Model 4: An Independent Department for CS&E

The final possibility is the creation of a full Department of CS&E within one of the Colleges. This possibility would have most of the characteristics of the divisional structure, but would differ in its internal administrative configuration (Department Chair vs. Associate Dean) and reporting structure. It would still be important to encourage joint appointments and to maintain collaborative links with other departments and research centers. Newly developed graduate programs should still be within a Graduate Group whose formation could begin as early as the Fall Quarter of 1999. Regardless of whether a Department or a Division of CS&E would be chosen, it would be important to consider carefully the phasing and time-line for their establishment. First, one should solicit interest from UC Davis faculty in transferring to this new unit. Such appointments could be a full FTE or fractions of FTEs. Considering the original establishment of Computer Science in the early 1980's as example, the Committee on Academic Personnel could appoint an ad hoc committee to screen faculty applications and act in lieu of a faculty to recommend for or against appointments. These recommendations would then proceed in the same way as a similar request by a currently appointed faculty member to join an existing department. This step could be completed during the Fall Quarter of 1999. The initial group of faculty established in the first step may not form a departmental critical mass, so it may be necessary to constitute a larger, temporary group of faculty to act for the Department concerning, for example, personnel and curricular issues. Besides the faculty actually appointed in the Department, additional faculty could be appointed for a limited term to this temporary body to ensure disciplinary balance. (This mechanism was used in 1979 to begin the establishment of the Graduate School of Management.) By the Fall Quarter of 2000, recruitment for the first group of outside faculty in CS&E could begin, and, by this time, an initial set of courses would have been developed and approved by the Academic Senate. A full minor curriculum could be implemented by the Fall Quarter of 2001 at the latest or possibly by the Fall Quarter of 2000, depending on the size and composition of the initial group of faculty. The majority of the Committee favors Model 3 with its emphasis on minor and graduate education as the near-term goal and Model 4 as the long-term goal for this Initiative. (See also section 5 and Recommendations section.)