Richard L. Byyny, chancellor of the University of Colorado at Boulder, has proposed that a new College of Information Science and Technology be created on the Boulder campus.
Byyny announced the appointment of a campus-wide committee to study the proposal at an annual faculty breakfast meeting last week. Bobby Schnabel, associate vice chancellor for campus technology, and Clayton Lewis, chair of the computer science department, will co-chair the exploratory committee.
The proposed new college would initially consist of the Department of Computer Science, the graduate Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program and the Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society (ATLAS), and would be closely affiliated with the Institute of Cognitive Science and the Entrepreneurship Program in the College of Business.
It would also feature teaching and research interactions and joint and affiliate faculty appointments with many campus units involving information technology, such as the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, applied math, communication, electrical and computer engineering, fine arts and environmental design.
"More than anything else we might do to prepare our students for the information technology and communication revolution, and the dot.com world, this new college will pave the way for our students to succeed," said Byyny.
"The biggest challenge that we face is how to recruit and retain the most qualified people for the Information Age," Byyny said. "This new college will be a bold and major attraction, bringing the best and the brightest to higher education and industry."
The college will complement and support the governor聮s Colorado Institute for Technology and will create an important new way for CU to partner with industry in training students for the world of work, he said.
"CU has once again demonstrated dynamic and visionary leadership," said Mark Holtzman, secretary of technology in Gov. Bill Owens聮 administration. "The new College of Information Sciences and Technology will serve as a magnet to attract world-class academic and student talent to preserve and enhance Colorado's reputation as a leading technology hub."
The chancellor said information technology and communication is a new and burgeoning area of education and research that intersects with almost all academic areas. The new college is intended to facilitate interaction between all disciplines and information technology.
"Education must continue to be grounded in traditional arts and sciences," he said, "but technical skill and understanding is essential. We need to present an educational curriculum to our students which provides them with practical and entrepreneurial experience that enhances their traditional knowledge-based education."
Byyny said the new college, while it initially offers programs that are currently available, is not simply a reorganization. The new college will bring together the academics on campus with industry, venture capitalists and investors to provide project-based educational and entrepreneurial experiences for students. It will enable the university to offer a variety of types of information technology degrees and programs that appeal to a broad range of student talents and industry needs.
"This will be a new model," he said. "The university will blend academic and real-world learning that will significantly change the way university education prepares students."
First degrees offered would be bachelor聮s, master聮s and doctoral degrees in computer science; a master聮s degree in telecommunications; and an ATLAS certificate in Technology, Arts and Media.
The last new college established on the Boulder campus was the College of Business in 1923. The College of Architecture and Planning, originally called "environmental design," was established on the Boulder campus in 1970 but is now based at CU-Denver with undergraduate programs only at CU-Boulder.