Choosing Electives for the Informatics Major

In order to satisfy program requirements, Informatics majors are required to take a minimum of 12 credits of “Major Electives” (Students admitted to the major without INFO 100 must take 17 credits of Major Electives.) The Major Elective credits are required in addition to the Informatics core and capstone courses. Major Elective courses may be selected from upper-division Informatics electives as well as courses from outside departments.

The Information School offers a variety of possible options under its various program prefixes (INFO, LIS, IMT, and INSC). In addition to the upper-division Informatics courses, Informatics majors may find courses in the LIS program to be of interest. Beside its regular courses, the LIS program offers special topics courses each quarter in areas such as content management, diversity issues for information professionals, competitive intelligence, ethics in Information, outcomes-based evaluation, and even Google (as a search engine and social phenomenon). Many of these courses will readily be approved for Informatics Major Electives.

For more information on Information School course offerings, see Course Description and Course Schedules. (For assistance in registering in LIS courses, please contact the MLIS Program Assistant Sharon Talbert at mlis@ischool.washington.edu.)

Students are encouraged to take classes from outside departments to support their particular interest areas within Informatics.
 

Online Petition Form

Students may petition any course to count towards the major elective requirement using an online petition form. Whenever possible, students are encouraged to submit course petitions prior to taking the class.

You will be asked to provide:
  • The course which you would like to have considered (include course prefix, number, and title)
  • A brief explanation of how this course supports your area of study and why you believe the course should count toward your major electives requirement
  • A Catalog Course Description (see http://www.washington.edu/students/crscat/)
  • The syllabus from the course (a current syllabus is acceptable, but the syllabus from the course you took is preferred)
  • Your full name, UW ID number, and contact information
  • Your expected date of graduation

 

Pre-approved courses from outside departments

A small number of courses from outside departments are "pre-approved" to satisfy the Informatics Major Electives requirement. The list of "pre-approved" courses was revised in Autumn 2004 and applies to those who were admitted as majors in Autumn 2004.  Pre-approved outside-department courses are already programmed into the Degree Audit Reporting System (DARS) and do not require petitions.