Computer & Info Science Quality Improvement Plan

Program : Computer & info Science.
Review Date : 19-21 August 2015
Last Updated : 7 Sep 2016; 9 Jan2017

*Visiting Team Recommendations	** Update on Actions Taken/Current Status	Completed Date
1.Consider moving the discrete mathematics taught in the CIS department to the Department of Mathematics.	This action was discussed with the full CIS faculty. Discrete Mathematics is used to teach logical thinking for our students. Additionally, programming assignments are used to broaden logic and coding skills. These latter two elements would not be addressed if the course were taught in the math department. The full CIS faculty opted to continue teaching discrete mathematics in the CIS department, an essential course in teaching logic skills required for successful programmers. ln the past this course was co-taught by a CS and Math instructor, it was problematic. Our new faculty member is teaching Discrete Mathematics, and we are confident in our decision to keep this course under the purview of the CIS Department for the reasons discussed above.	April 2016 Jan 2017 update
2. Consider reducing the number of majors and minors offered in the CIS Department. Specifically, consider whether it is wise to continue providing a major and minor in IS; it has few students, the two faculty contributors are both in department and college administrative positions, and the discipline may fit better in the Department of Business.	Yes, lS has declined in enrollment throughout the US and our enrollment of lS students in the CIS department has dropped over the past few years. Given our department skill sets and courses offered, the only classes required for lS majors that are not required by other CIS Students(CS & lT) is IS430 [lTS-Enterprise Resource Planning] and lS4B5 [Project ManagemenUPractice]. 15430 is also a service class for students (999 in 2014) pursuing a certification in ERP (using SAP), additionally, lS4B5 will soon be a required class for lT majors and was in discussion for several months before the program review. Other curriculum changes for lT have taken precedence(the Big Data class; merging ClS100 and 15330 intoClS200 and creating an online ClS200 class). All other elective lS classes (lS 450 Advanced DB Principles,15430 ERP Principles, 15435) are required by other majors. The amount of time required by our advisor to administer the lS major is minimal. Our current active majors (juniors/seniors) are: 9 information Systems students & 28 minors 24 Computer Science students & 7 minors 35 information Technology students & 15 minors Our future forecast (sophomores/freshman) by major: 9 Pre-lS students 20 Pre-CS students 19 Pre-lT students In the light of the current enrollment and the popularity and demand for lS classes, the CIS department recommends to continue offering all three majors and minors. The lS MRS states "lS professionals must understand their chosen employment environment and prepare to function effectively in it. Each student must complete at least 15 credits in a cohesive body of course work for such an environment." With this in mind, the CISdepartment proposes '15 credit environments' that are tailored to a student's focus area. For example, a student who would like to pursue lS with biomedical app development could create an environment with classes from biology and chemistry. Another example would be the creation of an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)environment with classes in business and ERP. ln the past, the MRS limited students to a business environment; we plan to expand this mindset. The following classes are proposed as "environment" classes (15 credit hours required) that will support the lS major and have been vetted with the CIS faculty, Business Department Chair, and the Director of the Entrepreneurship Center: existing = in the current MRSnew elective = a choice among many electives and new to the pool of electives for the environment area ACCT 201, keep as required; introduction to ManagerialAccountingACCT 203, existing, elective; introduction to ManagerialAccountingENTR 180, new elective, The Cycle of CashENTR 383, new elective, Entrepreneurship and SmallBusiness ManagementRemove ECON 200 & ECON 201BUSM '180, new elective; introduction to Commerce and enterprise BUSM 242, existing, make optional; Ethics and the legal environment of Business; all CIS students are currently required to take ClS470 Ethics in Computer & lnformationSciencesBUSM 304, new elective; Principles of MarketingManagementBUSM 310, new elective; Leadership and ManagementBUSM 320, new elective; Business Communication	Projected for Spring2017 Jan 2017 Update
3. Consider eliminating the BCIS degree as it seems to lower the bar rather than lifting the students to meet the challenges they'll face in their future careers.	There are pros and cons to this degree offering: Pro: Students who struggle with the academic rigor of CS,lS, or lT might qualify for the BCIS major, thus avoiding an IDS degree. ln, the past B years very few students have taken the BCIS option or had the need to take it. More often, we have had excellent students opt to take the BCIS major to finish a bachelor's degree sooner so they could enter the workforce and pursue entrepreneurial goals. Con: Students challenged by the rigor of our three primary majors can get by with the BCIS major, it does have fewer requirements than our other majors but it still offers a well-balanced program of all three primary majors. No changes are planned for the BCIS MRS, it is still in use and only offered on a case by case basis when a student is not able to complete other CIS programs.	N/A Jan 2017, reviewed
4. The campus administrative IT organization should provide the CIS department with adequate access to both campus and Internet resources. Current firewall configurations, policies, and practices are causing the department faculty to waste time finding alternative avenues to the resources they need.	The BYUH CTO and other principles in lT have met with our department a few months after the review date. Discussions were productive in solving access problems. An inclusive team approach has been fostered and continuing productive meetings have occurred since. our network Systems Administrator continues to meet weekly with ITO and integrated solutions have been reached to better support the computing needs in ClS. Progress has been made, our CIS Network Administrator continues to work closely with the BYUH Enterprise team we also have occasional meetings with the key people in their department and ours.	On-going Jan 2017update
5. Expose the students to Internet resources such as GitHub and StackOverflow. These are free used broadly in industry, will make the students more attractive to future employers, and fit easily into existing curriculum.	This suggestion was received with open arms and several similar internet resources have been used in our CIS classes. Specifically, CIS professors use similar open-source BOKs (bodies of knowledge) forces 490R and lT426. Additional effort, as a result of this recommendation, will include BOKs for our database classes (lS 350 and lS450). Our Java class, CS 203 students also usestakeoverflow.org. Additional resources have been used in many of our classes to included AWS, GitHub (for programming classes), and other programs like StakeOverflow.	On-going Jan2017update,actions verified
6. Develop an advisory board consisting of leaders and employers from the University's target areas. This is not intended to raise money, but to acquire feedback and direction from those who will hire your students and employees.	Several leaders and alumni been approached about participating on a CIS advisory board. These discussions were with key technology professionals at GoldmanSachs and LDS Tech. We lack the contacts in our target area but need to focus on this opportunity to both provide direction for our programs and to build a pipeline to attract new students and to help students seeking employment.CIS continues to have open discussions with personnel at LDS Tech, GS, BYU Provo, and other professional organizations and educational entities. They have provided valuable suggestions that have shaped several of our course offerings including our lT 427 (WindowsDesktop Configuration), CIS 401 (Web ApplicationProgramming), and lS 485 (Project Management &Practice).	On-going Jan 2017Update: Both BYUHAlum and guest speakers have shared their ideas in meetings and classes in the CISDepartment.