School of Computing Approved by the State Council of Higher Education

Martha Bushong — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 22:17:33 +0000

School of Computing Approved by the State Council of Higher Education Martha Bushong Wed, 04/28/2021 - 18:17

In This Story

Earlier this week, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) approved the move to establish the commonwealth’s first-ever school of computing. The formation of a contemporary School of Computing (SoC)—the first in the Commonwealth of Virginia—provides the university with unprecedented opportunities both to establish computing as one of its strategic differentiators and to assume a leadership role in shaping the future of this growing discipline.

The new school will be housed with the existing Volgenau School of Engineering in George Mason University’s newly created College of Engineering and Computing.

“Launching the new School of Computing will strengthen Mason’s leadership position in the computing fields in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and will provide a new framework to convene Mason researchers and educators from every academic unit for multidisciplinary collaborations involving computing,” says Dean Ken Ball of the College of Engineering and Computing. “The change also provides a stronger identity for our core SoC departments, elevating our computing brand for prospective students looking to enroll in our majors and for research partners looking to collaborate with us.”

“As technology transforms our world on all levels, I am confident that the School of Computing will provide an important platform for Mason to continue leading in this field throughout the region and across the nation,” says Provost and Executive Vice President Mark Ginsberg. “The new School of Computing is where top researchers will shape the way the we use technology and where Mason students will learn how digital-age tools enrich their lives and careers while enhancing the economic development of our community.”

Three departments, Computer Science, Information Sciences and Technology, and Statistics will relocate from the Volgenau School of Engineering and form the core of the SoC. The change formalizes an academic unit designed to coordinate similar disciplinary areas, related initiatives, research activities, and academic and student services. It will provide a discrete location to house these departments that focus on academic programming and research in computing.

“The creation of the School of Computing presents many exciting opportunities for the faculty,” says Sanjeev Setia, interim divisional dean for the SoC. “The Tech Talent Investment Pipeline [TTIP] funding from the state of Virginia, the creation of the IDIA and expansion of the Arlington Campus, and the growing tech sector in Northern Virginia hastened this effort. We need to seize this opportunity to elevate the quality and reputation of the already fine programs and departments in the SoC.”

The latest figures released by the National Science Foundation (NSF) show Mason’s national profile continues to rise through solid research funding in Computer and Information Sciences, which ranked 12th among all universities, 8th among public institutions and No. 1 in Virginia.

Now that the school is approved, the administration will actively pursue building bridges between the SoC and other colleges/schools on campus both through the creation of multidisciplinary programs and through joint faculty appointments and initiatives such as the ongoing TTIP-thematic faculty hiring initiative.

The school’s leadership will explore the curricula of programs offered by the SoC’s departments and search for ways to increase collaboration, reduce duplication, and in general improve the quality of the programs.

Setia says he wants work with departments in the SoC to create a Broadening Participation in Computing plan for the school and its constituent departments and start the work needed to implement it.

“Computing is everywhere in contemporary society. Our students and faculty have a unique opportunity to discover new and exciting ways to make this discipline relevant to our world,” Setia says.

Topics

Computer science; computing; School of Computing

Volgenau School of Engineering

Campus News

Chief of staff and civil engineer Ken Walsh brings diverse background to his job

Martha Bushong — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 16:21:57 +0000

Chief of staff and civil engineer Ken Walsh brings diverse background to his job Martha Bushong Tue, 12/15/2020 - 11:21

Chief of Staff Ken Walsh says he's impressed with the strength and resilience of the Mason community.

Photo credit:

Ron Aira

Mason Presidential Chief of Staff Ken Walsh's career is about building bridges. The story of the Brooklyn Bridge inspired him as a freshman engineering student, research on the soil near a bridge over the Salt River near Tempe, Arizona, kept him in graduate school, and his career in higher education has built bridges for students and communities around the world.

"When I started my engineering studies at Arizona State University, I joined the student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE)," says Walsh. "All new members received a copy of David McCullough's book, The Great Bridge."

Being a history buff, he read the book in a weekend, and it changed the way he thought about engineering.

"After reading the book, I realized that changes to the built environment can change the world. The people who built that bridge made history," he says. "The idea that I could be a part of history through engineering practice inspired me."

After graduating with a degree in civil engineering, Walsh got a job with a local company and worked on projects around Phoenix. "I loved driving around town and seeing the finished buildings that we had constructed," he says. Walsh started taking night classes and says that he planned to take courses to improve his engineering practice.

But another bridge, this one closer to home in Tempe, across the Salt River, led him to pursue his PhD. "During graduate school, I ended up working on a soil investigation project related to a freeway bridge over the Salt River. The soils exhibited unusual behaviors, and while I was studying them my advisor asked me to apply for a National Science Foundation fellowship which would pay for the PhD," says Walsh.

While in graduate school, Walsh continued working, but the small family-owned business that he had been his employer changed ownership and the culture changed. This led him to look for a change of his own.

Walsh saw an ad for a job at Arizona State University teaching construction engineering and decided to take a chance. "At the time I didn't see it as a long-term thing, but I stuck with it until I got tenure," he says. "Teaching allowed me to be part of even more projects, and my students' advancement and accomplishments gave me great pleasure."

When San Diego State University started its program in construction engineering in 2002, Walsh bridged the gap between teaching and administration. He served as the director of the program which allowed him to have an impact on more students and faculty.

Building this program led to his involvement in building a new STEM-focused campus in Tbilisi, Georgia. The project involved every aspect of running a campus. His team built the program from the ground up, dealt with curriculum, accreditation, and fund-raising, but Walsh says the most rewarding aspect of all was witnessing the potential transformation in people's lives. "I saw the power of higher education, not just STEM," says Walsh.

After the experience in Georgia, he was looking for a place to return home to and the job as Chief of Staff with President Gregory Washington at the Samueli School of Engineering at UC Irvine looked like a good fit. When Washington moved to Mason last summer, Walsh came along to fill the position of Chief of Staff.

It's been a challenge starting a new job with the pandemic, but Walsh says he's impressed with the strength and resilience of the Mason community. It has a supremely balanced perspective," says Walsh. "Teaching, learning, and personal growth are all done here more thoughtfully." He sees a level of understanding of the impact of higher education that you don't see everywhere.

In This Story

Gregory Washington

Kenneth Walsh, PhD

Topics

Campus News

Civil Engineering