Associate of Science in Integrated Technologies

This program is designed to provide students with the technical skills and knowledge required to work in a broad range of fields providing technical support, services and products for a range of technologies utilized in modern homes and businesses. This includes networking, computer support and maintenance, wiring installation, systems administration and telecommunications.

Overall Program Objective:
Upon completion of the program, students are expected to be able to install, upgrade, troubleshoot, repair, and administer integrated systems and other computer-related technologies.

The degree is awarded to students after earning 60 credits with 15 credits required in General Education.

Please see below for summaries of each course within the Associate of Science in Integrated Technologies program.

Intro to Information Systems (3 credit hours)
This course is designed to teach students the basic skills necessary to work with computers and the fundamental features of the Windows operating system. In addition, students will learn how to create and edit documents using word processing software and enter and edit data into workbooks and spreadsheets.

Computer and Networking Fundamentals (3 credit hours)
The Computer and Networking Fundamentals course provides an overview of the basic computer and networking operations. The course discusses CPUs, motherboards, storage technologies, and operation systems. It also describes networking principles, types of networks, and the process of setting up the Internet on a home computer. Students learn to install, configure, and troubleshoot a computer. They also utilize troubleshooting procedures, system tools, and utilities to monitor the performance of a PC, optimize system resources, and correct common problems.

Network Design and Configuration (3 credit hours)
The Network Design and Configuration course provides students the knowledge and skills required for designing, implementing, and maintaining a home network. Students learn about components of a home network, their functions, and procedures for installing these components. They learn about networking protocols, network operating systems, network addressing, and security issues to be managed when setting up a home network. Students also learn to troubleshoot and manage a home network.

Network Management (3 credit hours)
This course introduces students to the concepts associated with computer networks. The course covers the foundation concepts of networking. It provides students with the knowledge and skills required for a foundation in current networking technology for local area networks (LAN’s), wide area networks (WAN’s), and the Internet. Students will learn to set up, configure, use and support a network environment. The course also provides students with the knowledge of media and topologies, protocols and standards, network implementation and network support.

Customer Support & Service Management (3 credit hours)
The Customer Support and Service Management course aims to equip students with skills essential for building customer relationships and providing service and support. The course caters to the unique needs of digital technology integration customer support services because it uses examples specific to the industry. It also discusses various strategies for customer relationship management. Students acquire business etiquette skills and are trained in managing conflicts and stressful situations.

Business Communications I (3 credit hours)
The objective of the course is to provide students with the skills necessary to communicate effectively in a professional environment using both oral and written communications. The course is comprised of four content areas:
Interpersonal Communication
Business Writing Essentials
Grammar Skills
Listening Skills

Intro to Psychology (3 credits)
The course objective is to provide students with a general survey of psychology including the relationship between biology and behavior, such as how stress impacts personal health. Other topics introduced in the course include intelligence and reasoning, personality, gender and sex, memory, ethics, and research methods.

Business Communications II (3 credit hours)
In this course, students will develop skills for effective business communications, both oral and written. In addition, students will focus on developing skills in the area of business presentations. The course is comprised of three content areas:
Advanced Interpersonal Communication
Advanced Business Communication
Giving Successful Presentations

Technical Mathematics (3 credit hours)
The Technical Mathematics course provides students with mathematical skills they will require in their day-to-day functions as home technology professionals. The course includes topics on number systems, algebra, analytic geometry, and fundamental trigonometry. The course uses examples and problems that students will encounter and will be expected to solve on the job.

American Government (3 credits)
The course is designed to provide students with information about how the American government developed into a democracy. The course examines how the system of checks and balances keeps the American democracy running. The people’s involvement is an integral part of this system—through the vote, social groups, and the voice of the people.

Electrical and Electronic Fundamentals (3 credit hours)
TThe Electrical and Electronic Fundamentals course focuses on the basic concepts and skills that students will require when they work with electrical equipment in a residential location. The course discusses the fundamental principles of electricity and electronics and the function of various devices such as resistors, capacitors, amplifiers, and oscillators. Different types of circuits and their applications are also discussed. Students will use electrical test equipment and diagnostic tools. They will also learn about safety measures, codes, and rules and regulations that must be followed for preventing mishaps.

Digital Technology Industry: Tools, Products, and Services (3 credit hours)
The Digital Technology Industry: Tools, Products, and Services course presents the major commercial participants, common practices, and prevalent consumer perception of digital technology integration benefits. The course discusses the concept of an Integrated Home Network (IHN) and the tools, equipment, and expertise required to build it. The course also describes the historical events that have led the industry to its current state as well as the working principles, design approach, and technical and marketing concepts. Students learn how to use industry information to better qualify sales prospects for HTI products, systems, and services and to better support customers. They develop a broad understanding of the various products and systems for meeting customer requirements.

Wiring Installation (3 credit hours)
The Wiring Installation course introduces the basics of wires, cables, and connectors used in residential wiring. It discusses low and high voltage wiring and their application in households. The course delves into details of structured wiring. Students learn to perform pre-wiring, rough-in, and trim-out operations. They examine the nuances of wiring in both new and retrofit constructions. Students also learn about wiring standards, safety standards, and rules and regulations that govern wiring installation and implementation.

Home Entertainment Systems (3 credit hours)
The Home Entertainment Systems course discusses the implementation of distributed audio and video systems in a residential location. The course introduces basic concepts of audio and video signals and discusses the devices and components that constitute home entertainment systems. It also discusses the current industry standards, rules, and regulations that govern home audio-video system installation and implementation. Students learn how to plan, design, install, and troubleshoot entertainment systems installed in a household, based on client requirements and other technical considerations. The installation of entertainment systems is discussed for both new and retrofit constructions.

Telecommunications Systems (3 credit hours)
The Telecommunication Systems course introduces students to the fundamentals of the telecommunication system. Students are instructed on the design, installation, and configuration of home telecommunication systems, including advanced wired and wireless systems. They learn to install in-house services, such as voice mail, intercom, and call conferencing. Students also learn about testing and troubleshooting procedures.

Lighting, Temperature, & Water Control Systems (3 credit hours)
The Lighting, Temperature, and Water Control Systems course discusses effective management of three energy and utility-based systems — lighting, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC), and water — through implementation of home technology. It introduces the basic concepts of the three systems and discusses the devices and components used to automate and manage lighting, HVAC, and water systems. The course also discusses the current industry standards, rules, and regulations pertaining to the three systems.

Security, Surveillance, and Access Control Systems (3 credit hours)
The Security, Surveillance, and Access Control Systems course discusses the working principles, design, and installation of home security and access control systems. It describes wired and wireless security systems and explains gadgets, such as sensors, security panels, zone commanders, and CCTV’s that are a part of security systems. It also discusses various access-restriction systems such as card readers and biometric access control systems. The course delves into different types of alarms and detectors.

Home System Automation and Integration (3 credit hours)
The Home System Automation and Integration course discusses how to bring all the home subsystems together and create a fully integrated home. The course describes the process of setting up and programming automation controllers for complete home automation. Students learn to troubleshoot and identify technical problems with system user interfaces or control processors. They also identify integration standards and learn about the organizations responsible for defining these standards.

Technical Graphics (3 credit hours)
The Technical Graphics course provides students with a technological edge in designing and drafting. The course introduces fundamental concepts of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and its relevance in the Home Technology industry. The course describes how to create, manipulate, and dimension objects in a drawing. Students learn to create auxiliary view, sectional view, and multi-view drawings using CAD software. They also learn to create and interpret floor plans and wiring schematics.

Advanced and Emerging Technologies (3 credit hours)
The Advanced and Emerging Home Technologies course presents the new technologies that have already begun to influence the HTI industry. The course discusses wireless protocol specifications such as WiFi, ZigBee™, Bluetooth, Ultra Wideband (UWB), and Zensys’ Z-Wave © wireless RF communication protocol in terms of their growing importance for HTI. The course also discusses the miscellaneous HTI subsystems such as automated lifts, automated doors and windows, and motorized screens.

Computer Repair and Maintenance (3 credit hours)
The Computer Repair and Maintenance course prepares students to perform tasks in areas such as installation, preventative maintenance, networking, security and troubleshooting. In addition, the course provides training in customer service and communication skills which are now required for IT professionals. The course begins by providing the basic fundamentals of computer technology and support, followed by a practical application of these theories. Topics include the different types of motherboards, power supplies, storage devices, central processing units, and memory that are needed by computers and how they work in unison to ensure that computers perform as required. The course examines these trends and covers the types of display devices, peripherals, adapter card technologies, laptop trends and the different types of printers that are used today, and how to install and configure them. This course covers both safety and environmental procedures to be established and used along with the appropriate use of communication skills and professionalism in the workplace.

Computer Systems Support & Management (3 credit hours)
This course provides students with the knowledge and skills typically required by a desktop support technician. These include resolving Windows operating system installation and desktop management issues, resolving Windows file and folder, driver, hardware, print and network connectivity issues. In addition, the course focuses on troubleshooting MS Office application issues and managing application security.

Operating Systems Technologies I (3 credit hours)
This course provides students with the skills required to install Windows 7 in a single and multiboot environment, along with the process involved in migrating or upgrading from previous Microsoft operating systems. The course examines the methods used to capture, prepare, and deploy system images along with configuring VHD’s. This course will examine how to install, configure, and troubleshoot devices drivers. In addition, Applocker will be examined, application compatibility tools will be configured, and IE 8 will be examined to show how administrators can configure it for end user support. This course will examine IP configurations, network settings, firewall configurations, and remote management and control using various tools such as Remote Assistance, group policies, and PowerShell scripts. The course examines authentication and authorization, User Account Control, file access and shared resource management, and HomeGroup and BranchCache configurations. It examines BitLocker, offline file support, caching servers, DirectAccess, VPNs, and Network Access Protection. The content also includes how updates, performance settings, power and processor options, disks, and backup and recovery are configured, managed, and monitored in Windows 7.

Operating Systems Technologies II (3 credit hours)
This course will teach students how to run Microsoft Windows 7 in a corporate environment. Students will gain experience using applications that are included with the operating system, such as productivity applications used in a corporate environment and Microsoft Office applications. Students will learn how to resolve operating system issues and will gain a working knowledge of operating in an Active Directory domain environment.

Systems Administration I (3 credit hours)
This course will provide students with the knowledge and skills required to plan and manage Windows 7 desktop environments. Students will be able to plan and manage a client life-cycle strategy, design a standard image and client configuration, plan Windows 7 client deployment, manage application compatibility, and identify and resolve issues with deployment and configuration.

Systems Administration II (3 credit hours)
This course focuses on Windows Server 2008 administration. Students will be able to plan server roles; maintain server security; plan data storage, network load balancing, and server backups. Students will learn how to manage software deployment and versions; how to monitor IPv6, manage server performance and capacity, and Active Directory replication. Finally, students will learn to schedule server deployments, and design a rollback contingency plan.

Systems Administration III (3 credit hours)
This course focuses on Windows Server 2008 enterprise administration. Students will learn to plan network and application services, design core identity and access management components, plan for migrating, upgrading, and restructuring domains and forests, implement PKI; and design a virtualization strategy.

Server Technologies I (3 credit hours)
This course focuses on Windows Server 2008 networking. Students will be able to configure remote access, Network Access Protection (NAP), network authentication, IPv4 and IPv6 addressing, and Domain Name System (DNS) replication; capture performance data and monitoring event logs; and manage file and print services.

Server Technologies II (3 credit hours)
This course focuses on Active Directory in Windows Server 2008. Students will be able to configure, manage, and support user and computer accounts, groups, Domain Name System zones and client settings. Students will learn about group policy objects, the new Active Directory Lightweight Directory Service and Active Directory Rights Management Service. Students will be able to perform backup and recovery and will learn about communication security.

Server Technologies III (3 credit hours)
This course focuses on Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure technologies. Students will learn about Terminal Services, Web Services infrastructure and security, Media Server, Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services server options, File Server, Print Services, network maintenance, and Simple Network Management Protocol.