Reorganization of the College of Computer Sciences and Engineering

      The faculty of the College of Computer Sciences and Engineering support the reorganization of the College to accommodate the expansion of its engineering and building management degree programs and associated activities:

1.  Create a Director of Engineering Division position that would report to the Dean
2.  Eliminate the Chair of Electrical Engineering position
3.  Create coordinator positions for Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and
     Mechanical Engineering that would report to the Director of Engineering
4.  Create departmental status for the Building Construction Management program

Rationale: See attached memo

 

University of North Florida

College of Computing Sciences and Engineering

Memorandum

To:           Steve Shapiro, President, UNF Faculty Association

From:     Neal Coulter, Dean

Date:      October 11, 1999

Steve, I recommend that we aggressively pursue a reorganization of UNF's College of Computing Sciences and Engineering to accommodate the expansion of its engineering and building construction management degree programs and associated activities. The current organization does not represent reality and does not allow us to present properly our diversity to the public and to prospective students.

COCSE faculty has reviewed this plan. All comments forwarded to me have been supportive. A couple of faculty raised concerns over implementation details, but not over the reorganization. Please forward the plan to the appropriate UNF Faculty Association body for the next review.

Attached are two COCSE organization charts, Current and Proposed. The two major differences are summarized below.

1. The engineering programs - Currently, UNF offers only a BS degree in electrical engineering (EE), with BS programs in civil engineering (CE) and mechanical engineering (ME) scheduled to commence in the fall terms of 2000 and 2001, respectively. Our engineering administration, faculty, curricula, laboratories, some of our student organizations, and so forth, now reflect only EE. We need to reflect our expanded programs in a new organization.
   
   Consequently, I propose we install an Engineering Division to house our individual degree programs. To accomplish this realignment, we need to:
   1. Create a Director of Engineering Division position.
   2. Eliminate the Chair of Electrical Engineering position.
   3. Create (at least on paper) Coordinator positions for the EE, CE, and ME programs to accommodate for tailoring of separate degree programs. These positions will be filled as needed, and one coordinator can serve more than one program (initially, one coordinator could serve the CE and ME programs, at least). Later, some coordinator positions probably should be converted to department chair positions, but that need is likely several years away.
      
      
   This alignment will allow us to appoint engineering faculty to specific programs, without undue overhead. It can allow for program-specific curricula committee, laboratory committee, etc.
   
   
2. BCM program - This program now functions as a department, so I request it be granted departmental status. The main reasons are:
1. BCM now has three faculty members, so its faculty size now appropriately reflects its already large and growing student population.
2. BCM is a unique program in COCSE. It is not, and cannot be, a subset of CIS or engineering. It has its own accrediting body, its own local advisory council, its own student chapters, its own publications and conferences, and so forth.
3. BCM's enrollment is steadily increasing. Fall 1999 data show 86 BCM majors.

This change is cosmetic in the sense no additional resources are required. BCM already has a program director, a separate budget, its one secretary position, and other supporting infrastructure. The conversion can be implemented by converting the program to a department and the program's director  position to a department chair. The reorganization will, however, reflect current reality and the maturity of BCM program. It will be viewed as positive by faculty, students, employers, and the BCM advisory group.

        Thank you for your assistance. I will be pleased to address any questions you have.

        cc: Dr. David Kline

Orginizational flowchart for COCSE
Proposed Orginizational flowchart for COCSE and Page 2