Department of Computer Science 2006-2007
College of Science
Program Planning Committee Report to the Provost
November 2, 2009
The Program Planning Committee commends the Computer Science Department on a thoughtful and
well-written self-study. The department has gracefully managed a significant decline in students over
much of the review period. We congratulate the department on its recent continuing accreditation by
ABET and recruiting efforts toward women and minorities in the major.
Since completing the self-study, the department has made progress toward direct assessment of student
learning. Having reviewed recent department assessment reports as well as the self-study, the PPC
encourages the department to focus on direct assessment of student performance and to lighten faculty
workload by streamlining department involvement in materials and pedagogy used in individual classes.
The goal is student competence rather than oversight of faculty.
The final step in the program planning process is a meeting with Interim Provost Selter, AVP of
Undergraduate Studies Jaehne, AVP of Graduate Studies and Research Stacks, Dean Parrish, and
Department Chair Louden. The department should get a recent Required Data Set from Institutional
research for the meeting. The department should contact Svetla Ilieva or Gloria Edwards in the Office of
Undergraduate Studies to schedule the final meeting. The following topics for discussion are summarized
from the reports:
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enrollment trends and establishment or development of niche competencies
student demand for the minor and certificate
effectiveness and efficiency of separate computer science and computer engineering
programs/departments
enforcement of prerequisites and possible capstone or culminating project for undergraduates
availability of external funding, especially in light of current trends in State funding
If the Department would like to propose other issues for the meeting, please discuss the appropriateness
of the topics with your Dean.
The Program Planning Committee recommends acceptance of the self-study. The self-study provided an
excellent examination of the issues for subsequent reviewers. The next program review for all programs
in the Department of Computer Science is scheduled for AY 2012-13. The self-study will be due to your
Dean in spring 2012 following the completion of the accreditation review.
CC:
Mary Calegari, Chair
Susan McNiesh
Beverly Grindstaff
Charles Whitcomb
Shailaja Venkatsubramanyan
Debra Caires
Dennis Jaehne
Chunlei Wang
Elaine Collins
Pam Stacks
Lisa Oliver
Robert Cooper
Sutee Sujitparapitaya
Xiaolu Hu
Annabel Prins
Jackie Snell
Gary Stebbins
Quynh Lu
Ashwini Wagle
M. E. Fayad
Carolus Boekema
Kenneth Louden, Chair, Department of Computer Science
Michael Parrish, Dean, College of Science
Maureen Scharberg, Associate Dean, College of Science
Malu Roldan, Chair, Curriculum and Research
Dennis Jaehne, AVP Undergraduate Studies
Pam Stacks, AVP Graduate Studies and Research
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Charles Whitcomb, Vice-Provost
Appendix
Letter of approval from UGS senate committee for 121 units dated October 27, 2009.
Summary of Self Report dated November 2007
Executive Summary
The department offers a BSCS and MSCS program. In addition they offer a Minor in Computer Science
and a Certificate in Unix System Administration. A BS in Software Engineering is managed jointly with the
Department of Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering. The degree in Software Engineering
is not addressed in this report because it is reviewed with Computer Engineering. However, the
department comments the previous program review recommendation to offer more software engineering
courses has been difficult to implement because of low faculty interest. As of the self-study this was still a
major topic of discussion as improving software engineering skills of students is a stated outcome of the
MSCS program.
Recommendations Regarding Curriculum
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Continue existing undergraduate assessment with an eye to simplifying and streamlining
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Institute a similar assessment process for the MSCS. Resolve disparities between requirements,
goals, and outcomes
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Complete development of CS 200W
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Begin automatic prerequisite checks for selected upper division courses
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Evaluate the role of software engineering in the MSCS program
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Explore ways to offer joint upper division and graduate classes
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Proceed with development of a database certificate with IBM
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Synchronize the BSCS program with new ABET criteria
Recommendations Regarding Students
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Develop a comprehensive plan for recruiting and retaining students including minorities and
women
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Further develop the summer exchange program with the Swiss university
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Examine ways to improve support for student involvement in programming competitions
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Examine ways to enhance the student experience through CS Club talks, and colloquia
Recommendations Regarding Faculty
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Find a reliable source for travel and professional development
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Encourage the faculty to obtain external grants
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Begin process for new hires in 2009-10
Recommendations Regarding Resources
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Find ways of replacing equipment
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Explore ways to better use existing space
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Explore ways to support student graders
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
Explore ways to increase student assistants
Context and Scope
The computer science department grew out of the mathematics department. In 1986 a separate degree,
the BSCS, was formed. Even earlier a MSCS was formed and shared with the Department of Computer
Engineering until 1991 when the two split and MSCS became housed solely in the College of Science.
The department currently shares a BS in Engineering Software with the Department of Computer
Engineering.
The BSCS has been ABET accredited since 1994. A review in 2005 showed some deficiencies, resulting
in another visit in 2007. The next site visit will be fall 2011.
In addition to the interdisciplinary Software Engineering program offered with the Department of
Computer Engineering, the department cooperates with the Biology Department to offer courses in
bioinformatics.
The department contributes to the College and University missions by providing graduates who directly
support the professional communities of the Silicon Valley. The department cooperates with many leading
companies in the Valley to coordinate skills sought with skills taught and to provide internships and
cooperative projects.
Curriculum and Achievement of Student Learning
A number of curricular changes were made to the BSCS program in response to the Lower Division
Transfer Pattern (LDTP) project. Changes in the philosophy/ethics course and limits to electives for the
undergraduate major were made in response to ABET. Even more extensive changes were made to the
curriculum in follow-up to changes made in 2001 and in response to changes in the industry. The
department now requires Sci 2 for incoming frosh.
Nationwide, most undergraduate programs are very similar because of ABET requirements. Yet most
programs require 132 units to graduate rather than the 121 at SJSU. The department has been very
judicious in pruning the requirements and offers a quality program.
In the MSCS curriculum 6 elective courses were added in response to industry changes. CS 240
Software Project is no longer used to cover the Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) and
the course has reduced its writing requirement to reflect the change. The GWAR is now met through
graduate enrollment in CS 100W. The department experimented with alternates to the research and
major project culminating experience, but the faculty decided that the alternatives were not achieving the
desired results and they have been dropped.
Because of declining enrollment in the BSCS, the department stopped offering every required course
every semester in fall 2005. The faculty feared this would result in a longer time to graduation for many
students, but believes this has not happened because of careful advising and judicious use of
alternatives.
The Writing Skills Test is a significant bottleneck for some MSCS students, especially international
students. At the time of the self-study the department was about to submit a proposal to introduce CS
200W in order to eliminate the WST bottleneck and to provide more focus on research writing and
presentation skills needed by graduate students.
CS 100W is the only GE course offered by the department and it has no service courses.
The department began direct assessment of student learning with the BSCS and MSCS programs in
spring 2007. The BSCS has 9 ABET program educational objectives and 14 SLOs. The MSCS has two
program objectives and 6 SLOs. There is a schedule for assessment so that all SLOs will be assessed
over the next four semesters.
The department conducted alumni (40 respondents) and employer surveys (14 respondents) in fall 2005.
Results of the alumni survey can be found below in the section on students. Results of the employer
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survey are not discussed in the self-study, probably appropriately, since the number of respondents is
small. However, the PPC committee noticed that the alumni and employer results appear to be similar.
The self-study states that results of direct assessment of student learning are contained in Appendix D.6.
However that appendix reports procedures and changes in procedures and does not mention student
learning.
In the “Goals” section of the self-study 7 items are bulleted. Most of these are repeated in the executive
summary, above. In this section however the focus of assessment is improving direct assessment, rather
than streamlining the process in the executive summary. Two additional goals are listed: further
consideration of a capstone course and ways of offering more specialty and niche courses.
Other topics discussed as goals are development of appropriate goals and outcomes for the MSCS
program. The graduate curriculum committee plans to review these as well as the courses offered.
Another goal discussed, as above, is beginning to enforce prerequisites.
Students
Trends
Between 2003 and 20006 applications declined 15% for frosh, 60% for transfers, and 10% for grads.
These reflect the end of the dot-com boom. However, in 2006-7 applications increased slightly for
undergraduates and dramatically for graduates. The department expects increases for the near future.
The number of majors mirrors the pattern for applicants. The number of majors dropped by about one half
(from 1300 in fall 2003 to about 675 in 2007.) The up-tick in applications had not had time to be reflected
in majors at the time of the self-study.
The number of BSCS degrees awarded fell from 270 to 125, but the number of MSCS degrees is
expected to be fairly constant because the limitation is in faculty supervisors.
The department is concerned about the drop in women in the undergraduate program, declining from
27% to 14% during the review period. However, this does reflect a national trend. A similar but smaller
drop was seen in graduate students.
African Americans and Hispanics, together, comprise about 9% of the undergraduate program but only
3% of the graduate program consistently over the review period.
The representation of Asians in the BSCS dropped to about 50% while Caucasians rose to 26%. The
faculty is puzzled by this change. The representation of Asians & Caucasians in the graduate program
has remained constant during the period, at 75% and 12% respectively.
Information on what happens to students after graduation is anecdotal, but most appear to get jobs in the
Valley. A substantial number of BSCS students go on to the MSCS and a few go on to Ph.D.s. A recent
study by the Career Center showed that both BS and MS students are getting starting salaries above the
national average, showing that our students are competing effectively for good jobs.
Student Experiences
The department has a regular staff member who is a professional advisor. She meets with all new
undergraduate students early in their careers at SJSU. After that students are assigned to a regular
advisor. Beginning fall 2007 all students are required to meet with an advisor every semester, enforced by
a registration hold. Graduate students are also required to meet with their advisors each semester.
The staff advisor holds mandatory workshops for undergraduates on probation. All students are
encouraged to use all resources on campus.
In the alumni survey conducted in 2005 a majority of respondents rate their preparation for their first job
as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’. ‘Excellent’ was the most common rating for programming skills, while ‘fair’ was the
most common for other software skills. ‘Good’ was the most common rating for other areas surveyed. Too
few responses were obtained for jobs after the first one to warrant close analysis.
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Student Recruitment and Retention
The department participates in all on-campus recruiting programs. In addition, they participate in the
Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) program, which focuses on educationally
disadvantaged and first generation students. The Associate Dean of the College of Science provides
additional recruitment efforts for the department.
Advising and assistance programs described earlier are intended to increase retention, especially for atrisk students by helping them plan for success. The college has two additional programs related to
student retention:
The Alliance for Minority Participation (AMP) targets traditionally underrepresented students in the fields
of science, math, engineering, and technology. AMP’s goal is to double the number of underrepresented
students. The AMP is funded by the National Science Foundation, California State University, and
selected community colleges. The Department of Computer Science actively participates and
recommends at-risk students to participate.
The College received a $1.6 million STEP grant from the NSF to build a career-advising center for
science majors. The Computer Science Department has been active in planning and organization to
improve retention through better advising.
Student Scholarship
Many master’s students and occasionally undergraduate students are involved in research with faculty
members. A significant number of these co-publish with their advisors and present papers at professional
conferences. Computer Science students regularly participate in the College of Science Research Day
poster sessions. The department supported a number of these to present at conferences.
Student Engagement
The principal vehicle for Computer Science student engagement is the Computer Science Club. A large
room is allocated to the club by the department as well as study space in an adjacent room. The club
hosts its own website (supported by the department) with a student forum and manages department
participation in the Microsoft Academic Alliance which provides free development tools. The club holds
regular walk-in troubleshooting, software installfests, and a game lounge for competitive gaming. Many
students are involved in the Linux Users Group, which supports the use of open-source software on
campus.
Students engage in programming competitions organized by the Association for Computing Machinery
(ACM). In the previous two years students have won two honorable mentions, comparing favorably with
Berkeley and Stanford. They also participate online in the TopCoder competitions where they consistently
rank well against universities worldwide.
In 2007 SJSU 10 computer science students participated in summer school at a Swiss technical school,
supported by the Swiss government. At the time of the self-study the department expected a similar
experience in 2008 and to host Swiss students in 2009.
Goals and Plans
The department intends to increase recruitment and retention efforts, especially among minority students
and women. It will investigate direct outreach to area community colleges and high schools. The
department will continue substantial support of the CS Club and competitive programming activities.
Faculty
There are 12 tenured, 5 tenure track, and 1 FERP faculty members. This is down from 30 in 2002 in
keeping with the downturn in enrollment. OF these, 7 are Asian, one Hispanic, and 9 Caucasian; two are
female. There are four temporary faculty members of whom two are female. All are white.
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Two professors are expected to retire in 2010, coincident with the full retirement of the FERP professor.
With the up-tick in enrollment the department expected to hire two new faculty members in 2009-10 as of
the self-study.
Faculty members published over 60 papers and several texts in the previous two years. They applied for
17 grants, of which two garnered a total of $126,000. One member received $10,000 to support
internships. Members have also participated in a number of grants housed in other departments. CS
faculty received many internal grants, including UPC student success awards, junior faculty career
development and LPP grants.
Faculty members continue to serve on university, college, and department committees and remain active
in professional organizations.
Teaching requirements greatly affect faculty ability to pursue grant opportunities to fund research, as
noted by ABET. The department hopes that growing enrollment will help them to reestablish a program of
assigned time for research and professional development.
Resources
The department has two full-time office staff and two part-time student assistants. A professional advisor
is a great asset to the department. Historically the department supported teaching assistants, lab
assistants, and graders. At the time of the self-study they were down to a few student assistants and no
teaching assistants.
At the time of the self-study the department had only one technical staff and was unable to fill two other
technician positions. They attribute this to uncompetitive salaries and rules that prohibit hiring competent
people who do not have specific degrees. This also increases the workload of faculty.
The department operates two closed labs, which support their own classes, and an open lab for walk-in
use. Use of the open lab is declining with the wireless project on campus as students now use their own
laptops extensively. Students also have access to the Cisco Networking Lab in Engineering. The
department also runs an extensive network of servers. There is no plan to fund the anticipated need for
equipment upgrades. The department has no budget.
Faculty and staff have adequate computing equipment funded by open university.
There is essentially no external funding. The department is working on a cooperative internship program
that is potentially a source of funding. So far the program has only yielded a few thousand dollars.
The library is a bright spot in resources. The annual library budget is $29,500, definitely adequate. The
library is continuing to expand offerings of electronic media and access to electronic journals.
Much of the time resource allocation is a scramble to replace failed equipment. A small crisis is expected
as much equipment replacement is expected in the next 2-4 years. The three-year replacement policy on
faculty and staff computers was a response to an ABET deficiency.
The department has adapted well to the decline in FTES, maintaining competencies in all the major areas
of expertise. However, further retirements threaten to change this. Lecturers were expected to teach
about 20% of FTES in spring 2008. The student faculty ratio was 15 at the time of the self-study.
The primary goal of the department is to maintain current levels of instruction with minimal resources.
Several suggestions are made regarding use of the open lab space which is currently under-utilized, such
as a smart classroom, or a mainframe center supported by IBM.
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Summary of ABET Report dated 9/21/07
The B.S. in Computer science was reaccredited by ABET in 2007.
Criteria Category
Previous Review
Exit Interview
A. Objectives and Assessments
D
W*
B. Student Support
N
N
C. Faculty
N
C**
D. Curriculum
D
C***
E. Laboratories and Computing Facilities
N
N
F. Institutional Support & Financial Resources
D
W****
G. Institutional Facilities
N
N
H. ABET Policies and Procedures
N
N
C = Concern: a criterion is currently satisfied; however, potential exists for this situation to change in the
near future such that the criterion may not be satisfied. Positive action is required to ensure full
compliance with the Criteria
W = Weakness: A criterion is currently satisfied but lacks strength of compliance that assures that the
quality of the program will not be compromised prior to the next general review. Remedial action is
required to strengthen compliance with the Criteria.
D = Deficiency: A criterion is not satisfied. Therefore, the program is not in compliance with the criteria
and immediate action is required.
N = none
*Not all program objectives have been assessed
** “While most faculty members are successfully pursuing scholarly activities, the high teaching
requirements greatly affects their abilities to effectively pursue grant funding associated with scholarly
activities. In addition opportunities to collaborate with internal and external peers are limited.”
*** The list of courses available to fill the requirement for a “science course that is applicable to a science
or engineering major” needs to be updated to include only classes that fulfill that requirement.
*** There is not currently a mechanism to enforce prerequisites. A significant percentage of students are
taking courses without the prerequisite, with varying degrees of success. This indicates a problem either
with the prerequisite or the subsequent course not building sufficiently on the prerequisite.
**** There is no clear plan for replacing equipment. A timeline and funding should be clearly delineated.
Summary of External Reviewer’s Report undated, but cited as 8/18/08
ABET only reviews undergraduate degrees, so, an external review was conducted by Dr. Du Zhang of
CSU Sacramento. Dr. Zhang reviewed the BS as well as MS, minor, and the UNIX System Administration
Certificate. The visit took place in February 2008.
Dr. Zhang rates the MSCS program very good, but recommends development of some niche areas for
this degree, as well as for the undergraduate degree.
Dr. Zhang questions the value of both the minor and the certificate to the department given the small
number of students.
Surprisingly, in light of ABET’s role, in a seven page report only three sentences are devoted to the
MSCS. An additional three sentences are devoted to the minor and certificate.
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Dr. Zhang reports:
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faculty to be one of the strengths of the department. Since 3 of 17 tenure/tenure track faculty are
expected to retire by 2010, he recommends a thorough hiring plan
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assessment has improved by ABET standards from a deficiency to a weakness. A critical next
step is to close the loop so that data is collected after changes to the curriculum are instituted.
ABET distinguishes between Program Educational Objectives, which are broad statements
describing career and professional achievements, and Program Outcomes, which are narrower
statements that describe what students are expected to know and be able to do by the time of
graduation. The department blurs these lines.
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It would be desirable to develop a set of rubrics for evaluating each of the student learning
outcomes.
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The overall quality of the curriculum is very good, however, there is no capstone project. Without
that it is not clear how the department will comply with certain ABET criteria.
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The department offers database and networking only as electives. These should be required in
the core.
Given the enrollment situation for computer science nationwide, Dr. Zhang recommends ways to make
the BSCS more attractive including development of some niche areas that would make graduates more
competitive on the job market. The current low enrollment causes problems for students completing the
program because many courses can be offered only one semester per year.
Students reported to Dr. Zhang that the lab is less important to them since they have laptops. A number
of student concerns are raised, perhaps most notably:
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CS 100W is more concerned with business concepts than technical writing. CS 160 requires
more writing than does CS 100W
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While the UNIX lab is adequate for courses, machines are too dated to be good for recruiting.
“There is a significant overlap in curriculum between the computer Science and Computer Engineering
programs which results in the waste of scarce university resources. This issue of overlapping curricula
was pointed out in the previous program review in 2002. The most recent CAC/ABET visit in fall 2007
also noted that many of the courses in Computer Engineering and Computer Science are virtually
identical. This could become a concern in the next accreditation visit. Regardless of the budget situation,
reducing such waste would be a desirable act of accountability to the tax-payers in the State of California.
Given the current budget situation in the state and in the CSU system, corrective measures by the
university should be considered and carried out with a strong sense of urgency.”
Dr. Zhang notes a feeling among faculty that Institutional support is inadequate. He does not say whether
or not he concurs, but suggests several strategies, especially formation of an industry advisory committee
that can help seek external support.
Department Response to Dr. Zhang dated May 2008
The department praises Dr. Zhang’s report and responds to the following specific suggestions

The department will complete a hiring plan in AY 2008-9.
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The department agrees that some Objectives and Outcomes may need to be changed to bring
them in line with the new ABET criteria
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Rubrics for both MSCS and BSCS are being developed with expected delivery date of 2008-9
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A number of difficulties are cited for adding a capstone course. The department notes that ABET
does not require a capstone to fulfill its requirements and the lack of a capstone was not
mentioned in the most recent ABET report.
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
The department notes that networking and database electives are the most popular with students
and questions the wisdom of limiting student choices and/or increasing the number of units
required in order to make these courses required. It is also noted that ABET does not specify that
these courses be required, but the department continues to study the new ABET criteria for
opportunities.
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The department acknowledges the difficulties for students of not offering all required courses
every semester. Additional offerings are added when possible, but the size of the department
coupled with the ABET requirement that faculty not have more than two preparations limits their
ability to respond further.

As Dr. Zhang recommended, CS 40 is being modified to become a GE course.

The department has initiated a certificate in bioinformatics and is developing a DB2 certificate as
niches to attract more students.

The department gives a lengthy rebuttal to the issue of enforcement of prerequisites (see page3
and 4 of the response for details). Notably, required advising is a way of overseeing prerequisites.

As to overlap between CS and CE courses, the department explains that many courses with
similar catalog descriptions differ substantially in prerequisites, programming language,
applications, emphasis, goals, and content.

The department has already taken action on reconstituting an Industry Advisory Board and using
virtualization technology to make best use of lab resources.
Summary of College Committee Report dated August 26, 2008
The committee had many laudatory comments including:

“most impressed with the clarity and honesty of the Self-Study”

“The willingness to work together as a department to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses was
exemplary”

“evidence that real (not cosmetic) changes have been made to address many of the specific
weaknesses identified”

“advising of undergraduate majors has been highly effective….the new College of Science
Advising Center (COSAC) has imported many best practices form the Computer Science
Department
The committee recommends consideration of a miscellaneous course fee for students who use the
computer laboratories. In a letter dated 9-4-08 Chair Louden responded that Executive Order #1034
prohibits using miscellaneous fees for supplies and equipment “necessary for classroom lab requirements
identified in the course description.”
The committee also commends the self-study on compliance with formatting and page limits. The
department is also commended on:

The ‘goals & plans’ section was concise and forward looking

‘prioritization of instructional support’ needs and ‘summary of present PP Review
Recommendations’ provide a framework for future department efforts in several areas

the Chair’s response to the external reviewer report is “direct and to the point”
The committee concurs with Chair Louden’s assertion regarding the overlap between Computer Science
and Computer Engineering that the two programs differ and that students are well served by continuing to
have the choice.
The committee has remaining concerns about prerequisite enforcement and suggests some options.
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The committee encourages the department to continue to look for ways to include a culminating
experience (e.g. a capstone course) for BS majors.
Summary of Dean’s Report dated August 27, 2008
Dean Parrish congratulates the department on successful reaccreditation by ABET and on in being fully
engaged in the program planning process. He especially recognizes Chair Louden’s awareness of issues
and “strategic plans to address the most pressing issues, …within the resources available…”.
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