Informatics

School of Informatics all about adaptation and growth

Published April 30, 2007

In a world of palm pilots, iPods, cell phones, mobile computers, TiVo and an increasingly wireless society, tech savvy people who can design, operate, and market these products are in demand. But where do these people come from and where do they learn such skills involving these new mediums?

Indiana University was the first university to create a program to do just that, according to Joe Stuteville, coordinator of media relations for the School of Informatics. In 2000, the School of Informatics was established on Bloomington’s campus and has since began at IU Kokomo, South Bend and IUPUI. With the recent naming in April of Robert B. Schnabel as the new dean of the IU School of Informatics, the school is continuing to grow, expand and adapt with changing times. Schnabel will begin work on July 1.

Photo by Paige Korte

IU's School of Informatics is the newest school on campus. The first of its kind to ever be established, IU's program is a pioneer.

According to WorldNet, the definition of informatics is considered the sciences concerned with gathering, manipulating, storing, retrieving, and classifying recorded information. To put it more simply, the IU School of Informatics Web site says informatics, “develops new uses for information technology and in order to solve specific problems in areas as diverse as biology, fine arts, and economics.” It also focuses on the dynamic relationship between humans and technology.

According to Stuteville, only about 12 other universities have informatics programs, yet some are called information schools.

“It was a risk because it was the first school IU had established in about 20 years,” said Stuteville. “It was a risk because the challenge was how we make ourselves attractive.”

Women in informatics

By Paige Korte

While the IU School of Informatics plans to continue to grow and increase overall enrollment, one of the top priorities is increasing the number of women.

Currently there are 382 informatics majors and 135 computer science ones, both of which are considered part of the School of Informatics. Out of these majors, 12.5 percent are women.

IU freshman Courtney Cotton said she is usually only one of four or five women in courses of 50 of 60 students.

“It doesn’t matter because technology is everywhere and females are going to get involved more and more,” Cotton said. “It is just a matter of time.”

According to the Report on the Status of Women at IUB conducted by the Office of Women’s Affairs, female students are twice as likely as men to study in the areas of education, journalism, nursing, optometry and social work. The study found that the greatest male and female differences at IU were in the Kelley School of Business and the School of Informatics. Here the study found that men outnumbered women nearly two to one in these schools.

As the school continues to expand faculty, students and administration all hope to see more and more women become involved with the School of Informatics.

“I fully endorse it,” Paul Horst, IU informatics major said. “Any ladies who want to join the informatics should.”

However, he believes the school’s success is anchored on three main factors: Good timing, expertise that was already on IU’s campus and someone having a clear vision for the school and its future. Stuteville said

Michael Dunn was a “wise choice” for the first dean because he had that sort of vision. Along with Michael Dunn, he also attributes the school’s growth to former IU Pesident Myles Brand, and Vice President for Information Technology and Research at IU, Michael McRobbie.

Schnabel also foresees growth within the informatics program based on the national demand for students with the background.

“As long as we are offering students interesting curricula and providing them a good educational environment, enrollments should grow, possibly quite a lot,” said Schnabel.

Average starting salaries from IU grads

Informatics: $43,000

Business: $46,204

Information compiled by Paige Korte

Since beginning at IU, the program has continued to grow and is now approved on all seven IU campuses. However, it is not yet up and running in them all, according to the School of Informatics Web site.

According to Stuteville, some students have the misconception that the technology-related jobs are still not as available after the dot com bubble burst saturated the market. Now, in actuality, it is the opposite. Numerous jobs are available.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, until 2012, one in four new jobs will be related to information technology.

Dick McGarvey, director of career services in the School of Informatics, explains that a 40 percent drop off in the number of students entering computer science related degrees in the past four years has occurred. While this drop off has occurred, a 10 percent increase a year in the number of job opportunities has also occurred.

Hear McGarvey discuss the job market for informatics majors

This MP3 file is 1.1MB

“For students, it’s what we call a perfect storm,” said McGarvey. “We have this low supply and a high job demand and the students are really in the driver’s seat right now.”

Page 2: More than just technology

Page 3: Read the reporter's perspective