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 1984, there were noticeably fewer freshman coming into computer programming classes. Two different external pressures combined to effect CS enrollments at Graceland during this time. First, there was a general decline in Graceland enrollments, a reflection of a declining population of college age youth during that period. Second, there was a downward national trend in Computer Science enrollments with respect to other disciplines. Some believe that the explosive growth of alternative computing-related opportunities in disciplines other than CS (all made possible by the microcomputer revolution) contributed to this. Thus, in 1984, multiple sections and semesters of computer programming courses were reduced to one.
  
  
• Jim Webb left Graceland in 1984 and the decision was made not to hire a replacement CS faculty but rather to utilize others from Physics, Math, Business, and ITS to fill the gap. Hence, the CS Department consisted of just two faculty (Raiser, Jones).
  
  
• What seemed to be a harmless curriculum change in 1983 by giving students more elective options within the major resulted in fewer students signed up for any given elective course. Eventually, some of these courses were offered alternate years. Furthermore, the CS faculty supervised various Individual Studies for CS electives. Thus, CS faculty handled a wider variety of topics than before.
  
  
• Several faculty in different departments who taught CS classes left the college (Richard Lindgren, Robert Kitchin) and some of the courses they taught had to be picked up by the CS faculty.
  
  
• In 1984, Graceland was awarded a Title III grant which brought a whole new hardware/software environment. Several microcomputer labs were created (PC, Macintosh, Apple II) and various local area networks for print and file sharing were established. CS faculty needed to devote more time to the tools (operating, installing, upgrading, and configuring hardware/software) making it more of a challenge to stay focused on curricular needs.
  
  
• Grants paid for leaves of absence for Jones (1987-88) and Raiser (Spr'88) to advance their level of knowledge in the field. Jones used that to begin Ph.D. studies. Raiser used it for an industry work experience and did not return to teaching. Later, beginning Fall 1991, Jones took a 3-semester leave to complete his Ph.D. coursework. This created much faculty turnover during the period 1988 to 1992, as four different persons were hired to fill one of the CS positions (i.e., Jia Ning Han, Aphrem Kizhakekara, John Funk, Kevin Kiser).
  
  
• The varied computing environments also meant that CS students who would have sought ITS work assignments in the past might now be doing other computer related work assignments (e.g., microcomputer lab monitor, help desk, teaching assistant requiring computing skills). Thus, fewer students enrolled in CS courses taught by David DeBarthe, from ITS, which prepared them for ITS jobs. The relation between the CS Department and ITS therefore became more distant as everyone on both sides got more busy.

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.

• We decided to drop the CIS major to focus on our individual strengths in CS.
  
  
• We shifted from Pascal to C++ as the central language for the curriculum. This was much more than a mere language change. It was a major paradigm shift in approach to problem solving (i.e., object-oriented rather than top-down functional approach).
  
  
• To further conform to ACM guidelines a two-semester lab science sequence (in Biology, Chemistry, or Physics) was added to the major requirement.
  
  
• Additional requirements for the CS major replaced some of the elective choices. First, Introduction to Computer Science (3 hr) was added to help prepare students for the rigors of programming in C++. Second, a Senior Project sequence (2 hr each semester) was added to give students experience at design, analysis, and implementation of a large software effort.
  
  
• Elective courses related to Networks, Telecommunications, and the Internet were offered. Other notable offerings that were added were Introduction to UNIX and Java Programming.
  
  
• More recently, a CS Internship was added as an elective and students have been encouraged in that direction by nurturing relations with companies who host on-site visits or come to campus to make presentations and recruit Graceland students.

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:

• Transfer of course credits from other schools in which it is not clear whether they should be considered IT or CS courses. This was not an issue when CS and CIS courses were identified as being CS department courses.
  
  
• Scheduling conflicts for use of some computer lab, computer equipment, or special-needs classroom.
  
  
• Evaluating the success of the CS program. When CS and CIS where under one department, the combined total number of majors was considered for the success of the program, even though a significant number of CS majors switched to CIS. With the IT program in a different division, there is a tendancy to disregard the effect a CS program has to attract students who are later redirected into the IT program.
  
  
• Conflicting interests between the different faculty and courses can easily arise regarding how to configure the shared CSLab Server and Workstations. Close communication is necessary, but difficult when those involved (and the equipment) are not all together in the same building.
  
  
• Partnership courses for the IT program necessitates recruiting adjunct faculty, but since the courses include double-listed IT/CS and CS courses the approval authority for who can teach each one is more complex.
  
  
• IT courses do not count for Mathematics General Education credit, yet 23:101 (inherently an IT course) does.
  
  
• Fragmentation of the faculty in computing related disciplines into smaller and more widely separated units. This increases the number of faculty doing administrative tasks for managing these programs, complicates the communication between them, and reduces the sense of collegiality among computing professionals.

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.