This document is a draft proposal for a joint undergraduate program between the Schools of Communication and Computing Science, tentatively called Socio-Technical Informatics. It is formatted using the Letter of Intent Format of the Ministry of Advanced Education, Technology and Training.
This credential is being proposed for the emergence of a new class of academic programs concerned with the integrated study of information technology and its application to particular subject areas. Although not part of this proposal, examples of other program areas that could be developed for the Bachelor of Informatics degree include Health Informatics, Geoinformatics, Bioinformatics and Computational Linguistics.
The program in Socio-Technical Informatics will focus on the integrated study of information and communication technology and its applications and implications in social and organizational contexts. Topic areas include the following.
Overall, the goal is a program that is more than the sum of its parts. The ability to design and implement information technologies and the ability to analyze the social consequences thereof are each important. However, after-the-fact evaluation of technologies from a social perspective is frequently too late. The goal is thus the integrated study of these disciplines, in which the consideration of social issues is an integral part of technical design. This approach is frequently known as socio-technical design and the program is named to highlight this orientation.
In the context of its mandate to expand its educational capacity in the information technology (IT) sector, SFU has a strategic plan to both expand the pipeline for traditional computing science graduates and to add new joint programs that will graduate IT specialists in important application areas. The program in socio-technical informatics is one of the cornerstones of this focus on new joint programs.
In general, the focus on joint programs in informatics is justified both by industrial and societal needs and by the efficiency of utilization of educational resources. With the increasing pervasiveness of information technology in all aspects of industry and society, technologists are becoming increasingly relied upon to develop system solutions to problems in a wide variety of application areas. Education in information technology alone ill-prepares students for many of these roles. Knowledge of the application area alone is also inadequate to the creation of realistic technology proposals that can address application needs. In many cases, students educated equally in both an application area and the underlying principles of the technology will be best placed to lead the way.
From the perspective of educational resource utilization, joint programs in informatics will increase the efficiency of use of a scarce resource: the computing science faculty member. There are at present many open CS faculty positions in Canada and a shortage of qualified PhD holders to fill those positions. In addition, CS departments in Canada are having great difficulty matching competing offers from industry and/or U.S. academic institutions. The shortage of CS faculty members in turn limits the number of IT graduates that can be produced. Because joint informatics programs will have approximately half the computing science content of a traditional computing science program, the number of graduates that can be produced per CS faculty member should approximately double.
The target student audience for this program will generally consist of those students who want to pursue an IT career with a focus on social consequences and values.
There is considerable evidence that a large sector of potential IT workers (i.e., women) are not well served by existing computing science programs. The participation rate of women in undergrad computing science programs is routinely reported to be less than 20%; SFU is no exception. However, in programs that focus purely on the social aspects of technology, the participation rate of women can be quite high; the rate is close to 70% in SFU's school of communication. An important goal of the program in socio-technical informatics is to provide a route for the increased participation of women as IT workers.
The program in Socio-Technical Informatics is proposed to be a traditional four-year Bachelor's degree program. An enrolment goal of 50 students per year after two years is initially proposed and is the basis of resource calculations described below. Further growth is also anticipated, to approximately 100 students per year after five years.
Labour market demand for the IT industry generally is well known. To gauge specific demand for graduates of a Socio-Technical Informatics program, key industrial contacts were asked to comment on this proposal. The letters of support are attached.
Admission to the Socio-Technical Informatics program will be possible via three routes: (1) direct entry from BC12 or equivalent (2) direct transfer from a college or post-secondary institution and (3) internal transfer from within SFU. Direct entry from BC12 will use a a 5-course GPA model based on English 12, Math 12, one science or applied sciences 12, one social sciences/studies 12 and one additional science, applied sciences or social sciences 12. Direct admission from college will be based on a GPA calculated over the best 7 courses satisfying a flexible breadth model comprising one english/writing course, one math course, two computing courses, two social sciences courses and one science course. Internal transfer will be based on a similar 7-course model. These models are patterned after the current models for corresponding entry into the computing science program at SFU.
The program will use the existing arrangements at Simon Fraser University for both individual course transfer and for prior learning assessment.
The graduation requirements for the program will focus primarily on upper division requirements, allowing considerable flexibility in the way that lower division coursework can be completed. This is intended to provide for the maximum efficiency of block transfer from colleges and internal transfer from other programs of study at SFU.
There is no known program of this kind in B.C. The closest may be our own Bachelor of General Studies (Applied Sciences) which permits students to take a minor in each of Communication and Computing Science. However, the result might well be an eclectic collection of courses, as opposed to one focussed on an integrated socio-technical approach to information and communication technologies.
The full development of this program is contigent on new resources becoming available to support its activities. Both capital and operating resources are required. On the capital side, the program requires that new physical space be made available, preferrably through construction of the proposed Technology-Environment Centre (also known as Applied Sciences II). On the operating side, the program is contingent on full funding through some combination of targetted FTE funding for high-technology and/or information technology enrolment together with direct funding from innovation and/or strategic initiatives programs. Funding for equipment and library support will also be required.
No diversion of resources from existing programs of either the School of Communication or the School of Computing Science is planned. The existing programs are in high demand by both students and employers. Employment demand, for example, is illustrated by the high placement rates in the co-operative education programs of the Schools. Of all SFU units offering co-operative education as an option for their students, the School of Communication ranks #3 in student placements per FTE while the School of Computing Science ranks #1, both being far above the SFU average. Indeed, rather than diversion of resources from existing programs, the expectation is that the existing programs will require additional resources for expansion, particularly those of the School of Computing Science.
Based on the initial enrolment target of 50 students per year, a steady-state of 200 FTE enrollments is anticipated for the four-year Socio-Technical Informatics program. Of these, approximately 120 FTEs will represent enrolments in courses offered by the two Schools either separately or jointly. Six faculty members, two in each School and two joint appointments will be required. Support staff requirements will include one additional technical staff member and one program administrator, both jointly appointed. Teaching assistant support of 100 TA base units annually (approximately 12 FTE TA positions) are also required.
Implementation of this program will be phased in over a five-year period beginning September 2002. Lower division (first two years) courses will become available in the 2002/2003 SFU calendar, with upper division courses being added a year later. Direct admissions will begin September 2002, with a number of students also permitted to transfer into second year. Additional courses and program options will be added in following years.