As Northern Kentucky University’s College of Informatics (COI) celebrates its 20th anniversary this academic year, four ideas stand out: innovation, insight, integration and integrity.
At the COI convocation on Aug. 14, COI Dean Kevin Kirby said it won’t just be about looking back at the college’s greatest hits but emphasizing the ability to move “forward together” in a time of economic, technological and social pendulum swings.
“The College of Informatics is not just a packet of relevant majors,” he said. “COI allows a laser focus on what happens when humans and hardware squish up against each other.”
Informatics is the blending of communication and technology. There is a certain alchemy in that, which is why anniversary celebrations will be defined by the theme “Two Decades of Informagic.”
“No one wants a journalist who’s afraid of data. No one wants a tech person who can’t tell a story with data,” Kirby said in an earlier interview. “Bringing those two together creates the very unique culture we have here.”
Senior Riley Weber-Horowitz said that is exactly the draw for students like herself.
“There was nothing like it any other place offered. I mean we have everything under one roof,” she said. “I thought it was so cool.”
Weber-Horowitz said the ability to cross genres, so to speak, was also very attractive. She is a dual major in 3D digital design/VFX and public relations. In addition to being in a student organization devoted to the Internet of Things, she has been a photographer for the student news operation, The Northerner.
Recent alum Patrick Hirsch (’25) who is returning as a graduate student, proved similarly versatile, triple majoring in cybersecurity, computer science and information technology, while being general manager for Norse Code Radio and web editor and photographer for The Northerner. He was also involved in NK Cyber and the Norse Film Society.
COI’s support for its registered student organizations is exceptional, he said.
“One thing that became very apparent is that COI very heavily helps and supports the student organizations to aid in extracurricular development and activities beyond the classroom,” Hirsch said.
Being well-rounded is a hallmark of COI’s students, said Rebecca Hamm, assistant vice provost for student success.
“It’s students who are interested in information on computers, how it’s stored and analyzed and how we make meaningful stories from it on the communication side of the house,” she said.
It doesn’t hurt that the college is housed in a beautiful state-of-the-art building with a caring, compassionate faculty.
“When we bring in students and they see Griffin Hall, and they meet with faculty and realize how people are going to get to know who they are, and they see the spaces they’ll be studying in and learning with hands on things, that really draws them to COI,” Hamm said.
School of Media and Communication (SMC) program director Andrea Lambert-South said SMC and the School of Computing and Analytics are “really connected.”
“It’s honestly like a big extended family,” she said.
Her counterpart at SCA, Marius Truta, said all the programs in each of the schools contribute to the mission of the college.
The College of Informatics currently offers 14 bachelor’s degrees, four master’s degrees and 18 minors.
There is also a great deal of outreach beyond the classroom into the community, with programs such as Born Before AI and Second Chance Education at River City Correctional.
Kirby said the combination of focus on academics and outreach bodes well for COI’s plans to move “forward together.”
“I feel like we’ll always be the ones in the forefront of being able to take what happens, as it goes, and pivot, or be right ahead of the curve, to be ready for it,” he said. “I think that’s where our students will be. I think that’s where we’ll be.”
Kirby said there’s a very good chance any such changes will originate at COI.
“We’ll be the epicenter for it,” he said, “and we’re prepared to deal with it.”
Associate Professor of Practice, College of Informatics
