Academic Planning Self-Study 2014
Department of Computer Science
College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Boston University
I. THE CURRICULAR CONTEXT
A. Degrees and minors offered by the Department of Computer Science 1. Undergraduate and Graduate Degrees
a. BA concentration in Computer Science
b. BA joint concentration in Math and Computer Science c. BA/MS in Computer Science
d. BA/MA in Computer Science and Cognitive and Neural Systems e. MS in Computer Science
f. Post-bachelor’s PhD in Computer Science g. Post-master’s PhD in Computer Science 2. Undergraduate Minors
a. Minor in Computer Science
B. Undergraduate majors offered by other departments and programs that depend on coursework in our program
1. CAS Majors whose requirements can be fulfilled by required or elective coursework in CS
Concentration Required course(s)
Recommended course(s)
Astronomy CS111, 112
Astronomy and Physics CS111, 112
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Choose 2 math, or 1 math and CS 105, 108, or 111 Biology (all except quant.) Choose 2 math, or 1 math and CS 105, 108, or 111
Quantitative Biology CS 111, 112, 132
Economics and Mathematics CS111, 112
Geophysics and Planetary Sciences CS 111, 112
Mathematics (including Statistics) CS111, and one other CS or lower div. math course Mathematics and Mathematics Ed. Choose 1: CS111, PY211 or math course > 200
Neuroscience group 3 electives: CS542, 565, restricted electives: CS111, 112
2. Non-CAS undergraduate degree programs whose requirements include coursework in CS
Degree program Required course(s) Recommended course(s)
SMG Management Info. Systems CS108 or 111
SAR Nutritional Science CS101
COM entering freshmen CS/MA 109 is among courses for statistics requirement
3. CAS and other minors whose requirements can be fulfilled by coursework in CS
Minor Required course(s) Recommended course(s)
Mathematics CS111
Mathematical Statistics CS111
Statistical Methods 1 CS400-600 level course or math course at equiv.
level plus 1 additional CS or math course
ENG Computer Engineering
CS 320, CS 350, CS 410, CS 411 can fullfill CE Elective
SMG Journalism CS 101, 103, 105, 108
C. Graduate programs offered by other departments and schools that depend on coursework in Computer Science
• GRS Master’s Programs outside your department.
Department Courses Notes
Cognitive and Neural
Systems CS535, 537, 580, 640, 680 listed among options for 2 courses that can be taken outside CNS for degree Applied Linguistics Program CS540 listed among courses that can be taken towards
fulfillment of degree requirements
Mathematics and Statistics CS511 listed among courses that can be taken towards fulfillment of degree requirements
• GRS Doctoral Programs. Same as shown in table for Master’s Programs above. • Non-GRS Graduate Degrees.
Department Courses
Electrical Engineering, Computer Systems Engineering, and Photonics
Require minimum of 32 credit hours of graduate study in ENG or CAS AS, BI, CH, CN, CS, MA or PY courses
Systems Engineering Program Electives: numerous CS graduate courses in systems, applications
D. College Requirements and Programs: Writing, Foreign Language, Math, General Education (Core Curriculum, and Divisional Studies, Honors College)
• Core Curriculum
Wayne Snyder teaches in the Core Curriculum. • Kilachand Honors College
None.
• Teaching seminars toward fulfillment of the College Writing requirement
None. This is not due to lack of interest; instead it is due to an insufficient number of tenure-track faculty to staff even the needed CS courses.
• Implementation of the foreign language requirement None.
• Divisional Studies courses that also serve as gateways to the CS major(s) CS111, 112
• Divisional Studies courses that do notalso counttowardmajors in CS CS101, 103, 105, 107, 108, MA/CS 109
• Offering selected courses that are not important for fulfilling requirements for your major(s) or minor(s), but which are in very high demand by students because of their interests
CS211, 212 – but likely not in the next few years, due to rising enrollments and staffing requirements in other courses
STEP II. ASSESSMENT OF SPECIFIC COURSE NEEDS
A. OBLIGATIONS TOWARD UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION.
1. Which courses and course types should be offered every semester?
Courses that are specifically designated as satisfying MCS divisional studies requirements CS101 Introduction to Computers
CS103 Introduction to Internet Technologies and Web Programming CS105 Introduction to Databases and Data Analysis
CS108 Introduction to Applications Programming (required by SMG every semester) CS/MA109 The Art and Science of Quantitative Reasoning
CS111 Introduction to Computer Science I (gateway to major, CS required Group A course) CS112 Introduction to Computer Science II (gateway to major, CS required Group A course) Other “Group A” courses required for the CS major:
CS131 Combinatoric Structures (gateway to major) CS 210 Computer Systems
CS 330 Introduction to the Analysis of Algorithms
"Group B" courses for CS major (students must take at least 2): CS132 Geometric Algorithms
CS235 Algebraic Algorithms CS237 Probability in Computing
“Group C” courses for CS (students must take at least 2): CS320 Concepts of Programming Languages
CS332 Elements of the Theory of Computation CS350 Fundamentals of Computing Systems
Due to increasing enrollments, Group A, B, and C courses should be offered each semester if possible. 2. Which courses and course types should be offered annually?
MCS divisional studies course:
CS107 Computing in Machines and Nature
“Group D” elective courses for majors (at least 4 required above 400) and minors. These courses should be offered annually because they are sufficiently popular and/or must be offered yearly in any reputable CS program.
CS211 Object-Oriented Programming Paradigms CS212 Distributed Programming Paradigms CS410 Advanced Software Systems
CS411 Software Engineering CS451 Distributed Systems
CS440 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence CS450 Computer Architecture I
CS455 Computer Networks
CS460 Introduction to Database Systems CS480 Introduction to Computer Graphics
CS511 Object-Oriented Programming CS520 Theory of Programming Languages CS525 Compiler Design Theory
CS530 Analysis of Algorithms CS535 Complexity Theory
CS538 Fundamentals of Cryptography
CS539 Methods of Scientific Computing (cross-listed with Mathematics) CS542 Machine Learning
CS549 Pattern Matching and Detection with Applications in Biological Sequence Analysis CS552 Introduction to Operating Systems
CS558 Computer Networks Security CS565 Data Mining
CS585 Image and Video Computing
400-level undergraduate computer security course, piloted by Canetti in Spring 2013 as CS 591.
400-level undergraduate course on Music and Computation, piloted by Snyder in Spring 2013 as CS 591. 3. Which courses and course types should be offered every other academic year?
These are elective courses for concentrators and minors (4 required). These courses can be offered every other year because they are advanced elective courses.
CS470 Performance Analysis CS532 Computational Geometry CS537 Probability in Computing CS548 Advanced Cryptography CS550 Computer Architecture II CS553 Advanced Operating Systems CS556 Advanced Computer Networks
CS559 Algorithmic Aspects of Computer Networks CS562 Advanced Database Applications
CS580 Advanced Computer Graphics
500-level e-commerce and networks course, piloted by Byers in Fall 2012 as CS 591.
B. OBLIGATIONS TOWARD GRADUATE EDUCATION.
1. Which courses and course types should be offered every semester? CS699 Teaching Computer Science I
2. Which courses and course types should be offered annually?
These are courses that fulfill PhD and/or MS breadth requirements (5 courses for MS, 6 for PhD). The breadth requirements are described in the 2007/08 Computer Science Departmental Graduate Bulletin. A good number of these also serve as gateway courses to graduate study in a particular subfield.
CS511 Object-Oriented Programming CS520 Theory of Programming Languages CS525 Compiler Design Theory
CS530 Analysis of Algorithms CS535 Complexity Theory
CS538 Fundamentals of Cryptography
CS539 Methods of Scientific Computing (cross-listed with Mathematics) CS542 Machine Learning
CS552 Introduction to Operating Systems CS558 Computer Networks Security CS565 Data Mining
CS585 Image and Video Computing
CS640 Artificial Intelligence (meets with CS440) CS651 Distributed Systems (meets with CS451)
CS655 Introduction to Computer Networks (meets with CS455) CS660 Introduction to Databases (meets with CS460)
CS680 Graduate Introduction to Computer Graphics (meets with CS480) These courses are required 2-credit courses:
CS697 Computer Science Graduate Initiation CS698 CS Teaching Fellow Training
3. Which courses and course types should be offered every other academic year? Courses that fulfill PhD and/or MA breadth requirements:
CS512 Formal Methods for High-Assurance Computing System Design and Analysis CS537 Probability in Computing
CS548 Advanced Cryptography CS550 Computer Architecture II CS553 Advanced Operating Systems CS556 Advanced Computer Networks CS562 Advanced Database Applications CS580 Advanced Computer Graphics Other graduate courses:
CS532 Computational Geometry
CS559 Algorithmic Aspects of Computer Networks CS670 Performance Analysis (meets with CS470)
STEP III. PLANNING FOR EFFECTIVE, EFFFICENT, EQUITABLE, and SUSTAINABLE COURSE STAFFING
The Department of Computer Science utilizes a master schedule spreadsheet to plan the frequency and staffing of courses. A schedule spreadsheet is given below, which includes the proposed schedule for AY 15/16, and the preliminary schedules for AY 16/17 and 17/18. As can be seen, a number of courses are not offered at the desired frequency, in some cases due to sabbaticals, in other cases due to an insufficient number of faculty members with the relevant expertise to staff the course.
Notes:
Seven faculty members (Steve Homer, Azer Bestavros, and Leo Reyzin (all deferred from 14/15), Evimaria Terzi, Assaf Kfoury, Leonid Levin, and Jonathan Appavoo) are eligible for sabbatical leave in AY 15/16. Leonid Levin is expected to defer for at least a year. Plans for AY 16/17 sabbaticals include Leonid Levin (deferred from 15/16), Jonathan Appavoo (Fall 2016), Sharon Goldberg, and Wayne Snyder (both Spring 2017).
The current forecast assumes the renewal of a replacement full-time lecturer during AY 15/16 and AY 16/17 to provide partial replacement coverage.
Two tenure-track hires, if our searches in AY 14/15 are successful, will enable us to offer some of the classes currently marked as “not offered”; we do not prejudge the outcome of the search and therefore do not include a teaching assignment for this new hire in our plan below.
The proposed schedule reflects a one-course release for the Department Chair, the Director of the Hariri Institute, and the Director of the RISCS Center (however, in AY 15/16, the Directors of the Hariri Institute and the RISCS Center are on sabbatical).
The offering of MA/CS 109 course began in Spring 2009. We have now transitioned to a “steady state” model, where one CS faculty teaches this course with Math/Stat faculty in the Fall semester. The service in co-teaching CS/MA 109 will be counted as one course in the semester assigned.
Staffing of the two-credit 697, 698, and 699 is considered as a service task in the Department. Since service appointments (e.g., DGS, DUS, etc.) are not known a priori, the forecast shows these as taught by “staff” who will be chosen from tenure-track faculty who are not holding appointed service positions in that particular year. The approved MS with specialization in Cyber-Security requires specific courses, including two out of the set {CS 538, CS 548, CS 558}. In SAB/LOA years for Sharon Goldberg, Ran Canetti, and/or Leo Reyzin, juggling of the course schedule will be needed to ensure that at least two courses from this set are offered. In years without such SAB/LOA, all pre-existing courses listed in the proposed requirements (and electives) for the MS in Cyber-Security are already offered at an acceptable frequency with current staff at current enrollment levels. If the MS with emphasis in cyber security is immensely popular, then we will need to reassess the frequency of relevant course offerings.
Due to the initial success of our MS program (close to 30 entering students) and expected increase in MS enrollments next year, there are proposals in the works to develop additional tracks in the MS program. If approved, they may necessitate schedule changes for upper-level courses in future years.
An undergraduate requirements revision, which is informed, in part, by the APR process, has been approved. The eventual outcome will include tracks (with possible new courses) that enable students to choose elective courses earlier. Revisions in lower course offerings and schedule may thus also be necessary in future years.
Proposed Course Schedule and Forecast
Fall 15 Spring 16 Fall 16 Spring 17 Fall 17 Spring 18 101 A1 P/T Instr P/T Instr P/T Instr P/T Instr P/T Instr P/T Instr 103 A1 Worst Worst Worst Worst Worst Worst 105 A1 Sullivan Sullivan Sullivan Sullivan Sullivan Sullivan 107 A1 not offered not offered not offered 108 A1 Stevens Stevens Stevens Stevens Stevens Stevens 109 (MA/CS) Snyder Reyzin Reyzin
111 A1 Sullivan Sullivan Sullivan Sullivan Sullivan Sullivan 111 B1 Stevens Stevens Stevens Stevens Stevens Stevens 111 C1 Sullivan Sullivan Sullivan Sullivan Sullivan Sullivan 112 A1 Kollios Snyder Snyder Reyzin Snyder Reyzin 112 B1
131 A1 Orecchia Byers Homer Orecchia Terzi Byers 132 A1 F/T Inst F/T Instr F/T Instr F/T Instr P/T Inst Homer 210 A1 Appavoo Matta West Matta Appavoo West 211 A1 not offered Crovella not offered 212 A1 not offered not offered not offered 235 A1 F/T Inst F/T Inst F/T Instr F/T Instr Levin Orecchia 237 A1 Goldberg Canetti Goldberg P/T Instr P/T Inst P/T Inst 320 A1 Xi P/T Inst Kfoury Xi Kfoury Snyder 330 A1 Gacs P/T Inst Byers Homer Gacs Terzi
332 A1 Levin Gacs Levin
350 A1 Crovella Bestavros Bestavros 410 West not offered West
411 P/T Inst P/T Inst P/T Inst P/T Inst P/T Inst P/T Inst
440/640 Betke Betke Betke
450 not offered not offered not offered
451/651 P/T Inst Appavoo Appavoo
455/655 Matta Matta Matta
460/660 Kollios Kollios Kollios 470/670 not offered Crovella not offered 480/680 Sclaroff Sclaroff Sclaroff
511 not offered not offered not offered
512 Kfoury Kfoury Kfoury
520 Xi Xi Xi
525 not offered not offered Xi
530 Homer Orecchia Homer
532 not offered not offered not offered
535 Levin Gacs not offered
537 Gacs not offered Gacs
538 Canetti Canetti Canetti
539
542 Sclaroff Sclaroff not offered 548 not offered Canetti not offered 549 not offered not offered not offered
550 not offered not offered not offered
552 West West not offered
553 not offered not offered not offered
556 not offered Matta
558 Goldberg not offered Goldberg 559 not offered Byers not offered 562 not offered Kollios not offered
565 not offered Terzi Kollios
585 Betke Betke Betke
591 Music Snyder not offered Snyder 591 Security not offered not offered Canetti 591 ecomm. Byers not offered Byers
591 Algorith Orecchia not offered Orecchia
591 Data Terzi
697 staff staff staff
698 staff staff staff
699 staff staff staff Staff staff staff
Tentative Sabbaticals:
15/16:
Kfoury
Fall 2015
Reyzin
Fall 2015, Spring 2016
Terzi
Fall 2015, Spring 2016
Bestavros
Spring 2016
Homer
Spring 2016
Appavoo
Spring 2016
16/17:
Appavoo
Fall 2016
Levin
Fall 2016, Spring 2017
Goldberg
Spring 2017
Snyder
Spring 2017
17/18:
Goldberg
Fall 2017
STEP IV: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF UPDATES AND TEN-YEAR PLANNING 1. UPDATES: Please list all major updates that you made to this document this year.
Few updates were made, as most events were anticipated in last year’s document. Some minor schedule changes were made and new planning was done for 2017-18.
2. GOALS AND PLANNING: With continuing reference to the three preceding sections of this Self-Study, please discuss significant changes, beyond those already documented above, that your unit is planning or that you foresee occurring over the next 10 years, and assess the potential impact of those changes on the scope and quality of academic programs.
A. The Curricular Context:
How will your unit’s set of commitments and priorities in undergraduate and graduate education evolve (include enrollment projections in cases where you foresee a substantial change in student numbers)?
List any academic programs that you are currently proposing/developing/reviewing/revising or planning to propose/develop/review/revise, either within your department or in collaboration with other units of the College and University.
Please take advantage of this opportunity not only to think about new initiatives and growth areas, but also to assess the costs and benefits of any degree programs or minors currently offered or staffed by your unit that enroll small numbers of students. List those programs/minors here, and in each case say why the program should be continued as is, strengthened, or discontinued to free up teaching capacity for higher priorities. There is a substantial upward swing in CS course enrollments, particularly in courses taken early in the CS undergraduate major. We expect this trend to continue, and have added additional sections of course offerings to accommodate these students. Such adjustments in the number of sections and the frequency of offerings are to be carried out gradually, and in response to specific enrollment trends.
We continue to reassess our undergraduate curriculum and major requirements. Recently approved changes include greater flexibility early in our undergraduate curriculum, which will necessitate a revision in lower-level course offerings.
The expansion of our MS program (close to 40 students this year, with more expected next year) and the possibility of adding new MS tracks in addition to the already existing cyber-security specialization, may require us to add more upper-level courses in the coming years.
B. Specific Course Needs: In what significant ways will the changes listed in “A” above affect the courses (kind, size, format, offering patterns) you will need to offer?
We expect these changes, if implemented, will necessitate greater variety of both undergraduate and graduate course offerings.
C. Course Staffing. How do you see the next ten years of turnover and renewal affecting the composition and profile of your faculty? Please think especially of how you will use replacement positions to build areas of new or continuing high priority in research and teaching. How will these changes affect your planning for the
implementation of current and future curricula?
Our faculty is for the most part far from retirement, with one or two exceptions. The most senior faculty in the department work on the theoretical side of the field. Our strength in theory is an important distinguishing characteristic of our department’s research and teaching, and we need to plan to continue that strength. Accordingly, one of our hiring priorities is in theory broadly (at present, specifically in the area of algorithms).
