Catalog 73 - National University

Course Descriptionspreparation for the Certified Wireless SecurityProfessional (CWSP) exam.ITM 440: Database Concepts & Data ModelsAn introduction to the concepts of data modelingand relational databases. Covers the methodologiesfor building a logical model, techniques for organizingand designing relational databases and practicalapproaches to transform logical models to a stablerelational database. Introduces fundamental databaseand application development concepts andtechniques. Given database design and applicationrequirements, students design, construct and test apersonal computer database and associated applicationcomponents.ITM 450: DB Processing& Administration(Prerequisite: ITM 440)This course will provide students with the knowledgeand skills necessary to install configure andadminister Database Management Systems. Topicsincluded in this course are conceptual understandingof data storage architecture, creation and managementof files, groups, databases, tables, queries,locking options, indexes and data views.ITM 470: Information Security MgmtManagerial aspects of information security on computernetworks. Security is becoming of utmostimportance. This course prepares the student tomanage from start to end all aspects of securing anetwork. This course is divided into six sections coveringvarious aspects of planning and implementingsecurity policies. It starts with defining what securityis, it talks about the security triad, CIA, followedby security management practices. Security modelsand architectures followed by business continuityplanning and disaster recovery are discussed. Thiscourse includes laws, investigations, ethics, andoperation security.ITM 475: Info Security Technologies(Prerequisite: ITM 470)Technical aspects of information security for computersystems and networks. This course helps studentsunderstand the technologies used to designsecure information systems and networks. Thiscourse is divided into six sections covering varioustechnologies pertaining to information security. Withthe understanding of what security is, this coursediscusses access control mechanisms, methods ofattack, and secure protocols. It includes how tosecure telecommunications networks and theInternet. Cryptography is discussed to provide privacyand secrecy. It emphasizes physical security followedby application and system development security.This course together with ITM 470 help studentsprepare for the Certified Information SystemsSecurity Professional (CISSP) exam.ITM 490A: IT Project I(Prerequisite: 10 of the core ITM courses must be successfullycompleted)A capstone project for information technology application.Students work on an original and significantproject that integrates concepts, principles and toolsthat are taught throughout the program. Grading isH, S, or U only.ITM 490B: IT Project II(Prerequisite: ITM 490A) Two-month course, meets oncea week.A capstone project for information technology application.Students complete their projects and presenttheir original and significant projects to a panel ofacademic and business professionals. Grading is H,S, or U only.JRN – JournalismJRN 300: Multimedia Journalism Skills(Prerequisites: ENG 100/101)This class covers the organization of news storiesand their preparation for newspaper, online, TV andradio formats and the fundamentals of news journalism,including standards of objectivity, fairness andaccuracy. The course focuses on how journalistsreport the material they ultimately need for their finishedstories and provides students with the opportunityto understand what counts as news and howto write focused news stories on deadline. Studentslearn to identify the structure and basic ingredientsof news and master different types of leads and suchstyle conventions as the inverted pyramid, the nutgraphand other non-fiction storytelling techniques.JRN 301: Copy Editing(Prerequisites: ENG 100/101)This course provides an introduction to copyeditingand includes the roles and responsibilities of a copyeditor on a daily newspaper, which go beyond beingable to spot grammatical and spelling errors in copy.Students learn how a copy editor approaches a newsstory and how to edit that story for clarity, sense andorganization, as well as for spelling, grammar andstyle, and fairness. Students will edit copy and writeheadlines and cutlines, as well as learn the basics oflayout and design.JRN 305: The Art of the Interview(Prerequisites: ENG 100/101)This course focuses on numerous aspects of interviewingfor print, radio and television journalismand the variety of ways in which professional interviewersgo about their work. It also includes an historicalperspective of the development of interviewtechniques for various news media. Students willlearn how to select an interview subject, prepare foran interview, conduct the interview and write anarticle based on their interview.JRN 310: Convergent Journalism(Prerequisites: ENG 100/101, COM 100 or COM 220)This course covers the technological and organizationalconvergence that has changed the operationsand workflow of many news organizations and theways in which news content is communicated acrossmultiple media platforms. Students will acquirefamiliarity with the demands of each medium, createnews stories for print, audio, video, and onlinemedia platforms and be able to move content fluidlyfrom one media channel to another.JRN 330: Investigative Reporting(Prerequisites: JRN 300, JRN 301 and JRN 305)Investigative reporting extends beyond partisanclaims and counter- claims to offer verifiable factsthat can be found in court documents, state or companyreports. Such news stories require collectingenough evidence to allow an editorial judgment tobe made about whether what people say is, in fact,true. Students will learn how to select an appropriateinvestigative topic, narrow the focus of a storyfrom a broad subject to a suitable topic, and to conductthe “shoe-leather reporting” that is needed todiscover a story’s shape and weight. Students willcome up with questions, determine whom they willneed to interview, conduct the reporting, and thenfinish by writing an in-depth piece in several draftsthat illuminates the chosen subject.JRN 335: Beat Reporting(Prerequisites: ENG 100/101)Beat Reporting is an advanced course that focuseson adopting a news beat or coverage area by developingand cultivating sources, researching sources,conducting interviews, reporting objectively andwriting tightly using the inverted pyramid as theprimary style. The course will explore the traditionalnews beats including city hall, the police, the courts,the military, the environment, religion, educationand health. In addition, students will investigateemerging beats such as personal finance, technology,and entertainment, and beats specific to regions ofthe country, such as aviation, space, and immigration.JRN 340: Feature Writing(Prerequisites: ENG 100/101)Feature Writing is an advanced course that focuseson the art of writing features for newspapers, magazines,online publications and other media outlets.The course will teach students how to spot creativeideas for features and how to turn these ideas intostories that others will want to read, hear, or watch.JRN 350: Youth and the News(Prerequisites: ENG 100/101)This course draws on a wide range of scholarlyopinions and research, focusing on why young peopleare bored by conventional journalism, and oftenfind themselves disinterested in much print andbroadcast news. The course will not only look atyouth as consumers of media but also as producersof it by reviewing the prevalence, effectiveness, historyand development of school journalism programs.In addition, the course investigates the adolescentas news reporter and citizen, a potentiallyactive shaper of his or her own development.Additional questions include whether shifts in tastesmay contribute to the generational decline in readersand viewers.JRN 355: Writing at the Margins(Prerequisites: JRN 330, JRN 335)This course examines the social welfare beat, coveringthe segment of American society that relies onthe government and private charities for basic survival.This beat is often challenging for reportersbecause of privacy considerations and fear of socialstigma that can make authorities reluctant to allowinterviews or access to the places where the poorlive. Students focus on intractable social dilemmassuch as welfare reform, homelessness, child abuseand neglect, drug dependency, and mental illness.Students plan and orchestrate projects on issues thatthey wish to learn more about or delve into the charitableagencies that seek to bring assistance andattention to disenfranchised groups.JRN 360: Freedom of the Press: A JourneyThrough Cinema(Prerequisites: ENG 100/101)This course is a study of how movies portray journalistsin popular culture, historically and continuingto the present. Students will view, analyze anddiscuss the role of journalists in a variety of filmsthat dramatically illustrate the journalist as hero orvillain, raise important First Amendment issues andshow how corporate pressures impact journalists,the media and the public.JRN 420: Journalism Ethics(Prerequisites: ENG 100/101)This course will examine how objectivity developedin American journalism and what criticisms existagainst it. Students will consider real-life ethical scenariosthat have faced newspaper journalists, TVreporters, established website journalists and blogauthors. Students will discuss how they would havehandled the situations and why. Discussions willalso revolve around such issues as: the standard ofobjectivity and potential alternative systems and theinfluence of different journalistic formats on ethicalchoices.CourseDescriptions393