Because we are starting this new research university from scratch, we have the potential to develop a framework for scholarship that embraces multiple academic disciplines. This is reflected throughout our fledgling university in the way we hire our faculty, locate and configure their research facilities, recruit our graduate students, design and implement our curricula, and build out-of-class learning experiences for our students. As such, we are well positioned to leverage our multidisciplinary culture to extend the open source culture being established within the School of Engineering to all academic disciplines. If successful, we will be unique in our ability to empower new academic learning communities through our open source culture and architecture. We are making progress in how our faculty, staff, and students are embracing open source concepts and infrastructure, starting with our computer courses and student learning projects.
In this country, enrollments in Computer Science and Engineering degree programs have begun to stagnate despite an ever increasing need for professionals with computer-related skills. The prevalence of shrink-wrapped commercial solutions is thwarting intellectual curiosity on how information technologies can be applied to meet 21st century challenges. The principles behind FOSS solutions promote the development of much needed analytical skills; they inspire curiosity, imagination and innovation, empower and reward individual initiative, and offer a true understanding and education in the information sciences. In order to meet workforce demands, computer science education must be revitalized so as to clearly communicate the interdisciplinary challenges faced by computing professionals, the myriad opportunities to contribute to world-shaping technologies available to those with appropriate training, the breadth of career paths open to computer scientists, and the relevance of formal training to the practice of software development. This pressing need to invigorate computer science education has been widely recognized, and it is reflected in the recently announced National Science Foundation (NSF) program entitled CISE Pathways to Revitalize Undergraduate Computing Education (CPATH), managed by the NSF Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE). This program seeks to identify methods to transform undergraduate computing education on a national scale so as to meet the needs of industry. We believe that a focus on open source tools and methods can play an important role in this transformation.
Exposing students to the spectrum of new and emerging open source methods and technologies will provide them with a much richer view of the benefits of a computer science education. Many incoming students mistakenly believe that a computer science career necessarily involves hacking device drivers in an undifferentiated cubicle. Displaying the wide range of software development efforts is sure to capture the imagination of many who might otherwise turn their backs on this field. In the same vein, involving students in open source community projects will not only capture their imagination, but instill in them the importance and practical advantage of sharing.
The School of Engineering at UC Merced is committed to leveraging its status as a startup School to be a pioneer in course and curriculum development, and innovation across all disciplines and student learning experiences. Whereas other universities must slowly incorporate new technologies and ideas into their pedagogy, UC Merced has the advantage of being able to build innovative curriculum from the ground up. Starting from an already substantial incorporation of open source technologies and ideas into our educational programs, our intent is to greatly expand this dimension of teaching and learning at UC Merced into a signature of our university. We have established several strong partnerships with like-minded university programs, open source software vendors and trade organizations, and within the California government.
Many of our new courses and curriculum methods and virtually all of our administrative information systems within the School are based firmly on open source ideas and technologies. As one of four campuses making up the UC Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), UC Merced has taken full advantage of open source educational software development with researchers at our sister campuses. An introductory course in computer science, which uses UC-WISE (Web-based Instruction for Science & Engineering) an open source real-time collaborative tool for teaching, was developed in collaboration with Berkeley faculty, and has been used at UC Merced since 2003 for testing our inaugural courses. Through CITRIS, researchers in the School of Engineering and the School of Education are changing the paradigm of distance education to bring highly-rated courses to community and state schools. Our innovative Open Source Collaboratory represents our leadership within CITRIS in this regard. The School is also a partner in the Hewlett Foundations Open Education Resources Program and are developing partnerships with other Hewlett awardees.
The School of Engineering is spearheading a campus wide deployment of open source tools for use in the development of courses as well as other client-server applications across campus. Our interest in open sourc innovation is not restricted to software programs, but to open hardware configurations that promote open teaching and learning. Perhaps our most ambitious plans center on the continued development and expansion of our Collaboratory, a completely open learning environment (see Section 5.2.2 and Appendix D). More recently, we are working with our CITRIS partners at Berkeley to adapt a new portable media laboratory developed at Berkeley to an open source environment to be used on the Merced Campus. This will effectively enable any teaching/learning space to be converted to a collaboratory in real time. Among the most innovative use and development of open source technologies at UC Merced is reflected in our Engineering Service Learning program--EPICS (see Section 2.4.2) through which teams of students study and solve real engineering problems for not-for-profit organizations in the community and the region.
The School of Engineering has also established a strong partnership with the State of California in the development and use of important open source software. Researchers within the School have developed extensive and extremely successful document and information management system has been under development and use by the State of California CALFED Bay Delta Program in support of their proposal solicitation, review, and awarding system This multi-dimensional information system has become the core resource in an operation that has awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in research awards on behalf of the citizens of California. The system is important not only because of its creation using entirely FOSS resources, but also because it represents a joint design collaboration between UC Merced Researchers and state professionals. As such, it is becoming an integral mechanism for the successful operation of this program, with substantial economic and operational efficiencies. Partnerships are also being developed with the California Air Resources Board to establish a framework for FOSS continuing education, and users groups within the State.
