Bachelor of Science in Information Technology Course Descriptions
Course Descriptions: General Education Courses (30 Credits)
ADM 1000 – Skills for Academic Success 3 CREDITS
To be successful in the online, undergraduate degree programs at Apollos University, students need to possess a core set of skills. This course provides new students with an overview of these core skills, focusing on 8 specific items: navigating the Apollos systems; Apollos policies and procedures, Apollos student services and resources; university expectations; the LIRN Library Database; APA Style and academic writing; study and test taking skills; time management and staying motivated.
ENG 1301 – English Composition I 3 CREDITS
This course provides the student with a review of the basics of sentence structure, paragraph construction, and essay composition. A major focus of the course is on reading analytically and writing clearly and effectively. The subject matter used for the majority of the writing exercises will be based on the student’s personal experiences and on fundamental research techniques and exercises.
ENG 1302 – English Composition II 3 CREDITS
This is a composition foundation course that allows the student to advance their knowledge and ability in composing an essay or research paper. The course focuses on the basic writing skills of pre-writing, writing, and revising or editing. Reading, discussing and analyzing rhetorical models are stressed as part of the learning methodology. (Prerequisite: ENG 1301 or permission of the Department Chair)
FIT 1301 – Wellness, Fitness, and Nutrition 3 CREDITS (Alternative to SCI 1301 Earth Science)
Course Description: This course surveys the wellness movement, emphasizing personal responsibility, behavior modification, and consumer awareness as keys to living healthy and living well. The various dimensions of wellness are explored including physical fitness, nutrition, stress management, personal safety, and making healthy choices. STDs, drug use, and disease are also examined. Students will gain an understanding of the scientific based information supporting wellness and healthy living.
MTH 1301 – Algebra I 3 CREDITS
The design of this course is to provide a solid foundation in algebra for students who have moderate to no previous experience with algebra, as well as to help students succeed with non-mathematical courses that require an understanding of algebraic fundamentals. The concepts examined in this course will include a review of the real numbers, linear equations, exponents and polynomials, rational expressions and functions, and radicals and rational exponents.
MTH 1302 – Algebra II 3 CREDITS
Review of functions and their graphs, linear and quadratic functions, factoring. Polynomial and rational functions. Review of exponents, exponential and logarithmic functions and their graphs and systems of equations, theory of equations.
SCI 1301 – Earth Science 3 CREDITS
This course provides the student with a foundational knowledge of the earth and the processes, which have and continue to shape it. Topics of discussion are space & near-earth objects, plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanism, rocks & minerals, mountain building, weathering, erosion, streams & floods, oceans, the atmosphere, weather systems, and global change.
COM 1310 – Communication 3 CREDITS
In this course the student has the opportunity to develop the fundamentals of organizational communication. The student will learn forms of communication, techniques, and strategies for successful communication in the workplace including: the writing process; forms of business messages; using visuals, appropriate style; good-news, neutral, bad-news, and persuasive messages; researching and writing reports; oral communication; job search skills; and use of technology. Students in this course will develop the skills they need to successfully communicate.
HIS 1310 – US History I 3 CREDITS
The course provides a survey of U.S. history to 1865. It includes the major events that shaped the course of American history. Topics of study include the colonial origins, colonial development, independence and the Revolutionary Period, the Early National Period, the Antebellum Period, the seeds of discontent leading to and resulting in the American Civil War, and the reconstruction of the Union.
HIS 1311 – US History II 3 CREDITS
The course provides a survey of U.S. history from 1865 to the present. It includes: the issues associated with reconstructing the Union after the Civil War, the emergence of the U.S. as a world power, American involvement in foreign military conflicts in the twentieth century, the growth of a consumer-oriented society, and the cultural and political challenges of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
HIS 1341 – World History I 3 CREDITS (Alternative to HIS 1310 American History I)
Course Description: This course surveys world history, beginning with the developments prior to the Paleolithic period through to the cross-cultural interactions of the fifteenth century. Through a global approach, students will survey the major events, peoples, and civilizations of the pre-modern periods of human civilization that pre-date the European exploration, expansion, and colonization that began in earnest in the sixteenth century.
HIS 1342 – World History II 3 CREDITS (Alternative to HIS 1311 American History II)
Course Description: This course surveys modern world history, beginning in 1500 through to the complex, globalized world of today. Through a global approach, students will survey the major events, peoples, and exchanges of the modern age, beginning with the encounters and developments prior to the nineteenth century that led to global interdependence and global empires, to the political and industrial revolutions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, to the modern political and commercial realignments that took place in the twentieth century and that are still ongoing today in the twenty-first century.
CIS 1301 – Computers and Technology 3 CREDITS
The course provides the student with information about the most important and current concepts of information technology. This is a survey of current information technology trends and issues that affect today’s businesses. Topics covered are the Internet, the Web, electronic commerce, software, hardware, storage, databases, networking, privacy, security, system analysis and design, and programming languages.
Course Descriptions: Core and Elective Courses (90 Credits Required)
BUS 2301 – Introduction to Business 3 CREDITS
This course is designed to provide the student with an introduction to terms, business concepts, and business activities related to the organization and the operation of a business enterprise as an institution in a global business environment. With particular focus and emphasis on Economics, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Human Resources, and Finance & Accounting functions within a business enterprise.
BUS 2302 – Cross Cultural Communication 3 CREDITS
This course is an exploration of issues of culture and communication in the international business context, the relationships among cultural environments of an organization, and how companies and individuals communicate. Topics include the importance of learning about and understanding culture; the role of language and nonverbal communication in cross-cultural business communication; techniques for communication cross-cultural situations; legal and governmental aspects to cross-cultural communication; and the relationships between business structure, corporate culture, and intercultural dynamics in the international firm.
BUS 2310 – Macroeconomics 3 CREDITS
This course provides the student with an introduction to the basic macroeconomic principles of economics; resource utilization, supply, demand, and elasticity; economic sectors: consumption, investment, government and import/export; gross national product; fiscal policy; money and banking; monetary policy; economic theory; growth and productivity, poverty; and international economics.
BUS 2311 – Microeconomics 3 CREDITS
This course provides the student with an introduction to the basic micro economic principles of economics and the economy; supply, demand, and elasticity (product markets); resource markets, microeconomics of governments; microeconomics and policies; and international economics. The course will provide the student with a framework of knowledge to conduct economic experiments. Case studies and role-playing as consumers, producers, citizens, and policy makers will afford the student with the opportunity to synthesize the subject matter.
BUS 3301 – Marketing 3 CREDITS
The course provides the student with information about the most important and current concepts of marketing. The course surveys current marketing trends and issues that affect today’s businesses. Topics covered are the marketing mix, developing marketing strategies and plans, marketing ethics, the marketing environment, consumer behavior, the B2B buying process, global marketing, segmentation, targeting, positioning, marketing research, product branding and packaging, product mix, new product development, services marketing, pricing, supply chain and channel management, retailing, multichannel marketing, integrated marketing communications, advertising, public relations, sales promotions, personal selling, and sales management.
BUS 3302 – Leadership 3 CREDITS
The course presents the student with an overview of the importance of leadership in conjunction with various leadership traits, styles, and qualities. Enhances the importance of having a vision, the motivation to lead, social motives in the workplace, levels of morality and values, and the significance of empowerment for effective leadership. Topics include situational leadership, organizational climate, moral dilemmas, personal integrity, servant leadership, participative management, human relations, high-performance teams, diversity, cultural and interpersonal differences, workplace stress, performance management, and organizational change.
BUS 3303 – Financial Management 3 CREDITS
This course introduces the student to the basic principles and practices of financial management and the role finance professionals play in running a business. Financial management is critically important to the success of any business organization and this course will emphasize the key financial concepts central to corporate finance. Specifically, we will focus on one particular area of finance, financial management, which tends to concentrate on valuing things from the company perspective. Many of the tools and techniques for handling the financial management of a firm can also be used for personal finance decisions.
BUS 3304 – Information Systems Management 3 CREDITS
This course provides the student with a foundation on the organization and structure of information management systems. It focuses on the design and implementation of information management systems and the evaluation of hardware and software requirements as well as the development of information management system policies. (Prerequisites CIT 2302, CIT 2303)
BUS 3306 – Statistics and Decision Making 3 CREDITS
This course will provide an overview of business research and statistical analysis. The student will learn about statistics from the perspective of the consumer and the producer. The focus of this course is to prepare students to make sound business decisions by applying the foundational principles of business research and statistical analysis to their specific jobs.
BUS 3307 – Program Management in Business 3 CREDITS
This course is an integrated study of information systems from a business and problem-solving perspective. It brings together the business strategies and information technology so that managers can use information systems to improve their critical thinking and decision-making process. Application of the principles of information technology to real-world situations is examined using case studies and current events. The focus of the course is to provide tools that allow the student to imagine, create, implement, and analyze computer-based solutions for business problems.
BUS 3308 – International Business 3 CREDITS
This course is designed to provide the student with the framework, terminology, tools, and knowledge for understanding the world of international business and the related challenges. Particular emphasis is on three environments of International business - Domestic, Foreign, and International. Students learn about different forces influencing international business such as: investment; property, culture, politics, trade, intellectual thought property, monetary and financial systems, and the labor force.
BUS 3311 –Ethics 3 CREDITS
Ethical business actions are rooted in a series of personal moral standards or ethical principles. This course is a survey of business ethics and examines personal standards as well as the standards and principles of various companies. This course encourages critical thinking about how our moral and ethical compass should guide business and personal decisions.
BUS 3312 – Contract Law 3 CREDITS
This course is designed to provide the students with a real-world global perspective of the basic law with a deep dive into contract law. The students will learn the similarities and differences in criminal, tort, constitutional, and administrative law. They will focus their attention to understanding how contracts solidify agreements in the business world and in what ways these agreements may become unenforceable or even terminated. Additionally, the students will learn how different types of agreements require specific contractual elements. The three key components of the course include an overview and textbook readings related to effective legal contracts, discussion questions and exams to facilitate learning and information retention, and case study exercises to improve analytical and critical thinking skills. The students will gain a thorough understanding of the themes and concepts associated with legal contracts while experiencing firsthand some of the most effective and least effective legal agreements that impacted business decisions over the years.
BUS 3313 – Advertising 3 CREDITS
This course provides the student with an in-depth study of the concepts, strategies, and planning associated with advertising and the effects of advertising in the marketing concept. Emphasis is placed at the small business and retail level.
BUS 4301 – Bank and Financial Services Management 3 CREDITS
This class provides an overview of the importance of financial markets and institutions in a global society. Illustrates how financial institutions work for both businesses and the consumer. Broad coverage of different financial institutions in the context of a global society is presented. Includes the role of financial markets in society, financial transactions in a global society, and the commercial banking system.
BUS 4303 – Cultural Awareness in Business 3 CREDITS
This class introduces the student to understanding behavior, human relations and performance. The student will explore how personality, attitudes, values and ethics play a role in everyday relationships as well as the workplace. They will further explore interpersonal skills for communication and the relationship between organizational structure and communication. They will learn theories to resolve conflict. Unlike most courses which teaches the student concepts, this course takes the student to the next level, as they apply the concepts learned, and use them to develop their human relations skills. They will learn how to recognize their own personal low and high human relations ability and skill levels.
BUS 4304 – Managerial Accounting 3 CREDITS
This course introduces the student to the principles and practices of managerial accounting and the role managerial accounting plays in operating the day-to-day operations of a business. Managerial accounting provides financial and nonfinancial information to an organization’s management team for the purpose of making educated decisions, thus this course will emphasize the key financial concepts central to managerial accounting and how they play into managerial decisions. Specifically, this course will provide an overview of the costing methods used in industry and will provide to you many of the tools and techniques used to help provide accurate information for company management.
BUS 4305 – Strategic Marketing 3 CREDITS
This course is designed as a research survey class under the general topic of Strategic Marketing and is presented from a real-world global perspective. The student will learn and work through material that ranges from a general introduction of marketing strategies to understanding how different types of audiences require specific strategies. The three key components of the course include an overview and textbook readings related to effective marketing strategies, discussion questions and exams to facilitate learning and information retention, and case study exercises to improve analytical and critical thinking skills. The student will gain a thorough understanding of the themes and concepts associated with marketing strategies while experiencing firsthand some of the most and least effective marketing campaigns that propelled companies to new heights or doomed them to mediocrity.
BUS 4306 – Procurement and Supply Chain Mgmt. 3 CREDITS
The course provides the student with a practical understanding of production and operations management concepts and tools and focuses on effective management within today’s competitive, global environment. It addresses concepts and methods to support the management of operations in both service and manufacturing environments. Understanding the organizational processes and how production and operations management is embedded into the overall strategy of the organization is paramount to the success of the organization. Some of the concepts and tools studied in the course are linear programming, queuing theory, PERT/CPM, decision theory, Kaizen, and lean manufacturing.
BUS 4308 – Corporate Financial Management 3 CREDITS
The course provides the student with an in depth discussion concerning standard financial techniques in a practical and intuitive way. Course emphasis is on the managerial implications of financial analysis that affect the corporation’s ability to meet its mission and goals.
BUS 4309 – Risk Management 3 CREDITS
This course provides the student with an overview of the application of the risk management process, including risk control and risk financing techniques, to business risk management problems. Includes a focus on enterprise risk management and the related tool and techniques.
CIT 2301 – Computer Architecture 3 CREDITS
The course provides the fundamentals of computer organization and architecture. Students are/will be introduced to the core functionality of the computer. This course will establish a concrete foundation for the entire program. Topics include, computer functions, interconnection, memory, input/output, number systems, computer arithmetic, digital logic, operating systems, etc.
CIT 2302 – Introduction to Programming 3 CREDITS
The course introduces basic programming concepts in C++ with brief coverage of C and Java languages. This course starts out with basic computer architecture, programming concepts and C programming language to establish what procedural programming is. Object-oriented programming with C++ is the main emphasis with a brief exposure to Java programming language. Topics include, classes, objects, control structure, pointers, operator overloading, etc. (Prerequisite CIT 2301)
CIT 2303 – Fundamentals of Networking 3 CREDITS
The course provides the fundamental understanding of networking. Students are/will be introduced to how computers communicate when connected together and various forms. Topics include, protocols, TCP/IP, local area networks, wireless networks, routers, switches, Internet, troubleshooting, security, etc. (Prerequisite CIT 2301)
CIT 2304 – Fundamentals of Databases 3 CREDITS
The course provides the fundamental understanding of databases. Students are/will be introduced to how to effectively create and manage data. Topics include, database environment, architecture, relational database model with respective algebra and calculus, data manipulation, SQL, object-relational database management systems, development cycle, entity-relationship modeling, normalization, etc. (Prerequisite CIT 2302)
CIT 3301 – Web Development 3 CREDITS
The course provides an introduction to web development. Students are/will be introduced to static, dynamic, client and server side web programming. Topics include, HTML, CSS, client-side scripting with JavaScript, web media, server-side scripting with PHP, databases and MySQL, jQuery, security principles, etc. (Prerequisites CIT 2302, CIT 2304)
CIT 3302 – Mobile Platform 3 CREDITS
The course provides the fundamentals of mobile platform development. Students are introduced to developing mobile web and applications. Topics include, mobile web, architecture, design, mobile HTML5/CSS/JavaScript, device detection, storage, geolocation, device interaction, native and installed web apps, content delivery, distribution, social web, etc. (Prerequisites CIT 2302, CIT 2304)
CIT 3303 Social Networking and Media 3 CREDITS
The course provides fundamental understanding of social networking and media. Students are/will be introduced to the utilization of various social media applications. Topics include, practical guide to social networking and media, basic and advanced techniques of Facebook, utilization of Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, social media, etc. (Prerequisite BUS 3304)
CIT 3304 – Information Tech Security 3 CREDITS
The course provides the understanding of computer security concepts. Students are/will be introduced to the need for computer security and how to address it. Topics include, security threats, network, Internet, cyber risks, denial of service attacks, malware, hackers, industrial espionage, encryption, security software and policies, network and vulnerability scanning, cyber terrorism, information warfare, etc. (Prerequisite BUS 3304)
CIT 4301 – Advanced Programming 3 CREDITS
The course provides the understanding of advanced topics in C++ programming. This course is the continuation of “Introduction to Programming”. Topics include, object-oriented programming, inheritance, polymorphism, stream input/output, file processing, standard library algorithms, exception handling, custom templatized data structures, searching, sorting, etc. (Prerequisite CIT 2302)
CIT 4302 – E-Commerce Programming 3 CREDITS
The course provides the understanding of current trends in e-commerce and the opportunity to develop an e-commerce system. Students are/will be introduced to how a customer facing application is developed. Topics include, e-commerce trends, programming language, database, security, business plan, online store, order processing/fulfillment, customer service, etc. (Prerequisites BUS 3304, CIT 2302, CIT 2304)
CIT 4303 – Advanced Database Systems 3 CREDITS
The course provides advanced learning and applications of database systems. This course is the continuation of “Fundamentals of Databases”. Topics include, security, administration, professional, legal, and ethical issues in data management, transaction management, SQL statements for query processing, distributed DBMSs, replication techniques, mobile databases, object-oriented DBMSs, web technology, semistructured data, XML, data warehousing, OLAP, data mining, etc. (Prerequisites BUS 3304, CIT 2304, CIT 4301)
CIT 4304 – Agile Scrum Software Development Life Cycle 3 CREDITS
The course provides fundamental understanding of the agile scrum software development life cycle. Students are/will be introduced to how software development is actually executed. Topics include, agile Scrum framework, principles, sprints, users stories, product backlog, estimation, velocity, technical debt, product owner, scrum master, development team, team structures, managers, planning, execution, review, retrospective, etc. (Prerequisites CIT 4301, CIT 4302)
CIT 4350 – Capstone Project I: Foundation 3 CREDITS This course is the first of three courses that is facilitated by the bachelor student’s chair. It is taken after the bachelor student has completed all required core IT courses. The purpose of this course is to support the bachelor student in developing the proposal for the capstone project. The student will be advised by the chair throughout this course. Primary emphasis of the course is placed on the proposal. The planned outcome of the course is to have project topic identified and complete a draft of chapter 1 introduction of the project report. (Prerequisite all core and selected elective classes must be completed)
CIT 4360 – Capstone Project II: Methodology and Design 3 CREDITS
This course is the second of three courses that is facilitated by the bachelor student’s chair. The purpose of this course is to support the bachelor student in developing the methodology and designing the capstone project. The student will be advised by the chair throughout this course. The planned outcome of the course is to have methodology and design completed, along with draft of chapter 2 methodology and design of the project report. (Prerequisite CIT 4350)
CIT 4370 – Capstone Project III: Implementation and Analysis 3 CREDITS
This course is the last of three courses that is facilitated by the bachelor student’s chair. The purpose of this course is to support the bachelor student in completing the project by implementing the design and performing analysis on the results for the capstone project. The student will be advised by the chair throughout this course. The planned outcome of the course is to have implementation and analysis completed. During this course the student will receive the support that is needed in order to revise, if needed, the chapters 1 and 2. The student will then complete chapters 3, 4, and 5 and submit the draft of the capstone project to the chair for review and approval. Once the capstone is approved by the chair and a format specialist will work with the student to ensure the capstone manuscript will be ready to submit to the Apollos University for publication. (The course can be retaken as needed.) (Prerequisite CIT 4360)