SIGCSE 2020 Pre-Symposium Event by the SIGCSE Committee on Computing Education in Liberal Arts Colleges
Contributed by Bruce A. Maxwell, bmaxwell@colby.edu
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In response to student demand, many CS Departments have grown quickly over the past five years, with an influx of new faculty, many in their first teaching position. They are coming into departments with senior faculty and existing curricula, practices, and student cultures. Given that educational institutions tend to respond slowly to change, the student demand most likely outpaced the growth in faculty, and the growth in student demand has meant the makeup of the student body has become more diverse in terms of preparation and ability. The result has been a perfect storm of widely ranging student preparation and ability, a push to grow class sizes to accommodate student interest, a push to keep the teaching demands on new faculty manageable, stress on senior faculty to pick up the slack, and a resultant lack of time for mentoring and casual discussion. These conditions can lead to conflict when considering whether and how to adjust existing departmental practices to try and support both students and the new faculty, with senior faculty sometimes struggling to communicate the origins of (or prior bad decisions) that may have led to the existing practices, while also dealing with the fact that some things may need to change. These issues are particularly relevant in the small departments at small liberal arts colleges where collegiality and community are keys to both student a faculty success and retention.