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University of Florida shutting down research in Computer Science department

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Re: University of Florida shutting down research in Computer Science department

#21

Post by rlovelett »

For those of you who have a "vested" interest in the reputation of a department you graduated from many years previous (and by many I mean more than a year ago) and are worried about its reflection on you.

Perhaps, instead, you should concern yourself with your personal professional achievements and credentials post graduation and how those reflect on you. To me that seems like a MUCH more productive use of your time.

This seems like a concern to future and current students; rather than alumni.

// Light-hearted jab at UF alumni

Leave it to a Gator grad to be worried about keeping-up appearances.

Go Knights!

Re: University of Florida shutting down research in Computer Science department

#22

Post by dfranke »

achompas wrote: post #20
dfranke wrote: post #11

I graduated from UF in 2007 and have in no way since kept up with departmental politics, but as of then, CISE was a bit of a Frankenstein creature. As an undergraduate, if you were looking for a computing-related degree, you had five possible majors to choose from: * Computer Science (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; CISE Department) * Computer Engineering with Software Emphasis (College of Engineering; CISE Dep…

I'm also a 2007 alum, and I steered clear of CS as an undergraduate because of the confusing organization you describe above. If that organization wasn't so confusing, I would have tried CS out (vs. the econ BA I hold right now and the MSCS I'm working on now). The department may have problems, but shutting down research throws the baby out with the bathwater. Degree consolidation would go a long way to improving stu…

It's not obvious that they're actually "shutting down" any research, though. They seem just to be moving it under the aegis of other departments.

Re: University of Florida shutting down research in Computer Science department

#23

Post by achompas »

quanticle wrote: post #13

The fertile environment for software tech companies in Gainesville and Florida as a whole will be severely damaged. Is Gainesville really that fertile a ground for software startups? Moreover, will reducing research funding at University of Florida necessarily make the existing environment for startups worse? For example, what if the savings are invested into a greater emphasis on teaching?

Is Gainesville really that fertile a ground for software startups? Moreover, will reducing research funding at University of Florida necessarily make the existing environment for startups worse?

UF has a very strong entrepreneurial community. Grooveshark[0] and Hype Machine[1] were both founded by Gator alums.

I can imagine that reduced research --> lower quality RA opportunities --> reduced interest from undergrads, thus shrinking the number of undergrads interested in CS or tech startups.

[0]http://grooveshark.com/

[1]http://www.hypem.com

Re: University of Florida shutting down research in Computer Science department

#24

Post by k3dz »

dfranke wrote: post #22
achompas wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also a 2007 alum, and I steered clear of CS as an undergraduate because of the confusing organization you describe above. If that organization wasn't so confusing, I would have tried CS out (vs. the econ BA I hold right now and the MSCS I'm working on now). The department may have problems, but shutting down research throws the baby out with the bathwater. Degree consolidation would go a long way to improving stu…

It's not obvious that they're actually "shutting down" any research, though. They seem just to be moving it under the aegis of other departments.

All faculty members that remain in CISE will have to stop their research program and focus only on teaching. About 50% of the faculty will be able to continue their research in other departments.

They will also be stopping all departmental TA support.

The proposal is here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwzZsds2XcGnMWFpcnFiNEhvQkk/...

Re: University of Florida shutting down research in Computer Science department

#25

Post by dillona »

joshhart wrote: post #4

I graduated from UF in 2009, with degrees in both Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. UF was running into huge budget issues, which they mostly took out on Liberal Arts. At the time, the Computer Science department was under Liberal Arts and Sciences, not engineering. The department chair at the time, Sartaj Sahni, responded by cutting teaching funding and letting some of the best teachers go. UF had a few t…

> UF had a few teachers without PhDs, which reduces a university's ranking in US News & World Report.

Does this really happen? This attitude that if you don't have a PhD you must be stupid is incredibly annoying.

Re: University of Florida shutting down research in Computer Science department

#26

Post by joshhart »

dillona wrote: post #25
joshhart wrote: post #4

I graduated from UF in 2009, with degrees in both Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. UF was running into huge budget issues, which they mostly took out on Liberal Arts. At the time, the Computer Science department was under Liberal Arts and Sciences, not engineering. The department chair at the time, Sartaj Sahni, responded by cutting teaching funding and letting some of the best teachers go. UF had a few t…

> UF had a few teachers without PhDs, which reduces a university's ranking in US News & World Report. Does this really happen? This attitude that if you don't have a PhD you must be stupid is incredibly annoying.

Yes it really happened, and yes, the leaders publicly cited it as the reason why. "We must remain competitive in the rankings!"

Re: University of Florida shutting down research in Computer Science department

#27

Post by nobleach »

michaelty wrote: post #9

Thank you, Rick Scott!

Easy there, the UofF doesn't need Rick Scott's help to completely blunder something.

I left Gainesville in 2010 and that entire freaking town has one of the most ANTI-progress sentiments I've ever seen.

The one shining star on the horizon will be the construction of the University's 40 acre tech hub. Let's hope they don't flub that one.

Re: University of Florida shutting down research in Computer Science department

#28

Post by ja27 »

luser001 wrote: post #10

Seems like the university is deciding to focus on Electrical and Computer Engineering and deemphasize Computer Science. Core competence and all that. It even has an odd name like CISE (Computer and Information Science and Engineering). http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120411/ARTICLES/1204198...

Computer Science programs have many different roots. I think the most common is for them to grow out of Electrical Engineering departments where they end up tightly coupled with Computer Engineering, lots of hardware emphasis, etc. But they can also grow out of departments like math or information / library science. Then they may end up fairly far from the engineering departments.

Re: University of Florida shutting down research in Computer Science department

#29

Post by ja27 »

achompas wrote: post #23
quanticle wrote: post #13

The fertile environment for software tech companies in Gainesville and Florida as a whole will be severely damaged. Is Gainesville really that fertile a ground for software startups? Moreover, will reducing research funding at University of Florida necessarily make the existing environment for startups worse? For example, what if the savings are invested into a greater emphasis on teaching?

Is Gainesville really that fertile a ground for software startups? Moreover, will reducing research funding at University of Florida necessarily make the existing environment for startups worse? UF has a very strong entrepreneurial community. Grooveshark[0] and Hype Machine[1] were both founded by Gator alums. I can imagine that reduced research --> lower quality RA opportunities --> reduced interest from undergrads,…

I sure wouldn't say fertile, but there's a growing bit of support there for tech startups. UF is generally the big engineering school in Florida, though USF (Tampa) and UCF (Orlando) have gained on it. They're big state schools grinding out undergrads, but it gets a lot harder if you lose all your grad students.

http://innovationgainesville.com

Re: University of Florida shutting down research in Computer Science department

#30

Post by nobleach »

joshhart wrote: post #26
dillona wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> UF had a few teachers without PhDs, which reduces a university's ranking in US News & World Report. Does this really happen? This attitude that if you don't have a PhD you must be stupid is incredibly annoying.

Yes it really happened, and yes, the leaders publicly cited it as the reason why. "We must remain competitive in the rankings!"

You know what would be REALLY innovative, if instead on judging the department based on the number of PHDs, they would instead look at the accomplishments of the graduates at 5, 10, 20 and 30 year marks.

There is a community college in Gainesville called Santa Fe (it's now considered a "college" I guess) but their graphic design program had something like a 95 percent job placement IN THAT FIELD.

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