The Department is preparing for a second accreditation review by the Computer Science  Accreditation Board (CSAB). Feedback provided after the first accreditation visit provided  the basis for several curricular changes implemented this year, including the addition of  Databases and Social Implications of Computing as required undergraduate classes  commencing next fall.

The Department completed the third year of the new MS CS degree program. Over 80  students are now enrolled in the graduate program. A system of Teaching Assistants and  Research Assistants was put in place, complete with review and evaluation processes, along  with the development of departmental graduate committees to assist in decisions on  admissions and assistantships. A written plan for the supervision and evaluation of  graduate assistants was formulated and provided to the University graduate school. Dr.  David Bellin continued to serve as Director of Graduate Studies in the department. Prof.  Rodney Harrigan returned to the department in the capacity of Director of Undergraduate  Studies and Associate Chair for Administration.

To advise students, the Department continued to evolve its mentoring strategy. Students  were divided among the faculty members, and the weekly colloquium meeting was adjusted to  both require and allow structured time for faculty-student interchanges. Students still  make private appointments with their faculty mentors for the purpose of discussing  personal challenges.

The Department employed Dr. Kelvin Bryant, Ph.D. in Computer Science from North  Carolina State University, and Dr. Gerald Dozier, Ph.D. in Computer Science from North  Carolina State University.

The Department made excellent progress in the acquisition of funded research projects  during the year. Research awards totaled $ 1,070,000, an increase from last year's  total of $870,000. Prospects for next year are positive, with over $ 5,000,000 in  outstanding proposals.

II. SUBHEADINGS

A. COMPUTER SCIENCE

1. Enrollment totals, trends, and geographic spread:

Table 1 contains the enrollment data on the Computer Science Program for the past four  years. A decrease in freshman enrollments may be noted over the first two years. This  trend is attributed to the higher requirements of the College of Engineering as compared  to the Liberal Arts and Sciences, and to the rigor of an accreditation compliant program.  The department intends to make efforts under the direction of the undergraduate director  to reverse the decrease in freshman enrollment, which has now stabilized, and to increase  retention rates. In this regard, IBM Corporation is providing support through their  "Project Breakthrough" which conducted workshops and corporate mentoring for  selected entering freshmen, to follow through their graduation.

Table 1: CS Enrollment & Degree Data

	Enr	Yr						Degr	Conf
Acad Year	1	2	3	4	Total Enrl	Total UG	Total Grad	Bach	MS	PhD
95-96	64	63	61	70	346	258	88	37	20	n/a
94-95	51	67	65	64	317	247	70	36	10	n/a
93-94	81	84	88	64	367	317	50	42	n/a	n/a
92-93	198	56	55	58	367	367	n/a	48	n/a	n/a

 

 

2. Identification and solution to instructional problems:

The Department identified implementation of the Undergraduate Colloquium as an  instructional problem, and adjusted it to provide specific times for students to meet with  their faculty mentors. Further study is required in order to reach the level of excellence  desired in this area.

3. Innovations in teaching:

The Department has made a concerted effort to actively involve the students in the  learning process. We have the students do more discussing, presenting, and writing in all  of our courses. Graduate and undergraduate students made presentations in the  Undergraduate Colloquium. GEM students led several graduate colloquium meetings, and  co-ordinated the speakers.

Student project teams play a central role to several courses in the undergraduate and  graduate programs, particularly in the Software Engineering concentration.

4. Significant changes in the curricula or new programs approved:

Two new courses were approved as undergraduate requirements: Databases and Social  Implications of Computing. Curricula were developed, and pilot courses were taught by  Prof. Marlow Hinton and Dr. David Bellin.

The MS program initiated of the MS Comprehensive Examination option, which two groups  of students attempted. Four students out of ten sitting passed the examination.

Our primary programming language has continued to shift towards the object oriented  paradigm. Discussions are underway regarding the potential of C++ as our language of  choice (from C).

6. Efforts to improve academic advising:

We have continued attempts to strengthen our mentoring program. Each student is  assigned a faculty "mentor" upon declaring Computer Science as a major. Peer  tutors, paid by the department, have a separate office with networked computing facilities  in Graham Hall.

The success of our mentoring efforts are reflected in an increasing number of students  who intend to pursue graduate studies, and the multiple employment offers received by  every graduating graduate student.

7. Recruitment efforts:

Letter and phone contact with admitted undergraduate students declaring the CS  major is made by the department chair. Letter and phone contact with prospective and  admitted graduate students is made by the department's graduate director. The chair  and faculty speak to student and professional organizations off campus about A&T and  Computer Science. The chair identified seventy high school seniors of interest and mailed  letters and departmental information to them. CS Department Graduate Handbooks are mailed  with a general data sheet to all students who inquire about the MS program.

8. Major public service and/or off-campus activities:

 

	CS graduate and undergraduate students volunteered at the national ACM Computer Science  Week, Philadelphia PA, March 1996
	Faculty presented papers at national and regional professional meetings
	Faculty engaged in exchanges with industry regionally

9. Grants and awards received:

"Software Engineering Laboratory", $360,0000 as part of Dr.  John Kelly's CECOM Center for Communications, July 1995

"Specifying Reuse Objects", $100,000, Army Research Office, January 1996

"A Software Reuse Course Using Ada 95", $59,847 Defense Information Ssystems  Agency, February 1996

SUCCEED - TQM Focus Area Manager - $60,000. (Jan., 1996)

SUCCEED - TQM System - $42,000 (Jan., 1996)

International Business Machines, Object Oriented Software Engineering research, $  20,000 software

"Performance Tools and Compiler Support for Parallel I/O  Systems", National Science Foundation ($200,000.00 June 1996 - May 2000)

"Knowledge-Sharing for Intelligent, Distributed Systems",  Office of Naval Research, $ 300,000, June 1, 1996 start

"Performance Measurement of ATM Systems Interfacing with non-ATM  LANs" for $52,185 ( part of Dr. Kelly's CECOM Center for Communications), August  1995

Ada 95 Resources to Support Software Engineering and Software Reuse Courses, Defense  Information Systems Agency, $45,577

B. Students

 

1. Honors received by majors and graduates:

Upsilon Pi Epsilon, Computer Science Honor Society members:

Sherin T. Black Roland Johnson  Benjamin D. Branch Jong Hwa Kim

Edward A. Brown William Langford  Kenneth Carter Ronald Leak

Ronald Dearing Kelsaw Link  Norina Dixon Christie C. McNair

Audra Foster Downey Jonathan Mickles  Brian Dowtin Felicia A. Morgan

Kelly L. Evans Torrii A. Murphy  Lezlie Fort Anita Y. Page

Kanwal Hanspal James M. Rutledge  Torrez Harris Ashley L. Simon

Travis Hayes Charles Steepleton  Laurie D. Holloway Scotty R. Tanner

Robin Howard Angela N. Whitehead  Adam Hudson Lamont A. Williams   Melvin R. Johnson

2. Scholarships and fellowships received by graduates:

 

GEM Fellowships Recipients:

Howard Chubbs  Norina Dixon  Audra Foster Downey  Kelly  Dubois

Michele Garret  Laurie Holloway  Jonathan Mickles    Derrick Purcell

Other awards and scholarships:

	Asley Simon - Chancellor 's Scholarship
	Anita Page - SAS Scholarship, NACME Scholarship
	Kelly Evans - Ronald McNair Alumni Scholarship, NACME Scholarship
	Angela Whitehead - Vice Chancellor Incentive Scholarship, Alpha  Lambda Delta Honor Society
	Nasia Hamilton - Delta Sigma Theta Scholarship
	Candace Smith - Wal-Mart Scholarship
	Michelle Cofield - George C. Moore Scholarship
	Adam Hudson - Pi Mu Epsilon, Chancellor Scholar, Golden Key Honor  Society
	Shanna Griffin - Chancellor Scholar
	Thadeus Robinson - Chancellor Scholar

3. Number of honor graduates:

Total honor graduates:  17 (Summa Cum Laude: 7, Magna Cum Laude: 7, Cum laude: 3)

4. Activities of organized student groups including civic and social work:

The UPE computer science honor society inducted 27 new members, both  gradute and undergraduate students. Several members attended the national UPE meeting, and  the UPE chapter conducted a fund raiser during the Spring.

The ACM student chapter organized 8 student volunteers for the national ACM conference.  Additionally, the chapter created a student resume book, and did fundraising.

5. Other activities and accomplishments:

 

A. Department Programming Contest, Spring semester

C. Follow-up Study of Graduates

 

1. Number of majors: 335

2. Names of graduates receiving job offers:

BS: Over 90% received job offers

MS: Every graduating MS student received multiple job offers.

3. Names of companies and agencies making offers:

International Business Machines, Data  General, NorTel, Freddie Mac, Mitre, Texas Instruments, E Systems, Hughes, AT & T,  General Electric, American Management Systems, Dow Chemical, DuPont, Lockheed, Martin  Marietta, Champion International, Southern Bell, E-Systems, Center for Creative  Leadership, Rockwell Inc., National Security Agency, Lucent Technology (partial listing)