The Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program (its acronym is ITP) was a part of the
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a Public university, public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a Federated state, state, it is the fla ...
and offered graduate degrees in
telecommunications
Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...
: a
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...
and
Master of Science
A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...
in Telecommunications and a
Master of Engineering
A Master of Engineering (abbreviated MEng, ME, M.E. or M.Eng.) is a Professional degree, professional master's degree in the field of engineering.
International variations
Australia
In Australia, the Master of Engineering degree is a research ...
in Telecommunications. It was the oldest telecommunications program in the United States and was founded in 1971 by Frank S. Barnes (Engineering) and George Codding (deceased, International Relations). Since its inception, ITP took an
interdisciplinary
Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...
approach to telecommunications, involving the study of
engineering
Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
,
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
,
politics
Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...
,
economics
Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
and
business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...
. Over the course of the past 35 years, ITP has graduated approximately 2,000
alumni
Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...
who are in various positions around the world as
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
s, government officials, and management.
In 2004, ITP founder Frank S. Barnes was awarded the prestigious
Gordon Prize for having founded ITP due to its innovative character and the influence that it has had within academia and industry. As the first program of its kind in the United States, it broke ground for the many academic programs that followed. When
Peterson's
Peterson's is an American company that has print and digital products and services, including test preparation, memory retention techniques, and financial aid and scholarship searches. Peterson's is currently headquartered in Denver, Colorado. ...
first started listing telecommunications programs in 1996, the director of ITP was asked to write the introduction on the topic for Peterson's publisher. There is no question that many other prominent university programs have been directly influenced by ITP. For further information, there is now a consortium of universities that teach the telecommunications discipline, known as
ITERA.
The New ITP
In 2019, ITP was incorporated into the Department of Computer Science. This merge resulted in ITP being separated into two individual degrees: 1) Network Engineering and 2) Technology, Cybersecurity and Policy (TCP). The hands-on, technical piece of ITP was branched to form a Professional Master's of Science in Network Engineering degree, and the cybersecurity focus of ITP was branched into a new degree (TCP). These new degrees build on the historical success of CU Boulder’s ITP, and are a well-recognized source of talented individuals for the communications industry, with employment success rates approaching 100%.
Prominent alumni
* Sharon K. Black, ITP's first graduate (class of 1971) international lawyer, adjunct professor and author of the book Telecommunications Law in the Internet Age ()
* Claus F. Kroeger, Senior Vice President, Operations,
Cox Communications
Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable), is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services comp ...
* Michelle A. McClure, lawyer and partner at the Washington D.C. communications law firm Irwin, Campbell & Tannenwald, P.C.
* Thomas E Moore, founder and former CEO of
Wild Blue
* David Weiss, former Chairman, President and CEO of
StorageTek (now part of
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc., often known as Sun for short, was an American technology company that existed from 1982 to 2010 which developed and sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services. Sun contributed sig ...
)
Hari V. Krishnan CEO
PropertyGuru Group ex-MD, APAC for
LinkedIn
LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented Social networking service, social network. It was launched on May 5, 2003 by Reid Hoffman and Eric Ly. Since December 2016, LinkedIn has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. ...
(hired as first employee based in Asia).
External links
Network Engineering Home PageBernard M. Gordon Prize Home Page
University of Colorado Boulder
Telecommunication education
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