The primary concern of the Elizabeth City State University and the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science is the production of quality graduates in the mathematical sciences at the undergraduate level. Thus, all of the efforts of the department must be designed to advance and be supportive of this concern. The first goal is to increase the percentage of our students (at the upper division: junior-senior level), involved in research and/or practical experiences, to the seventy-five percent level over the next five years. This will require enhancing faculty research activities and emphasizing the value of research. A second goal is to modify the current program of study (a B.S. degree in Computer and Information Sciences) in one or two ways: either develop two distinct curriculum tracks: one in computer science (scientific applications) and one in information science (business application) or modify the current program of study to be one in computer science only. A third goal is that of developing the current computer science program to the extent that the program will be accredited by CSAB of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) during the next five years. A fourth goal over the next five years is to modify the operation of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science so that the computer science faculty will operate as a cohesive group, devoting their primary efforts to teaching, research and other activities relating primarily to the Computer Science Program. A fifth goal is that of increasing the percentage of their graduates who will go to graduate school; currently about ten percent go. Over the next five years they plan to increase that number to twenty five percent. To accomplish the goals outlined the following activities are envisioned. A. An expansion and improvement of the research/practicum activities of their majors by the development of new linkages with industry, government and other universities. B. A review and modification of the curriculum offering in the computer science program to assure that courses exist at State-of-the-Arts levels and meet ACM accreditation standards. C. An enhancement and an expansion of current computer resources, including hardware, software and firmware; as well as library publications in computer science; D. An enhancement and expansion of faculty development activities, with emphasis on research involvement and learning new instructional strategies/teaching methodologies; E. A review and modification of the entrance, progression and exit requirements of majors in computer science.
