DEAN’S RESPONSE
Planning and Review Committee
B.S. Game Design and Development
College of Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics
Year: 2015
Recommendations for the Program Director:
Issue/Concern: Work with department chairs and deans/directors to establish formal process to
ensure continuous open communication and foster cooperation and collaboration of multiple
disciplines crucial to the success of the GDD program.
Response from Program Director: With the creation of the new B.F.A. in GDD-Art, it will be even more
important to have good communication between the program directors of the two programs. Discussions
are ongoing between the program directors to structure how the programs will go forward separately. As
a result, I will direct the remaining responses toward the B.S. Game Design and Development-Computer
Science program only.
Issue/Concern: Work with chairs and deans to generate/identify funding/financing to support
technology needs of the GDD program and establish a lifecycle replacement plan for hardware and
software needed.
Response from Program Director: The program director will continue to work with the MSCS
department chair and STEM dean to establish a lifecycle replacement plan for hardware and software
needed by students in the B.S. Game Design and Development-Computer Science. Funding sources and
financial support from industry will need to be identified to assure that our students have the
technological resources that are needed.
Issue/Concern: Work with internal and external stakeholders to develop more sites for co-op and
graduate placements.
Response from Program Director: The program director will continue to work with current industry
contacts, and identify new contacts, to develop more co-op sites and full-time placements. Students in the
computer science side of the program have historically had very good placement rates (2012-100%, 201392%) and many have completed co-op experiences although it was not instituted as a graduation
requirement for those entering the program prior to 2014.
Issue/Concern: Work with departments to infuse needed curriculum improvements that address
student and industry needs, including portfolio development, breadth in pertinent software and
hardware experiences and business skills needed for game designers.
Response from Program Director: CS-290 Professional Seminar has been approved through CIC which
will allow directed focus of student effort on identifying the student’s strengths and interests, developing
a resume and portfolio, and acquiring job search and interviewing skills for finding and securing co-op
and full-time positions. New courses will need to be developed to give B.S. Game Design and
Development-Computer Science students more breadth in hardware experience such as iOS and to
develop business skills needed for game designers.
Recommendations for the Department Chair:
Issue/Concern: Work with Program Director and Key Faculty to ensure continuous open
communication and cooperation to support the GDD program.
Response from Department Chair of MSCS: With the creation of the new B.F.A. in GDD-Art, it will be
even more important to have good communication between the Department of Mathematics, Statistics and
Computer Science and the Department of Design. I will continue to work with the chair of the
Department of Design to coordinate the scheduling of courses, staffing of dually-housed courses, the
possible team-teaching of such courses, and sharing resources as needed.
Issue/Concern: Offer leadership in obtaining funding needed for upgrades in laboratories.
Response from Department Chair of MSCS: During the summer of 2014, new computers were purchased
for a department computer lab. As chair, I worked closely with the program director to support the lab
mod proposal which led to the funding. I will continue to do such in the future as well as seek new
opportunities for funding and work with other departments on campus to potentially share, rather than
duplicate resources to meet students’ needs.
Issue/Concern: Ensure faculty members receive ongoing training needed to stay current in the GDD
area.
Response from Department Chair of MSCS: The department has consistently supported faculty/staff in
attending workshops and conferences in pursuit of professional development and I will continue to help
faculty find resources to do so.
Issue/Concern: Work to attract innovative faculty and instructional staff to adequately support the
special needs and provide continuity for the GDD program.
Response from Department Chair of MSCS: The MSCS Department continues to face increasing course
demands in all disciplines, and we continue to work to meet all those needs. This year, we used a faculty
vacancy to search for an additional computer science faculty member. We have successfully filled this
position. Aside from the need for a sabbatical replacement, for the next year, we are quite close to having
the necessary staffing in place to meet student needs. However, demands will continue to grow and longterm, team-teaching and related workload issues needs to be addressed to determine the number of faculty
needed. I will continue to work with the Dean to secure additional positions for the department as
needed.
Recommendations for the Dean:
Issue/Concern: Offer support for funding needed for laboratory upgrades and continuous training for
instructional faculty/staff needed to stay current in the GDD program.
Response from Dean: The Dean will continue to work with upper administration to develop a dedicated
funding stream to support high end computer laboratories and other equipment needs necessary for
delivery of our polytechnic mission across the campus.
Issue/Concern: Provide support for the acquisition of adequate human resources and technology
needed to serve the GDD program.
Response from Dean: The Dean will continue to work with the department chair to ensure the program is
adequately staffed. Recently the department hired a new computer science faculty member who will be
starting fall 2015.
Issue/Concern: Because the GDD program depends so heavily upon collaboration between a
department and school in separate colleges, work to ensure the support needed to deliver the
integrated art/design/computer science learning experiences that are crucial to the program.
Response from Dean: To ensure strong collaboration between the BFA and BS programs for the benefit
of students the Dean supports:
 Continuation of the joint Program/Industrial Advisory Board.
 Regularly scheduled meetings between GDD-CS and GDD-Art program directors and program
faculty.
 Regularly scheduled meetings between the department chairs of MSCS and Design to ensure
logical course scheduling for the benefit of the students.