Retraining of college faculty for computer science (Panel Session)
Authors: Bays Carter , Mitchell Stephen , Franklin Stanley , Dubinsky Ed , Austing Richard , Mitchell William 
Published: July 2004

William Mitchell, Moderator

This panel is convened so that the issues inherent in retraining strategies may be debated by representatives of the formal faculty retraining programs. The speakers will address the masters level retraining of college faculty from other disciplines via summer coursework, an approach which is markedly different from the traditional pattern of formal re-education because it assumes no discontinuity in a faculty member's service to his college. This approach is obviously most advantageous for both college and the participating faculty member, and it also permits the design of special programs to serve this unique audience. Given the popularity of this format it is a matter of great concern to the discipline that these special programs be credible.

Carter Bays

The Computer Science Summer Institute at the University of South Carolina was conceived in 1979 and has attempted to offer, over a period of 3 summers, the majority of the coursework required for the M.S. degree. The program has been successful in that approximately 20 faculty from 2 and 4 year schools in South Carolina have completed, or nearly completed their M.S. in Computer Science. Unfortunately in many cases the retrained faculty have left their schools and acquired better positions elsewhere.

Stephen Mitchell

A combination of several factors has resulted in the now well-publicized teacher shortage in computer education. The factors include expanding student enrollments, industry demand for trained personnel, and the related “brain-drain” of teachers to industry. Innovative and flexible programs are needed for the necessary retraining of teachers. In considering resources for re-training, key issues are: program quality, objectivity, and visibility.

Stanley Franklin

Our program is intended as a stopgap measure. The junior colleges and four-year colleges in our system cannot hire traditionally trained computer scientists. Yet they face increasing demand from students for computer science courses. We intend to retrain faculty from other disciplines to teach the beginning computer science courses. We'll use a two-summer format and an existing degree program originally designed for high school teachers. No education courses are included; our students will all have successful college teaching experience. We think of this program as serving an interim need for the next few years. As better trained computer scientists become more plentiful, demand for this kind of training will diminish, and the program can be discontinued.

Ed Dubinsky

In Summer 1983 an Institute for Retraining Mathematicians to Teach Computer Science will be established at Clarkson College under the auspices of the joint ACM/MAA Committee on Retraining for Computer Science. This is the initial implementation in a project, which has been in development over the past two and one-half years, to deal with the shortage of college teachers of computer science. The panel presentation will discuss some of the history, present goals and future plans along with some of the features of the present implementation.

Richard Austing

I do feel that retraining is important to small colleges. In fact it will be a necessity if the colleges are to maintain computer science programs. They will not be able to compete for people who have PhD's in computer science. Colleges will have to find PhD's in other disciplines who have (or who are willing to acquire) backgrounds in computer science. Of course, these faculty members will need continued training.

Colleges should encourage retraining of faculty from a number of departments, including non-science ones. A good mix of interest can produce a fruitful environment for a computer science department which will service the entire campus and the surrounding community.