Dean's Update, January 2010
COMMENCEMENT
On December 19, SPSU held its fall commencement ceremonies. As has become (almost) customary, this was the largest fall commencement ceremony in the history of SPSU, with some 280 graduating, around 50 from the School of Computing and Software Engineering. Dr Susan Herbst, Executive Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Office for the University System of Georgia, gave the commencement speech.
As has become customary as well, CSE hosted a reception for its graduating students on December 18. The event was sponsored by Assurant Solutions and BravePoint. I am very grateful that these companies were able to provide financial support for the reception, despite the economic climate.
ENROLLMENTS
One of the biggest challenges that CSE faced at the start of the spring semester, but a good one, is the dramatic increase in majors. Our programs currently attract some 950 majors, up from around 780 in the spring of 2009. Moreover, enrollments seem to be up in almost all our programs. Clearly, increased enrollments are an important step towards achieving our first strategic goal "Increase the number of CSE graduates to better serve the community". Many faculty and staff have worked hard to make this happen and it is good to have the opportunity to publicly acknowledge the fact that their hard work has borne fruit.
NEW FACULTY MEMBER
In light of the increased enrollments, I am very pleased the arrival of a new faculty member in the Department of Information Technology, Dr. Chi Zhang. Dr. Chi Zhang earned her Ph.D. in Information Technology in July of 2009, and also has an MS Ed in Instructional Tech, an MS in Computer Science, and a BS in Educational Technology. She brings with her a strong multi-disciplinary background and will be able to cover a range of courses in our IT programs. This semester, Dr. Zhang has taken the lead in developing a set of new programs in Healthcare Information Technology. It is a pleasure to welcome Dr Zhang to the School of Computing and Software Engineering, and to thank Dr Andy Wang and his search committee for the efficient way in which the search for Dr Zhang was completed.
AND FINALLY ...
If you see something in this update that you want to comment on, please send me an email at hreichge@spsu.edu or call me on 678-915-7399. Also, if you know of somebody who might be interested in receiving the Dean's updates, please ask them to send me an email. We will gladly add them to our mailing list. Finally, if you prefer not to receive the Dean's updates, please let me know as well.
Han Reichgelt
Dean, School of Computing and Software Engineering