Overview:

Program Educational Objectives (PEOs) describe broad, high-level goals that graduates of a program are expected to achieve within a few years after graduation, focusing on professional accomplishments and personal development rather than specific skills learned by graduation. The PEOs of the Department of Computer Science are reviewed with the CS Board of Advisors during the annual meeting every Spring term as well as with faculty during the Annual Faculty Retreat held before the beginning of each Fall term. This allows for feedback from each of the program’s constituencies. These presentations include opportunities for open discussion and proposals to modify or amend the stated PEOs.

Process:

CS EXPO (held towards the end of the Spring semester):

Every Spring semester, the department organizes the CS EXPO, an event that showcases our students’ research achievements and opens up the department to the wider community. Alumni are invited to give talks showcasing their careers and achievements and to hold recruiting events. During and after the event, alumni are interviewed and consulted about the PEOs and any potential changes to them. Their suggested changes are recorded and presented to the BoA in the annual meeting and to faculty in the Annual Faculty Retreat held before the beginning of the Fall semester. Any changes to the PEOs suggested by the alumni, BoA, or faculty are subjected to a faculty vote during the Annual Faculty Retreat.

Board of Advisors (BoA) Meeting (held at the end of the Spring semester):

Every Spring semester, during the BoA meeting, a member of the Accreditation Data Collection Committee or the chair of the department presents the current Program Educational Objectives to the BoA of the Department of Computer Science. They also present the current missions of FSU, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Department of Computer Science, as well as a mapping of our PEOs to these missions. A discussion then follows where the BoA is invited to reflect on and suggest changes regarding the PEOs, the mission of the department, or the alignment of our PEOs to the missions of the university, college, and department. Suggested changes are recorded and will be presented during the Annual Faculty Retreat, to take place before the beginning of the Fall sememster. A vote takes place during the retreat to either approve or reject these changes.

Annual Faculty Retreat (held in August, before the start of the Fall semester):

During the Annual Faculty Retreat, a member of the Accreditation Data Collection Committee or the chair of the department presents the current Program Educational Objectives to the BoA of the Department of Computer Science. They also present the current missions of FSU, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Department of Computer Science, as well as a mapping of our PEOs to these missions. In addition, any changes proposed by the BoA during their spring meeting are also presented to the faculty.

A discussion then follows where the faculty reflect on these items and suggest any additional changes regarding the PEOs, the mission of the department, or the alignment of our PEOs to the missions of the university, college, and department. Once a final version of each of these items is agreed upon through discussion, the final version of each item is subjected to a vote by the faculty. New versions of the PEOs, the mission of the department, and alignment of our PEOs to the missions of the university, college, and department are adopted if they gather at least 50% of the faculty vote.