E. Program Evolution.
- Describe in what respect, if at all, the philosophy and direction of computer science education has changed at your institution during the last five years (or since the last evaluation, whichever is the shorter duration).
Five years ago the Computer Science program was part of the Computer Science/Information Systems department in the School of Business. The core courses were essentially the same as now but the three major areas of specialization were Computer Science, Networking and Information Systems. Due to the dynamic nature of the field, minor adjustments have been made on a regular basis. Such changes included changing the language for the first programming course from C to Java and increasing the number of hours for the data structures course from three to four to allow for additional file structure concepts to be discussed. Three years ago two additional areas of specialization were approved: Software Engineering and Computer Engineering. Two years ago, an administrative decision was made to create a new School of Computer Science and Engineering. The decision was also made to separate the Information Systems specialization from the other areas of specialization. The Information Systems program stayed in the School of Business and the other specializations moved to the new School of Computer Science and Engineering. ABET accreditation had been discussed in the School of Business and movement of the programs to the School of Computer Science and Engineering was based partially on the better fit for ABET accreditation. Since the establishment of the new school, curriculum adjustments have been made to better facilitate the ABET accreditation efforts.
- Describe any major developments and/or progress made in connection with the program in the last five years (or since the last evaluation, whichever is the shorter duration) that is not included in your response to I.C.