Information technology will be one of the key factors driving progress in the twenty-first century -- it will transform the way we live, work, and play. However, the size of the current work force that is able to drive this progress is much too small and the software that we depend on is too fragile. Fragility is manifested as unreliability, lack of security, performance lapses, errors, and difficulty in upgrading.
In order to meet the increasing demands for computer science expertise, the Division of Computer Science at UTSA plans to pursue a number of activities that will stimulate interest and excitement in this area throughout San Antonio. We hope to be an important step in transforming the image of San Antonio from on of strictly Tourism to one of Tourism and Technology, ``T2''. We propose to do this using a two-prong approach consisting of both an outreach program and an internal program.
In order to address the Nation's need for robust (non-fragile) systems, the Division of Computer Science at UTSA plans to emphasize computer information security issues in our academic programs, initiate a state-of-the-art research program in information security, and pursue a number of related activities including collaborations with local industry and government organizations.
Goals:
Current Contacts:
We have identified a number of strategies to achieve these goals. Significant support is required.
A leading research scientist in the computer information security area will be expected to build a self-sustaining research program. Summer support and research initiation/support funding is required.
These faculty will be supported for a period of five years under the proposed initiative with UTSA expected to transition them to regular faculty positions after five years. Summer support and research initiation/support funding is required.
Graduate student support is essential for recruiting prospective graduate students and maintaining an active research program.
Scholarships for promising undergraduate students will assist in recruiting top-notch students. Undergraduate research in computer information security will create excitement in this topic among the undergraduate students including those who are not directly involved.
This includes visits with seminars to possible ``feeder'' colleges and universities along with advertising nationally.
There is an extreme shortage of computer science faculty candidates. To address this, we will implement a program to utilize faculty from other universities on sabbatical and to hire qualified personnel from industry and government organizations for one year university assignments at UTSA.
Computer security must be an integral part of the curriculum if we expect to produce graduates who can contribute in rapidly changing software and hardware environments.
The curriculum will place more emphasis on object-oriented methods, software engineering, networking, and systems and their relationship to computer information security.
Students can complete their degree requirements in four years taking all their courses during the day or in six years taking all their courses during the evening. In addition, we plan to pursue scheduling options that will enable students to complete their undergraduate degree requirements by attending either the main campus or the downtown campus.
Computer security concepts and issues must be addressed on state-of-the-art hardware utilizing the latest software. Support is required for system administration. One laboratory must be a computer security laboratory that will enable students to pursue attack and counter attack scenarios.
In order to teach computer security concepts, one must engage students in security issues. Faculty without an appropriate level of expertise or experience will not be able to do this effectively. A seminar series will be organized in order to raise the overall awareness among faculty and students of recent computer information security issues. Travel money will also be provided to send faculty and teaching assistants to workshops and conferences.
Supplemental instruction will be developed in collaboration with the UTSA Tomas Rivera Center for Student Success. Supplemental instruction in a non-remedial approach to retention that targets traditionally difficult academic courses and provides regularly scheduled, out-of-class, peer-facilitated session.
An essential ingredient in fostering collaborative learning is to provide a setting for both formal and informal collaboration to occur. The computer security laboratory will provide room for small groups to congregate to work on attack and counter-attack projects and to consult with tutors. In addition, virtual meeting places will be provided on-line through e-mail, web pages and class newsgroups. Class instructors will encourage students to participate in on-line discussions of class material.
This includes such activities as student forums, programming contests, student survival guide web pages, students involved in recruiting, and student intern programs.
An effective method of leveraging outreach on technological issues is to interact with high school teachers. These teachers have the potential to influence a large number of students who may later become computer science majors. We plan to offer a graduate course in computer science designed specifically for teachers during a 5-week session each summer that will be oriented towards specific issues involving the teaching of object-oriented approaches and web-based computing. We have an extremely well-qualified person on-board to execute this plan. We require support to fund 15 scholarships to cover tuition and fees for teachers for each summer program.
Instructional materials will be developed especially for the program for high school teachers. The materials developed will be maintained and available on the Division of Computer Science's web site.
This will involve support for the teachers who participated in the summer program by faculty and graduate students. We will come into direct contact with the high school students through class room interaction, mentoring, projects, and other mechanisms, as appropriate.
Students are constantly looking for such opportunities but faculty involvement is important to direct students to meaningful positions and for faculty to continue to pursue related activities with the student while on campus.
Such a lecture series is expected to provide visibility for the computer science program at UTSA in the community and provide a forum for professional activities and opportunities for computer scientists. The series will be broadly advertised to college students at UTSA and at other colleges and universities, to business and government organizations, to the public and to high school students.
UTSA has many constituencies in the community. An outside advisory committee consisting of interested members of the business and educational communities will provide important guidance in how to best approach the needs of the constituencies. Representatives form the education community will assist or provide feedback on strategies for attracting more local high school graduates. The business community has a strong vested interest in the quality of UTSA's computer science graduates. In addition to providing perspective on how the discipline is evolving, business representatives will help in locating members of the professional community to participate in seminars and other student activities.
The preceding strategies represent a multifaceted approach to addressing the computer science manpower shortage, coupled with producing graduates with a strong background in computer information security. Ultimately, these activities should result in a Computer Science Information Security Institute (or Center) at UTSA that will provide enhanced visibility locally, nationally, and worldwide to this important program.