E-Commerce | Major

Electronic commerce, often referred to as simply e-commerce, refers to business that is conducted over the Internet using a wide variety of applications such as the World Wide Web, e-mail, Web services, XML data transfer and EDI, among others.

E-commerce can be conducted between businesses and also between a business and a consumer. The e-commerce major is designed for students interested in the business-oriented aspects of Internet and Web technologies. Students will learn business fundamentals (accounting, marketing, advertising, economics) as well as foundational concepts in information systems that relate to Internet technologies and e-commerce transactions. The primary goal of the program is to provide an educational background that bridges the gap between business and technology. The culminating experience of the program will be a cooperative education experience that allows the student the opportunity to gain real-world business experience in a field related to e-commerce.

A student who graduates from Thiel College with a major in e-commerce will:

be able to define e-commerce and will understand how it is applied in the context of business including business models, market mechanisms, retailing, consumer behavior, customer service, marketing and advertising.
be able to design, implement and test intermediate-level computer programs to meet a specific set of requirements using a high-level programming language.
understand the issues and legal background surrounding e-commerce including major issues in Internet law, ethics and cyber crime.
understand the theoretical foundations of databases; and possess the ability to design, build and maintain a relational database system.
understand societal challenges and the ethical responsibilities of the computer science professional.
be able to work effectively as a member of a development team.
be able to develop intermediate-level Websites and Web applications.
understand security issues in e-commerce and be able to identify security threats.
understand basic business concepts in the fields of accounting and economics.
demonstrate proficiency Word, Excel and Access.
demonstrate the skills necessary to work in a business environment.
understand the basic principles of networking.

Major Requirements

All courses that are applied to the major must be completed with a grade of C minus or higher.

CIS 111 Word Processing Applications (1 CH)
CIS 112 Spreadsheet Applications (1 CH)
CIS 113 Data Management Applications (1 CH)
CIS 129 Fundamentals of Information Systems (3 CH)
CIS 201 E-Commerce (3 CH)
CSCI 139 Web Design and Development (3 CH)
Choose one of the following two courses:
- CSCI 179 Programming in Visual Basic (4 CH)
- CSCI 189 Java Programming (4 CH)
CSCI 319 Database Management (4 CH)
CSCI 331 Web Programming (3 CH)
CSCI 351 Information System Security and Forensics (3 CH)
CSCI 439 Data Communication and Networks (3 CH)
CSCI 498 Cooperative Education Experience (3 CH)
ACCT 113 Principles of Accounting I (3 CH)
ACCT 123 Principles of Accounting II (3 CH)
BADM 324 Advertising (3 CH)
BADM 454 Marketing (3 CH)
ECON 221 Principles of Microeconomics (2 CH)

The student, in consultation with his/her major adviser, must also select three courses from the following list. At least two courses must be numbered 300 or higher.