In a mystifying budget decision, University of Florida has decided to get rid of its computer science department. The graduate and research programs have been eliminated completely and portions of the undergraduate program will be absorbed by other departments. There will be no funding for teaching assistants.By discarding their CISE department, cash-strapped UF will save about 1.7 million dollars. Wait, did I say cash-strapped? Oh yeah, the school has increased its athletic budget by 2 million.It stands to reason when you think about it. Everyone knows how irrelevant computer science has become. Everyone knows that the fastest growing job groups in 2012 are in professional athletics. They're literally handing out NFL quarterback spots and job security is virtually guaranteed. Right?Seriously though, according to an MSN Careers Best Bets for Jobs in 2012 list Computer Software Engineers rate number 2 among the fastest growing jobs in 2012 and have the highest average salary of the group. According to the story, "the computer systems design and related services industry has seen continued growth throughout the second half of 2011, according to the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics). In addition, the NACE Job Outlook 2012 survey found computer sciences to be one of the top bachelor’s degrees in demand by employers."What possible logic could have guided this decision? The Florida Gators athletic program was already worth about 97 million before the increase. And, yeah, while much of that budget is from private donors, what does the discrepancy in budget numbers say about UF's priorities? Can Florida afford to stop training computer scientists in the middle of a technological revolution? It is true that computer programming teams competing in the IEEEXtreme 5.0 may not have the glamorous appeal of a football game and thousands of screaming fans.If the goal of a university is to educate and prepare students, an in-demand field like computer science must remain a curricular priority. But with half of grads now jobless or unemployed, perhaps this is just more proof that colleges gave up on preparing students long ago.
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