As we see a rise in the demand for IT professionals in all industries, University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) has responded by allowing students to combine an IT degree with another, customized field of study. This fall will be the first semester the new Bachelor of Science in IT Innovation degree will be offered thanks to the efforts of Jerry Wagner, director of the program and a senior research fellow with the College of Information Science and Technology (IS&T).

According to UNO’s press release, students have expressed interest in focusing their IT coursework with application to another field of their interest. To complete the degree, students will not only have to meet a certain amount of credit hours, but during the capstone course, they’ll be required to develop an IT product or service, document its technical and market feasibility, and create a prototype.

Additionally, students will attend workshops, conferences and seminars about entrepreneurship on campus and in the community. Each student will also be assigned a mentor in the business community.

Dr. Hesham Ali, dean of UNO’s College of IS&T, believes that the new degree addresses an important niche and is one of the first of its kind in the country. “We strongly believe that we have charted an interdisciplinary and collaborative path for our college that will make it one of a kind in the nation,” Ali said. “This degree is one more step achieving this ambition.”