O-FTCE MEMORANDUM " STANFORD UNIVERSITY " OFFICE MEMORANDUM " STANFORD UNIVERSITY " OFFICE MEMORANDUM

fUDate: March 19, 1976

To Computer Science Department Faculty

LMJZZZtFrom _ Robert W. Floyd, ChairmanComputer Science Department

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Subject: Meeting of March 9, 1976

A general meeting of the Department was held on March 9, 1976, from 12:15 to1:15 P.M., Room 111, Polya Hall.

1 Report on the State of the Department

A Professor Floyd commented that at this time last year we were in a severe crisis "with ARPA cutting back heavily on funding at the AI Lab, effective July 1975. _;There were some staff cutbacks, but it appears that continued funding has levelled |off. New individual research grants have been awarded to Robert Tarjan, Joseph gOliger, Terry Winograd, and Vasek Chvatal. Action on new proposals has been very gslow (new proposals are due six months prior to requested beginning date, but caction is being delayed for as long as ten months in some instances) . __

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The TA/RA Committee recommended increases in assistantship stipends (from $330 _?B 1/4

to $385 for first two years (16.6%) and from $360 to $450 after the second year <(25%). Floyd recommended a 20% to 25% increase to Dean Carnochan; word received-<

recently is that TA stipends are to be increased by 5%; rates for 1976-77 will obe $1,155 per quarter for Teaching Fellows, $1,050 per quarter for Teaching ?Tl

Assistants, and the minimum will be $800 for Research Assistants (there is no S_____

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naaioiaias v,LU_Lt; -Lb nu mmaximum) . We will attempt to designate as many Teaching Fellows as possible. RA 5stipends in the Department have not yet been set. There are no Ph.D. students 5—_ —

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>C Plans for the Margaret Jacks Hall have reached a substantial level of detail. o

The floor plans are posted near the mailboxes on the second floor. Betty Scott Ihas complete layout of electrical systems, etc. The building, in Main Quad, is .now occupied by the Physiology Department. We will share the building with theBoys Town Research Center (first floor and half of the basement) . The building >includes a basement plus three floors; it will be gutted and reconstructed with ?

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an added floor on the inside. It features a large lounge with kitchen facilities, 2open stairway through the three floors, and a terrace on the fourth floor over-looking the inner Quad. Space was not sufficient to incorporate DSL, but pro- zfessors from DSL who have joint appointements with CS will have office space.

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The computer music group will also have office space. The building does have an Eexcess of space which will be used for seminar rooms and classrooms until needed.D. Professor Floyd announced two sabbaticals for the year 1976-77. Professor

Herriot will be visiting Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule in Zurich, Switzer- 2land; and Professor Floyd will be visiting Xerox PARC in Palo Alto. £nm

E. There are currently 85 students in the Ph.D. program as opposed to 88 last year 3:mSTOXJ>zoc3

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F. Professor Floyd announced the names of our two visitors: Michael Paterson

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from Warwick University and Howard Johnston from Northern Ireland

Presentation of the Forsythe Awards

The 1975-76 Forsythe Memorial Awards for Excellence in Student Teaching werepresented to Alan Borning and Jacobo Valdes-Ayesta by Mrs. Sandra Forsythe.The students were presented with a certificate and a $100 prize.

Alan Borning - Alan has consistently shown interest in and dedication to ComputerScience education. His ability to teach and motivate students earned him out-standing ratings as an instructor for CS 105; students especially appreciated hispatience and willingness to help them. His efforts as a teaching assistant fora variety of courses (CS 105, CS 227, CS 240B) have also been highly praised.Furthermore, Alan's work in organizing and helping to run last year's SWOPSIcourse on "Computers and Social Responsibility" showed his concern for educationabout aspects of Computer Science often overlooked.

Jacobo Valdes-Ayesta - Jacobo has demonstrated an exceptional capability as botha teaching assistant and instructor. He has consistently received outstandingevaluations of his efforts in the classroom, and indicated a keen insight intothe requirements of his students. His patience and understanding have earnedhim the thanks and respect of many a struggling young programmer, and suggesthis commitment to education. His extensive experience in teaching introductorycourses in the department has contributed not only to the quality of his owncourses, but has been generously shared, thus making the way easier for otherinstructors.

Committee Reports

A. Admissions Committee. Peter Friedland reported that the committee was in itsfinal phase of reading the folders of the final 50 applicants out fo 260applicants who applied to the Ph.D. program. The selection of the final 20will be made Monday, March 15, 1976.

B- Computer Forum Committee - Professor Edward McCluskey reported that, there areten Forum members at this time: Bell Laboratories, Bell Northern Research,Burroughs Corporation, General Electric, General Motors, Hewlett-Packard,Hughes Aircraft, IBM (Yorktown Heights), Microtechnology, and Xerox.

C Faculty Search Committee - Professor Edward Feigenbaum reported that thesearch for a faculty member at the assistant professor level is narrowing downand that the Committee will probably be able to make one or two recommendationsto the faculty this week. The search for a faculty member at the senior levelis continuing; this appointment is expected to be in the programming systemsand languages. Professor Feigenbaum asked all present to report to him anyrecommendations they might have and added that the Committee would likeparticularly to have suggestions for minority and women candidates.

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D. Fund Raising Committee - Professor Feigenbaum has contacted the GeneralSecretary's Office to discuss fund raising possibilities and has also talkedwith Bill Miller. No good prospects for large amounts of money have beenidentified. Professor Feigenbaum mentioned three priorities for use ofpossible gift monies:

1. Computer Science has no endowed chairs. This would take about$600,000. One of the complaints of the Computer Science AdvisoryCommittee was that of the seventy-five recently funded chairs, notone had been allocated to Computer Science.

2. We need money for a computing system for students.

3. We need more gift funds to run the Department properly

F « Computer Science Advisory Committee - Professor Feigenbaum questions whythere continues to be an Advisory Committee. There will be two meetingsthis year (instead of the usual one) and he wonders why they meet at all,i.e., whether any good comes from these meetings.

G- Library and Publications Committee - Professor Knuth reported that the com-mittee has set up a procedure to automate the dissemination of CS reportsat the same time charging for them as we spend between $20,000 and $30,000per year for publications. Anyone interested in implementing this systemcould do so as aCS 293 Master's project. He also said that reports puton microfiche will be free of charge.

H- Curriculum Committee - David Barstow reported on the seven changes whichwere recommended to the faculty and adopted at its meeting on January 6.The recommendations were as follows: (1) The removal of CS 204 as a requirement for the Ph.D. degree; (2) A new course entitled Programming Methods,Computer Science 107, which replaces Computer Science 125; (3) Proposednew course description Introduction to Computability. Computer Science 156;(4) Proposed new course on Theory of Efficient Computer Algorithms, CS 253'to alternate yearly with CS 255; (5) New lecture series, CS 200; and (6)Changes to the Numerical Analysis curriculum.

I - TA/RA Committee - Professor Chvatal announced three available TA positionsfor Spring Quarter. Effective Autumn Quarter 1976-77, TA service to theextent that the Department requirement is met (one quarter of half-timeservice) will be tax exempt. Beginning in 1976-77 the Department willappoint Course Assistants rather than hiring graders. The Course Assistantstipend for half-time service will be $945 per quarter, but it is notexpected that such appointments will be on a half-time basis. All appoint-ments will be based on course need; the average appointment probably will befor 15% time. The main advantage of the Course Assistant appointment isthat it allows graduate students access to tuition credit. Interestedstudents should check with Polly Crandall in Room 251 for further details.

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J Computer Science:Computer Engineering Committee - Professor Floyd read awritten report submitted by Professor Cerf. Changes to the CE curriculumhave reduced the Numerical Analysis requirement to CS 137Aor 135. TheNumerical Analysis faculty within the CS Department made this possiblethrough a reorganization of the course material. The committee has dis-cussed the inclusion of a course in Data Processing Economics, but itdoesn't know what department the course should be taught in (most likelyit will be Engineering Economic Systems) . The course could be taken inlieu of the Numerical Analysis requirement (which has as alternatives,other management related courses). The CS:CE Committee, which is a threefour man committee, is sufficient to carry out the responsibilities ofadmissions, advising, and degree approval. However, they could use addi-tional faculty to help with academic advising. This year several Ph.D.'sin other fields took the CE Master's Program which seems to be a growingtrend since computer engineers are still in demand.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:15 P.M.

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