CS Explosion at CU: Computing Growth in the College and the Campus Jim Martin Department of Computer Science

Computer Science – Goals for ABET Reaccreditation 2015 Diversity goals for undergraduate programs 30% female by 2020 (currently 16%) 20% URM by 2020 (currently 11%) Increased faculty/student entrepreneurship activities Increased outreach to college and campus for computational thinking Outreach to industry professionals and global learners

Computer Science – Goals for ABET Reaccreditation 2015 Diversity goals for undergraduate programs 30% female by 2020 (currently 16%) 20% URM by 2020 (currently 11%) Increased faculty/student entrepreneurship activities Increased outreach to college and campus for computational thinking Outreach to industry professionals and global learners

Computer Science – Goals for ABET Reaccreditation 2015 Diversity goals for undergraduate programs 30% female by 2020 (currently 16%) 20% URM by 2020 (currently 11%) Increased faculty/student entrepreneurship activities Increased outreach to college and campus for computational thinking Outreach to industry professionals and global learners

CU Computing Ecosystem Computer Science Business Applied Math BioFrontiers Cognitive Science Information Science (CMCI) Computer Engineering ATLAS Psychology Aerospace Ventures Aerospace Ventures Atmospheric Sciences Geography ITP Linguistics Anschutz Medical

Exploding Demand Students are flocking to CS both here at CU and nationwide – As majors – As minors and concentrations within majors – For upper-division and grad specializations – And for introductory programming Both from ENGR and across the campus

Root Causes of Demand Jobs Computational thinking Fundamental transformations of other fields

Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Growth in STEM Fields Takeaway: STEM == Computing

Matched Against Degree Production

CS Engineering BS Majors

Adding in A&S CS Majors

Nature of the Growth The surge seems different this time, growth in the majors is only part of the story Across the campus, other majors are being transformed by computing. – Computational {X} Biology, Geography, Linguistics, Humanities, Math etc. Minors, concentrations, double majors – To be fluent in many fields requires an education in computational techniques Basic intro programming sequence Some advanced upper division courses

Evidence from Student Credit Hours

CS1+CS2 Class Sizes: Majors vs. Non-Majors

Growth Responses: The Good Hiring more full-time instructors – Currently 4, searching for 3 more Innovative course development – CSCI 1320 (CS1: Engineering Applications) A version of our normal CS 1 tailored for and designed in coordination with Aerospace Heavy use of undergraduate learning assistants drawn from Aerospace Problems and applications geared towards the domains – Tech Intensives Experts from industry teach 1-credit classes

Growth Responses: The Good Good coordination in faculty hiring with ATLAS, INFO and ICS – Joint appointments, coordination on spousal hires, help with startup packages Coordination of curriculum – Better coordination with APPM and ECEE on course requirements, scheduling and staffing

Growth Responses: The Bad Classes are getting much too large – Hurts retention, probably hurts diversity – Little prospect for any relief – Many schools have given up on class enrollment restrictions related to classroom size Stanford and Berkeley: Class size is divorced from enrollment. Lectures are streamed and students are encouraged to stay home Berkeley and U Washington have imposed onerous and unpopular caps on majors

Growth Responses: The Ugly Currently, both undergrad and grad CS classes are restricted to CS majors during the first two weeks of registration – Necessary to adhere to 4 year graduation goals for our majors The two-week embargo just ended for Fall 2016 registration. Many fall classes are filled with waitlists before the embargo lifted.

Key Challenges Instructional staff – Faculty – Instructors – TAs Facilities – Classrooms (lecture halls and recitation rooms) – Educational labs Infrastructure support – Educational lab support – Advising support – General staff issues

Key Challenges A&S – Unconstrained growth in the CS BA – Demand for our intro classes from everyone else – Stealth requirements in majors ATOC, Envr, GEOG, MATH, APPM, ENVS, LING, COGS – Intro sequence – + Specific advanced courses – + Intervening prerequisities

Institutional Challenges This ecosystem involves 14 units governed by at least 5 deans (CEAS, CMCI, A&S, Business, Grad School) – Results in a mixed and confusing picture to the upper administration for resource requests – Difficult to advocate for computing writ large within the individual units A&S Core Curriculum – Much of the resource burden falls on Engineering