Minors

Our minors enable students to complement their primary studies with exposure to the many issues related to living, working and building in a digital world. Each minor provides a somewhat different focus, offering students in every major at UC Irvine the chance to meaningfully integrate their interest in informatics, information technology or computing into their overall educational plans and experiences.

Minor in Informatics

The minor in informatics prepares students to understand the relationship between information technology and people. The finance, movie, journalism and pharmaceutical industries are just a few examples of where the use of innovative information technology has radically changed our world, in terms of what is now possible, how humans perform their jobs, and how society has critically reacted and adapted to new realities brought forth by information technology use. Students in the minor learn how existing technologies shape human behavior, society and culture, and are introduced to techniques that will enable them to design future technologies that better fit human and organizational practices.

The minor is ideally suited for students in programs such as film and media studies, education sciences or social policy and public service, where information technology is an integral part of the profession, but not necessarily the primary focus.

The minor includes course work covering a variety of topics, including programming, software engineering, human computer interaction and social analysis of computerization. Students completing the minor will gain practical experience in designing and building small software systems, creating novel user interfaces and examining how information technology affects those around it.

The minor offers flexibility in the courses that students choose to take, and does not require prior programming experience. The minor does have a technical underpinning, however, with core courses that teach students how to program software.

Minor in Health Informatics

The minor in health informatics prepares students to understand the expanding role of information technology in health care. Doctors, nurses, public health officials and administrators all interact with information technology and, at times, are intimately involved in the design of information technology solutions to health care issues. Students in the minor learn about the possibilities and limitations of information technology, how its use is changing the health care profession and how the design of information technology must be performed principally with the users and a range of domain considerations in mind.

The minor is ideally suited for students in programs such as nursing science, public health sciences and pharmaceutical sciences, as well as students in Bren School majors who wish to gain strong exposure to the domain of health informatics.

The minor includes course work and fieldwork covering a variety of health care settings, including the hospital, doctor’s office and home care. Students completing the minor will gain practical experience in understanding the health care needs of communities and individuals, and in designing information technology solutions that serve them better.

The minor offers flexibility in the courses that students choose to take, and does not require prior programming experience. While it is possible to enroll in more technical classes, it is also possible to complete the minor without taking courses in programming.

Minor in Digital Information Systems

The minor in digital information systems is designed for students who want to learn about information systems and their role in business, without preparing to be computer programmers. Many businesses, whether commerce- or service-oriented, are now driven by the information their IT systems capture about customers, their habits and relevant aspects of the business. Students completing the digital information systems minor learn about the “why” of digital information systems, the technological underpinnings of these systems, and constraints on their design and use.

The minor is ideally suited for students in programs such as business administration, economics, civil engineering or urban studies, where digital information systems are essential to the primary task at hand.

The minor includes course work covering the opportunities and limitations of digital information systems, their design and advanced topics such as information retrieval and visualization. Students completing the minor will gain practical experience designing digital information systems and their interfaces in a variety of different domains.

Minor in Information and Computer Science

The minor in information and computer science is designed for students who want to obtain a strong foundation in programming and computing coupled with advanced work chosen from across the broad spectrum of information and computer science. As an increasing number of professions involve work at the computer — even building one’s own mini applications — programming is becoming a requisite skill for many. Students completing the information and computer science minor learn how to design and construct small software systems, leverage existing libraries and apply their skills on a variety of typical problems.

The minor is ideally suited for students who expect they may be doing some programming as part of their future careers, or who at least foresee needing an understanding of how software is constructed so they can effectively use in their profession.

The minor includes a strong focus on the fundamentals of programming, with the opportunity to dive deeper in many different areas, including networking, databases, algorithms, programming languages, human-computer interaction and ubiquitous computing. Students completing the minor will gain practical experience in building software through a number of sample applications.

The minor offers flexibility in the courses that students choose to take, and does not require prior programming experience. The minor, however, has a strongly technical flavor with programming a requirement throughout.

Detailed requirements

Please see the catalogue for a detailed description of the various minors.

More information

Prospective and current UCI students interested in learning more about our minors are encouraged to contact our vice chair for undergraduate affairs or call our Student Affairs Office at 949-824-5156 to make an appointment or to inquire about campus visit opportunities.