The Department underwent 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 in the past two years, including the  addition of Databases and Social Implications of Computing as required undergraduate  classes as of the Fall, 1996 semester. Computer Networking, Comp 476, was taught for the  first time this year. Our CS-2 course (COMP165) is now fully oriented to C++ and object  oriented programming, and uses Web-accessible class notes and closed laboratory materials.  The graduate course in Advanced Operating Systems (COMP650) was enhanced to include new  material on current technologies such as multiprocessing and distributed systems.

The Department completed the fourth year of the Master of Science in Computer Science  degree program. Over 80 students are now enrolled in the graduate program. A system of  Teaching Assistants and Research Assistants was refined, complete with review and  evaluation processes, along with the increased use of faculty graduate committees to  assist in decisions on admissions and assistantships. A formal evaluation survey of  graduate students was conducted by the department and the results used during a  departmental retreat at the end of the semester for planning purposes. Dr. David Bellin  continued to serve as Director of Graduate Studies in the department. Prof. Rodney  Harrigan left the department to work in the Dean's office, and Dr. Kenneth Williams  took on the duties of Director of Undergraduate Studies.

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. Tenure track  faculty mentoring was reduced to 20 students in order to facilitate closer relationships.  Students still make private appointments with their faculty mentors for the purpose of  discussing personal challenges.

The Department employed Dr. Jeffrey Clouse, Ph.D. in Computer Science from University  of Massachussets Amherst, and Dr. Yabo Wang, Ph.D. in Computer Science from Queen's  University Canada.

The Department made excellent progress in the acquisition of funded research projects  during the year. Research awards totaled $ 1,500,000, an increase from last year's  total of $1,070,000. Prospects for next year are positive, with over $ 6,000,000 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
96-97	80	65	53	61	340	259	81	45	20	n/a
95-96	64	63	61	70	346	258	80	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 a  continuing instructional problem, and adjusted it to provide specific times for students  to meet with their faculty mentors. The number of industry speakers and student led  presentations was increased. Further study is required in order to reach the level of  excellence desired in this area.

Several concerns arose during the academic year regarding our introductory courses,  which saw an influx of students from other engineering departments this year. The move to  a common final examination, along with the use of common textbooks and syllabi, are  expected to improve the reception of these courses.

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 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.

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

Several courses now use the internet as an integral part of instruction, including the  use of student faculty interactions, posting of class notes and homeworks, and links to  course related web sites.

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

Networked Computer Systems (COMP 476) was introduced as a new undergraduate course.

Two new courses were implemented as undergraduate degree requirements: Databases and  Social Implications of Computing.

COMP165 is now fully oriented to C++ and object oriented programming, and uses  Web-accessible class notes and closed laboratory materials. Our primary programming  language has continued to shift towards the object oriented paradigm. The undergraduate  introductory courses have completed the change to C++ as the language of instruction, and  the undergraduate OO programming elective was taught using Java and Smalltalk.

The graduate course in Advanced Operating Systems (COMP650) was enhanced to include new  material on current technologies such as multiprocessing and distributed systems.

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

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 office hours in the Graham Hall computer lab.

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 high school seniors of interest, and GEM awardees,  and mailed letters and departmental information to them. CS Department Graduate Handbooks  are mailed by the graduate director, with a general data sheet, to all students who  inquire about the MS program.

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

 

_ Faculty presented papers at national and regional professional meetings

_ Faculty engaged in exchanges with industry regionally

9. Grants and awards received:

 

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

"Artificial Potential Field Based Motion Planning/Navigation in Two and Three  Dimensional Dynamic Environments" National Aeronautics and Space Administration, May  1997 to April 1999, (with Electrical Engineering), $356,900

``Hybrid Motion Planning with Multiple Destinations'', 1997 NASA Faculty Awards for  Research (FAR), $278,937 over 3 years

"Formal Foundations of Agents" National Aeronautics and Space Administration  Goddard (12/01/96 – 11/30/99). $281,610

"Motion Planning in a Society of Intelligent Mobile Agents" National  Aeronautics and Space Administration Ames (7/01/97 – 6/30/99), $294,630

"Assessing the ReusePotential of Objects", $100,000, Army Research Office,  Jane 1996-June 1998

"Developing a Personal Computer Environment", Lucent Technology, $ 25,000

"A Management Decision Simulator", Center for Creative Leadership, $ 10,000

International Business Machines, Object Oriented Software Engineering research, $ 5,000  software

TJ Watson Research Center, University Partnership Award, $ 53,000 ($ 13,000 equipment)

Software Solutions Division, IBM RTP, Graduate Research in Software Engineering  (metrics, re-use, testing), $ 75,000

Object-Oriented Software Engineering Process Analysis and Testing", GTech  Corporation (May 15, 1997 - July 25, 1997), $15,000

10. Other developments and/or indications of progress:

The continuing demand for our graduates, and the numbers of GEM awardees applying  to our graduate program, are our best indicators of progress.

B. Students

1. Honors received by majors and graduates:

Upsilon Pi Epsilon, Computer Science Honor Society Inductees: Dwayne D. Dames, Walter Harris, Troy A. Howard, Nathan L. Ingram, Michael A. Jamison, Phil Mansfield, Nathaniel Morrison, David R. Reid, Kendrick Spencer, Benita Turner, Wayne T. Williams

Total honor students: 109 (Summa Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, Cum laude)

 

 

 

 

2. Scholarships and fellowships received by graduates:

GEM Fellowships Recipients:

 

 

 

 

Anita Page, Felicia Morgan, Kelly Evans, Christie McNair, Jonathan Mickles, Howard  Chubbs, Laurie Holloway

Other awards and scholarships:

 

PEN Scholars: Nathan Ingram, Monica Boyd, Shannon Stewart

NAMASKAR AWARD: Kelly Evans

Chancellor's Scholarship: Shanna Griffin, Thaddeus Robinson, Ashley Simon

SAS Scholarship: Anita Page

NACME Scholarship: Anita Page, Kelly Evans, Kamilah Walker, Brenda Conyers, Eric  Hunt, Isanita Odom

Amoco Scholarship: Tehma Smith

Ciba Geigy Scholarship: Nathaniel Morrison

AT&T Scholarship: Kalisha Finney, Kenisha Herbin, Felicia Morgan, Notashia  Thomas

Kodak Scholarship: Tracie Bond, Josina Brooks, Nashonda Davis, Kalisha Finney,  Damien London, Notashia Thomas, Tanya Washington

Ford Scholarship: Kei Bonneville

Honeywell Scholarship: Jamila Ellis, Jason Massey, Shakeema North, Kamilah  Walker

Ronald McNair Alumni Scholarship: Kelly Evans

NASA Scholarship: Kei Bonneville

NSF Scholarship: Damien London, Felicia Morgan, Naima Pendergrass, Ashley Simon,  Azeb Teklu

Rockwell Scholarship: Laticia Manuel

Science and Technology Alliance Scholarship: April Cary, Conita Forbes

Xerox Scholarship: Tania Griffin, Kenisha Herbin, Kurtis Martin, Notashia  Thomas, Vernon Wall

3. Number of honor graduates:

 

 

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

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

The UPE computer science honor society inducted 11 new members, both gradute and  undergraduate students. The student chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery had  19 members this year.

5. Other activities and accomplishments:

 

 

A. Department ACM Programming Contest, Fall semester

C. Follow-up Study of Graduates

 

 

1. Number of majors: 340

2. Names of graduates receiving job offers:

BS: Over 90% received job offers.

MS: Every graduating MS student received multiple job offers, with salary offers  ranging from $ 34,000 to $ 62,000.

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, Lucent Technology, Allied Signal, Aluminum Company of America , BDM  Federal, Bellcore, Cargill, Caterpillar, Central Intelligence Agency, Champion  International, Eastman Kodak, Ernst & Young LLP, Ford Motor, General Mills, Hewlett  Packard, Honeywell, Hughes Electronics, Motorola, National Aeronautics and Space  Administration, NationsBank, Proctor & Gamble, SAS Institute, Texas Instruments,  United Technologies, Pratt & Whitney (partial listing)

 

 

Dr. David Bellin, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies

1996-1997 Academic Year Annual Report Data:

 

Examples of Professional Growth:

Presented "Object  Oriented Software Metrics", Software Process Improvement Network, Research Triangle  Park, January 1997.

Keynote Speaker, "Civil Liberties in Cyberspace", Annual Meeting, Wake NC  American Civil Liberties Union, Raleigh NC, March 1997.

Presented "Pedagogical Patterns for Teaching OO", Pedagogical Patterns  Workshop, Objected-Oriented Programming Systems and Language Conference", San Jose  CA, October 1996

Opening Address, "What is Real Participation?", Participatory Design  Conference, Cambridge MA, November 1996.

Attended "Effective College Teaching: A Workshop for Scientists, Engineers, and  Mathematicians Who Teach", Friday Center, Chapel Hill NC, Fall 1996.

Attended "1996 Objected-Oriented Programming Systems and Language  Conference", San Jose CA, October 1996

Attended "Electronic Publishing Conference, San Diego CA, April 1997.

Attended "1^st annual North Carolina Alliance for Minority Participation  Undergraduate Research Conference," Greensboro, NC, April 11, 1997

Attended "Design Using PhotoShop", Santa Fe Photographic Institute, May 1996.

Attended "Sun Java Workshop", Research Triangle Park, October 1996.

Book Reviewer, ACM Computing Reviews

Steering Committee, National Science Foundation Project-ImpactCS, Computer Science  Ethics Curriculum project

Expert Reviewer Database, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)

Chair, Public Policy Task Force, ACM SIG Computers and Society

Presented at CS Department Graduate Colloquium.

Paper Referee, ACM SIG Computer Science Education Conference, San Jose CA, March 1997

Proposals prepared and funded:

International Business  Machines, Object Oriented Software Engineering research, $ 5,000 software

TJ Watson Research Center, University Partnership Award, $ 53,000 ($ 13,000 equipment)

Software Solutions Division, IBM RTP, Graduate Research in Software Engineering  (metrics, re-use, testing), $ 75,000

Research Projects started and/or completed:

Application Metrics and  Software Quality for Smalltalk, IBM Software Solutions Division, with MS student Kelly  DuBois

Changes in Metrics During Software Evolution, with MS student Howard Chubbs

Java Applets: A Preliminary Metrics Analysis, with MS student Sumeet Singh and BS  student Kurtis Martin

Creative activities started and/or completed:

"The CRC Card Book",  Booch Software Engineering series, Addison-Wesley Publishers, published May 1997

"Consequences of Computing: A Framework for Teaching the Social and Ethical Impact  of Computing", Second Report of the NSF ImpactCS Steering Committee, GWU-ICTSP  Technical Report Number 96-03, Washington DC (co-author)

Special honors received:

 

 

Conference Chair, Participatory Design Conference, Cambridge MA, November  1996

Steering Committee, NSF Project ImpactCS

Program Committee, World Conference on Systematics, Cybernetics and Informatics  (SCI-97)

International Federation for Information Processing Working Group 11.2-TC11: Small  Systems Security

President, Association for Computing Machinery Triad Chapter

Vice Chair, ACM Computers and Society SIG

Member, New York Academy of Sciences

Other accomplishments:

Graduate Studies Director, CS Department

Chair, CS Department Graduate Committee

Chair, CS Department Ph.D. Planning Committee

Chair, CS Department Faculty Search Committee

Member, CS Department Curriculum Committee

Member, College of Engineering Graduate Council

Coordinator of CS Department Graduate Colloquium series

Evaluated and mentored CS Department Graduate Assistants

University Graduate Council, Graduate School, CS Department representative

Author of CS Department Annual Report

Meetings with corporate university relations directors

Community Service to "We Are All Housekeepers" Exhibit Project, Durham Arts  Council, ML King Week, January 1997

Chair, MS Project Committee: Howard Chubbs, Kelley DuBois, Delores Davis

Chair, MS Thesis Committee: Sumeet Singh

 

David Bellin, Ph.D.   Chapel Hill, NC, USA (main base)  Welcome!