UH Hilo Offers New Certificate in E-Commerce Technology and Business

The University of Hawai'i at Hilo will offer a new certificate program in E-Commerce Technology and Business starting in the Fall 2002 semester.

"The intent is to produce highly skilled workers who have both a strong technical foundation in Internet site development and management, and an understanding of how businesses must plan their structures and strategies to compete successfully in the world of global e-commerce," said Dr. Judith Gersting, computer science department chair. "The integration of technology and business is central to this program."

Those eligible for the program include undergraduates seeking a degree at UH Hilo and college graduates and unclassified students who meet the necessary criteria. The only prerequisites for entry to this program are successful completion of college freshman English composition and college algebra and trigonometry with a "C" or better grade.

Courses necessary for certificate completion will be offered over two years. In Fall 2002, course offerings are CS 101 Microcomputer Applications Software and CS 200 Web Technology I. Courses in Spring 2003 are CS 201 Web Technology II and MGT 235 Planning, Process and Structure in Electronic Business. Fall 2003 offerings are CS 300 Web Site Management and MKT 318 Internet Marketing. The final course in the certificate program is QBA 365 Managing Electronic Commerce, which will be offered in the Spring 2004 semester.

Gersting described the interdisciplinary certificate program one that teaches a wide range of subjects and skills concerning the integration of technology and business.

"The Web Technology I and II are not only using HTML to write simple pages, but using Web pages that interact with databases on a server," she said. "There's a certain amount of programming involved in that. Web site management has to do with Web site administration, how you run the server, security issues, intellectual property issues - and other things besides just the technical issues.

"Anybody who has an interest in how to put together any type of Web presence or manage a Web server would benefit from this, as would anybody in business who wants information on how to position a business organization for some kind of web presence or e-commerce," Gersting added. "That's especially true with managers and management students who want to know about the technology of how this is done."

For more information, contact Gersting at (808) 974-7450 or Dr. Jerry Calton, business department chair, at (808) 974-7593.