The State of Computer Science in the U. S. Part 1

1
The State of Computer Science in the U. S. Part
1

• Mei-Ling L. Liu, Ph. D. in Computer Science
• Professor
• U.S. Fulbright Scholar in Macedonia
• http//www.csc.calpoly.edu/mliu

2
Outline of Talk

• Introduction of your speaker
• The state of the Computer Science Discipline in
  the U.S.
• Invitation for audience to compare and contrast
  the states of the discipline of the U. S. and the
  Republic of Macedonia.

3

• I am one of three U. S. Fulbright scholars
  currently in the Republic of Macedonia.
• I am a tenured professor in the Computer Science
  Department of the California Polytechnic State
  University (Cal Poly), San Luis Obispo.
• I am the author of a textbook on Distributed
  Computing.

4
Your Speaker

• I was originally born in Hong Kong when it was a
  British Colony.
• I left Hong Kong to study in the U.S.A. in 1968
• I obtained my Bachelor of Science (B.S.) and
  Master of Science (M.S.) degree from the Iowa
  State University in Ames, Iowa.
• I obtained my doctorate (Ph. D.) from the
  University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).
• I am a U.S. citizen and now live in San Luis
  Obispo, California.

5
California
6
The California Polytechnic State University (Cal
Poly)

• Home page http//www.calpoly.edu
• It is one of 20 campuses in the California State
  University (CSU) system which, unlike the
  University of California (UC) system, is teaching
  oriented.
• It is considered one of the best public
  universities in California and in the U. S.

7
Cal Polyhttp//www.calpoly.edu

• It is located in San Luis Obispo, 2 hours drive
  from Santa Barbara.
• It has 20,000 students, mostly full-time.
• It has 6 colleges Agriculture, Architecture,
  Business, Education, Engineering, Math and
  Science.

8
http//www.csc.calpoly.edu

• It offers undergraduate degrees in Computer
  Science, Software Engineering, and Computer
  Engineering.
• It offers Masters degrees in Computer Science.
• It has 600 undergraduate students and 50 students
  in its Master and 41 programs.
• It has over 20 Ph.D. full-time faculty, and over
  10 adjunct faculty.

9

• Whats happening to the Computer Science
  discipline in the U.S.?

10
Top 10 best jobsaccording to MONEY Magazine and
Salary.com, 2006

• MONEY Magazine and Salary.com researched
  hundreds of jobs, considering their growth, pay,
  stress-levels and other factors. These careers
  ranked highest
• 1. Software Engineer
• 2. College professor
• 3. Financial adviser
• 4. Human Resources Manager
• 5. Physician assistant
• 6. Market research analyst
• 7. Computer IT analyst
• 8. Real Estate Appraiser
• 9. Pharmacist
• 10. Psychologist

11

• From the Bureau of Labor Statistics' list of the
  thirty fastest growing jobs through 2014 Five
  computing jobs are in the top ten salary jobs.
• 1. Computer systems software engineer 81,140
  (median annual salary)
• 2. Computer applications software engineer
  76,310
• 6. Computer systems analyst 67,520
• 7. Database administrator 61,950
• 8. Network systems and data communication
  analyst 61,250
• Why Consider a Computer Science Major?
• Villanova University
• Department of Computing Sciences

12

• In April 2006, more Americans were employed in IT
  than at any time in the nation's history.
• In May 2004, U.S. IT employment was 17 higher
  than in 1999, 5 higher than the bubble in 2000
  and showing an 8 growth. (communications ACM,
  Sept. 2005)
• Why Consider a Computer Science Major?
• Villanova University
• Department of Computing Sciences

13

• According to the National Science Foundation, the
  need for science and engineering graduates will
  grow 26, or 1.25 million, between now and 2012 .
  The number of jobs requiring technical training
  is growing at five times the rate of other
  occupations.
• Why Consider a Computer Science Major?
• Villanova University
• Department of Computing Sciences

14
The HERI/UCLA CIRP Freshmen Survey is at
http//www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/freshman.html
15

• May 01, 2006 (Computerworld) -- Two of the
  world's premier facilities for research and
  education in computer science are celebrating big
  birthdays this spring. Stanford University's CS
  department observed its 40th birthday in March,
  and Carnegie Mellon University's school of CS
  passed the half-century mark last month.
• Despite the celebrations on both campuses, there
  is a deep malaise in computer science these days.
  Professors bemoan falling enrollments, a decline
  in prestige and a lack of attention to real-world
  problems. But, paradoxically, they say the future
  of CS has never been brighter, both within the
  discipline and in fields that computer technology
  will increasingly influence.

16

• After peaking in 1999 and 2000, interest in CS as
  a major fell 70 percent between 2000 and 2005. In
  the fall of 2006, 1.1 percent of incoming
  freshmen indicated CS as their probable major,
  the same as in 2005.
• Interest in computer science (CS) and computer
  engineering (CE) as majors among incoming
  freshmen at all undergraduate institutions
  remained low in 2006, according to survey results
  from the Higher Education Research Institute at
  the University of California at Los Angeles
  (HERI/UCLA).
• - 2/6/2007. CRA Bulletin.

17

• Results from this years Taulbee Survey of
  PhD-granting CS departments show a second year of
  double-digit declines in the number undergraduate
  students enrolled in CS and in bachelors degrees
  granted in 2005/2006. (These numbers will be
  released March 1).
• Interest in Computer Engineering has fallen every
  year since 2002. In the Fall of 2006, only 1
  percent of incoming freshmen indicated CE as
  their probable major.
• - 2/6/2007. CRA Bulletin.

18

• Current research indicates that enrollment in
  postsecondary computer science courses has
  dropped by 40, with some suggesting that the
  drop in applications to these programs may be
  down by as much as 60.
• Computer Science Teachers Association

19
The crisis!

• May 01, 2006 (Computerworld)
• Computer Science Looks for a Remake
• March 2007 Harvard School of Engineering and
  Applied Sciences event
• The Crisis in Computer Science What Can We Do?
  
• March 2007 SIGCSE Conference Computer Science
  Educators Address Crisis In Career Pipeline

20

• In late 2005, Microsoft chairman and chief
  software architect Bill Gates visited six
  universities to promote interest in CS. On each
  campus, he gave a talk on "The Impact and
  Opportunity of Technology Why Computer Science?
  Why Now?"

UW-Madison graduate student Aneesh Karve opened
the classroom door and welcomed a "guest
lecturer" into Computer Science 302, Introduction
to Programming.
21

• I think the most serious issue for computer
  science is the declining number of great
  students that we have coming into the discipline
  today. If you look at the 2005 college board
  statistics, the mean math SAT score for incoming
  computer science students is actually lower than
  the mean math SAT score for English literature
  students. Its one of the lowest of all the
  disciplines. I think this indicates that we are
  not necessarily seeing the best and brightest
  students coming into the computing discipline
  right now, and we need to take a look at how to
  fix that.

Lucy Sanders, CEO and co-founder of the National
Center for Women Information Technology, at the
2006 Microsoft Faculty Summit
22

• While the number of students applying for pure
  computer science is decreasing, the number who
  are actively and aggressively using computers in
  their curricula in the areas of mechanical
  engineering, electrical engineering,
  bioengineering and the sciences is growing. I
  ask myself if this a crisis for computer science
  or a transformation?
• We need to understand that in virtually every
  discipline today, from the humanities to the
  sciences and engineering, information and
  communication technology has become central to
  progress from applications to the development
  of new ideas, new algorithms and new techniques
  for computing.

Richard Newton, Dean of the College of
Engineering and the Roy W. Carlson Professor of
Engineering at the University of California,
Berkeley
23

• We know that there are three very important
  trends, and these trends havent yet played out
  completely research and development funding has
  dropped, enrollments have dropped, and there are
  lots of restrictions that are making it difficult
  for foreign students to come to this country.
  These trends have come on the heels of fairly
  significant growth in the size of the departments
  of computer science during the dot-com era. This
  situation is not sustainable and some changes
  would need to happen before we find a new
  equilibrium.

Sailesh Chutani, director and founder of
Microsofts External Research and Programs group
24

• Continued on Part 2