Karl J. Klee

ACM guidelines for associate and certificate level programs in computer information technology

Through grants from the ACM Education and SIG Boards, a Task Force of the ACM Two-Year College Education Committee has formulated guidelines to provide education for computer support personnel to help alleviate the shortage of qualified information technology workers. The panelists will be highlighting the key points in the guidelines.

Issues and solutions: using Web research in introductory courses

With the advent of the World Wide Web, my teaching and my students learning have become more interdisciplinary. In teaching the computer literacy course at Jamestown Community College, we include researching on the Internet. An assignment that I require of students is a short term paper on a computer-related topic, using references only from the Web. Recent topics that students have chosen include: computer security, computer viruses, computers and the disabled, computers in the medical field, configuring a computer system, and artificial intelligence. Students have found this assignment to be very useful relative to researching topics for their other courses. They were particularly impressed by how up-to-date the information was on the Web (verses books) and the ease with which they could extend their searches with the use of the hypertext links.

Message from the chair of the TYC education committee

The ACM Two-Year College Education Committee has begun a major new multi-year initiative to obtain a profile of the present situation at, and to develop guidelines and recommendations for, computing departments at two-year colleges. These guidelines will encompass more than curriculum. Included will be recommendations for faculty preparation and responsibilities, departmental organizations and administration, curriculum, supportservices, and student guidance and enrichment. These guidelines could also be the basis for implementing accreditation for computing departments at two-year colleges.

SIG3C first anniversary

Congratulations on a great first year for SIG3C, the Special Interest Group for Computing at Community Colleges. This group was chartered on July 1, 1994 as the first Newsletter SIG of ACM. The quarterly publication of SIG3C, titled 3C ONLINE, is the primary vehicle for achieving the goals of SIG3C. The current membership of SIG3C is approximately 300. SIG3C has representation in 38 of the 50 states as well as Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, and South Korea. New York State leads with 45 SIG3C members, followed by California with 25, Canada with 19, New Jersey with 16, and Texas with 14. At least 10 members are affiliated with four-year colleges or universities, and at least 10 members are affiliated with non-collegiate companies or organizations.

Bits and bytes

CENTER FOR IP: There is a Center for the History of Information Processing, the Charles Babbage Institute, sponsored by the University of Minnesota and the information processing community. The Center serves to preserve and make accessible sources for the history of information processing. Robert W. Seidel has served as Director since 93-94, and Bruce Bruemmer continues to serve as Archivist. The Center gathers, catalogs, and stores materials of historic value in the computing and information processing field, and makes the material available to investigators.

Articulation: who needs it? your students do! (abstract)

More than one-half of all students choose to initiate their studies at two-year colleges. These graduates are increasingly the “incoming class” at four-year colleges. Articulation between two-year and four-year degree programs is a very important issue for everyone; students deserve it and faculty need to know more albout it. Recognizing this need, ACM supported the development of computing curriculum guidelines for associate-degree programs.

Successful associate degree programs in the computing sciences

The success of science and technical education in our nation is of paramount importance. Colleges and universities have a responsibility to develop and maintain quality undergraduate programs that attract, retain and provide job placement for students in the areas of science and technology. However, in these lean budget years, support and retention of associate degree programs in the computing sciences is diminishing. This panel will present/discuss successful associate degree programs in the computing sciences. These programs have high, success rates in attracting and retaining students, in entry-level job placement for graduates and in articulating smoothly into four year degree programs in computer science, engineering, telecommunications and/or information systems.

Final report (abstract): curricula for two-year degree programs in computer sciences, and computing and engineering technology

In the spring of 1990, the ACM Education Board, with a grant from the ACM SIG Board, formed a task force to conduct a comprehensive study of all computing curricula at two-year colleges. The task force, called the ACM Two-Year College Computing Curricula Task Force, consists of over thirty educators and computing professionals from across the United Statesand Canada. Five subgroups were formed to concentrate on five areasof computing at two-year colleges, which are

Issues in the computing sciences at two-year colleges (panel session)

Under the activities of its Education Board, ACM has sponsored the Two-Year College Computer Curriculum Task Force for the past two years. Its work includes the publication of a newsletter, the sponsorship of workshops for curriculum discussions, the development of greater visibility of two-year college faculty at ACM functions, and the future publication of a monograph on computer related issues at two-year colleges.