The year 2003 is already shaping up to be quite eventful for the University and the Department. With the state facing the largest projected budget deficit in its history, the University has seen steep cuts in its budget---$25M in state appropriations in FY03 and as much as $185M in the FY04-FY05 biennium as proposed by the new governor, Tim Pawlenty. Dealing with this will be one of the first tasks of newly inaugurated University President Robert Bruininks. Exactly how these cuts translate to the departmental level remains to be seen, but it is clear that they will be quite severe. The situation is further exacerbated by an already weak economy and the prospect of war with Iraq.
The department remains committed to weathering this situation and to continuing to enhance its research, teaching, and service missions. Our faculty recruiting efforts last year culminated in the hiring of four outstanding new faculty members: Yongdae Kim (UC Irvine; network security), Donglin Liang (Georgia Tech; software engineering), Stergios Roumeliotis (Caltech; robotics), and Loren Terveen (AT&T Labs; human-computer interaction); they are featured in this newsletter. Recruiting efforts for the current year are in full swing, and the outlook appears promising given the record number of outstanding applications we have received.
Our professional Master of Science in Software Engineering (MSSE) is celebrating its fifth year of success. The program has produced a growing number of software engineering professionals for a wide range of companies in Minnesota, including large multi-nationals such as 3M, IBM, Guidant, Unisys, and Lockheed-Martin. The MSSE program is also featured in this newsletter. Given the increasing demand for better-trained software engineers in fast-developing countries, such as India and China, we are also in the process of creating a new distance learning program for students overseas.
Other initiatives in education include improving some of our service courses and creating a series of new courses related to computer security to meet the needs of our students. Our faculty members have also submitted a record number of proposals to federal agencies in hopes of reaping the benefits of expanded federal research funding opportunities available this year.
Last summer, the department sponsored a global-campus program offered by two of our faculty members, Prof. Jaideep Srivastava and Prof. Baoquan Chen, at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Twenty two students from a variety of departments in IT participated in this program. It was a great success. For more details, please see the article on page 6. A similar program is planned for this summer.
We are planning to host our biennial departmental Open House again this year, on Friday, October 17, 2003, during the University’s Homecoming Week. Planned events include exhibits that showcase the research activities in the department, laboratory tours, plenary talks, panel discussions, and other activities geared towards our alumni and industrial partners. We hope that you will be able to join us. More details will be available in late-summer/early-fall on our department web site at http://www.cs.umn.edu.
The support of our alumni and friends during these difficult timesis critical. I urge you to advocate on behalf of the University and the Department. Please visit http://www1.umn.edu/urelate/govrel/ forinformation on the many ways in which you can help. Thank you for your continued support.
-Pen-Chung Yew