This set of pages is to be used by all the stakeholders in CMU's Computer Science Ph.D. program. They are

• Computer Science Department Faculty
• Current Ph.D. Students
• Alumni/ae of the program
• People who employ graduates of the program

Notes from the advisory board meeting.

The official description of the current program has been updated and can be found as either a Scribe file or a Postscript file. Discussion of the changes can be found in Update Discussion

A questionnaire has been sent to all alumni; the results should be in by April. Another will be sent to employers of our graduates (Employer questionnaire).

There are several issues about the program that the DRC and other people have been discussing:

Admissions. There is serious concern because applications have declined greatly in the past two years. In 1989 there were 900 applications, now there are 550. See Admissions. Shoule we (a) change the size of our class (b) recruit harder (c) change our program?

Outcomes for students. Gary Pelton carefully assembled records going back to 1969 and discovered some interesting things: 72% of our entering students succeed in getting a Ph.D. and it takes them about 6.5 years. The other 28% take about 4 years to withdraw. This pattern has been relatively consistent. See Outcomes and Years to Graduate.


The Teaching Assistant shortage. Our formal teaching activities have been growing rapidly, but the size of our Ph.D. program has not. Simple arithmetic shows that requiring each Ph.D. student to be a TA twice during their career will not supply enough teachers.

• We've decided to require Ph.D. students to TA once to get an MS. MS TA's

The Core courses. Four years ago we started an new system. It might need adjustment or revision.

• Any DRC-approved course can be used as an elective core course. Non-CSD courses
• Alternatives to Core Courses

The Job Market. Nationally, academic computer science departments have become fully staffed with professors. Finding academic jobs is not as easy.

Finding Advisees. Some faculty have fewer graduate students than they would like. There are many reasons for this.

• There are over 60 faculty in CSD and about 160 students.
• The department is liberal in allowing people from outside to be advisors.
• The centralized admissions and marriage processes reduce the power of indivdual faculty members to attract students.
• Students sometimes "cluster" on certain projects.