UW Senior Research Scientist Ramesh Sivanpillai, center, works with students Nicholas
Case and Sarah Weidler to review spectral reflection data taken of grass and trees,
as collected by a hand-held spectrometer. Use of computing and new data science technologies
to solve real-world problems across all disciplines is at the heart of UW’s new School
of Computing. (UW Photo)
The University of Wyoming’s commitment to raise its performance in computing and technology,
both to improve students’ education and better serve the state and nation, has taken
a major step forward with the creation of a new School of Computing.
UW’s Board of Trustees voted today (Thursday) to authorize the launch of the new academic
unit. Reporting to the provost, it initially will be housed in the College of Engineering
and Applied Science to accelerate its development. Eventually, the School of Computing
will become a separate unit similar to the School of Energy Resources and Haub School
of Environment and Natural Resources, with its own dean and interdisciplinary connections
across the university.
“Computing’s impact is found in virtually every discipline today, and new data science
technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain are
starting to transform every academic discipline, every industry and every aspect of
modern society,” UW President Ed Seidel says. “Access to world-class infrastructure
and workforce training in computing and data is critical for Wyoming citizens and
for UW’s students. The School of Computing will be the catalyst for the university
to emerge as a leader in rural computing and data science, and to generate additional
revenue streams and industry partnerships.”
The school will begin operations immediately, including appointment of an interim
director, hiring of initial staff members and advertising for faculty members. One-time
funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act allocated by Gov. Mark Gordon will
be used to accelerate the development of the school.
“The primary purposes of the School of Computing curricular programs will be to provide
more students with career pathways that utilize the power of computing and technology;
provide new opportunities to increase the diversity among UW students using computing
in their disciplines and careers; and establish a pipeline of tech-savvy graduates
for Wyoming’s and the global economy,” says Provost and Executive Vice President Kevin
Carman. “This will be a cross-university school with joint appointments possible with
any UW department; will eventually have robust, multiple pathway degree programs at
both the undergraduate and graduate levels; and will leverage partnerships with industry,
national laboratories and units across UW.”
Starting the School of Computing within the College of Engineering and Applied Science
will minimize costs and the administrative burden, allowing resources to be focused
primarily on student programs. During this “incubation” period, estimated to be about
four years, the school will focus on identifying and offering needed courses and certificate
programs; working with other UW units and Wyoming community colleges to develop a
sequence of first-year and sophomore-level courses for students interested in majoring
in computing-related programs; and partnering with UW departments to create minors
in computing.
Plans call for bachelor’s degree programs in the School of Computing -- including
2-plus-2 agreements with the community colleges -- to launch in the 2024-25 academic
year.
“The plan for the School of Computing sets the stage for the betterment of academic
development and opportunities for all students at the University of Wyoming,” says
Hunter Swilling, president of the Associated Students of UW, which passed a resolution
in support of the plan. “I really believe that this will help all of the students
of UW by teaching us essential skills for the workforce.”
At the end of its first five years, the School of Computing is expected to have --
in addition to a director, a business manager and an office manager -- 10-13 faculty
members in computing, the majority of whom are envisioned to be jointly hired with
other UW departments; five graduate assistants; 15 undergraduate scholars; and 10
faculty affiliates.
Ultimately, plans call for the school to have about 24 faculty members, with a dean,
more graduate assistants and other support staff. This structure will support planned
undergraduate and graduate degree programs in computing, along with collaborative
research programs with public- and private-sector partners.
The school’s pace of growth will depend, in large measure, on its ability to secure
external funding, as well as on student demand.
“All School of Computing faculty and research scientists will have significant expectations
for securing external funding through grants and corporate partnerships,” Seidel says.
“There will be excellent opportunities for investments from corporations and individuals,
and fundraising to support School of Computing programs will be a priority of the
administration and faculty.”
Incubating the School of Computing in the College of Engineering and Applied Science
will allow the new school to work closely with the soon-to-be-combined departments
of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering, which are part of the
engineering college. While UW will continue to offer degrees in those fields, the
envisioned degree programs in the School of Computing will have a somewhat different
focus -- looking at how computing applies to a broad range of disciplines, with less
of an engineering emphasis.
“The School of Computing will not be an ‘engineering only’ entity -- it will help
a wide variety of both technical and nontechnical students, faculty and staff,” says
Cameron Wright, dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science. “But having
it start in our college provides an excellent and supportive place for us to best
see what works and what doesn’t. This approach gives the School of Computing the best
chance of flourishing and becoming a unit that contributes to the advancement of computing
across colleges and disciplines.”
The School of Computing will take a lead role in efforts to assure that all UW students
graduate with digital literacy, regardless of their areas of study. A revision of
the university’s general education curriculum, called the University Studies Program,
is getting started just as the School of Computing launches.
“It’s important that all UW undergraduate students learn how digital and computational
tools and approaches are increasingly part of their chosen disciplines and all aspects
of life,” Carman says. “At a general level, students should be exposed to the variety
of ways that digital tools can be used to accomplish computational tasks across all
disciplines and gain introductory experience in using them.”
The School of Computing will provide connections to and build on the variety of existing
digital assets at UW, such as the Advanced Research Computing Center, the Data Science
Center, the Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center, the Shell 3D Visualization
Center, the Innovation Wyrkshop and UW Libraries. The new school also will complement
UW’s Tier-1 Engineering Initiative, Science Initiative and Trustees Education Initiative,
as well as UW’s relationship with the National Center for Atmospheric Research-Wyoming
Supercomputing Center near Cheyenne.
“I couldn’t be more excited about what the School of Computing has the potential to
do for UW, our community colleges in the Wyoming Innovation Partnership and the state
as a whole,” Seidel says. “Building upon past investments and existing strengths,
we can make a big statewide impact in economic and workforce development, education
and research of importance to Wyoming in this digital age.”
