Computer science department introduces application for COMP 40 enrollment

The growing popularity of COMP 40, a core requirement for the computer science major and the new data science major, has forced the Department of Computer Science (CS) to introduce an online application system to limit the number of students who can enroll for the course on SIS this fall, according to Kathleen Fisher, department chair and professor. Due to limited available space and long wait lists, the department began prioritizing admissions for majors to the course a few years ago, according to Fisher.

“The number of students in these programs has grown substantially over the past five years,” she said.

COMP 40's relatively inflexible course capacity is the result of a number of factors, including a lack of availability of computer labs and large classrooms, limited funding for teaching assistants and too few faculty members to increase the number of sections offered, according to Fisher.

Alva Couch, an associate professor of CS and co-director of data science, agreed that limited faculty resources make expansion difficult. He explained that most COMP 40 instructors require a substantial and diverse knowledge-base of the industry as well as the teaching skills necessary for a large, feedback-driven class. Couch said that as a result, additional faculty cannot easily be used to expand the course capacity.

“There are very few people who can teach COMP 40, and we have two of them,” Couch said.

The current system for determining priority admission gathers information from students so that the course instructor may make an informed decision based, in part, on the student's likelihood of pursing a major in computer science, Fisher said.

“The priority system was devised to make sure students are able to take the course at the most suitable time in their academic program,” Fisher said. “[Students] also get to explain anything unusual about their circumstances for wanting to take COMP 40.”

Fisher noted that these circumstances may include conflicting terms spent studying abroad and early graduation.

The limitations of SIS itself was one factor leading to the creation of an independent system because faculty faced a host of challenges in trying to control enrollment in COMP 40 through SIS, according to Couch.

This leads to an accounting error, even as faculty try to predict the enrollment of the course before registration opens, Couch explained.

Fisher criticized the responsiveness of SIS in recording students' major declarations as a difficulty in determining students' priority to enroll in COMP 40.

“SIS is slow to record major declarations ... and thus cannot accurately give priority to students who have declared,” Fisher said.

Zoe Hsieh, a first-year considering a major in data science, understood the rationale behind the department's priority enrollment system.

“I plan on taking COMP 40 next year, so I want to make sure I get in when I need to take it,” Hsieh said. “Given the high cost of tuition, graduating late because of one class would be terrible.”

According to the CS department's course registration guide, direct enrollment in COMP 40 in the spring will be limited to undeclared first-years or sophomores and computer science students. Fisher said that the department also considers giving enrollment priority to some non-CS majors and sophomores interested in COMP 40 in the fall.

“We have had extra capacity in the spring semester offering for many years,” Fisher said. “We currently give any student priority in the next semester if they were not able to get into the course in the current semester.”

Roberto Breitman, a CS major, explained that taking COMP 40 during a particular semester is critical due to the rigorous workload of the course.

“When you take COMP 40, you build your schedule around it,” Breitman, a junior, said.

Breitman explained that students plan their schedule so that the rest of their course load is lighter when they enroll in COMP 40.

“In a class that is that intensive, you need to give priority to those who have planned their schedule around the class so they will be able to actually do it,” he said.

The short-term effect that the School of Engineering's new data science major will have on enrollment in CS classes such as COMP 40 is unclear, according to Fisher.

“We expect the new data science major to be popular ... but we don’t know if it will increase or decrease the load on the CS department. It depends on where the students come from,” Fisher said.

Couch emphasized that the current overlap in core degree requirements between data science and computer science degrees will not cause a direct effect on enrollment on computer science classes over the long term.

“I plan to do away with the overlap,” Couch said. “Long term, the strategic plan is to create a completely separate path for data science.”

In the immediate future, however, Fisher acknowledged prioritized enrollment as an unfortunate necessity in light of increasing enrollments. Until high demand for the course declines, Fisher stressed the commitment of the department to meeting the needs of students and increasing capacity.

“This fall, we were able to enroll 148 students [in COMP 40] rather than the 120 we had in the previous year,” Fisher said. “We have been increasing the capacity of the class and plan to continue to do so.”