Florida eliminates computer science program

[Volznut]

Those computers, they're a fad anyway   

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensalzberg/2012/04/22/university-of-florida-eliminates-computer-science-department-increases-athletic-budgets-hmm/

[Clockwork Orange]

Those computers, they're a fad anyway   

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensalzberg/2012/04/22/university-of-florida-eliminates-computer-science-department-increases-athletic-budgets-hmm/

No, they are not cutting the program . . . they are cutting the department and rolling the programs and faculty to other departments. It doesn't sound good on the surface, but is slightly less bad when you read a little further. But it's still bad because they seem to be eliminating the research aspects of it, and changing the programs to fit in new places probably isn't good either.

UT "cut" its CS department 5 years ago by rolling it into the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. At UT, that meant it even moved to a new college (from Arts & Sciences to Engineering). But they did not eliminate anything when they did that except a title . . . everything else was just a change rather than an elimination. They still do research and offer BS/MS/PhD CompSci programs just like always. Still, it's an uncomfortable marriage that barely works, at least at UT.

Florida's biggest problem is they can't charge enough tuition. Their in-state tuition is years and years behind most public schools and doesn't reflect the true cost of students. So they depended on state resources, which are being cut left and right now . . . but they can only raise tuition so much each year in response.

[Salvador VOLi]

Also, jorts are an appropriate form of clothing there so it is just bad all around.

[Clockwork Orange]

Also, jorts are an appropriate form of clothing there so it is just bad all around.

If I understand correctly, jorts are mandatory in the UF CompSci program.

[Volznut]

No, they are not cutting the program . . . they are cutting the department and rolling the programs and faculty to other departments. It doesn't sound good on the surface, but is slightly less bad when you read a little further. But it's still bad because they seem to be eliminating the research aspects of it, and changing the programs to fit in new places probably isn't good either.

UT "cut" its CS department 5 years ago by rolling it into the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. At UT, that meant it even moved to a new college (from Arts & Sciences to Engineering). But they did not eliminate anything when they did that except a title . . . everything else was just a change rather than an elimination. They still do research and offer BS/MS/PhD CompSci programs just like always. Still, it's an uncomfortable marriage that barely works, at least at UT.

Florida's biggest problem is they can't charge enough tuition. Their in-state tuition is years and years behind most public schools and doesn't reflect the true cost of students. So they depended on state resources, which are being cut left and right now . . . but they can only raise tuition so much each year in response.

It sounds like they are cutting a lot of positions as well. Doesn't sound like they're just moving all of the courses elsewhere when you look at the cuts. Maybe some... They're certainly devaluing their program. "The school is eliminating all funding for teaching assistants in computer science, cutting the graduate and research programs entirely, and moving the tattered remnants into other departments."

[Clockwork Orange]

It sounds like they are cutting a lot of positions as well. Doesn't sound like they're just moving all of the courses elsewhere when you look at the cuts. Maybe some... They're certainly devaluing their program. "The school is eliminating all funding for teaching assistants in computer science, cutting the graduate and research programs entirely, and moving the tattered remnants into other departments."

Yes, they seem to be gutting the graduate program, which is a bit baffling. Those faculty are bringing in research dollars, and those research dollars (at least at UT) are the primary funding of graduate students. It seems they will still offer an undergraduate CS degree but no word on graduate degrees from other departments.

There are some that think this is a political ploy to make the state aware of how dire funding is getting . . . gutting a program people would see as crucial may motivate action? Who knows.

[BanditVol]

I had a discussion about this at work recently.  Way back when I was an undergrad, the CS department at UT was run by the Math department, for whatever reason.

There was a lot of talk about moving it to the EE department after I graduated, but I think they first made it into it's own department and then finally went the EE route.

It's not unusual to put CS into EE, it's a pretty common practice.

It does seem like they didn't protect all the capability though.  For the professors and grad students in CS, it's probalby like a smaller company getting swallowed by a bigger one. The employees of the smaller company typically suffer disproportionately in the elimination of redundancy.  That is, if anything gets cut it's usuaullly them and not the larger entity absorbing them.

[Volznut]

This is a growing trend. I guess they can't get enough ppl into technical fields, we keep having to get technical people from India and other Asian countries.

[ReVOLver]

A few years back my alma mater tried to incorporate the CSCI department into the business department and change the degree from a B.S. to a B.B.A. In the end they decided to leave it. I thought that was a good move