This program review was prepared by those listed in an open and collaborative process. All full-time faculty in the program have had an opportunity to review the report, and the report was made available to the division as a whole prior to being submitted to PCC.
Mark Greenhalgh, Division Dean __________________________________________
Susan Nack, Computer Science Department Coordinator _______________________
Scott Edwards, Computer Science Laboratory Coordinator ______________________
December 1, 2009.
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I. Program Description
A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY
The Computer Science Program has been an integral part of the Division for over forty years. During that time, industry fluctuations have effected the enrollment both positively and negatively. Currently, the program is experiencing a slow but steady recovery which is somewhat hampered by the current budget crisis. The Program has evolved and adapted as new developments emerge from the industry. In response to changes in programming and design standards, the Computer Science Program has added the Linux operating system, UML (a method of program documentation) and
LISP, a functional programming language, to the curriculum.
There are 348 Computer Science majors at Fullerton College. Their studies lead to an
Associate in Science degree. Computer Science courses are at the transfer level.
Articulation agreements are in place with all of the local four-year colleges and universities, including Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly Pomona,
CalTech, UC Riverside, and UC Irvine as well as several private universities. An ICS-
SMART (Standardized Major Requirements to Transfer into Information and Computer
Sciences) agreement was initiated in 2006 which guarantees that Fullerton College students who complete specific Mathematics and Computer Science course sequences and are accepted into the UCI’s School of Information and Computer Science have junior level status.
B. PROGRAM GOALS
Students who complete courses in Computer Science will be able to:

Interpret a programming problem and create a clear program design.

Comprehend code

Compose well-designed code

Know the object-oriented paradigm and apply it

Know how software and hardware interact
Linkage of Instructional Goals and Learning Outcomes to Program Outcomes
Analysis: Clear Linkage
As a result of participation in the program, students will have the following 5-7 skills and knowledge sets:
1. Ability to read and interpret program specifications
2. Ability to construct and program computer algorithms
3. Employ traditional data structures within a program
4. Design and implement a program creating an efficient solution
5. Understand operating systems and hardware interaction
C. PROGRAM DEGREES AND CERTIFICATES OFFERED
Associate of Science in Computer Science
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PROGRAM DEGREES AND CERTIFICATE REQUIREMENTS
The Computer Science Associate in Science Degree program requires 24 units of which
20 units are in required courses. The additional 4 elective units must be chosen from the restricted electives. A minimum of 8 CSCI units must be completed at Fullerton
College. A minimum grade of “C” is required in all required courses and restricted electives.
Required Courses (20 units)
CSCI 123 F Intro to Programming Concepts in C++ (4)
CSCI 133 F Data Structures in C++ (4)
MATH 150BF Calculus II (4)
MATH 171 F Discrete Mathematics (4)
MATH 172 F Graph Theory and Linear Algebra (4)
Restricted Electives (4 units)
CSCI 223 F C Language for Math & Science (4)
CSCI 241 F Computer Organization & Assembly Language
Programming (4)
Admissions requirements
– None
D. PROGRAM COURSES OFFERED
CSCI 123 F Introduction to Programming Concepts in C++ (4)
CSCI 133 F Data Structures in C++ (4)
CSCI 223 F C Language for Mathematics and Science (4)
CSCI 241 F Computer Organization & Assembly Language Programming (4)
E. PROGRAM FACULTY
Edwards, Scott
Nack, Susan
2 Adjunct Faculty – Fall 2009
F. PROGRAM ADVISORY COMMITTEE
- None -
II. Program Key Performance Indicators
- Data sheet from Institutional Research attached to this report.-
III. Program Outcomes Analysis
A. REPORT ON STATUS OF PREVIOUS REVIEW OUTCOMES ANALYSIS
The Computer Science Program continues to produce students who are able to excel at four-year colleges and universities. As a transfer program, the focus of the faculty has been upon providing relevant and rigorous courses so that those who transfer are
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prepared to succeed. For those students who do transfer, their subsequent success indicates that the program is meeting their needs. The addition of the ICS-SMART agreement with UCI has facilitated cooperation between our two departments to the benefit of our students.
Unfortunately, the number of students who transfer to four year schools as Computer
Science majors does not reflect the number who state Computer Science as their major.
Given the great number of opportunities in industry for those with even minimal computer skills, we believe that some students are opting for employment rather than pursuing the completion of a degree. Others find the major too demanding or lack the prerequisite skills to succeed. That being said, course fill rates, course retention, and course success has improved from the last report.
B. SUMMARY OF DATA
Term Enr. Ret.
Summer 07 43 34
Succ.
25
Ret
Rate
Succ
Rate
Number of
Sections
79% 58% 2
Enrollment Fill
Rate
43 86%
Fall 07 65 30
Spring 08 71 39
26
28
46%
55%
40%
39%
5
6
103
110
82%
73%
Summer 08 30 18
Fall 08 94 58
Spring 09 69 44
Total
14
45
35
372 223 173
60%
62% 48% 6
64% 51% 6
60%
47%
47%
1 30
129
120
120%
86%
80%
The data show some encouraging trends:

Current fill rate for Fall 2009 is 90% and continues the increasing trend in
CSCI enrollments.

Number of sections is steady at 13 per year and could have been greater if sections had not been cancelled.

The retention rate, excluding Summer enrollment, has gone from 46% in Fall
2007 to 64% in Spring 2009.

Enrollment has grown from 256 in 2007 – 2008 to 279 in 2008 -2009. As of the Fall 2009 census date, we currently have 112 students enrolled.

Success rate has increased from 40% in fall 2007 to 51% in Spring 2009 .

Program efficiency is 97%.
__X__ Summary supported by data
C. IDENTIFICATION OF TRENDS
We continue to believe that the Computer Science Program will gradually attract greater numbers of students. The program has more articulation agreements than any of the other local community colleges. The recent trend of increasing enrollments in the
Program indicates that more resources may need to gradually be allocated, such as increased course offerings.
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As the economy begins to recover, interest continues to increase. Computer Science is again considered a growth field with an annual growth rate of 38% for jobs requiring computer science skills. A shortage of 34,000 Software designers was recently noted in the Los Angeles Times Parade Magazine for Sunday, October 18, 2009.
D. IMMEDIATE SHORT-TERM PLANS
As is usually the case with any program, goals and planning are dynamic in our
Division, and are constantly being reviewed, adjusted, adapted, reduced, and expanded in order to meet the needs and goals of our students. Therefore, the Division recognizes and emphasizes that it is standard for the Division to have dynamic requests for resources or approval for activities that support goals and plans that have not been formulated at the present time. In the next 1-2 years, the Computer Science Program will:

Implement strategies to increase student access.

Implement strategies to increase student retention and student success.
Retention and success rates in our classes that are unacceptably low. With retention at 56% and success at only 50%, Computer Science student performance is among the lowest at Fullerton College

Meet with the Counselors assigned to Computer Science and establish parameters necessary for student success in the program.

Pursue additional transfer agreements with four-year schools.

Lobby for the hiring of a faculty member who can teach computer science so that as the program expands the department will have the necessary faculty to sustain the program. (The Computer Science Program will be losing a 50% full time faculty member next year, leaving only one tenured track department member.)

Update the Computer Science Pamphlet.

Participate in High School visitation day.

Try to establish a Computer Science Club or Seminars.

Encourage the establishment of more CS scholarships.

Request for funding to increase course offerings.

Request funding to increase lab aides in the CS lab and/or study skills center

Replaced antiquated machines in the lab and increase the memory on the CS lab server to accommodate anticipated increases in demand for computing resources.
E. LONG-TERM PLANS
In order to maintain Program viability and to accommodate the expansion in the number of students enrolling in Computer Science courses, we have identified the following needs for the next 3 – 5 years:

Continue to research and respond to evolving trends in the field.

Cultivate and educate adjunct faculty to our program.

Increase course offerings as needed to serve growth.
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REQUEST FOR RESOURCES
The Computer Science lab currently consists of 26 machines for use by computer science students. These machines are somewhat outdated and falling behind current standards for computer hardware. Each machine has only 256 megabytes of RAM, while at the time of this writing one gigabyte is the norm, with two gigabytes not being uncommon. Upgrading the machines with more RAM would not be cost-efficient since the type of memory modules used are no longer manufactured and the diminishing availability of these chips is driving up the cost. Therefore, in order to provide students with hardware that is reasonably up to date it is time to seriously consider replacing all of the machines in the lab with new ones.
To support the management and imaging of the lab machines, the department has a dedicated server that is about five years old. This server is currently quite adequate as far as processing speed and RAM, however it is possible that it may need larger disk capacity in the near future. It currently has 32 GB drives, whereas drives 100GB or larger is now the norm.
The software needs of the lab have actually been simplified over the last few years since the department has been making greater use of the Linux operating system and open source software. This has allowed the computer science students access to software tools that are state of the art and widely used in the industry. Additional benefits of this shift are a savings to the college in terms of dollars, since open source software is freely available and does not require license or support contracts.
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