College of Information Technology and Computer Science

In 1986, the University of the Cordilleras, then known as the Baguio Colleges Foundation, became the first institution in Baguio City to offer a four-year course in Computer Science. Under the umbrella of the Arts and Sciences, this new division started with barely 100 students, 4 faculty members, and one course offering: Bachelor of Science in Information and Computer Science.

With its transition from a division to a separate college in June 1995, the College grew to more than 1,200 students and 34 faculty members.

In keeping with the philosophy of the University of the Cordilleras, the College of Information Technology and Computer Science has recognized its responsibility to respond to the changing needs of society, particularly in the field of Information Technology.

The College is aware that today's technology revolves around the indispensability of the computer in the fields of computations, database systems, web & graphics, networking & security, mobile technology and digital arts.

The present courses offered by the College are geared towards bolstering computing competencies, a vital role it plays in the community.

In 2007, CHED Conferred the highest academic status to the college as "Center of Excellence". UC holds the distinction of being among the nation's top nine(9) in IT education.

To fulfill these, the College shall strive to:

1. Upgrade periodically the Institution's course offerings focusing on innovative tools, current trends, and industry requirements;
2. Prepare the student to apply his/her acquired academic skills to his/her related profession with commitment and dedication;
3. Excel in the use of Information Technology (IT) facilities, their prototypes and development, including evaluations and tests; and
4. Become the Institution's number one provider of Information Technology tools to promote people productivity at lower costs.

Programs

• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
• Bachelor of Science in Data Analytics
• Bachelor of Science in Information Technology
• Associate in Computer Technology
• Doctor in Information Technology
• Master in Computer Science
• Master in Information Technology

History

The beginnings of the University of the Cordilleras (Baguio Colleges Foundation) took root on June 19, 1946, when the city's first institution of higher learning opened its doors to 156 students. With a war-ravaged Baguio as its setting, Founder and President Atty. Benjamin R. Salvosa envisioned the event as coincident with the beginning of the city's transformation into a university town.

The succeeding years witnessed a steady growth for the college. From modest premises located in a rented building along Session Road, the college subsequently expanded across Assumption Road to the Lopez Building and down Mabini Street to Lam Ping Building. In 1959, it was incorporated as a stock corporation.

From its initial offerings of teacher and liberal arts courses, the college gradually expanded its curriculum to include courses in law, engineering and commerce. The graduate school was opened in 1950. With the expansion came corresponding growth in enrollment, its students coming not only from immediate surrounding areas, but also from the three regions in Northern Luzon.

Later in the 50's, the University of the Cordilleras (Baguio Colleges Foundation) expanded further its Campo Filipino campus. Finally, in 1967, it moved to its present location at the fork of Harrison and Governor Pack Roads. In the same year, Baguio Colleges Foundation shed off its stock corporate structure and became a foundation, an non-stock, non-profit educational institution.

Today, as University of the Cordilleras (its university status was granted by Commission on Higher Education on November 22, 2003), the school caters to more than 10,000 students enrolled in different courses in the graduate studies, law, engineering, architecture, business administration, criminal justice education, arts and sciences, information technology and computer science, teacher education, hotel and restaurant management, tourism, nursing, accountancy, high school, grade school, pre-school and review courses criminal justice education and teacher education. (see - List of Academic Programs and Degrees)

Through the years, its numerous alumni, here and abroad, have distinguished themselves performing creditably, both in government examinations and in the practice of their respective professions. In particular, the College of Law is rated among the top law schools in the country, while the College of Engineering and Architecture, Criminal Justice Education, Information Technology and Computer Science, and Teacher Education have gained recognition as one among the top colleges, too.

Mission and Vision

Mission

The CITCS mission is to provide competent instruction geared towards the development of responsible Information Technology (IT) professionals equipped with skills and strong moral values, thus, becoming the preferred source of services and manpower .

From its humble beginnings, the College has continually strived to deliver quality IT education.

These are the highlights of events that transpired through the years.

1996

• Received scholarship grants for students from Texas Instruments Philippines, Inc. (TIPI)
• Established with TIPI the 1st Work Appreciation Program (WAP) for faculty members in addition to the existing student's OJT

1997

• The Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BSCS) and Associate in Computer Technology (ACT) programs were accredited by the DOST for its scholarship program.
• The Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BSCS) program replaced the existing BSICS.

1998

• CS was awarded the Microsoft Corporate Solutions Program, Philippine Reference Award.
• Student's population is two thousand five hundred fourteen (2514) - the highest number of enrollees.

1999

• The College was identified as the Regional Center of Development for Excellence in Information Technology Education (CODE-ITE) by CHED.
• CITCS was accredited as a Microsoft Authorized Academic Training Program.
• A Memorandum of Agreement was established with De La Salle University for the conduct of an Information Technology Education (ITE) graduate program (MCS) in UC.
• A total of nineteen (19) IT faculty members were awarded with FAPE scholarship grants to pursue graduate studies in ITE at UC.

2000

• Master in Computer Science program and Bachelor of Science in Information Management were initially offered.
• The College was represented for the first time in the National Board of the Philippine Society of Information Technology Educators (PSITE).

2001

• The College spearheaded the North Luzon PSITE Regional Chapter organization
• The College hosted the OOP-JAVA Seminar in cooperation with the DOST, Sun Microsystems, and the University of the Philippines - Diliman

2002

• CITCS underwent initial survey by the Philippine Accrediting
• Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU).
• The Master in Computer Science program received government recognition from the Commission on Higher Education.
• UC-CITCS was recognized as an Oracle Academic Initiative Member Institution.
• The College hosted set of National and Regional ICT events:
• APEC Training on Networking
• DOST Science and Technology Fair
• PSITE National MSW - "Kaizen on ITE Curriculum"

2003

• The College offered a new program: Bachelor of Science in Information Technology.

2004

• PAASCU granted Level 1 accreditation to the BSCS Program.
• CISCO accredited the College as a CCNA Academy Center
• The College hosted the 2004 National Conference of Information Technology Educators.
• The college presented an ICT technical paper and awarded best academic paper during the DOST-ICT4D conference.

2005

• The faculty members actively participated in CHED-related activities, such as the Zonal Research, and ITE Curriculum Development Workshop; and served as IQuAME Assesor, and Regional Quality Assurance Team.
• Actively participated in the development of ITE ladderized curriculum under TESDA.
• The Ladderized Education Program was initially offered.
• The College became a member of MS Partners in Learning.
• The college has ten (10) faculty members with master's degree in ITE.
• Identified as CHED-Delivering Institution for MIT in both CHED-HEDP-FDP and PGMA-SEGS.

2006

• The College was represented as member of Technical Working Group in CHED's Science and Engineering Graduate Scholarship and Cyber Corridor Bridging Program.
• The College was identified as the lead university in the SEIPI-ASITEP-PSITE Software Development Collaboration.
• Served as host university of the 9th PSITE National Convention, February 2007 in Baguio City.
• PAASCU granted Level II accreditation to the BSCS Program.
• Hosted the following regional and national IT activities and conventions:
  • Animation Workshop/Digital Arts, in partnership with
  • Animation Council of the Philippines Inc.
  • ICT Research, in partnership with Computing Society of the Philippines.
  • DLSU Lecture Series on Emerging ICTs
  • POSITIVE Program Courseware Roll-out Program for Northern Luzon
  • CISCO QA Instructor Summit
• CHED confers the "Center of Excellence" status to UC-CITCS for a period of three (3) years.

2007

• The 1st batch of MIT scholars graduated.
• The College hosted the SEAMEO Innotech Excels Program, CHEDCyber Corridor Program and Regional Computing Society of the Philippines (CSP) IT Research Seminar.
• US-Peace Corps Volunteer for IT Faculty.
• Institutional membership to Computing Society of the Philippines (CSP).
• Partnership with Texas Instruments for Post-Baccalaureate IT Bridging Program.
• Faculty Industry Immersion with Cypress Semiconductors.
• The college was accredited as member of Cypress University Alliance.

2008

• A total of 157 ITE faculty from regions 1,2,5 and CAR enrolled as scholars in the MIT Program.
• Hosted the DOST Packaging and Labeling Contest.

2009

• Hosted 1st Regional PeLS Kapihan in coordination with Philippine E-learning Society (PeLS).
• Recipient of CHED's Academic Industry Faculty Project in collaboration with GEODATA Information Systems.
• Granted a license to deliver Diploma of Information Technology (Australian Qualification).

2010

• Identified as TI-SAP/R3's sole HEI partner in the Philippines particularly, the industry-led ERP curriculum
• Institutional membership to SAP-UAP
• Institutional membership to MS Dreamspark
• Established an joint software development with the Asian Institute of Technology Consulting-Thailand. Faculty members are involved in actual software development project with AIT Consulting.
• Instituted the UC-MIT off-campus program at Saint Paul University of the Philippines.
• Re-accredited by CHED to be a Delivering Institution for MIT, HEDP-FDP Phase 2 with 259 scholars.

2011

• CHED COE Status of UC-CITCS extended for another 3 years
• Established linkage with Accenture and Fujitsu including hiring of 10 UC-SAP graduates
• Recognized as a CHED Delivering Institution for the Doctor of Information Technology program
• Received student scholarship grants from Texas Instruments Philippines, Inc. (TIPI)
• Received 10 scholarship grants from Bert Lina Foundation
• First batch of SAP graduates

2012

• Initial offering of UC-DIT Program
• Forged a consortium for the Doctor in IT program with the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok and the Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City
• DOST accredited MIT program

2013

• Instituted the UC-MIT Off-Campus Program at Bicol University
• Strengthened partnership with Texas Instruments, Phils. Inc. thru faculty industry immersion in IT-ACE SAP

Today, the College of Information Technology and Computer Science continues to reap the benefits of the highly motivated and effective leadership evident even in its early years as a college. Led by its Dean, Nancy Flores, the college continues to offer programs of study that assists in establishing a firm discipline of information technology. Since its birth, the college has catapulted the careers of individuals who now hold a variety of key positions in numerous industries, both here and abroad.

The College has proven to be the benchmark of all IT schools in the region, first having been identified by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) CAR's sole Center of Development for Excellence, and then later as a Center of Excellence in IT Education. The College has also been awarded the distinction of being recognized as a delivering Institution for the Master's in Information Technology program under the CHED Higher Education Development Program -Faculty Development Program(HEDP-FDP) and Science and Engineering Graduate Scholarship (SEGS). More recently, the College re-affirmed its being a forerunner, having been re-accredited as a delivering institution for Phase 2 of the MIT HEDP-FDP. The UC-CITCS is among only nine IT schools in the country, and is the only one North of Manila, to have received such recognition.

UC's Computer Science program was accredited Level II by the PAASCU. UC-CITCS later on received the distinction of being the sole host institution for the Cyber Corridor Post-Baccalaureate Bridging Program in the Northern Luzon 1 ring.

The College Faculty

The commitment to excellence of the faculty members is evident in the recognition they have received, academic qualifications, their attendance to an average of 3-5 IT technical trainings on a regional or national scale, and their active involvement in applied research undertakings. Further, the faculty undergo an industry immersion in identified organizations like Cypress and TIPI.

The College Dean is a member of the CHED Technical Working Group of the Science and Engineering Graduate Scholarship; Technical Panel on Information Technology Educators, Taskforce on Faculty Development; and was National President of the Philippine Society of IT Educators for School year 2007-2008. She currently sits as the National President for the Philippine eLearning Society, and Chair of the Systems Applications and Products- University Alliances Program (SAP-UAP) Philippines.

College Facilities

The UC-CITCS is recognized for being a leader in educational innovations. More than 713 computers are housed within two campuses . All computers are powered by Core I5, and Core I3 processors, and utilize LCD monitors.

Computer Laboratory classes are conducted in 9 laboratory classrooms, all of which are wired to two E1 Internet connections. The college also maintains a Cisco Laboratory and Cypress Programmable System on Chip (PSoC) Laboratory for topics such as Networking, Digital Design and Computer Architecture.

eLearning classes are held in two (2) eLearning laboratory rooms, each furnished with at least forty multimedia-powered computers.

Curriculum

The CITCS curricula for the MIT, MCS, BSCS, BSIT, and BSIS programs have gained government recognition. This is in addition to the DOST accreditation for the BSCS and BSIT programs. Further, the Ladderized BSIT Program is TESDA-Accredited, and the Australian Qualification is also embedded. The MIT program is an accredited delivering institution for CHED HEDP-FDP.

Linkages and Memberships in Professional Organizations

The college continuously works towards forming partnerships and alliances with various ICT industries and other universities in order to encourage much-needed interaction between the academic and corporate information technology communities. These relationships are in line with the College's commitment to keep its students abreast regarding technical problems that drive industrial research and development. Among the recently-established linkages are the Cypress University Alliance, Texas Instrument Post-Baccalaureate Bridging Program, and Systems Applications and Products (SAP).

To be au fait with current trends, the College also maintains membership and active participation in various major IT organizations. Among these are Microsoft, Oracle Academic Initiative, Cisco, Sun Java educators Developers Initiative, Philippine Overseas Initiative (POSITIVE) and Geodata Information Systems (GIS). Memberships to professional organizations include Philippine Society of Information Technology Educators (PSITE), Computing Society of the Philippines (CSP), Philippine eLearning Society (PeLS), Mechatronics and Robotics Society of the Philippines (MRSP) and SAP-University Alliances Program.

Outreach Programs. In keeping with the University's mission to "intensify the University's community involvement," the College consistently encourages its faculty members and students to participate in various IT in-service trainings and outreach programs within the region. Some of the recent activities are Civil Service Commission Computer Skills Enhancement Programs, DOLE-MEGABBYTE, Computer Literacy Trainings for various sectors and organizations, OOP Seminar to secondary students, and TRACES/Help Program Emerging Technology.