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August 2000
Richard Byyny,
chancellor of the University of Colorado 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.
Robert (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'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 , secretary of technology in Gov. Bill Owens'
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's, master's and doctoral
degrees in computer science; a master'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.
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