All colleges and universities have strengths and weaknesses. As many of our higher ed. institutions around the country continue to struggle with their own financial crises, some are being forced to eliminate programs that have low enrollments. Some are even saying goodbye to a few of their nontenured faculty related to these programs. Frankly, I do not think that every college should be teaching computer science. There are other degrees that are probably more relevant for smaller colleges, such as computer information science, information technology, etc. However, to use the reasoning that computer science is not "meaningful ... work" for the 21st century???? Are they serious? Come up with a better reason, Albion! I can not think many other fields that are more pertinent right now and in the future than computer science.
[UPDATE -- 7-Jun-2010] After thinking a little about this, here at Mansfield University, the administration has had to deal with the same decisions as Albion. For us, every single program had to suffer through a thorough evaluation this past year. We all had to justify our existence. Every department had an individual meeting with the provost and dean to discuss the financial crisis. However, for us at MU, it all came down to numbers, and they made no excuses about their reasoning. The budget was extremely short (by millions of dollars!) Their solution? Increase the average class size at the university. If your student-faculty ratio in your department was not above a certain threshold, or more directly, if your average student class size over all classes in your program was not above a specified minimum, then your program was flagged as a candidate for elimination, and you had to go through a thorough justification process. Right now, there are numerous programs up for elimination (none of which were in the computer information science dept.) You can imagine the outcry from students and faculty, though not as loud as I expected. These are indeed tough times for many colleges. If you are interviewing, it would behoove you to ask some very directed questions about the administration's view of the department you are applying for and the general support that the faculty believe they have of the dean, provost, etc. Ask if any classes or degrees have been discussed for elimination purposes, and why.
Albion should not be singled out and chastised for eliminating programs, only the poor reasoning they used to publicly justify their decision, at least with respect to computer science!
[UPDATE -- 7-Jun-2010] After thinking a little about this, here at Mansfield University, the administration has had to deal with the same decisions as Albion. For us, every single program had to suffer through a thorough evaluation this past year. We all had to justify our existence. Every department had an individual meeting with the provost and dean to discuss the financial crisis. However, for us at MU, it all came down to numbers, and they made no excuses about their reasoning. The budget was extremely short (by millions of dollars!) Their solution? Increase the average class size at the university. If your student-faculty ratio in your department was not above a certain threshold, or more directly, if your average student class size over all classes in your program was not above a specified minimum, then your program was flagged as a candidate for elimination, and you had to go through a thorough justification process. Right now, there are numerous programs up for elimination (none of which were in the computer information science dept.) You can imagine the outcry from students and faculty, though not as loud as I expected. These are indeed tough times for many colleges. If you are interviewing, it would behoove you to ask some very directed questions about the administration's view of the department you are applying for and the general support that the faculty believe they have of the dean, provost, etc. Ask if any classes or degrees have been discussed for elimination purposes, and why.
Albion should not be singled out and chastised for eliminating programs, only the poor reasoning they used to publicly justify their decision, at least with respect to computer science!
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