Academic Audit Narrative Report

Computer Science

Tennessee State University

The Computer Science department at Tennessee State University was visited by the three-member Academic Audit team on Tuesday, April 12, 2005. The team was comprised of Martin Barrett (ETSU), Janice Hayes (MTSU), and David Welch (NSCC). The team had read the department’s self-study document before the visit. After a plenary session with faculty, administrators, and students, the team met with the faculty in two sessions and the students in one session. A final exit session was held with faculty and administrators. The department’s willingness to share information about the program eased the preparation of this audit report.

The department offers a B.S. degree in computer science. There are 10 full time faculty members serving approximately 210 majors. The department appears to have the same kinds of struggles that other computer science departments have: the need to stay current in a fast-changing field; pressure to produce research while maintaining a heavy teaching and advising schedule; and a difficult time matching the salaries paid by other universities and by industry.

The department has undergone significant faculty and organizational change in the last several years. The department moved to the College of Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science in 2002. Several new faculty have been added. The department, besides undergoing this Academic Audit, is also seeking CSAB accreditation in the near future. The curriculum has been revamped to reflect current practice in the field. Additionally, increased attention has been paid to student concerns, with advising, faculty availability, and feedback all being addressed.

It was clear to the audit team that the faculty cared about their students, both about their education and as people. The students felt a closeness to the faculty and to other students. There were well established lines of communication between faculty and students as well. The faculty were committed to improving the program, both by upgrading the technical content of the curriculum and by implementing the assessment and other processes necessary for future accreditation. While some work is still needed on clarifying the goals, outcomes, and metrics for the program, the program’s overall mission – providing a quality computer science education within the diverse community provided by the university – was clearly articulated by faculty and students alike.

The department needs to follow through on its initiatives, as listed in the self-study, to continue to improve the program.

The family-like feeling of the department provides an excellent learning environment. The program should continue its efforts to include all stakeholders in that environment, including alumni, employers, and the college administration.

Since several key faculty members hold degrees outside of computer science – although in closely related fields – the department should continue its efforts in faculty development.

The process of establishing clear learning objectives for the Computer Science program at Tennessee State University has begun. Identifying and connecting the objectives with those of the University, the College and the Department is beginning to unfold. The Department has identified learning objectives that are listed in the catalogue and in the self-study report. Concern for appropriate knowledge and skills needed by the students for success in industry – the technical skills, soft skills and professional skills - appear in the learning objectives. Statements in the Self-study and in the interview with faculty imply the Department is using best practices from other schools, revising and up-dating the program every other year, using informal opinions of employers and potential employers, and student opinions.

A formal system of documentation of schools used for best practices, opinions of employers and potential employers, and formal evaluations of students’ suggestions (as well as strengths and weaknesses) should be collected and maintained.

All course goals, as stated in course syllabi should reflect the Departmental program goals. Both sets of goals should be reviewed by the faculty on a periodic basis.

Students should be made aware of the learning objectives of the program. While the goals are available in several places, students were not aware of the overall goals of the program.

Learning objectives of the College and the Department should have a close relationship.

B. Curriculum and Co-curriculum (Rating = 4)            top

A clearly stated sequence of courses for the Computer Science Program was provided in the Self-study. The courses listed relate closely to the learning objectives identified. The Curriculum and Co-curricular activities for students have sufficient flexibility to meet the needs and capabilities of the various students. Courses appear to change as the science changes (i.e. new languages). New faculty with diversity in experience and expertise have been hired. Partnerships with business and industry permit student involvement in real-world problems, industry problems, student problem-solving teams, and collaboration skills (i.e. Saturn, Corporate Scholar Solutions (CSS), Sun Microsystems, NASA and Department of Defense research). A certification program in Java technology, separate from the academic program, is offered to eligible students each May. Students appear to be guided in appropriate course selection as they are required to meet with advisors each semester to determine eligibility for succeeding courses.

Written documentation of changes in program along with formal evidence of reasons for the change should be kept.

Formal feedback from students completing the program should be collected and maintained,

Formal assessment of employers about employees from the program should be collected and maintained,

Create a departmental committee of Learning and Teaching to more efficiently use formal and informal data for the purpose of program revision.

The Computer Science program has established a foundation for teaching and learning both practical and theoretical knowledge. The department faculty provides a program that gives students the skills that are needed in today’s workforce. The involvement with computer business and industries helps to provide a relevant focus. The CSS program appears to be an effective tool in increasing the quality of the computer science program. The students and the faculty recognize the valuable knowledge in which they gain through the CSS program.  Methods of instruction being used include lecture, lab, study groups, team work, individual projects, and individual assistance. Other methods of the program include internships and co-op programs with businesses.

Continue to provide opportunities for all students interested and capable to participate in more of the CSS projects.

There is some confusion as to electives within the program. The official catalog description does not list any electives per se, although it does list 9 hours of "Computer Application Area", the department’s web site list 6 hours of electives, and the university’s online catalog lists 6 hours of "Computer Application Area". The department’s web site is not accessible through the university’s web site.

Provide a clearer understanding of job opportunities and the job market. Stress to the students the importance of the material they are covering and where it fits into the big picture in the job market. The graduating students expressed that they were not sure what they could do with their degree, so that is why most of them were going on into the Masters program.            top

Students expressed the desire that courses using a computer, for example the Java class, should be taught in a single classroom that has computers and not split over two classrooms. Since space and pedagogical concerns may indicate otherwise, it is only recommended that the department be aware of the concern.

Student learning and assessment continues as an integral part of the courses. Course outlines, student and faculty responses indicate the use of tests, quizzes, reports, log book entries, group projects and individual projects. Since assessment is essential to the development of qualified students, the Department should continue to assess using these approaches.

The Rising Junior Exam and the Senior Exit Exam also assess the knowledge of each student. Informal means of assessment that are being used in the department include in-class questioning, surveys, problem solving and reviews.

Develop a formal plan for using information gained from exit interviews with all of the graduating seniors to determine the students’ perspective on what the program is doing well and the areas the students believe need to be improved.

Track the graduating students to find out how many of them, after graduating, are employed in the field.

In general, look at the department and the student body as a whole – compare the department’s goals to the students’ outcomes. This will indicate areas that the department can improve upon.

The department has created several processes for monitoring and improving quality. The teaching and learning committee was formed to address curriculum and evaluation issues. Several faculty are working on preparing the department for accreditation. There is an established recordkeeping process in place to help track what is being taught in each course, with syllabi and detailed course plans kept in a central location. Overall, the department needs to formalize its quality activities so that continuous improvement is possible.

Increase and stabilize the committee structure. Additional oversight is required for advisement, writing and monitoring goals, and improvement of teaching. This can be accomplished by assigning specific duties to either individual faculty or, to help spread the workload, to new standing committees.

Tracking of graduates is critical for overall program improvement, especially in a field like computer science that changes so frequently. Surveys of graduates and their employers could help the program adapt to new trends and evaluate graduates’ skills against employer needs.

The entire faculty should review the program’s vision, goals, curriculum, and policies on a regular basis.

While individual courses are evaluated based on the goals listed in their syllabi, the overall program goals are not evaluated in a formal way using metrics to verify reaching quantifiable goals.

Teaching and advising are evaluated informally only, using self-evaluations, chair evaluations, and student evaluations. There appear to be no formal, measurable goals for improvement.

The department needs more structure (committees, goals, metrics) to formalize its methods. The committee structure, minutes of meetings, and summaries of actions taken needs to be made evident.

The faculty appear to work together to accomplish their goals, with appropriate guidance from the chair.

Formal evaluation of overall program effectiveness is lacking.

The program should seek feedback from all of its stakeholders, including students, alumni, and employers.

The program’s curriculum is coherent, as both faculty and students attested.

The faculty has made a concerted effort to investigate the curricula and practices of other computer science programs. More focus on a peer group of institutions with a similar mission as TSU would be helpful.

The faculty is committed to improving its program. The goal of accreditation will keep them focused on this, but, as with any academic program, continuous improvement must be a stated, visible, and monitored process to ensure good effort by a very busy faculty.

The program, by its own assessment, has greatly improved over the last few years. This is due to the dedication of the faculty, leadership of the chair, and the support of the administration.

The learning environment is very good. There is an obvious closeness among faculty and students. In addition, the diversity of the student body is commendable.

The certification programs have added rigor and professionalism to the program.

Advisement of students by faculty was reported as very good.

The connection with industrial partners is very useful and should be continued. Getting students involved in real-world projects – e.g. the Saturn and IBM projects – is extremely helpful to students.

Assessment of student learning needs to be more formal and more systematic. The faculty are aware that there must be an explicit link between program goals and final student outcomes. There should be some final assessment of student knowledge for program assessment.

The structure of the department should be firmed up. The teaching and learning committee should be augmented with other committees to oversee assessment, faculty development, and the documentation of departmental policies.

There is a continued need for job opportunities for students to be communicated well. Students expressed some dissatisfaction with their perceived lack of options.

All efforts at quality improvement – especially as related to assessment – need to be formally documented. The department’s system of documenting course syllabi are a good start.

The goals, outcomes, and evaluation of the program need to be formalized, linking the high-level university and department goals with final student abilities. This will facilitate the assessment effort. In addition, the goals and outcomes should be linked to those of individual courses – already documented in course syllabi – and made evident to the students to enable students to evaluate what they can do in industry.

An advisory committee of employers and alumni should be formed. This committee would provide feedback to the department on the current curriculum and changes that are proposed for it, faculty development and recruitment, and in general on the direction of the computer industry. The committee would also play a role in assessment of student outcomes.

Student feedback should be more formal. Exit interviews, course evaluations, and open forums are already in use, but the evidence gathered from these and any other methods needs to be summarized and made use of.

Tutoring efforts should be evaluated to assess why tutoring is needed and whether more, and more timely, tutoring is needed.

The Computer Science department is providing a quality education to its students. The faculty is hard-working, enthusiastic, and caring, and these qualities are recognized and appreciated by the students. This has fostered an excellent learning environment. The department should commit to implementing all five improvement initiatives, not just the two selected in the self study. Those two, integrating an industrial perspective into the curriculum and certification initiatives, are already well under way. The department can work on the other three initiatives, hopefully with the administration’s support in terms of reduced instruction loads.

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