UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
The Graduate School
Curricular Report from the Graduate Council to the Faculty Senate
At Meeting No. 400 held
on 4 February, 2005, the Graduate
Council approved the following proposal that is now submitted to the
Faculty
Senate.
SECTION I
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
ABSTRACT
The
Graduate Council approved a proposal from the Department of Computer
Science
and Statistics to offer the Ph.D. degree in Computer Science. The proposed Ph.D. program will augment
a solid existing M.S. program in Computer Science that graduates from
10 to 15
students per year. The department
states that the program will enhance both the research and teaching
mission of
the department by attracting graduate students of high quality. The Graduate Council deemed the program
to be of significant merit, and it is forwarded to the Faculty Senate
in a
category for programs of merit that require no new funding resources.
BACKGROUND
Programs
similar to that described in the proposal are said to exist in every
state
university system in the country except Rhode Island.
The program is seen to fill deficiencies in the availability
of trained computer science researchers and advanced developers that
are an
impediment to the state-targeted development of a sustained, productive
software industry now and in the future.
The proposed Ph.D. degree will complement an existing Ph.D.
degree in
Applied Mathematical Sciences (AMS) with which the Computer Science
Department
has participated for over 15 years.
Because of the existing M.S. program in Computer Science and the
participation of the Department of Computer Science in the AMS Ph.D.,
the
proposed Ph.D. program is offered as a no-cost extension of existing
programs.
The
proposal was reviewed under the process established by the Faculty
Senate in
which the Graduate Council serves as the Coordinating and Review
Committee. Announcements of the
receipt of the proposal were sent to the Provost and the Council of
Deans, the
Budget Office, and Department Chairs and Directors.
Recommendations were sought from each of these, and the
comments received are appended.
Comments and recommendations have been kept on file in the
Graduate
School.
The Budget Office responded with the understanding that no additional resources would be required for implementation of the program. Citing the prospect that the proposed degree would allow students to ÒfindÓ the program more easily, the Council of Deans unanimously endorsed the proposal.
SECTION II
RECOMMENDATION
The Graduate Council approved the proposal for the Ph.D. degree in Computer Science at its meeting number 400 held on 4 February, 2005, and forwards it to the Faculty Senate in a category for programs of merit that require no number 400 held on 4 February, 2005, and forwards it to the Faculty Senate in a category for programs of merit that require no new funding resources.
The University of Rhode
Island
Department of Computer Science and
Statistics
Proposal for a Ph. D in Computer Sciences
Department
|
March
3, 2003
|
College of Arts and
Sciences
|
May
10, 2004
|
Graduate Council
|
February
4, 2005
|
Faculty Senate
|
|
President of the
University
|
|
7.
Summary
This proposal seeks to establish a Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Rhode Island. Similar programs exist in every state university system in the country except Rhode Island. This program is essential to fill gaping deficiencies in trained computer science researchers and advanced developers that are a well-known impediment to the state-targeted development of a sustained, productive software industry now and in the future.
The
program is consistent with URI's teaching and research mission. It will
improve
the research mission by attracting better computer science graduate
students.
These better students will themselves perform better research while at
URI,
will allow the URI Computer Science Department faculty to do better,
more
advanced research, and will generate trained researchers many of whom
will stay
in the state to continue the cycle of improved computer science
research
state-wide. It will improve URI's teaching mission by attracting better
graduate students who can teach or assist in teaching undergraduate
courses,
and by generating critical mass that will allow a richer, more in-depth
selection of graduate computer science courses. Overall it will impact
URI's
mission of supporting the state of Rhode Island by addressing at the
highest
level the well-known deficiency in trained computer scientists that the
state
needs.
This
proposed Ph.D. program will augment a flourishing existing Master of
Computer
Science program at URI that graduates ~10-15 students every year. The
proposed
Ph.D. degree will also complement a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematical
Sciences
(AMS) program in which the Computer Science department has participated
for
over 15 years as an inadequate, but expedient, substitute for a
Computer
Science Ph.D. program. Currently, students who wish a research degree
in
Computer Science at URI must pursue an Applied Mathematics course
curriculum - which is a
significant obstacle in attracting and retaining good Computer Science
students.
The relation of the proposed Computer Science Ph.D. program to the
current AMS
Ph.D. program is described Section C2, the deficiencies of the current
AMS
program in supporting URI's mission in the area of Computer Science is
detailed
in Section B2.
Due to the Department's
current
participation in the AMS Ph.D. program and the existence of a strong
Master's
program, this proposed establishment of a Ph.D. in Computer Science
should be a
no-cost extension that serves the university and state better. Because
the
department already offers the A.M.S. Ph.D. curriculum, no new courses
will be
required, nor will there be any need for new resources for research,
since
these are already in place to support the department's current
programs. In
sum, this proposed new program will attract better students and will
enable
better training of the students that come to URI by allowing them to
focus
fully on computer science learning and research.
8. Signature
of the President:
9.
No additional resources are required for this program.
Name:
Dr. James Kowalski
Title:
Chair, Dept. of Computer
Science and
Statistics
Telephone: 401-872-2701
Email:
kowalski@cs.uri.edu
Rhode
Island has a well-documented shortage of software developers and
designers. It
is also the only state in the nation whose state university system does
not
offer a Ph.D. in Computer Science.
The
URI Computer Science Department currently has the course content,
research
infrastructure, and faculty skill and desire to produce significant
research
results and skilled computer science researchers, but has difficulty
attracting
graduate students due to a lack of a Computer Science Ph.D. program.
The
current graduate degrees offered by the URI Computer Science
Department--a
Masters in Computer Science and a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematic
Sciences--are
reputable, solid programs, but inadequate for current and future needs.
These
programs are detailed in Section C2. The Computer Science Master's
degree
program is strong, but is a program, by its definition, that does not
foster
advanced research or the development of advanced researchers. The AMS
Ph.D. is
a multi-disciplinary program that has been used by the Computer Science
department as an expedient substitute while the department obtained the
"critical mass" necessary for its own Ph.D. program, something which
has now happened. The AMS Ph.D. program has produced some trained
computer
science researchers over the 15+ years of its existence, but the
program is not
adequate in meeting the objectives in Section B1. First, it is not
attractive
to many good, potential computer science graduate students who want to
study
computer science, as opposed to applied mathematics, and want to have
"Computer Science'' in their degree title. Second, the AMS program is
administered by a committee comprised of faculty from many diverse
departments,
not by computer science faculty. Finally, the course requirements in
the AMS
program require many courses outside of or unrelated to computer
science--a
fact that can detract from a computer science graduate student's
intended focus
of study.
The
program proposed here would address these needs by creating a bona fide
Ph.D.
in Computer Science that would attract better computer science graduate
students, allow them to focus better on computer science education and
research, and in the end produce better computer science research
results and
better computer science researchers.
A
Ph.D. program in Computer Science is consistent with URI's teaching
mission,
research mission, and mission in supporting the state's economic
development.
It will improve the research mission in several ways: by attracting
better
graduate students that will support a talented faculty in producing
computer
science research results. It will improve URI's teaching mission by
attracting
better graduate students that will teach and assist in teaching
undergraduate
courses, and by continuing to generate critical mass that will allow a
richer,
more in-depth selection of graduate computer science courses. Overall
it will
impact URI's mission of supporting the state of Rhode Island by
addressing at
the highest level the well-known deficiency in trained computer
scientists that
the state needs, and by producing research results that will transition
to
bolster Rhode Island's software industry.
The
University of Rhode Island currently offers two programs related to the
proposed Ph.D. program. The first of these is the computer engineering
specialization of the Ph.D. in electrical engineering. Similarities
between
that program and the one proposed here, however, are only superficial.
The two
different programs appeal to students with significantly different
backgrounds,
their banks of courses share minimal overlap, and they target
completely
different domains of application: hardware and digital devices versus
software
and algorithms. Consequently, the proposed program will have minimal or
no
effect on the existing Ph.D. program in electrical engineering.
The
situation is significantly different with respect to the other related
Ph.D.
program offered at URI, i.e., the Applied Mathematical Sciences Ph.D.
program.
This program is sponsored by the Departments of Computer Science and
Statistics,
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Management Science, and
Mathematics.
As mentioned earlier, the AMS. Ph.D. program is the only Ph.D. program
with
computer science content that is currently available to computer
science
graduate students. As of Fall, 2004, there are a total of 10 students
in the
AMS Ph.D. program: 5 in the computer science track, 3 in the applied
math
track, 1 in the operations research track, and 1 in the statistics
track. At
least 4 of the 5 in the computer science track would prefer to be in a
pure CS
Ph.D. program. In the future, we can expect that most students
interested in
computer science will enter the CS Ph.D. program rather than the AMS
program.
It is therefore unavoidable that the creation of the proposed program
will
likely result in a reduced enrollment in the A.M.S. Ph.D. program.
However,
this fact contributes to the no-cost claim made in this proposal.
However,
it is expected that the new program will not simply drain students from
the AMS
program, it will attract new students. As explained earlier, a
significant
number of prospective Ph.D. students, including students enrolled in or
recently graduated from the M.S. in Computer Science program, have the
required
background for the A.M.S. Ph.D. program, but nevertheless decide not to
join
this program, either because the course requirements deter them or
simply
because they desire a true Computer Science degree. Thus, we expect to
attract
some of these students who either go elsewhere or decide not to pursue
the a
Ph.D. at all. We also believe that the proposed program will appeal to
students
with different backgrounds (e.g. biology or music), just as the M.S. in
computer science program does. Moreover, with improved research due to
better
students, the ability of the faculty to attract outside funding will be
enhanced, which, in turn, will provide for more (and better) supported
Ph.D.
students.
In
summary, it is expected that the proposed Ph.D. program will increase
the
overall number of Ph.D. students in computer science-related fields, by
retaining students who are enrolled in the M.S. in computer science
program,
but also by attracting students who would not apply for the current
AMS. Ph.D.
program.
No
other Rhode Island state institutions offer a similar program - making
Rhode
Island the only state in the country without a Computer Science Ph.D.
program
in its state supported higher education system.
Table
1 displays the core requirements for the Ph.D. program at some of these
state
institutions. (Table 1 s available on the web at http://www.uri.edu/facsen/5A_Table1.pdf
)
This
program will have no effect on other state institutions in Rhode Island
because
no other state institution offers a Ph.D. in Computer Science.
3.
Provision for transfer students from RI
There
is no provision for transfer students from other RI institutions
because no
other state institution offers a Ph.D. in Computer Science.
4.
Cooperative arrangements
None
5.
External affiliations
None
6.
New England Board of Higher Education
This
program will not be available to students under the New England Board
of Higher
Education (NEBHE) Regional Student Program (RSP) as every other state
institution already has a Computer Science Ph.D. program.
Requirements
for the proposed program fall into these categories:
¤
Course
requirements,
¤
Comprehensive
examination,
¤
Presentation
requirement,
¤
Dissertation
and final
oral examination.
Normal
course requirements and examination policies of the Graduate School
apply to
all components of the proposed program.
Course
Requirements. A student with
a
Bachelor's degree in computer science or in a related area can pursue
directly
the Ph.D. degree; however, the program has been designed primarily for
students
who already have an M.S. degree in computer science.
The
student must complete 54 credits of course work beyond the Bachelor's
degree in
addition to 18 credits for the doctoral dissertation. Courses that are
normally
required in the U.R.I. undergraduate curriculum corresponding to the
student's
B.S. program may not be applied toward the 54 credits of course work.
A
student entering the program with an M.S. degree in computer science or
in a
related area may be granted up to 30 credits towards the Ph.D. in
Computer
Science.
The
following list identifies five core areas, subdivided into eleven
overlapping
domains. The student will be required to select at least one course in
each of
domains A1, A2, B1, B2, C, and D, and courses in at least two different
domains
of core area E, for a total of eight different courses. No single
course can be
used to satisfy two different domain requirements. Course prerequisites
will be
strictly enforced to guarantee that the student effectively masters the
material of the core areas. (Some courses from other departments such
as
Computer Engineering and Mathematics are appropriate for addition to
these
categories and will likely be added soon after the program begins.
However, at
the time this proposal was prepared and initially approved by the
department, only
departmental courses were explicitly considered.)
A: Algorithms and
Theory
A1: Algorithms
CSC
440, Algorithms and Data Structures
CSC
541, Advanced Topics in Algorithms
CSC
542, Mathematical Analysis of Algorithms
CSC592T
Advanced Algorithms for Geometry and Graphics
A2: Theory of Computation
CSC 445, Models of Computation
CSC 544, Theory of Computation
B: Architecture and
Systems
B1: Computer
Architecture
CSC 411, Computer Organization
CSC 415, Introduction to Parallel
Computing
CSC 511, Advanced Computer
Organization
CSC 517, Design and Analysis of VLSI
Systems
B2: Computer Systems
CSC 412, Operating Systems and
Networks
CSC 512, Topics in Distributed
Systems
CSC 519, Computer Networks
C: Programming
Languages
CSC
402, Compiler Design
CSC
501, Programming Language Semantics
CSC
502, Theory of Compilers
D: Software Design
CSC
505, Software Engineering
CSC
509, Object-oriented System Design
CSC
592S, Bioinformatics
E: Applications
E1: Databases
CSC
436, Database Management Systems,
CSC
536, Topics in Data Management Systems,
CSC
592U, Data Mining
E2: Distributed Computing
CSC
415, Introduction to Parallel Computing,
CSC
511, Advanced Computer Organization,
CSC
512, Topics in Distributed Systems,
E3: Graphics and
Visualization
CSC
406, Computer Graphics
CSC
592R, Computer Graphics -- Scene Modeling and Rendering
CSC
592T, Advanced Algorithms for Geometry and Graphics
CSC
583, Computer Vision
E4: Intelligent
Systems
CSC
481, Artificial Intelligence
CSC
581, Special Topics in Artificial Intelligence
CSC
583, Computer Vision
CSC
592U, Data Mining
E5: Mathematical Computation
CSC
525, Simulation
CSC
550, Computer Algebra
CSC
547, Combinatorics and Graph Theory
CSC
548, Topics in Combinatorics
Students
are also required to take two credits of Computer Science Research
Seminars.
Other courses must be selected in order to meet the 54-credit minimum
and will
be selected in consultation with the student's Advisor or Major
Professor. They
are not required to be from among those appearing in the above list.
Comprehensive
examination. The student
must take a
comprehensive examination, which is composed of a written examination
and an
oral examination. The comprehensive examination committee will consist
of the
student's Major Professor and two other members of the graduate faculty
(one of
which should represent a field of study related to that of the
student's major)
¤
Written
Exam: The written
examination, which will be held at least
once a year, covers core areas A, B, C, and D listed above. Success in
the
written examination is conditional on obtaining passing grades in all
core
areas, and is a prerequisite for being allowed to take the oral
examination.
Typically, it would be expected that a student take the comprehensive
examination within a year to two years after joining the program. A
student may
not take the comprehensive examination after being in the program for
six
months or less.
¤
Oral Exam: The objective of the oral examination is for
the
student to present an intended research program and demonstrate
satisfactory
knowledge and understanding of the scientific literature of the
corresponding
research domain. For this purpose, prior to the oral examination, the
student
will submit to the comprehensive examination committee: (1) the text of
a
research proposal and (2) bibliographies for three research domains
related to
that of the intended research project. Following the presentation of
the
intended research project, the student will be interrogated by the
comprehensive examination committee on this project and on its
background
bibliography.
Unanimous
approval by the comprehensive examination committee is required for
passing. A
candidate whose performance fails to receive unanimous approval may,
with the
recommendation of the committee and the approval of the Graduate
School, be
permitted one re-examination, to be taken no sooner than four months
and no
later than one year after the initial examination.
Presentation
requirement. Although
students
enrolled in the program will be encouraged to teach a course for at
least one
semester, not all entering students intend to undertake a career in
academia.
This program will therefore not make such a teaching experience
mandatory.
On
the other hand, whether the student intends to undertake a career in
academia
or in the industry, the ability to present and communicate well the
material in
one's field of expertise is an essential skill for a Ph.D. candidate.
Therefore
all students enrolled in the program must have done at least two
presentations
in the regular department research seminar series prior to defending
his or her
Ph.D. thesis.
The
following two pages present two different sample programs of study to
show how
a student may fulfill the course requirements of the program. All of
the
courses mentioned, with the exception of CSC 5xx: Research Seminar, are
already
in place and are offered regularly, some once a year, some once every
other
year, in order to support our active M.S. program and the computer
science
track of the AMS Ph.D program.
It
should be mentioned that beginning with the 2004-05 academic year, the
department is undertaking a complete curricular review at the graduate
and
undergraduate levels, partly in response to a decision to seek ABET
program
accreditation for the undergraduate programs, partly to respond to
Board of
Governors' mandate to implement assessment procedures with programs,
and partly
as a normal periodic curricular review. Some curricular changes are
expected
but at this point it appears they will be relatively modest. (See
http://www.uri.edu/facsen/5A_Sample_programs.pdf
F.
Faculty and Staff
1.
Present Faculty
The percentage of time in
the
program listed for each faculty member reflects time spent on
administration,
graduate student supervision, and a portion of research. Note that this
proposed Ph.D. program is a no-cost proposal - these percentages
reflect time
that the faculty already spends on similar tasks in the MS Program and
AMS
Ph.D. program, which will be replaced by work in the Computer Science
Ph.D.
program.
Gerard
Baudet, Ph.D. in Computer
Science,
Carnegie Mellon University, Associate Professor (tenured). Design and
analysis
of VLSI systems, Computer architecture, Parallel algorithms,
Educational
software. Percent of time spent in proposed program: 15%-20%
Lisa
Cinsiger DiPippo, Ph.D. in
Applied
Mathematical Sciences, University of Rhode Island,Assistant Professor
(non-tenured). Real-time object-oriented systems, Database systems,
Distributed
systems Percent of time spent in proposed program: 20%
Victor
Fay-Wolfe, Ph.D. in Computer
Science,
University of Pennsylvania,Professor (tenured). Distributed computing,
Object-oriented methodologies, Real-time computing, Sensor networks,
Computer
Forensics, Computing concepts for general education. Percent of time
spent in
proposed program: 20%
Lutz
Hamel, Ph.D. in Computer
Science,
Oxford University, UK. Assistant Professor (non-tenured). Data mining,
Database
management, Artificial intelligence. Percent of time spent in proposed
program:
20%
Timothy
Henry, Ph.D. in Applied
Mathematical
Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Lecturer (non-tenured). Computer
graphics, 3D modeling, and animation, Virtual and augmented reality,
Sensor
networks. Percent of time spent in proposed program: 20%
Jean-Yves
HervŽ, Ph.D. in Computer
Science,
University of Maryland Assistant Professor (non-tenured). Computer
vision,
Robotics, Virtual and augmented reality, Simulation, Computer graphics.
Percent
of time spent in proposed program: 20%
James
G. Kowalski, Ph.D. in
Philosophy,
University of Notre Dame, Professor (tenured) and chair. Expert
systems,
Artificial intelligence applications, Machine learning, Neural networks. Percent of time spent in proposed
program: 20%
Edmund
A. Lamagna, Ph.D. in Computer
Science, Brown University, Professor (tenured). Symbolic and algebraic
computation, Design and analysis of algorithms, Programming languages,
User
interfaces. Percent of time spent in proposed program: 20%.
Joan
Peckham, Ph.D. in Computer
Science,
University of Connecticut Professor (tenured). Database systems,
Semantic
modeling, Active databases, Object-oriented design, Bioinformatics.
Percent of
time spent in proposed program: 20%.
Adjunct:
Miguel Encarnacion, Ph.D. in
Computer
Science, the University of Tubingen, Germany Center for Research in
Computer
Graphics, Inc., Fraunhofer Institute, Providence, RI. Computer
graphics,
Virtual reality, Design and analysis of algorithms. Percent of time
spent in
proposed program: 5%
Adjunct:
Peter Stephenson, Ph.D. in
Computer
Science, University of North Queensland, Australia Center for Research
in
Computer Graphics, Inc., Fraunhofer Institute, Providence, RI. Computer
graphics, Virtual reality, Design and analysis of algorithms. Percent
of time
spent in proposed program: 5%
Proposed
Faculty. Over the past five
years,
the Department of Computer Science added two full-time, tenure track
faculty as
part of a growth plan agreed to by the Provost. Unfortunately, we have
had a
retirement and a resignation during the same period, with one of the
positions
now being held by a full-time lecturer who participates actively in the
research programs of the department. We also have active research,
teaching,
and mentoring contributions provided by our adjunct faculty. All in
all, we
have sufficient faculty at present to support this program; indeed, our
present
faculty are supporting the needs of the 5 students currently in the
computer
science track of the AMS Ph. D. program. Thus, no new faculty are
required to
implement this program. However, we would expect to add faculty slowly,
perhaps
initially as research faculty, as the program develops and grows.
2.
Anticipated Support Staff
The
department currently has two full-time secretaries and has a staff of
undergraduate and graduate students who serve as computer systems
administrators to oversee our extensive computer facilities. One
research group
(Real -Time and Distributed Systems) funds a system
administrator/programmer
and a part-time financial administrator from research awards. Another
research
group (3D Graphics Modeling and Animation) funds another system
administrator/programmer) from their research awards. The new program
will not
immediately require additional support staff. With the expected growth
in
funded research, additional support staff (funded from research awards)
may
become necessary, but this will not impact the department's
unrestricted
budget.
This
proposed program would require no additional faculty or support staff
costs.
The Department of Computer Science already offers a full and adequate
selection
of graduate courses for its MS in Computer Science and for the Computer
Science
concentration in the AMS Ph.D. Program. The Department also already has
a
Graduate Committee that administers these programs. The proposed Ph.D.
program
is expected to replace faculty and staff effort in these existing
programs -
thus yielding no additional cost. In addition, it is expected that
increased
quality of research will attract external funding that will increase
revenue.
That is, any additional effort will be self-supporting from external
funding,
and in fact will be revenue-generating.
Potential
students will come from several sources. Students with Master's degrees
in
Computer Science---both from URI and elsewhere---will be the primary
source for
the program. Our current Master's program in Computer Science will
provide a
good pool of students. Many of our graduate students are international
students
who choose to obtain a Master's degree in Computer Science at URI
because of
the department's reputation in several important research areas. This
reputation will also attract international students to the Ph.D.
program. It is
expected that some of our existing Ph.D. students in the Applied
Mathematical
Sciences (AMS) program will transfer to the Computer Science Ph.D.
program.
This change will not necessarily affect the research that the student
may
undergo, but the course requirements will clearly be different. While
the new
program will likely draw some students away from the AMS Ph.D. program,
these
are students that have chosen to do their Ph.D. studies at URI because
of the
research being performed by the faculty, probably not because of the
AMS Ph.D.
program.
Once
the program is up and running for a few years, it is estimated that it
will
have approximately 10-20 students in some phase of the program. This
estimate
is based on the number of faculty in the department, with each faculty
member
advising approximately 1 or 2 students.
3.
Admission and retention requirements
A
student with a Bachelor's degree in computer science or in a related
area may
be admitted to this Ph.D. program; however, the program has been
designed
primarily for students who already have an M.S. degree in Computer
Science.
The
GRE general test is required. A subject (advanced) test in computer
science or
a related field is not required, but, if submitted, may be considered
by the
admissions committee.
Background
requirements for admission to the program are B or higher grades in
courses
equivalent to the following:
¤
CSC 211,
Introductory
Programming and Design,
¤
CSC 212,
Data Structures
and Abstractions,
¤
CSC 301,
Fundamentals of
Programming Languages,
¤
CSC 305,
Software
Engineering,
¤
CSC 340,
Mathematical
Foundations of Computer Science,
¤
MTH 141,
Introductory
Calculus with Analytic Geometry,
¤
MTH 142,
Intermediate
Calculus with Analytic Geometry,
¤
MTH 215,
Introduction to
Linear Algebra,
¤
MTH 243,
Calculus for
Functions of Several Variables.
Applicants
with course deficiencies may be required to take appropriate
undergraduate
courses, for no program credit, and to demonstrate, by their
performance in
such coursework, basic knowledge of the subject matter in the area(s)
of
deficiency.
In
conformity with Graduate School requirements, students are expected to
maintain
a cumulative average of B or higher and to receive passing grades in
all their
courses (B- or higher for a 400-level course and C or higher for a
course at
the 500 and 600 levels). In addition, as specified in Section E,
continuation
of status is conditional on the passing, within the specified time
limits, of
the qualifying examination (if required) and of the comprehensive
examination.
4.
Scholarships and fellowships
The
Computer Science department currently has 9 teaching assistantships
available
for graduate students, both in the Master's degree program and the AMS
Ph.D.
program. It is anticipated that the department will have at least as
many
assistantships when the Computer Science Ph.D. program is available.
The
department will give preference to
Ph.D.
students when offering assistantships in order to attract good students
and
retain them. Other sources of support will come from research grant
funds and
projects in other departments that require students with computer
expertise.
Currently the Computer Science Department supports 8 students on
Research
Assistantships.
Currently,
the Computer Science Department has Sloan grant funding for supporting
several
minority Ph.D. students. This funding has gone unused for several years
in
great part due to the lack of a bona fide Ph.D. in program in Computer
Science
to attract the minority students.
H.
Administration
The
degree will be administered by the Computer Science Graduate Committee,
which
is presently comprised of four Computer Science faculty members. The
proposed
Ph.D. program will have a negligible impact on the roles and duties of
this
administrative structure. The Graduate Committee already administers
most
aspects of the AMS Ph.D. program for students who have indicated an
interest in
Computer Science, as well as all aspects of the program for the
Computer
Science Master's degree students. Current AMS Ph.D. students whose
Major
Professor is a Computer Science faculty member and whose expressed
interest is
Computer Science, have their applications reviewed by this committee,
have
their progress tracked by this committee, and have most issues resolved
by this
committee. We anticipate the number of graduate students in the
department to
increase only slightly due to the new Ph.D. program (instead the
primary
ramification will be a shift of Ph.D. students from the AMS Ph.D.
program,
which we currently administer anyway, to this new program).
The
Department Chair will have overall administrative responsibility for
this
program and will be assisted by the Department's Graduate Committee.
Administering graduate programs requires no more than one or two hours
per week
in average. Thus it seems reasonable that less than 5% of the chair's
time and
that of the CS graduate committee members will be spent on this
program. More
importantly, the increase in time over that already spent on
administering
Computer Science graduate programs would be essentially zero because
this
effort will be in lieu of similar effort on the AMS Ph.D. program
administration.
As
noted above, we expect essentially zero additional administrative costs
over
what we already have because this effort will be in lieu of similar
effort on
the AMS Ph.D. program administration.
Existing
materials currently used to support computer science research performed
by our
AMS Ph.D. students are adequate to support our proposed Computer
Science Ph.D.
program. These library resources are currently supplemented by a small
departmental library, and by the faculty's own private subscriptions to
the
major professional journals.
Existing
resources used to support our AMS Ph.D. program are adequate to support
the
proposed Computer Science Ph.D. program.
J.
Facilities and Capital Equipment
No
new facilities or capital equipment are necessary.
As
we have described, there are negligible new expenditures will be
required for
the Ph.D. program since resources are already in place to support the
DepartmentÕs existing MS program and computer science track in
the AMS Ph.D.
program.
The
table below shows the department's rough estimates of additional
revenue
expected to be generated by the program. The additional revenue will
come from
two distinct and separate sources: 1) revenue from tuition and fees
paid by
students not supported in any way by University teaching or research
assistantships and 2) revenue derived from increased external funding
facilitated or made possible by the exisitence of a true computer
science Ph.D.
program at the University.
The
first category of revenue comes from students who will be supported by
their
employers or will pay their own way. We assume that two such students
will
enter the program annually beginning in the second year. This revenue
is shown
in the top part of the table. (Tuition amounts are based on estimates
provided
by the Office of the Provost.)
The
second category of revenue is based on the assumption that the presence
of a
true computer science Ph.D. program will enable us to better compete
for and be
awarded increased external research funding. The department already has
had
some success (~$1 million in 2004-05) in winning research awards. We
assume
that we will be able to win additional funding (over present levels) of
$150,000 in the second year of the program and will be able to increase
that at
a rate of $150,000/year over the first few years of the program. This
seems
conservative since the two faculty members currently supporting AMS
Ph.D.
candidates themselves bring in over $300,000 in grants and contracts
per year.
At any rate, the assumed increased grant awards are shown as a lump sum
in the
line of the table labeled "Grants and Contracts."
Additional Revenue Estimates Table
(See http://www.uri.edu/facsen/5A_Additional_Revenue_Est.pdf)
Budget
Summary. The budget
indicates
negligible new expenditures and estimates approximately one million
dollars in
additional revenues to the university over the first four years of the
new
Computer Science Ph.D. program.
As
mentioned earlier, the proposed Ph.D. program will draw some resources
from the
existing MS in Computer Science and the Computer Science
DepartmentÕs
participation in the AMS Ph.D. program. The new program is expected to
enhance
the capacity of the faculty to do research and obtain grants, which
will
provide support for graduate students and additional revenues to the
university.
Initial
evaluation of the program will be based on the following considerations:
¤
The number
of students
who join the program;
¤
The shift
from the
number of students currently enrolled in the A.M.S. Ph.D. program and
supervised by computer science faculty, to the number of students
enrolled in
our proposed Ph.D. program in Computer Science;
¤
How our
students are
doing in the marketplace 2 years after graduation;
¤
Increase in
external
funding.
We will also suggest an
external
evaluation at the completion of the first 4 years of the program, at
the
expected graduation of our first Ph.D. students. The evaluation will be
conducted by a committee whose members are from peer universities.
In addition, the
proposed program will
be subject to the periodic internal program review process required by
the
university.
There
are currently no accreditation boards for Ph.D. programs in computer
science.