History of Computer Science at Graceland
by Jim Jones
October 2003



The First Computer Science Degrees Elsewhere

The Genesis of Computer Science degree programs begins in 1962 at Purdue University, when Computer Science was first offered as a degree program. At Purdue, as with most other Computer Science degree programs which followed (including Graceland's) it emerged from the Mathematics program. The study of computers and computing had been a part of Applied Mathematics for some time. By 1970, a number of prominent universities offered degree programs in Computer Science. Government funded research made it possible for such universities to have the requisite computing facilities. As the cost of computer hardware declined and the accessibility to computing rose (especially in the late 70's), most other universities and a number of colleges instituted their own Computer Science degree programs. Given this context, Graceland College surely has one of the earliest and longest running Computer Science programs among small colleges.

Graceland's Early Beginning (1969-1974)

Computer programming was introduced in Mathematics courses by Professor Dennis Steele beginning in 1969. More computer-based course work was offered in the early 70's while Dennis Steele was also working on his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Iowa State (completed in 1975). During those early years, students ran their programs at Iowa State University computing facilities.

By 1973 a Computation Option in the Mathematics major was offered. Then in 1974 the Computer Science major was approved and in May of that year Graceland graduated its first B.S. in Computer Science, Larry Fairchild. This is noteworthy in Graceland's Black History as well, since Mr. Fairchild was a minority student-athlete who went on to a distinguishing career as a mathematician, computer scientist, information technology officer, and senior manager for the Central Intelligence Agency.

A Period of Growth (1974-1982)

Besides extensive Mathematics (27 hours), the requirements for this first Computer Science (CS) major covered computer programming, digital logic design, programming languages and translator design (assemblers and compilers), operating systems and file I/O design, and simulation. Theoretical foundations of computation was integrated into the program. FORTRAN was the initial programming language.

The sense of excitement and expectancy that surrounded this new field, plus the zeal and appeal of Dr. Steele himself, brought much growth to the program. Instead of having to test student programs on Iowa State University computers, students were given access to Graceland's administrative computing facilities. Furthermore, many CS students were hired part-time to assist with Graceland's information technology work. A cooperative and trusting relation existed between business and academic interests which further facilitated growth in the program (see also the History of Information Technology at Graceland).

In 1980 the CS program spun off a new Computer Engineering (CE) major and in 1981 the CS major requirements were divided into various concentrations (Numerical Analysis, Languages and Operating Systems, and Information Systems). Most CS students declared multiple majors (CS/CE, CS/CE/Math, CS/BusAd, etc.). In the early 1980's almost 10% of the student body (approximately 100 students) declared at least one of their majors to be a computing discipline. By 1982, the number of CS faculty had increased to three (Steele, Raiser, and Webb), plus a fourth faculty (Bolingbroke) who administered the CE program. In addition to that, other faculty members from the Science Division taught CS related courses. Since all faculty teaching CS courses were under one roof and in close proximity to each other, there was a close working relationship between them.

From 1974 through 1982 the number of graduates of the different computing disciplines were 1, 7, 6, 11, 6, 8, 7, 19, and 36, respectively.

The 2nd Generation CS Curriculum (1983-1986)

In 1983, Dr. Steele left and his position was filled by James S. Jones. Mr. Jones had recently moved to Lamoni, had a BS in CS, and had just completed an MS in CS. Dr. Raiser became the CS coordinator and changes were implemented in the curriculum (encouraged by Mr. Jones) such that in 1984 the CS concentrations were dropped, and a third spinoff major was introduced, Computer Information Systems (CIS). The CS, CE, and CIS majors were made to conform more closely to standards proposed by the professional societies associated with these majors, ACM, IEEE, and DPMA, respectively. This completed what was already begun in 1981, when the introductory programming language was changed from FORTRAN to Pascal, the language most commonly taught in university CS programs.

To support this new curriculum there were three Computer Science faculty (Raiser, Webb, and Jones) plus others outside the department who taught Computer Science courses. The hardware environment was a simple one for faculty to work with, primarily a highly reliable central timesharing computer system (HP3000/MVS) with terminal access at remote sites. The CS Lab consisted of a room of terminals in which students had 24x7 access (24 hours, 7 days a week). Computing Services (now Information Technolgy Services, or ITS) provided system support and the Academic Computing Coordinator (Jim Hawley) provided liaison support for faculty/course computer accounts. Although the CS discipline was fast changing and demanded flexibility of its faculty, the usual faculty loads (12+3+12 semester hours) were manageable because the freshman classes were offered in multiple sections and semesters to accommodate the large number of students that had come into the program. Thus, the CS faculty taught 6 or 7 different classes per year instead of 8 or 9. In summary, a comprehensive program in computing and computer studies with a three person department was feasible given the situation.

From 1983 through 1986, the number of CS/CE/CIS students graduated was 20, 26, 22, and 21, respectively. After that, we experienced a decline.

The Roots of Decline (1987-1992)

During the 1980's a number of things happened which put great stress on the curriculum.

In summary, during this period there was a greater turnover of CS faculty, in a department of reduced size, each teaching a wider range of topics in a dynamically changing hardware/software environment. All of this may have contributed to a decline in Graceland's CS enrollments, a decline that shows up in the CS/CE/CIS graduation counts from 1987 through 1992.

From 1987 through 1992, the number of CS/CE/CIS students graduated was 15, 19, 12, 7, 6, and 5, respectively.

The 3rd Generation CS Curriculum (1993-1998)

In 1993, Gary Hasman was hired. Like Jones, he had a MS in Computer Science and started work on his Ph.D. He brought great energy for much needed change to the curriculum at a time in which Graceland was being connected to the Iowa Communication Network (ICN) and the Internet. Hasman managed a project to create an Internet Helpdesk for all Iowa K-12 teachers, which was operated by Graceland students. This project brought acclaim to Graceland and its students and it generated an Internet expertise which benefited the CS curriculum.

There was a heavy teaching responsibility associated with a service course, Introduction to Computers and Applications (23:101). The CS Faculty and Science Division attempted in 1994 but were unsuccessful in getting that course to be redefined as a general education course (i.e., not a CS course). The impact such a change would have on how that course counted in the general education requirements was the obstacle. None the less, the CS faculty went forward with the other changes to the curriculum over the next few years.

Jim Jones completed his Ph.D. in 1997 and Gary Hasman reached ABD status, with expectations to complete his Ph.D. in 1999. This represented the strongest academic position for the Computer Science department at Graceland since it began, albeit still a two person department.

From 1993 through 1998, the number of students graduated with computing related degrees was 10, 10, 13, 7, 8, and 5, respectively.

The New Information Technology Program (1998)

In 1998 a new Information Technology (IT) major was started by the Business Department through the guidance of Yvonne Galusha and in cooperation with CS faculty, Hasman and Jones. An IT faculty position was created and Kevin Brunner was hired. Both Yvonne and Kevin were Graceland CS graduates from 1981 and 1986, respectively. Because IT is in a different division than CS a close working relation between CS and IT faculty was necessary to address the following challenges:

Many students who declare CS to be their major initially find that IT is more suited to their desires. This has always been the case (i.e., when we had CS and CIS degrees) and is the case elsewhere. Besides the stronger Mathematics requirement for CS majors, the recent two-semester lab course requirement in Chemistry, Biology, or Physics, causes pause for potential CS majors. Although, many students switched from CS to IT, the CS program in 1999 had some of the strongest CS students ever. The quality of those CS students forging a strong relationship and deep respect for our CS students by those who employed them in the computer industry.

Challenges at the Threshold of the New Millenium

There has been a crisis in academic hiring in Computer Science. Fewer than 1000 new Ph.D.'s are granted annually. Only about 60 go to teach at non-Ph.D. schools. Since there are about 1300 schools which are non-Ph.D. granting schools, there is one new Ph.D. for every 20 such schools.

At a regional conference of CS faculty in 1999, the CS Department Chair at one of the state universities noted that many graduate students enter their program saying they intend to earn their Ph.D. but stop at the M.S. degree because of high paying job opportunities. Others commented that it was also increasingly difficult to convince undergraduates to pursue M.S. degrees in computer science for similar reasons. There were even stories of companies convincing a student to step away from their undergraduate degrees for high paying CS or IT jobs.

For statistics on the number of new Ph.D. graduates and salary surveys one can look at the lastest Taulbee Survey at the Computing Research Association (CRA) statistics page at http://cra.org:80/statistics/home.html.

TO DO ... some history with names of the CS faculty who taught in 1999-2003.

TO DO ... the growth of Graceland's IT program.

TO DO ... the effects of the dot-com bust and Sept 11 on the industry

Meeting the Challenge - The Ackerley Gift

TO DO ... information about this, the hope for the future, a comment about having 30 years of CS, and the growth of the IT program.