PHILADELPHIA The University of Pennsylvania has become the first university of its caliber to formally incorporate an applied-digital-technology program into its liberal-arts curriculum.

The Penn information-technology certification, to be initiated in the fall semester, will consist of four courses, with only the first course required of all students who wish to earn the IT certificate. That course will teach algorithmic thinking and basic computer and Internet structures.

The second and third courses will involve choice, varying according to the different methods of applying computer technology to specific areas of study. These courses will be offered in various liberal-arts disciplines and will include significant technological components. The courses will provide Penn students with the opportunity to apply their technological skills by conducting research in their majors or related fields.

The fourth course will be an independent or collaborative research project carried out in the context of either an independent-study course or seminars designed to accommodate student research in this program.

Technological internships in businesses and organizations will also be offered and may be completed in place of or in addition to one of these courses.

"When the program is fully developed," said Joseph A. Farrell Jr., IT-certification director and a classics professor, "it is hoped that every academic discipline in Penn College of Arts and Sciences will have at least one course with a substantial technological component so that all 6,400 College students will have access to one or more technological courses in their areas of study."

If the program succeeds, Farrell said, "technology-intensive courses should become so plentiful throughout the curriculum that there will be no need to maintain a special program."

Upon completion of IT certification, Penn students will receive a notation on their transcripts attesting to their proficiency in applied technology.