Computer science students organize town hall to address growth concerns

By Amber Tong | Assistant News Editor     10/28/15 5:15am

Undergraduates and faculty of the computer science department are planning a campus-wide town hall and formation of an advisory board to address students’ concerns as increasing numbers of students enroll in the departments’ courses. 

Computer Science Club Internal Vice President Raymond Cano, who is spearheading the project with fellow students Nicholas Hanson-Holtry and Lauren Schmidt, said the town hall will have three parts: finding consensus on the status of the department, identifying problems and proposing solutions.

“The first question, more than anything, is ‘as students, are we discontent with our experience?’” Cano, a Wiess College junior, said. “It’s irrelevant if the student body as a whole doesn’t also want a change.”

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Hanson-Holtry, a Sid Richardson College senior, said he believes the discussion will focus around the recent growth of the department and how it should respond.

“The solution everyone thinks is hire more faculty [and] lecturers,” Hanson-Holtry said. “The point of the town hall is to slow the conversation down.” 

CS professor and department chair Vivek Sarkar, CS professor Luay Nakhleh and Associate Dean of Engineering Education Ann Saterbak will serve as panelists for the town hall. Cano said the faculty will steer the talk in a productive direction.

“The faculty each have a unique background and expertise,” Cano said. “They [will be] providing insight into what’s feasible moving forward and what complications accompany a given solution.”

Nakhleh said he expects students will reach agreement on increasing class sizes, though he does not see unanimous opinion at the moment. 

“Some students are bothered by this issue and believe their learning experience is affected negatively,” Nakhleh said. “However, I also know of other students who don’t seem to find any problem with the class sizes. I [hope] the town hall meeting will get at this question and some consensus will emerge as to whether there is a problem.”  

Nakhleh said growth in the CS student body has not been met by a corresponding growth in the faculty.

“Universities all around the country, and the world indeed, are investing in computer science, in terms of growing the faculty substantially and building new infrastructure,” Nakhleh said. “While I sense a similar recognition of the issues at Rice, investment is definitely lagging behind.”

Hanson-Holtry said the meeting will give transparency and legitimacy to department changes.

“It is really important that undergraduate population feels that they are involved in the first step,” Hanson-Holtry said. “We [also] want to show the administration — particularly the important members of the administration — that it’s not just students who care about this.”

Cano said he, Hanson-Holtry and Schmidt will also announce the creation of an advisory board, modelled upon a similar initiative in the economics department last semester, during the meeting.

“We aren’t asking for everyone to come up with amazing solutions on the spot, but just to get the wheels turning,” Cano said. “[The group will be] aimed at clearly articulating plausible solutions.”

Hanson-Holtry said the team is excited about the progress that the town hall will bring.

“Even though the reason the advisory board is going to be founded came from a place of negative energy, we have solutions and ideas to talk about,” Hanson-Holtry said.

The town hall will take place at 7 p.m. on Nov. 3 at a location to be decided. According to Hanson-Holtry, both CS and non-CS majors are welcome to attend.

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