School of Computing
Minutes of the Faculty Meeting
October 6, 2017
Present: A. Apon, C. Babb, J. Bernard, S. Babu, K. Caine, N. Colvin, C. Cook, B. Dean, Y. Feaster, R. Ge, W. Goddard, K. Goodwin, A. Herzog, S. Hedetniemi, H. Hu, S. Jin, S. Joerg, E. Kraemer, S. Kuksenok, R. Lowe, F. Luo, B. Malloy, J. Martin, N. McNeese, C. Plaue, K. Plis, A. Robb, I. Safro, M. Sitaraman, M. Smotherman, J. Sorber, P. Srimani, J. Tessendorf, B. Ullmer, J. Wang, P. Vernon, D. Weeks, V. Zordan
The meeting was called to order at 12:14pm
Good News:
· Research team including Amp Apon, Alex Herzog, Chris Gropp and Brandon Posey broke a world record to dynamically provision the largest computational cluster in a cloud. They actually did this in August, but the blog came out recently:https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/natural-language-processing-at-clemson-university-1-1-million-vcpus-ec2-spot-instances/
· Amy Apon also had an MRI proposal of ~$1M was funded to support computational and data-enabled science and engineering at Clemson and including Claflin University. Seehttps://nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1725573&HistoricalAwards=false
· Sab and his students had a journal paper accepted on their collaborative research with colleagues Chris Pagano and his students from Psychology:
Day, B., Ebrahimi, E., Hartman, L. S., Pagano, C. C., Babu, S. V. "Calibration to Tool Use During Visually-Guided Reaching in Real and Virtual Environments," accepted in Acta Psychological: International Journal of Psychonomics, Elsevier Publications. Impact Factor 2.30
· Kelly Caine was a keynote speaker at the Information Security North America recently.
· Sophie Joerg and Andrew Duchowski are on the way to completing acquisition of three eye trackers:
1. SR-Research EyeLink (2,000 Hz) (me via NSF EAGER)
2. Tobii Glasses 2 (wearable) (me and Sophie via NSF Supplement)
3. Ergoneers Dikablis (integrated into mocap) (me and Sophie via NSF Supplement)
· Hongxin Hu had a paper about SDN Security Education accepted by SIGCSE ‘18
· An NFS proposal on multiscale algorithms for generating infrastructure networks has been funded
· Ilya Safro’s student Justin Sybrandt received a travel award to ACM SIGKDD (the most prestigious conference in data mining) to present their paper, which was accepted for oral presentation (top 8%). Also a proposal to organize a week long workshop on high-performing algorithms for graphs at Dagstuhl, Leibnitz Center for Informatics in Germany (Co-organizers are R. Peng (Georgia Tech), H. Meyerhenke (U. of Cologne) and A. Pinar (Sandia National Labs)
Update from Division Chairs:
CS- Amy Apon- Feng had a visiting professor from Claflin University, Dr. Ananda Mondal, and this week Amy had a visitor from Claflin this past summer also from Claflin. If there are others in SoC working with faculty in Claflin she'd like to know about it, and may try to coordinate an REU with Claflin undergraduates this coming summer. Also Jacob Sorber will be wiring the building for light experiments to detect motion and activity. This does not impact your privacy.
VC- Victor Zordan- Working on a new recruiting campaign for the school. Faculty members will ask to act as mentors for the schools that they attended. Victor will send out an email for those who are interested. First we will start out with emails then move to physical visits.
FOI- Mark Smotherman- We are recruiting for lecturers for next semester as well as Fall 2018.
Updates from Degree Programs:
PhD in CS and BDSI- Brian Dean: Recruiting again for the new program in BDSI, both PhD and MS
MFA-DPA Victor Zordan- The tuition fees are higher than previously but there are processes in place to make it affordable.
Ph.D. in HCC- Larry Hodges: Sent out emails requesting portfolios and annual review of process. We are expecting one new student for spring.
Undergraduate program- Chris Plaue: Kristi Cabrera is now replacing Gail Grieger’s position as an advisor.
Updates from Staff:
Staff- Christy Babb- We will soon be advertising for the replacement for Kristi’s old position.
IT Staff- Chuck Cook- We now have the inventory all equipment. Please keep us informed of all new purchases of equipment.
New Business:
Curriculum updates- Mark Smotherman:
1. Curriculum Motions from UAC (1)
Across degrees:
• Rename “Computer Science Technical Requirement”
• Revise footnote to state these courses are in addition to CPSC courses
explicitly identified elsewhere
• Remove AS and ML courses from “Writing Requirement”
• These courses do not focus on writing
• Handle redundancy of MATH 4190 Discrete Math. Structures I
• Add sentence to CPSC 2070 course description that credit cannot be received
for both CPSC 2070 and MATH 4190
• Add footnote to state MATH 4190 can be substituted for CPSC 2070
2. Curriculum Motions from UAC (2)
BA/CPSC degree:
• Replace 2910 with 2920 in BA degree
• Revise the distributed competency worksheet for the BA
• Add footnote to state 2920 double-counts with Gen. Ed. reqt. F (STS)
3. Curriculum Motions from UAC (3)
BS/CPSC degree:
• Replace “Arts and Humanities Requirement or Social Science
Requirement” with “Breadth Requirement”
• Eliminates confusion since current two reqts. are defined by same footnote
• Revise footnote to say these two courses are in addition to Gen. Ed. reqts. A-D
• Change Geology sequence to:
{ GEOL 1010/1030 and 2020 } or
{ GEOL 1010/1030 and 1120/1130 }
4. Curriculum Motions from UAC (4)
Other:
• Request Registrar review academic forgiveness policy
• Forgiveness is more lenient for AP credit than dual credit
• Example:
(1) MATH 1060 credits from high school
(2) MATH 1060 F (first semester)
(3) MATH 1060 A (second semester)
Forgive instance (2) of 1060?
If instance (1) is AP – yes
If instance (1) is dual credit – no
Multidisciplinary Committee for Cyber Security
• Background:
• Hongxin Hu prepared a draft version of UG Certificate in Cyber Security
• VPR encouraged SoC and ECE to explore designation as an NSA Center of
Academic Excellence – Cyber Defense (CAE-CD)
• Yvon Feaster and Rose Lowe mapped Knowledge Units (KUs)
• Currently:
• Establish a Curriculum Committee with ECE, Math, MGT, and SoC
• Committee will work to propose a minor that meets the CAE-CD KUs
• Committee can submit proposals directly to UCC
Vote was taken and approved unanimously
Academic Integrity- Wayne Goddard:
Proposal to create an Integrity Subcommittee of the Undergraduate Committee
In order to ensure a more consistent and fairer application of student integrity standards, as well as to monitor progress, we propose that the Undergraduate Committee have a standing 3-person Integrity Subcommittee.
In situation of possible integrity infractions, both undergraduate and graduate, faculty/instructors are expected to provide a copy of the evidence to the Integrity Subcommittee, and optionally, request feedback therefrom.
The subcommittee will provide annual report to the Faculty with overall trends and recommendations.
Vote was taken and approved unanimously
ABET- Chris Plaue: The Dean’s office has ask for the coordinator to discuss with the faculty members concerning the upcoming ABET visit.
ABET PRIMER
• The BS-CS program is accredited by ABET
• A program is normally reviewed every 6 years
– Self-study report (June 2017)
– Sample transcripts (September 2017)
– Site Visit (October 21-24, 2017)
PROGRAM EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
· PEO-1. Graduates will be employed in the computing profession and will be engaged in learning, understanding, and applying new ideas and technologies as the computing field evolves.
· PEO-2. Graduates with an interest in, and aptitude for, advanced studies will have completed or be actively pursuing graduate studies.
· Reviewed (/revised) every two years by stakeholders
CLOSING THE LOOP
• Students - consulted via survey during advising during Spring 2017
• Alumni - attempted to consult via survey at homecoming booth
• Employers/Alum - consulted at industry advisory board meeting Fall 2016 and via survey during Spring 2016
• Faculty: Reaffirmed during April 16, 2016 meeting
STUDENT OUTCOMES
• Statements that describe what students are expected to know and be able to do by the time of graduation.
• Assessed via a rotating schedule in the School of Computing
BS-CS STUDENT OUTCOMES
• SO-1. Graduates will be able to apply mathematical foundations, algorithmic principles, and computer science theory in the modeling and design of computer-based systems in a way that demonstrates the comprehension of the tradeoffs involved in design choices.
• SO-2. Graduates will be able to analyze a problem and identify and define the computing requirements appropriate to its solution.
• SO-3. Graduates will be able to apply design and development principles in the construction of software systems that function in accordance with specifications.
• SO-4. Graduates will be able to express ideas effectively in oral and written communications.
• SO-5. Graduates will be able to function effectively on teams to accomplish a common goal.
• SO-6. Graduates will be able to understand professional, ethical, legal, security and social issues and responsibilities.
STUDENT OUTCOME REVISION
• Every two years, consult stakeholders and report changes
• Our student outcomes must enable characteristics required by ABET – List of ABET enabled characteristics has been undergoing proposed changes for several years
• Consulted employers/industry advisory board Spring 2017 via survey
• Attempted to interview/survey alumni at homecoming
• Faculty
HOW IT FITS TOGETHER
[A] Explain functions, relations, and sets, and be able to perform basic operations.
[B] Determine which type of proof is best for a given problem.
[C] Solve a variety of basic recurrence relations
SO-1. Graduates will be able to apply mathematical foundations, algorithmic principles, and computer science theory in the modeling and design of computer-based systems in a way that demonstrates the comprehension of the tradeoffs involved in design choices. Enables ABET characteristic A) An ability to apply knowledge of computing and mathematics appropriate to the program’s student outcomes and to the discipline
PEO-1. Graduates will be employed in the computing profession and will be engaged in learning, understanding, and applying new ideas and technologies as the computing field evolves.
PEO-2. Graduates with an interest in, and aptitude for, advanced studies will have completed or be actively pursuing graduate studies
UPCOMING ABET SITE VISIT
• Team Chair – Dr. David Cordes (University of Alabama)
• Program Evaluator: – Dr. Lakshmi Narasimhan (fmly East Carolina)
ON-SITE SCHEDULE
• Sunday, October 22, 2017 – Tour of School of Computing facilities – Reviewing course materials and minutes • Thanks to those submitted who 16-17 binders – Still missing a few binders • Will need to borrow textbooks
· Monday, October 23
– Meet w/ intro sequence staff (Yvon)
– Meet w/ system staff (Chuck & Nathaniel)
– Meet w/ office staff and advising (Christy, Kristi, and Rose)
– Meet w/ “primary undergraduate faculty” (Larry, Brian, Alex)
- Lunch with SoC stakeholders (Eileen, Chris, Jim Wanner (advisory board), graduating senior, rising senior.
-Representative student meeting • 1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year, 4th year, transfer and change-of-major
Committee Assignments: Each division needs to select a member for the Advisory committee. CS, HCC, VC, FOI, Staff and one “at-large”. Please send Eileen the name of the elected person.
Merit Pay Initiative:
Overview-
§ The provost has initiated a plan by which departments will engage in a process that quantifies performance.
§ Basic idea:
§ Workload divided into Teaching, Research, Service/Administration
§ Rubrics developed for assigning performance in each category
§ Total score results
§ Pay increases tied to scores
§ The slides that follow are from a presentation to the Organization of Academic department chairs by Dave Barrett, Associate Dean in the College of Education.
§ While we do not need to conform to the details of the College of Ed Approach, we do need to establish our own guidelines and procedures.
Guidelines and Recommendations-
§ Each department at Clemson University must develop a plan that stipulates the decision rules to be followed by department chairs when they make recommendations to the Dean regarding merit compensation for faculty
§ This process must be in place by May 2018, so that it can be piloted on real faculty performance data
§ Our goal is better alignment of merit compensation with faculty performance
Timeline for 2017-2018 Academic Year-
By October 1, 2017
Chairs have confirmed faculty workload distributions
By March 2018
Each department has developed its plans/procedures for rating faculty performance and faculty have approved plans
By April 2018
Deans have reviewed and approved rating plans
By June 2018
Pilot ratings have been conducted and results evaluated
Most faculty budgeted: 37.5% classroom teaching, 12.5% grad supervision/directed studies/thesis committees, 45%research, 55service/committees
Required of all Departmental Plans-
1. Each department develops its own scoring/evaluation system
2. Chairs apply these procedures in making recommendations to the Dean of the College
3. The Dean holds up to 25% of available funds to be used at his or her discretion
4. All ratings on 7 point scale
5. Ratings for each category of performance that department uses in workload distributions
6. Category ratings must be individually weighted by % Effort
7. Weighted category ratings sum to Total Score
8. Expected that Total Scores will average about 4.0
Example-
There are many options. Some examples:
Ø Available merit pools divided into tenure track and non-tenure track.
Total Score determines % of available pool.
Ø Same as 1. above but Total Score adjusted for current salary
(to limit % salary increase) before apportioning available funds
• Single salary pool, then same as 2. above
Other issues for us: