James Madison University Announces Information Analysis Major

According to an article in James Madison University's student newspaper, The Breeze, the school introduced an information analysis major in the fall of '07.  From the article:

The information analysis major was created in the fall of 2007 and teaches students how to employ an information-centric approach to problem solving by looking at data and using technology.  Classes prepare students for jobs within and outside of the government, as graduates will be trained to work in one of the country’s 16 intelligence agencies like the CIA, the FBI, the NSA and the DIA, or a major corporation.

“Essentially you will be prepared to find the answer to some urgent, real work question by gathering information, analyzing with technology and creating realistic inferences from it using reasoning,” said Noel Hendrickson, advisor for the major.

While the information analysis major is new to JMU, it’s been in the works for three years.  Advisers spent a lot of time meeting with specialists and designing a curriculum that would benefit students.

“As our committee worked at developing this program, we worked with representatives from various agencies, including the FBI,” said Kenneth Newbold, director of research development. 

Hendrickson said there were many benefits to working so closely with these agencies.

“We want to make sure we’re doing what [intelligence agencies] want, but of course we try to put our own JMU spin on things,” he said.  “We believe we got a really special spin by taking on the new cutting edge techniques and making them available to undergraduates.”