Allegheny CollegeComputer & Information Science

Microcredentials

Digital badges that signal specific, earned skills to employers and graduate programs — often earned alongside your major coursework.

Microcredentials are digital badges used to help match employers and graduate schools with candidates who have achieved a set of well-defined skills, competencies and strengths within a field of study. These badges, when included on application portals like Indeed and LinkedIn, help job and graduate school applicants rise through an algorithmically parsed applicant pool in ways that a degree alone might not. Each microcredential consists of a small number of credit-bearing courses (typically three) specifically packaged together to highlight the skill or competency students will gain. In many cases, students may earn these badges through completing coursework that can also fulfill requirements of their academic major and minor programs.

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AI-Driven Content Creation 12 credits

AI-Driven Content Creation equips students with contemporary strategies and tools for creating images, video, and text such as prompt engineering and large language model (LLM) model fine-tuning. Students completing this microcredential will be able to generate intentional and consistent results in response to a wide variety of purposes, including artistic and industrial applications.

*Additional prerequisite not in microcredential requirements.

Competencies Gained

  1. 1. Create images, text, audio, and video using industry-standard platforms and models.
  2. 2. Write successful model prompts using platform-specific best practices to yield consistent, high-quality results.
  3. 3. Revise model outputs using iterative design practices and AI-informed design tools.

Take all of the following courses (12 credits):

  • ART 187 - Electronic & Intermedia Art
  • CMPSC 303 - Artificial Intelligence*
  • CMPSC 350 - Computational Narrative*
Artificial Intelligence Engineering 12 credits

The Artificial Intelligence Engineering microcredential equips students with the skills to integrate machine learning techniques into new software for autonomously solving real-world problems beyond standard benchmarks. Through the coursework, students will critically evaluate how the convergence of modern tools and new applications can proceed ethically and sustainably.

*Additional prerequisite not in microcredential requirements.

Competencies Gained

  1. 1. Incorporate modern machine learning libraries in software applications.
  2. 2. Implement systems for solving real-world problems with AI.
  3. 3. Weigh the ethical impacts of AI-enabled software for individuals and society.

Take all of the following courses (8 credits):

  • CMPSC 101 - Data Structures
  • CMPSC 203 - Software Engineering

Take one of the following courses (4 credits):

  • CMPSC 303 - Artificial Intelligence
  • CMPSC 405 - Deep Learning*
Content Creation 12 credits

Content Creation will develop students' skills in producing images, video, and sound-based content and instructing them on effective deployment through web development and/or contemporary marketing practices.

Competencies Gained

  1. 1. Demonstrate camera use fundamentals.
  2. 2. Develop production, sound editing, web development and design tool fundamentals.
  3. 3. Identify contemporary marketing practice.

Take all of the following courses (12 credits):

  • ART 171 - Photography
  • ART 187 - Electronic & Intermedia Art
  • CMPSC 302 - Web Development
Cybersecurity Risk Analysis 12 credits

Cybersecurity Risk Analysis introduces the knowledge and skills that students need to design, implement, and deploy secure software systems. Students who complete this microcredential will have the demonstrated ability to identify and resolve cyber-security risks through the analysis of a system's design and implementation.

*Additional prerequisite not in microcredential requirements.

Competencies Gained

  1. 1. Build and use automated software tools, like penetration testing techniques and automated threat scanners.
  2. 2. Mitigate cybersecurity risks by identifying and repairing the vulnerabilities in the implementation and use of a software system.
  3. 3. Create and present audit reports that effectively characterize the strengths and weaknesses of a software system's security profile.

Take all of the following courses (12 credits):

  • CMPSC 200 - Computer Organization*
  • CMPSC 400 - Operating Systems
  • CMPSC 403 - Computer Security
Data Analysis with Python and R 12 credits

Data Analysis with Python and R introduces the knowledge and skills that students need to effectively make decisions using varied data sources. Students who complete this microcredential will have the ability to use the Python and R programming languages to create data visualizations, perform statistical analyses, and train machine learning models that yield actionable insights and support decision-making.

Competencies Gained

  1. 1. Perform exploratory data analysis and visualization.
  2. 2. Train, validate, and apply machine learning models.
  3. 3. Automatically model and mine text documents.
  4. 4. Deploy visual data analytics dashboards.
  5. 5. Use commercial data analysis platforms.

Take the following course (4 credits):

  • CMPSC 301 - Data Science

Take two of the following courses (8 credits):

  • CMPSC 100 - Computational Expression
  • CMPSC 101 - Data Structures
  • CMPSC 102 - Discrete Structures
Data-driven Health Informatics 12 credits

The Data-driven Health Informatics microcredential provides foundational knowledge and skills in finding, understanding, organizing, visualizing, and extracting information from health-related data. Students who complete this microcredential will be able to explore publicly available health and genetic data, and use open-source web tools, Python programming, and Stata software package to learn insights from this data.

Competencies Gained

  1. 1. Employ database management and software packages to collect, analyze, store, retrieve and run queries on publicly available health data.
  2. 2. Use industry-standard web-based and computational library-based tools, and bio/health algorithms to process, explore, examine and analyze health and genetic data.
  3. 3. Demonstrate, articulate and document health information and all the processes by which health data is generated.

Take all of the following courses (12 credits):

  • CMPSC 100 - Computational Expression
  • CMPSC 300 - Bioinformatics
  • GHS 228 - Global Health Data and Visualization
Embedded Systems Engineering 12 credits

The Embedded Systems Engineering microcredential equips students with the skills to develop and optimize software for hardware systems. Students who complete this microcredential will have the demonstrated ability to design efficient, high-performance embedded applications while utilizing memory management, parallel processing, and secure communication.

*Additional prerequisite not in microcredential requirements.

Competencies Gained

  1. 1. Execute high-level code on hardware, manage memory, and leverage parallel processing to maximize efficiency in C and Assembly.
  2. 2. Design and manage domain-specific software, applying best practices for project management and using Python for testing and debugging.
  3. 3. Develop operating systems or Internet of Things applications with a focus on memory management, secure communication, and performance optimization.

Take all of the following courses (8 credits):

  • CMPSC 200 - Computer Organization*
  • CMPSC 203 - Software Engineering*

Take one of the following courses (4 credits):

  • CMPSC 304 - Robotic Agents*
  • CMPSC 406 - Internet of Things
Game Design 12 credits

The Game Design microcredential allows students to develop crucial skills for conceptualizing, designing, and building video games. Skills include electronic art, game logic, and web-based interactive interfaces. In addition, students learn how to think conceptually in areas like digital space, story, and level design. These skills apply in the fast-growing gaming industry as well as other engineering and design contexts.

*Additional prerequisite not in microcredential requirements.

Competencies Gained

  1. 1. Design and build interactive interfaces for local and online gaming applications.
  2. 2. Create intelligent agents that carry out game logic.
  3. 3. Conceptualize game mechanics and narratives.

Take all of the following courses (12 credits):

  • ART 287 - Art at the Intersection of Science and Culture*
  • CMPSC 303 - Artificial Intelligence*
  • CMPSC 404 - Web Applications*
Product Development in the Internet of Things 12 credits

Product Development in the Internet of Things provides students hands-on experience with creating smart devices using the principles of human-computer interaction (HCI), and user-centered design (UCD). Students will develop and prototype physical devices incorporating industry grade software and hardware such as the Raspberry Pi, Teensy, or ESP32 platforms to design reproducible, manufacturable, technical solutions which respond to and/or supplement human needs.

*Additional prerequisite not in microcredential requirements.

Competencies Gained

  1. 1. Describe principles of user-centered design (UCD).
  2. 2. Apply tools that integrate hardware and software consistent with best practices of human-computer interaction (HCI).
  3. 3. Write and distribute documentation and hardware schematics with consideration of device reproducibility.

Take all of the following courses (8 credits):

  • CMPSC 100 - Computational Expression
  • CMPSC 200 - Computer Organization*

Take one of the following courses (4 credits):

  • CMPSC 304 - Robotic Agents*
  • CMPSC 406 - Internet of Things
Programming with Web Technologies 12 credits

Programming with Web Technologies teaches students how to develop accessible, aesthetically pleasing, and well-organized websites and web applications. In addition to attaining the knowledge and skills needed to benchmark, maintain, and enhance websites, students who complete this microcredential will be able to design the user experiences and interfaces for compelling and dynamic web projects.

*Additional prerequisite not in microcredential requirements.

Competencies Gained

  1. 1. Structure web content using semantic and accessible HTML and CSS.
  2. 2. Develop web applications using JavaScript and TypeScript.
  3. 3. Perform automated testing with Cypress and Playwright.
  4. 4. Deploy interactive web applications implemented with React.
  5. 5. Use static site generators JAMStack and publish to Netlify or Vercel.

Take the following course (4 credits):

  • CMPSC 302 - Web Design*

Take two of the following courses (8 credits):

  • CMPSC 100 - Computational Expression
  • CMPSC 101 - Data Structures
  • CMPSC 102 - Discrete Structures
Site Reliability Engineering 12 credits

Site Reliability Engineering develops students' ability to manage large software systems with a focus on maintaining system reliability. Students who complete this microcredential will be able to develop and use intelligent monitoring tools to anticipate and address technical instability to prevent system failures.

*Additional prerequisite not in microcredential requirements.

Competencies Gained

  1. 1. Analyze software reliability and performance metrics using log analysis tools.
  2. 2. Design and implement automated systems intended to monitor and ensure software system uptime for critical software components.
  3. 3. Develop testing methods and protocols consistent with industrial best practices and industry-grade software tooling.

Take all of the following courses (8 credits):

  • CMPSC 203 - Software Engineering*
  • CMPSC 303 - Artificial Intelligence*

Take one of the following (4 credits):

  • CMPSC 302 - Web Design*
  • CMPSC 404 - Web Applications
Software Development with Python 12 credits

Software Development with Python introduces the knowledge and skills that students need to engineer, release, and maintain software implemented in the Python programming language. Students who complete this microcredential will have the demonstrated ability to make high-quality contributions to both the source code and technical documentation in software projects stored in GitHub repositories.

Competencies Gained

  1. 1. Use the object-oriented programming paradigm in Python.
  2. 2. Perform automated software testing with Pytest.
  3. 3. Set up continuous integration and delivery with GitHub Actions.
  4. 4. Create technical documentation using MkDocs.
  5. 5. Use Poetry to release and maintain software on PyPI.

Take the following courses (8 credits):

  • CMPSC 100 - Computational Expression
  • CMPSC 101 - Data Structures

Take one of the following courses (4 credits):

  • CMPSC 201 - Programming Languages
  • CMPSC 203 - Software Engineering
Software Performance Engineering 12 credits

Software Performance Engineering introduces the knowledge and skills that students need to design, implement, and deploy correct and efficient software. Students who complete this microcredential will have the demonstrated ability to conduct experiments that characterize a software system's performance, pinpoint and resolve software performance bottlenecks, and optimize system performance without compromising correctness.

*Additional prerequisite not in microcredential requirements.

Competencies Gained

  1. 1. Implement and use automated software tools that conduct performance benchmarks.
  2. 2. Analyze performance data to identify software performance bottlenecks and design, implement, and deploy solutions to solve performance problems.
  3. 3. Create and present technical reports that effectively characterize the performance of a software system.

Take all of the following courses (8 credits):

  • CMPSC 101 - Data Structures
  • CMPSC 202 - Algorithm Analysis

Take one of the following courses (4 credits):

  • CMPSC 303 - Artificial Intelligence
  • CMPSC 305 - Database Systems
  • CMPSC 400 - Operating Systems*