The computing facilities at Hope College give the student an opportunity to obtain a rich variety of experiences. The Department of Computer Science supports a network of 35 powerful Unix workstations for classroom and research work. They are located in a general student laboratory, a research laboratory, and a unique laboratory-classroom combination. The departmental network is also accessible from residence halls via direct network connection. Many personal computers are available for use by students and faculty, and are located throughout the campus in dorms and labs.
All students have access to electronic mail and the Internet.
The department offers major programs that emphasize problem solving and communication skills and allow students the flexibility to design programs suitable for their interests and goals. Each student's major program, designed by the student and a departmental advisor, includes a core of computer science courses, a strong component of courses in some field to which computer science can be applied and a senior project seminar involving research under the supervision of a member of the Hope College faculty. By following an appropriate major program, students may prepare themselves for graduate study in computer science or computer science careers involving applications programming, systems programming, systems analysis, computer design, process control, operations research, teaching, or software engineering. The requirement for an A.B. degree in Computer Science is a plan of study approved by the department that includes at least 30 credits in Computer Science courses, not including 140. The requirement for the B.S. degree in Computer Science is a plan of study approved by the department that includes at least 36 credits in Computer Science courses, not including 140.