APPENDIX D

EDUCATING THE FACULTY IN USE OF THE
COMPUTER

This appendix focuses on training the faculty in computer methods. If the rapidly expanded use of the computer creates financial problems for the colleges and universities, so does it pose a problem for faculty members most of whom were educated prior to the present computer revolution. How can they become adequately conversant with computer methods, and how much effort does it involve?

The greatest initial effort to aid faculty members should probably be for disciplines which are already making substantial use of the computer. Engineering comes to mind immediately as an outstanding example. Statistics is another good example of an important computer application; it touches many areas of the social sciences, biological sciences, and physical sciences. It is probable that many faculty members may have their first occasion to consider use of the computer in connection with statistical problems.

Younger faculty, who are closer to their graduate student days, may have greater awareness of the growing importance of the computer, and they may, therefore, be among the first to bring pressure on the computation center staff to learn about the computer. But it has been pointed out that a relatively short interval of intense training can prepare a faculty member to make effective use of the computer, and it is clear that many faculty members from all age groups will—and 'should-want to become conversant with the computer.

Need to solve a particular set of problems or to keep current in one's field provides an important motivation for a faculty member to seek instruction in use of the computer. This instruction should be followed by self-teaching and learning by doing. Another motivation for the faculty member is his desire to keep pace with his students who have found the computer fascinating and useful. These motivations are present to varying degrees for most faculty members, and the proper response of the institution is to make it as easy as possible for faculty to respond to the urge to learn more about computers. Such learning cannot nor should not be forced.

Here the role of the administration is in providing opportunities. It can also be helpful if, as new faculty are recruited to various departments, in

dividuals knowledgeable in computer techniques are added. These men can be extremely helpful to their departmental colleagues.

Instruction at no monetary cost to the faculty should be offered in a riety of ways; for example, short courses during the academic year, seminars between regular semesters or quarters, and longer courses during part of the summer. Some of the courses should be so general that a faculty member from any discipline can attend and gain something from the discussion. Others should be discipline-oriented and present special techniques that have been advanced to solve particular problems.

It is very important for the faculty to recognize that the time needed to cross a significant threshold of understanding so that one may begin to do useful work for oneself and his students is very low compared to a discipline such as mathematics or operations research or languages. A 1-week laboratory-oriented course of instruction on computing will enable a motivated faculty member to solve some problems in his own field and provide for him a basic knowledge from which he can advance on his own.

There is evidence, from experience at schools such as Dartmouth, that a nearby console and simple programing languages, if available, make it especially easy for a faculty member to learn and to experiment with the new tool in spare moments and in private. But whether or not this especially ideal arrangement for learning is present, the statement empasized in the preceding paragraph is valid.

For faculty members who have been contemplating that one of these days they ought to get around to learning something about using computers, the advice is simply: start now. Nearly every college and university computing center has knowledgeable individuals who are delighted to help their faculty colleagues discover this powerful new tool.

APPENDIX E

THE LARGE UNIVERSITY COMPUTATIONAL
FACILITY

The Pattern of the Past

In the past, computation has usually come to colleges and universities through a proliferation of computers around the campus, each computer assuming a single role such as teaching, research, or university administrative data processing. While this “solves” the problem of administering computers, albeit in a costly and redundant manner, it generally begs the question of how the computation might best serve the needs of education, and it establishes artificial boundaries which tend to stifle the healthy growth of university computer use.

Not long ago computational devices and the data processing devices were different. Each had a different set of operations and different mode of operation. This made several installations about the campus not only desirable but necessary. The so-called third generation of data processing devices has tended to join the two divergent path trends.

The Place of the Computer in the University

The advent of time sharing, terminals of many types, and the modular computer makes computation more flexible and powerful, but it makes the administration of computation more difficult. In the past a computer has often been administered by some special group which uses it the most, has the money to support it, has the space to house it, or sometimes merely has had the courage and energy needed to obtain the device. While all of these reasons were probably valid at the time the computer was obtained, the passage of time and changing conditions will almost certainly invalidate the original reason for control of the computational facility by a single department or specialized group.

The one thing certain about computing devices of today is that their uses will continue to evolve rapidly. Through such evolution the use of the device spreads through all departments of the university, and will probably become heaviest in data processing rather than in numerical computation.

In order to permit the use of the computers to transcend the normal boundaries of the various university disciplines it is prudent to establish a facility to serve all and sundry areas of the university.

A proper global view by its management enables the computation facility to react to the combined needs of the whole university rather than just the particular needs of a single department or group.

The ultimate administration of the facility should rest in the hands of an administrator so placed as to be cognizant of the total needs of the university. Due to the leadtime necessary to obtain additional or replacement computational equipment, the administrator of the computational facility must be aware of the long- and short-range plans of the university in order to have time to react to planned changes.

It is essential that the management of the facility have sufficient independence so as not to be dominated by any one division of the university and that there be enough intellectual leadership in the center so that it can understand the educational goals of the administration and be competent to work with the faculty and students. Caution should be exercised to make certain that all users have a forum in which their needs and dissatisfactions can be heard. When communication ceases, the usefulness of the facility decreases. This is particularly vital in the field of computer sciences. The computer sciences faculty should not be burdened with the administration of a computer center. Nor should their research and teaching interfere with the continuous and effective operation of the center in providing service. However, computer science people should have a strong voice in the introduction of new hardware and software and in adapting computers to new uses.

Facility Orientation

The chief reason for existence of a computation facility is to provide computation, whether for teaching, or research ranging from history to computer sciences. As long as the facility operates with this goal in mind it should prosper and will probably grow. If, by design or accident, the primary goal of the facility changes from service to some other pursuit, there is a high probability that the facility will falter and probably fail.

In view of the large dollar value associated with computer devices and staffs, it would seem reasonable that all campus computational facilities should be coordinated through one person having the responsibility for the total computational and data processing needs of the campus. If this needed coordination is not provided, it is possible that computational facilities will spring up in several areas and attempt to provide overlapping services. The costs of data processing are high enough at best without further increases due to inefficient management.

years,

The most critical need in university computation is that of a long-range plan. Since the average life of a computer is on the order of 3 years, and the time between order and delivery of the device is on the order of 2 it is readily evident that a 5-year plan is the minimum tolerable. In order to plan 5 years ahead, we must peer over the computer designer's shoulder in order to see far enough ahead to have the needed lead time.

Since the universities are training the men of the future, it seems obvious that the men should be trained on the most modern equipment available today in order to have a fair chance in the world of tomorrow.

In view of the proliferation of computer languages and dialects it might behoove the university community to sort through these languages and begin to select the ones which should live and prosper, and through teaching and use attempt to standardize a very chaotic situation.

Facility Operation

This

In order that the facility provide adequate quality service, it must be user directed. While one computer can work in practically all areas of problem solving, it is rather doubtful that one person can work in all areas. situation requires that problem-oriented people serve as an interface between the user and the computer. Many of these problem-oriented people will be administratively outside of the facility; some may be within it. The number of interface people will vary widely with the number of user areas served by the facility and the extent of experience and capability of the interface personnel.

In general, the staff of the facility will fall into four categories: (1) administrative, (2) operational, (3) software oriented, (4) user oriented. The administrative personnel should concern themselves with the longand short-range plans of the facility while continually cordinating the efforts of the other three groups.

The operational personnel should be concerned with the daily operation of the facility and should attempt to maximize through-put and minimize turnaround time.

The software-oriented personnel should concern themselves with the operating systems of the facility, ever conscious of the needs of both the user and the operations staff. The availability of good software is probably more important than good hardware. It is not necessary or desirable for most schools to write large operating system programs since they will be available from other sources. However, it is important that software-oriented personnel be available to interpret, modify, update, and add to these programs. The user-oriented personnel are the outward face of the computer facility. They should serve as the buffer and interpreter between the user and the facility. A failure in the first line of defense can well make the rest of the facility ineffectual.

The proliferation of terminals will cause the staff of the facility to be more widely dispersed. The operational staff will have to stay with the computer hardware but the remainder of the staff can go wherever communication lines permit. In general, the user-oriented personnel will follow the terminals. In most cases this will be a short distance from the computer, but in others it could be to other campuses some distance away. As this move occurs it will become necessary to frequently return these people to the mother house for upgrading and rejuvenation.