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The faculty was first established as the School of Actuarial Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Econometries and Cybernetics (ASMEC), in 1966 at the Institut Teknologi MARA (ITM) Jalan Othman campus, Petaling Jaya. Students with good background in Mathematics were offered either one of the two external programmes which prepared them for examinations by the Institute of Statisticians and the Institute of Actuaries, United Kingdom. The school believes that managers should have good mathematical and analytical skills. In 1969, the school took a bold step in introducing the Diploma in Computer Science, an internal programme. The school moved to a new and much bigger campus at Shah Alam in 1970. Soon after 1974 it was renamed the School of Mathematical Sciences and Computing. The external programmes were gradually replaced by the internal diploma programmes. Students had the opportunity to further their studies when the Advanced Diploma in Statistics was introduced in 1980, and also the offering of a joint degree programmes with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 1985. The awarded degree was known as BSc Computer Science (Hons) (ITM-UKM). In the 80's the country faced an increasing demand for computer science graduates. As a result, the school started to offer the Diploma in Computer Science programme in the Institute's Pahang, Perak and Terengganu branches in 1985 followed by Sarawak (2000) and Negeri Sembilan. The Diploma in Statistics and the Diploma in Quantitative Sciences were also introduced in Kelantan and Perak campuses, respectively, in 2003. The ITM Act was changed in 1996, allowing ITM to award its own degrees. Three of the advanced diploma programmes offered in the school was renamed as Bachelor of Science with honours in their respective fields.
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In June that year, the school moved to a new building of its own within the Shah Alam campus. The new building provides improved computing and networking facilities for both the students and staff. Both the government and the industries saw greater importance and use of IT. In line with this development the school changed its name to Faculty of Information Technology and Quantitative Sciences in 1997. The faculty began to offer its programmes through franchised colleges. Two franchise programmes were offered, namely Certificate of Computer Programming and Diploma in Computer Science, in 1998. The faculty started its Masters and PhD programmes in 1999. The number of programmes at the Bachelor level also increased, the latest of which introduced was the Bachelor of Computer Science in Multimedia Computing (2007). MSc programmes offered are in Computer Science, Networking,Information Technology and Quantitative Sciences. There were 48 PhD candidates enrolled in the faculty as at July 2007.The student enrolment in the July 2007 semester was 3013 (Shah Alam only) and the number of academic staff was 299. To cater for the increasing number of students, the government had as early as 1996, approved an additional building. The faculty has started utilizing the new facilities since December 2006. |
