New Collaborative Called the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences to Be Formed
In a recent article published in BU Today, it was announced that BU President Robert A. Brown and Provost Jean Morrison will propose to the BU Board of Trustees, the creation of a new collaborative called the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences (CDS). This new group will include faculty from across many different disciplines and backgrounds. Its purpose is to support efforts to hire faculty associated with the data sciences as well as facilitate programs to attract advanced undergrad and graduate students. Furthermore, the new CDS will serve as an interface between traditional academic departments and faculty and students interested in data sciences.
Mentioned in the article was BU President Robert A. Brown who noted, “The creation of the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences and the construction of the Center for Computing & Data Sciences gives Boston University the ingredients to be a leader in the development of computing and data sciences and their applications across the University and to educate generations of students with this competency.” Additionally, the new Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences will have a collaborative foundation in keeping with the mindset that data science cuts across many different disciplines. This point is illustrated in Provost Jean Morrison’s comments, “Student demand for education in computing and data sciences is pervasive across our schools and colleges,” she says. “There are exciting opportunities for research in these disciplines and in their application, and the University is responding to these opportunities.”
Azer Bestavros, Director of the Hariri Institute for Computing, Professor of Computer Science, CAS, continued, “The methodologies and tools of computing and data sciences have permeated virtually all areas of academic endeavors, effectively creating a lingua franca for multidisciplinary research that transcends (and indeed blurs) disciplinary boundaries. Today, hundreds of faculty members from across the landscape of disciplines at BU consider the computational and data-driven “ways of thinking and ways doing” as significant if not defining elements of their scholarly identities. The creation of the Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences at BU acknowledges this reality by providing an academic home (or a home away from home) for such scholars – whether current or prospective – thus empowering them to chart a path forward for both cross-disciplinary educational and research programs. Setting up a faculty body whose members are also embedded in existing departments and colleges marks a significant departure from the typically-siloed organization of academic units. It speaks volumes to BU’s forward-looking institutional strategy that recognizes the significant synergies and the potential for integrative and transdisciplinary advances that result from connecting like-minded scholars from a multitude of traditional disciplines with one another.”
This formation of the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences continues to represent BU’s commitment to the advancement of data science in the classroom and in research incubators such as the Hariri Institute for Computing.