Bonaventure Computer Science

Established in 1980, Bonaventure Computer Science has become one of the most dynamic and respected departments on campus.

Thanks to a combination of four National Science Foundation grants, generous donations from alumni, strong support from the St. Bonaventure University administration, a talented, dedicated faculty, and an exceptional group of undergraduates, we offer you a first-class computer science education supported by state-of-the-art equipment. The Department is housed in the new Walsh Science Center, and its sponsorship of undergraduate research activities was a central piece of the grant that enabled the funded the building.

Career Opportunities

The computer science major prepares students for entry-level software engineering, networking, and database and web application development positions as well as for advanced study at the graduate level.

Nearly every graduate has attained a position as a computer professional in areas such as software engineering, database application development, web application development, system administration, network engineering and PC support. Faculty work hard to place students, and many graduates are hired by employers of our alumni.

Computer Facilities

The Department maintains two labs for computer science students: the Software Development Lab, which supports the first four courses in the major sequence as well as an innovative course in computer graphics for non-majors, the User Interface course, and courses in web application development;and the Robotics/Systems Lab, which supports the Robotics, Networks,  and Operating Systems courses. Both labs are located in the William F. Walsh Science Center and provide state-of-the-art learning environments. We also have a student projects lab which supports students working on faculty-supervised projects.

The Department is committed to both Microsoft and open source software, ensuring that you will become familiar with working in both the Windows and Linux application worlds. Development environments available include Eclipse, Visual Studio, 3-D Studio, and Aria, and languages include Java, C++, and C#. We are a member of the Microsoft Developers Academic Alliance, which provides students most Microsoft application development tools at no cost.

Preparation for Majoring in Computer Science

Students need not have taken computer science in high school: the first course in the major curriculum presupposes no programming experience. Students should have completed four years of high school mathematics and at least two years of science. Students completing high school Advanced Placement courses may receive college credit and will be placed appropriately during orientation.

Internships, Work Opportunities

Students may receive up to three credits for an internship during which they work under the supervision of a computer professional. Most students arrange their internship through connections they have in their hometowns.

There are employment opportunities on campus for computer science majors, and many majors take advantage of at least one. On-campus opportunities include PC support specialists and computer lab assistants, web developers for various academic and administrative offices, lab teaching assistants for computer science faculty, and lab managers for the computer science labs. Positions in PC support, network support and application development are available periodically with several local businesses.

Dedicated Faculty

Each computer science faculty member is first and foremost a dedicated teacher who enjoys the close contact with students afforded by class sizes of 15 to 20 students. All are active in regional and national computer organizations and have published widely in the area of computer science education. Together the computer science faculty has published over 60 articles and five books, participated in twelve National Science Foundation workshops, and written four successful National Science Foundation grant applications.