School of Computing and Information Sciences
Department Overview
The School of Computing & Information Sciences (SCIS) had another eventful year in 2010-2011. The SCIS is one of the largest computing programs in the country. According to the 2010 edition of American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Profiles of Engineering & Engineering Technology Colleges, the school awarded the third most Computer Science Degrees (inside Engineering). In the Florida State University System (SUS), FIU, UCF, and UNF are the only universities that offer both a BS in CS and IT degrees. We continue to lead the nation in training Hispanic PhD students with 23 out of a national total of 171 (13.5%) enrolled in our program. The School maintained the very high level of external funding that was achieved the last two years, receiving the largest ever amount of Direct C&G funding for the School.
Department Highlights
We also experienced an explosion in the enrollments in the BS in IT program, began offering MS in IT in spring 2011, substantially increased PhD enrollments in the face of severe budget cuts, and most importantly, both, faculty and students, received accolades from external sources for their scholarship and leadership. Just like our enrollments, our degree production has also grown substantially from last year. The undergraduate degrees increased by 21.6% while the graduate degrees remained steady. The number of PhDs granted increased from five to seven.
Our school has reached a sustained level of high output of research and scholarly activities. The number of peer-reviewed research publications is approximately 6 per tenured or tenure-track faculty member, and 8 per research active faculty member. Dr. Sitharam S. Iyengar will join us in fall 2011 as the new Director of the SCIS.
We have a solid partnership with MDC-EM department through our Business Continuity Information Network led by Shu-Ching Chen and Director of Technology and Business Development, Steve Luis.
We have begun addressing a major area of weakness for the university, namely, entrepreneurship and technology transfer, by taking initiatives and working through the university’s processes to make things happen in this area. In particular, our original techworking initiative was modified to begin the Collaborative Open Innovation Lab (COIL). This is an educational program that will augment student learning to teach them to be innovative.
Research and External Funding
The SCIS continues to make an excellent progress in its research activities maintaining its funding at a very high level. The external research funding (Direct Awards) was the highest ever for the School, an astounding $4.33M. This continued the Direct Awards in excess of $4.2M for third year in a row. In our growth mode, we should achieve a funding of $5M in another two years. Our income from Foundation and Auxiliary accounts was $0.26M for a total of $4.6M external funding. In addition, the faculty is maintaining its high number of new research funding proposals submitted every year.
We are seriously considering offering our popular degree programs in non-traditional fashion to generate alternative sources of non-E&G funding. Hopefully, these plans will be developed next year, and implemented in subsequent years.
In 2010-11, we have gone out and created many partnerships with local organizations that bring the like-minded individuals to develop innovative systems, thereby contributing towards the overall production of Intellectual Property. On two different occasions, we were invited by the Vice President of Engagement to present our research results and directions in the Disaster Mitigation Area to a member of BOT and a possible venture partner.
Fall Term Enrollment
Degrees Awarded
Sponsored Research Awards ($Millions)
