to verify whether a course fulfills a distribution in your college.

Note:
Course credits from institutions other than Cornell cannot be counted towards the Information Science minor.

IS minor/concentration requirements by college:

Appendix A is a list of courses that satisfy the above requirements. As Information Science grows, new courses will be added to the concentration.

Appendix A

Courses that Satisfy the Requirements for the Concentration/Minor in Information Science (no course substitutions allowed).

Statistics

An introductory course that provides a working knowledge of basic probability and statistics and their application to analyzing data occurring in the real world. 

Human-Centered Systems

Social Systems

*Only one of ECON 301 and ECON 313 can be taken for IS credit. Only one of OR&IE 435 and ECON 368 can be taken for IS credit. Only one of AEM 322 and H ADM 474 can be taken for IS credit.

Information Systems

Appendix B

Departmental Regulations for the Concentration/Minor in Information Science

Computer Science Department Computer Science majors cannot use INFO 1301 or 1302, INFO 230, or CS 211. All CS students must select their elective course from human-centered systems or social systems.

Hotel School students may not use H ADM 474 as a Social Systems course because this course is already required in the additional course area (see chart above).

Communication Department Communication majors must take their elective course outside Communication.

Students in other majors should check with their advisors that there are no special departmental restrictions or requirements.