UW-Madison’s announced Tuesday that the Computer Science department is slated for review to keep up with demand and continue the growth of the major.
Chancellor Rebecca Blank created a working group Tuesday “charged with assessing options to enhance computing education and research on campus,” according to a statement.
The group will work with leaders in the field across the university and state and will be led by Tom Erickson, a technology entrepreneur and graduate of the CS program, and Michael Lehman, UW-Madison’s interim-chief information officer.
The group will work with leaders in the field across the university and state and complete their recommendations during the summer.
“Our university has long been a leader in the field of computer and computational science,” Blank said. “We can build on that historical role so that Wisconsin can continue to be a leader in a knowledge-based, technology-driven economy and society.”
In a 2014 US and World Reports survey, UW-Madison ranked 11th in the nation, but Erickson still wants the university to do more.
“The pervasive nature of computing in our world and the intense increase in demand for learning is forcing universities globally to rethink their computer science programs,” Erickson said in a statement.
Computer science has become the most popular major on campus with 1,300 students seeking a degree in the field in 2017, but the university is looking to strengthen both the quality and quantity in the department.
The group is specifically looking for strategies to increase research output for faculty and expose students to developing fields in computer science such as big data, artificial intelligence and computational thinking, according to the statement.
