Will CU form new science/tech college?

BOULDER — Like a movie plot unfolding, the proposed new College of Information Science and Technology at the University of Colorado at Boulder played its first reel to a variety of critical reviews. The question: Is it an A-list proposal, or should it be relegated to the back lot?

Jerry Rutledge, chair of CU-Boulder’s board of regents, said the proposal was premature. “We don’t have enough information about whether the new college would affect other colleges at the university. There are lots of complicated issues that haven’t been addressed.”

Rutledge especially was concerned about the College of Engineering, the highest-ranked college on CU’s campus. “If it won’t have a positive effect on the engineering college, then it shouldn’t be considered,” he said. “Show me why it would be good for CU, the state of Colorado and the colleges we have now.”

Last August at a faculty meeting, CU-Boulder Chancellor Richard Byyny announced the appointment of a 30-member committee to study the feasibility of a new College of Information Science and Technology. Committee members were drawn from all areas of the university and from the engineering college advisory boards whose members are in private industry. Bobby Schnabel, associate vice chancellor for campus technology, and Clayton Lewis, chair of the computer science department at the engineering college, are co-chairing the exploratory committee.

In a statement, Byyny said the new college would complement and support Gov. Bill Owen’s Colorado Institute of Technology (CIT) and create an important new way for CU to partner with industry to train students for the world of work. “The biggest challenge we face is how to recruit and retain the most qualified people for the Information Age,” he said.

The campuswide study is just beginning and nothing is definite, according to Schnabel. A subcommittee has been formed that will report back to the main committee in December, and the chancellor wants a proposal for the regents to consider by the end of the spring semester.

CU’s new president, Elizabeth “Betsy” Hoffman, would need to approve the proposal before it went to the regents. “We are looking at more than a new college,” Schnabel said. “We are looking at the structure the university needs and expanding the existing structure and properties.”

The proposed structure of the new college initially would include the Department of Computer Science and the graduate Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program (ITP), both now in the engineering college, and the Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society (ATLAS), a campuswide, multidisciplinary program announced in March 1999.

It also would be closely affiliated with the Institute of Cognitive Science, housed in the Muenzinger Psychology Building, and the Center for Entrepreneurship in the College of Business and Administration. Byyny envisions the new college as a “a new model,” a blend of academics with industry, venture capitalists and investors that would provide project-based educational and entrepreneurial experiences for students.

Regent Thomas Lucero said that while he’s not for the new college and he’s not against it, “It would take some convincing that CU is not doing enough already to prepare students for high-tech careers.” Lucero criticized the process to this point, saying the train left the station, but no track was laid. “There wasn’t a game plan for us (the regents),” he said. “Let’s first analyze how all this (existing colleges and the new college) fits together.”

Full professor and co-chair of the committee, Lewis said no new building for the proposed new college has been discussed, in spite of media reports that it would be in the center of campus. “The subcommittee is scoping out general ideas for how the new college would work, looking at possible moves to build a focus that will help the faculty and new people,” he said.

Lewis said a new college could be funded by donors, corporate partners and student fees. “We could also develop an incubator and sell the intellectual property.”

Departing Dean Ross Corotis of the College of Engineering and Applied Science had suggested a college he termed Information of Learning Science two years ago.

Corotis thought a college could be built around the computer science department, housed in a new building and named after a donor who provided funding and an operating endowment. His idea was in response to a possible donor opportunity, and he sent it to the administration, but nothing materialized about a donor or from the administration. Since Corotis resigned effective the end of the academic year, July 31, 2001, he is not involved in the new study.

Why is now the time to look at reorganizing the current university system with regard to high-tech education? Lewis said the chancellor is personally interested, and new ideas are always swirling around the campus, but in order to stay competitive nationally with other universities, CU has to offer comparable programs.

Two waves have hit the high-tech education world recently. Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh has created a school of computer science, and the University of Georgia has added a college of computing, Lewis said. “A number of universities like Cornell are adding or restructuring departments. Indiana has a school of informatics, and Colorado State University has plans for a virtual college.”

Lewis said CU could get something off the ground just by reorganizing for more effective coordination. “While reorganizing wouldn’t be an additional program cost since we are paid for our jobs anyway, we would need to do more than no-cost activity.” He suggested the university get help from the state through its technology plan and by working with the CIT.

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