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University of Florida Eliminates Computer Science Department

Posted by timothy on from the gator-fans-on-the-line dept.

DustyShadow writes "The University of Florida announced this past week that it was dropping its computer science department, which will allow it to save about $1.7 million. The school is eliminating all funding for teaching assistants in computer science, cutting the graduate and research programs entirely, and moving the tattered remnants into other departments. Students at UF have already organized protests, and have created a website dedicated to saving the CS department. Several distinguished computer scientists have written to the president of UF to express their concerns, in very blunt terms. Prof. Zvi Galil, Dean of Computing at Georgia Tech, is 'amazed, shocked, and angered.' Prof. S.N. Maheshwari, former Dean of Engineering at IIT Delhi, calls this move 'outrageously wrong.' Computer scientist Carl de Boor, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and winner of the 2003 National Medal of Science, asked the UF president 'What were you thinking?'"

9 of 628 comments (clear)

  1. not eliminated? by jank1887 · · Score: 4, Informative

    FTFA:

    The majority of students would be transferred to the hardware-oriented ECE department
    The CISE department would be converted to a teaching-only department
    50% of faculty would be transferred to other engineering departments (ECE, ISE, and BME)

    so, if it will be a teaching only department, that doesn't seem the same as eliminated. They'll move the engineering in with the Electrical and Computer Engineering department, and it seems leave CISE to teach programming.

    1. Re:not eliminated? by CowTipperGore · · Score: 5, Informative

      Indeed. TFA is very misleading and inaccurate opinion piece written by a contributor who usually focuses on healthcare issues. If you read the items he references in his hack job, you'll see that CISE program is not eliminated at all. The computer engineering programs are being moved from CISE to the Electrical and Computer Engineering department. Graduate programs and research work will continue in computer engineering there. Most graduate programs and research work in CISE will be eliminated, but the computer science BS and MS programs will remain. The projected savings are $1.36 million out of a $4 million in cuts across the university.

      For what it's worth, this article is one of several opinion pieces carried by Forbes attacking this decision and all are full of inaccuracies and outright lies. Computer science research is being cut. The computer science programs remain. Computer engineering research remains but is moved into Engineering instead of CISE.

  2. Re:The Department of Redundancy Department by Dog-Cow · · Score: 4, Informative

    They don't make money from ticket sales... they make money from ticket sales?

    Someone skipped logic 101...

  3. Re:No problem! by stoolpigeon · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not at all. The sports program is independent and actually feeds millions of dollars into the school.

    Bringing sports into it may lead to discussion on cultural values - but the money spent by the school on academics and sports are not related.

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    It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
  4. Re:The Department of Redundancy Department by buddyglass · · Score: 4, Informative

    Separate budgets. Athletics pays its own way. Nuking the entire athletic dept. wouldn't create any additional money for CS.

  5. Re:The Department of Redundancy Department by Chillas · · Score: 5, Informative

    They do not make money. The median net loss of each of the Division 1A schools' athletic programs is in the vicinity of $7 million annually.

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    --- Math illiteracy affects 8 out of every 5 people.
  6. Re:The Department of Redundancy Department by Rostin · · Score: 4, Informative

    The majority operate at a loss, but many, including UF, do make money.

  7. Re:"What were you thinking?" by mattbelcher · · Score: 5, Informative

    This might have been true in the past but it isn't true of the current CS department. Since UF was designated a "Research 1" university, the CISE department has made huge strides to increase its research competitiveness. They have won 12 NSF CAREER awards for young faculty, received 11 best paper awards at major conferences in the last 5 years, and have quintupled their external research grant funding.

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    Shockwave Flash movies are the greatest thing to happen to non-sequitur humor since Japan.

  8. Re:The Department of Redundancy Department by Lluc · · Score: 4, Informative

    Computer science is a programme of study not an entire department.

    Only if you're at a bad school.

    For example, the University of California at Berkeley with its combined EECS dept? They're only ranked #1 in the 2010 US News ratings...