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BU Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences
A Year of Firsts: CDS Impact Report 2023
2023 was an incredible year of firsts for the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences.
It was our first year in our new home at the fossil fuel-free Center for Computing & Data Sciences; a year that saw both the matriculation of our 78-strong inaugural Class of 2026 and the graduation of our first cohort of data science majors. It was a year that marked the launch of our MS in Data Science Programand the integration of the Bioinformatics Program in CDS; a year in which we were first to develop guidelines for the use of generative AI in the classroom. It was a year in which we welcomed our first cohort of CDS Faculty Fellows and our first cohort of Wexler PhD Fellows; and a year in which we made our first faculty and staff CDS Citizenship & Leadership Awards. And the list goes on!
We invite you to check out our Year of Firsts Impact Report. Read up on our faculty and their cutting-edge research, our curriculum and how it prepares our students to positively impact the world through innovation and experiential learning opportunities powered by BU Spark!, and discover the places, faces, and state-of-the-art learning spaces that make CDS shine.
Public Interest Tech Landscape, 2022
Boston University, with the support of New America, released its report, “Public Interest Technology University Network: Understanding the State of the Field”, which sheds light on the priorities of PIT-UN members, and opportunities for future growth. The report draws on both an in-depth member survey and a broad scan of related activities, academic programs and research initiatives underway at 43 academic institutions that made up the membership of PIT-UN as of the summer of 2021. (The Network has since grown to 48 members.)
Explore the Landscape
CDS Impact Report, 2021
In the span of just over a year, we launched two signature degree programs: our Bachelor of Science in Data Science undergraduate program and our PhD in Computing & Data Sciences. graduate program; we completed national searches for tenure-stream, clinical, and of-the practice professorships, bringing the size of our core faculty to five strong; we fused BU Spark! into CDS by seamlessly integrating its innovation and experiential learning programs into our curricular and co-curricular offerings, and more importantly by assimilating its culture of inclusion and empowerment of students; we grew our management, communications, and advising capacities by recruiting administrative team members who are passionate about our vision and culture; and we established partnerships with internal and external organizations that believe in the transformative power of computational and data-driven inquiry.
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Embedding Ethics in CDS Curricula, 2020
This report published in August 2020 presents the recommendations of a working group of the Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences (CDS) chaired by Professor Wesley Wildman and charged by the Associate Provost to develop a curricular framework for development of undergraduate and graduate education pathways in ethical & responsible computing (ERC). Based on an extensive literature review and a survey of faculty, this framework defines key terms, presents a roadmap for ERC educational initiatives in the form of six priorities, and identifies steps for implementation of its recommendations.
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Data Science Taskforce Report, 2019
Data science is widely seen as a promising field, one which is transforming business, government, and many areas of social life and is also having, and likely to continue to have, a substantial impact on the way in which scholars from fields as wide‐ranging as English and astronomy think about research problems and seek answers. Given the growing importance of data science, President Robert Brown assembled a taskforce of faculty to envision the future of data science at Boston University (BU). Imagining a set of proposals that would promote collaboration and innovation across departments, programs, schools, colleges and campuses, and invite engagement by faculty, students, and staff, the taskforce met over two semesters, sought input widely from across BU and did research on initiatives proposed or underway across US institutions of higher education. As a result of its work, the committee developed a set of recommendations that informed the launch of the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences.