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Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers (1994)

Chapter: Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
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Appendixes

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
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Appendix A Surveying the ECSE Community

In its deliberations, the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) Committee on Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists made considerable use of several informal surveys of the experimental computer science and engineering (ECSE) community.

One survey was sent to the approximately 180 chairs of departments on the Forsythe list (i.e., all chairs of Ph.D.-granting departments in the United States and Canada in computer science and engineering (CS&E)); this questionnaire is presented as Exhibit A. Seventy department heads responded to this survey, of whom about 40 were themselves experimentalists. A second survey was sent to experimental computer scientists and engineers in academia identified through the procedure described in Box A.1; this questionnaire is presented as Exhibit B. A third survey was sent to graduate students in ECSE; this questionnaire is presented as Exhibit C. These students were identified by asking the ECSE faculty mentioned above to pass along the survey to their Ph.D. graduate students who had passed comprehensive exams. About 200 graduate students responded to the survey. (Because the committee had no way of knowing the number of Ph.D. graduate students working for the ECSE faculty members who received the questionnaire, the total number of graduate students who received the survey is not known.)

These surveys were developed and sent under the auspices of the

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
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BOX A.1 Identifying ECSE Faculty Members Through a ''Friends-of-Friends" Procedure

Approximately 900 individuals were identified by sending a short e-mail note to about a half-dozen individuals suggested by committee members, asking them to respond with the names and e-mail addresses of five other individuals in ECSE and employed in academic institutions. These names and addresses were recorded in a database, and the same note was sent to these individuals. The process was then iterated, with notes sent only to new individuals who were not already recorded in the database. By the time the process was terminated (on the basis of elapsed time—about 10 weeks), nearly 1,250 names had been generated. The figure of 900 given above is the number of individuals mentioned by two or more respondents. The electronic questionnaire was sent to the 900 individuals. Of these, about 220 responded, representing about 90 departments. The results of this procedure are presented more fully in Figure A.1.

This method for obtaining names was not comprehensive, in that a number of individuals personally known by the committee to fit the search criteria were not identified; these individuals were located at both less well known and better-known institutions. However, the committee believes that this method was able to generate coverage of a relatively large part of the ECSE community in a very short time and at negligible cost.

NOTE: Brian Reid, a member of the committee, brought this procedure to the committee's attention and was responsible for its implementation. In the time since this procedure was executed, the committee has learned that statisticians have known of this technique for a long time and refer to it as "snowball sampling."

Computing Research Association, a professional organization that represents the interests of the CS&E research community; however, answers were returned directly to committee staff. Of course, the analysis of data and the conclusions drawn from these surveys are entirely the responsibility of the committee.

Ideally, the committee would have conducted an ethnographic study of all institutions in which ECSE research is pursued and an analysis to distill common themes. Lacking the resources and the expertise to conduct a project of such dimensions, committee members decided on an approach that would yield as much information as possible. In particular, the information gathered by surveys was

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
×

FIGURE A.1 Results of "friends-of-friends" polling for experimental computer scientists and engineers in academia.

used primarily as a reality check on the insights derived from the discussions of committee members with their colleagues.

Thus, although the committee believes that the surveys returned cover a considerable portion of the academic community of experimental computer scientists and engineers,1 both tenure-track faculty and graduate students, it must point out that they do not constitute a complete or necessarily even a representative sample of the community, and biases are undoubtedly present in the responses. Perhaps the most serious bias is the fact that respondents may have been

1  

The total number of faculty in Ph.D.-granting computer science and engineering departments in 1989 was 2,660 (Computer Science and Telecommunications Board. 1992. Computing the Future, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., p. 255), although the number of those conducting experimental computer science or engineering is unknown. It is the committee's qualitative impression that experimental computer scientists and engineers are, broadly speaking, in the minority across the nation. The total number of Ph.D. graduate students is also unknown, although it is known that some 800 graduate students receive Ph.D.s in computer science or engineering every year.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
×

disproportionately more dissatisfied with their current status in academia than a true random sampling would reveal. At the same time, survey respondents included a number of the leading experimentalists in the field.

It would be misleading to present these survey results as being uniformly true for the entire ECSE community in academia. However, the comments of the respondents do represent the views of those individuals, and because the number of respondents constituted a substantial portion of the relevant community, it is fair to assert that their comments cannot be taken as isolated or aberrational.

As an inspection of the surveys indicates, questions that would result in both quantitative and qualitative data were asked. No clear interpretations emerged from a consideration of the quantitative data, and, in the end, the committee found that the richest data were found in the qualitative answers that respondents provided.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
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Exhibit A: QUESTIONNAIRE SENT THROUGH U.S. MALL TO DEPARTMENT HEADS

ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR DEPARTMENT

• Your name ____________________

• Your institution _______________

• Are you personally an experimental computer scientist or engineer? ____

• How long have you been department head? _____

• What is the total number of tenured and tenure-track faculty (i.e., funded by "hard money") in your department? ____

• What is the total number of research-only faculty (i.e., funded by "soft money" but eligible for tenure) in your department? _____

• Please indicate the extent to which it is an important departmental goal to maintain a presence in experimental computer science or engineering research. (1 = very important, 2 = somewhat important, 3 = not very important, 4 = not important at all) _____

• Please list the names and ranks of the faculty members in your department whom you consider to be experimental computer scientists or engineers. (An experimentalist in CS&E is one whose primary intellectual activities (outside of teaching) involve the actual construction of novel hardware or software systems, or the experimentation on or with such systems.) This information will be used simply to characterize the demographics of experimentalists, but will otherwise remain entirely private.

FACULTY RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

Please indicate the extent to which you believe there is a problem for your department in the areas listed below. Use the following scale in answering each question.

1 = an important problem that is generally very difficult to manage and handle

2 = an important problem, but one that can be managed or handled some but not all of the time

3 = a moderate problem, important only occasionally

4 = not much of a problem at all

NOTE: ECSE refers to experimental computer science or engineering.

A1-Attracting new Ph.D.s in experimental CS&E

1

2

3

4

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
×

If you believe there is a problem in this area, please indicate the importance of the following possible reasons

• competition from industry

1

2

3

4

• competition from other universities

1

2

3

4

• availability of qualified applicants

1

2

3

4

• other (specify)__________

1

2

3

4

A2-Retaining faculty members in ECSE before the tenure decision is made

1

2

3

4

A3-Retaining faculty members in ECSE after the tenure decision is made

1

2

3

4

A4-Promoting and/or reappointing faculty members in ECSE

1

2

3

4

If you believe there is a problem in this area, please indicate the importance of the following possible reasons:

• difficulties in evaluating the fundamental contributions made by experimental work

1

2

3

4

• tensions between experimentalists and theorists

1

2

3

4

• difficulties in evaluating collaborative work

1

2

3

4

• excessive time needed for setting up teaching or research laboratories in ECSE

1

2

3

4

• excessive time needed to perform research in ECSE

1

2

3

4

• other (specify)_______

1

2

3

4

A5-Obtaining university sanction for making research contacts with industry

1

2

3

4

A6-Obtaining university sanction for projects in ECSE

1

2

3

4

A7-Providing a good research environment for faculty members in ECSE

1

2

3

4

If you believe there is a problem in this area, please indicate the importance of the following possible reasons:

• obtaining funding for research in ECSE

1

2

3

4

• obtaining staff support for ECSE (e.g., programmers, technicians)

1

2

3

4

• obtaining graduate students interested in ECSE

1

2

3

4

• other (specify)

1

2

3

4

_______________

1

2

3

4

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
×

A8-Faculty attrition. Please fill in the table below, counting as a departure an individual in a tenured or tenure-track position in experimental computer science or engineering (ECSE) that left your department in the last ten years. Include both regular faculty and research-only faculty.

TOTAL NUMBER OF ECSE DEPARTURES IN LAST 10 YEARS

After being denied tenure

After receiving tenure (COLUMN A)

Before receiving tenure, but unlikely to have received tenure (COLUMN B)

Before receiving tenure, but likely to have received tenure (COLUMN C)

 

 

 

 

 

Generalizing to the extent possible from the cases in the last three columns (Columns A, B, and C), what do you believe have been their reasons for leaving academia? Please use the following scale to indicate the relative importance of the factors below.

1 = important to most or all of the cases in question

2 = important to some of the cases in question

3 = important only to a few or none of the cases in question

If you feel it is necessary, please include a note about the degree of impact of these factors on the decisions in question.

Columns ==>>

A

B

C

better pay in industry

 

 

 

better access to resources in industry

 

 

 

better opportunity for impact in industry

 

 

 

more professional recognition in industry

 

 

 

better intellectual environment in industry

 

 

 

better opportunities at another university

 

 

 

academic career not going well

 

 

 

deciding that academic career was not right for them

 

 

 

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
×

EXPERIMENTAL COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING IN YOUR DEPARTMENT

B1-Please rank the adequacy of various components of your institution's infrastructure for the teaching and training of graduate students in ECSE and for your faculty's research.

1 = superb

2 = very good

3 = adequate

4 = inadequate

Adequacy of infrastructure component listed below for:

teaching and training of graduate students in ECSE

research by ECSE faculty

hardware

 

 

software

 

 

technical non-student support (e.g., programmers)

 

 

space

 

 

time (before tenure decision is made or before student is ''taking too long")

 

 

supply of qualified graduate students (only for faculty)

 

 

administrative support (only for faculty)

 

 

B2-What is the largest experimental project your department has undertaken in the last 10 years? (Please use your best estimate if it is inconvenient to gather data.)

Total Person-years (FTE) expended

Total funding expended

Brief Description

 

 

 

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
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B3-Using your best estimate, please fill in the following table on your department's ECSE research projects in the last 10 years.

Category of ECSE Project

Number in Last 10 Years

Total Number of ECSE Projects

 

Project depended on industrially donated or industrially subsidized equipment.

 

Project received a substantial degree of industry funding (i.e., over 30% of total project funding from industry, but not including donated or subsidized equipment).

 

Project was/is "large" (i.e., over $1.5 M in total budget, over 12 person years in total effort).

 

Project was/is "medium" (i.e., between $500 K and $1.5 M in total budget, between 6 and 12 person years in total effort).

 

Project was/is "small" (i.e., under $500 K in total budget, less than 6 person years in total effort, but still involving the construction of or experimentation with a hardware or software system).

 

B4-Peers/Mentors and Collaboration among Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers

Using this scale,

1 = adequate or better for most ECSE faculty

2 = adequate or better for some ECSE faculty

3 = adequate or better for only a few or no ECSE faculty

please give us your assessment of:

— the mentoring support provided by your department for its junior experimental computer scientists and engineers

1

2

3

— the opportunities provided by your department for collaboration among your experimental computer scientists and engineers (both junior and senior faculty)

1

2

3

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
×

B5-Evaluation Procedures

For each of the following items in a faculty member's evaluation portfolio, give its approximate percentage weight of importance in your institution's evaluation of his or her research. Please ensure that your weights total to 100%.

___ a. letters

___ a.1-from industry

___ a.2-from universities

(Entries for a.1 and a.2 should sum to the entry for a.)

___ b. published contributions

__ b.1-in refereed conference proceedings

__ b.2-in archival journals

(Entries for b.1 and b.2 should sum to the entry for b.)

___ c. implementation of hardware/software artifacts (not described in published contributions)

___ d. patents or copyrights

B6-How difficult does your department find it to evaluate collaborative work in tenure and promotion cases? (check one)

___ difficult in most or all cases

___ never difficult or difficult in only a few cases

___ difficult in some cases

YOUR GRADUATE PROGRAM

C1-Please fill in the following table about the graduate students in your department.

Total number of Ph.D. students in your department

Number of Ph.D. students in ECSE

Number of ECSE Ph.D. students supported by teaching assistantship

Number of ECSE Ph.D. students supported by research assistantship

Number of ECSE Ph.D. students supported by fellowship

 

 

 

 

 

C2-Describe in a sentence or two any general requirement for all Ph.D. students to fulfill some type of experimental computer science or engineering (e.g., work on a system, build a piece of hardware, take a course in experimental methods in ECSE).

Please make any additional comments you wish on an additional sheet of paper. Otherwise, thanks for your help.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
×

Exhibit B: QUESTIONNAIRE SENT ELECTRONICALLY TO SYSTEMS FACULTY MEMBERS ON JULY 9, 1992

Dear systems faculty member:

The Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) of the National Research Council (NRC) is conducting a study on the difficulties encountered by experimental computer scientists and engineers in pursuing academic careers. The Computing Research Association is assisting with this study.

Some people believe that experimental computer scientists are handicapped in academia because the nature of their work (for example, the construction of large computer hardware or software systems, or experimentation with or on such systems) is fundamentally different from the work pursued in more traditional disciplines. Such differences might lead to difficulties in promotion and tenure or influence choices regarding research problems. Others believe that there is no problem unique to experimental computer science and engineering.

Your name was selected in a sampling of university faculty members in experimental computer science or engineering, and we'd like to ask you some questions that would help to shed light on this subject. Also, we've included a questionnaire for you to pass on to your Ph.D. graduate students who have passed their qualifying exams. Your answers and those of your students will help to guide the deliberations of the study committee, which will produce its report by the Spring of 1993; you will of course receive a free copy of the report at that time.

This questionnaire should take no more than a half hour or so of your time. We ask you some questions about events since you joined your department; your general recollections should be sufficient, and will enable a more prompt response.

NRC reports are often highly influential in the Washington policy community, and the findings and recommendations of this report may well have impact on our field as a whole. I urge you to respond to this inquiry by August 10, 1992. If you have any questions about the questionnaire, please contact the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board at the telephone number or net address below.

We recognize that some of the information you are asked to provide may be sensitive, and we wish to assure you that all responses will be used for the purposes of this study only, and no information will be used in a way that allows your personal or institutional identification without your explicit permission. If you have any questions, please contact the CSTB. You may send your response directly to HLIN@NAS.EDU.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. Your cooperation is very much appreciated.

Sincerely,

John Rice

Professor of Computer Science, Purdue University Board Chair, Computing Research Association

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
×

Larry Snyder

Professor of Computer Science, University of Washington Chairman, NRC Committee on Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists

QUESTIONNAIRE

THIS QUESTIONNAIRE IS DESIGNED TO BE ANSWERED USING AN ON-LINE TEXT EDITOR. IF YOU CHOOSE TO ANSWER IT OFFLINE IN HARDCOPY, YOU MAY WISH TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF BLANK LINES FOLLOWING CERTAIN QUESTIONS TO HAVE ADEQUATE SPACE FOR A RESPONSE.

1 — ABOUT YOURSELF

1.a-Your name____________________

1.b-Your Department/Institution____________

1.c-Your Rank and Title_______________

1.d-How many years have you been in your department?_____

1.e-What fraction of your professional career in the last 10 years has been spent in research?_____

1.f-What fraction of your research effort in the past 10 years has been devoted to the actual construction of hardware or software systems, the experimentation on or with such systems, or the supervision of students engaged in these activities?_____

1.g-If a tenure decision has been made for you, how has that decision changed the character of your research? If one has not been made yet for you, how do you expect it to do so? Please explain why in either case.

2 — YOUR PH.D. STUDENTS

Please give us some information about the Ph.D. graduate students for whom you have been the advisor of record and who have received their doctorates in the last 10 years. (Using your best memory on the subject will be adequate, though if you can check records without too much trouble, we encourage you to do so.)

2.1. For the student you rank 1 (your best) among all your graduates, indicate:

Year Ph.D. awarded:

Thesis area:

Name of student's first employer after Ph.D.:

If this student is presently working in industry, what factors

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
×

influenced his/her decision? (check)

___ better environment in industry (specify how, e.g., research money, equipment, colleagues)

___ couldn't get or unlikely to get tenure

___ unable to find suitable academic job

___ unable to find any academic job

___ other (specify)

2.2. For the student you rank 2 (your second best) among all your graduates, indicate:

Year Ph.D. awarded:

Thesis area:

Name of student's first employer after Ph.D.:

If this student is presently working in industry, what factors influenced his/her decision? (check)

___ better environment in industry (specify how, e.g., research money, equipment, colleagues)

___ couldn't get or unlikely to get tenure

___ unable to find suitable academic job

___ unable to find any academic job

___ other (specify)

2.3. For the student you rank 3 (your third best) among all your graduates, indicate:

Year Ph.D. awarded:

Thesis area:

Name of student's first employer after Ph.D.:

If this student is presently working in industry, what factors influenced his/her decision? (check)

___ better environment in industry (specify how, e.g., research money, equipment, colleagues)

___ couldn't get or unlikely to get tenure

___ unable to find suitable academic job

___ unable to find any academic job

___ other (specify)

2.4 through 2.n [Please replicate above text for the remainder of your Ph.D. students.]

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
×

3 — YOUR FACULTY COLLEAGUES

3.a-Success Factors in Experimental Computer Science and Engineering

In successful tenure or promotion cases for experimental computer scientists and engineers, what factors were most important? Evaluate according to the following scale:

1 = important to most or all of the cases in question

2 = important to some of the cases in question

3 = important to only a few or none of the cases in question

___ letters from industry

___ letters from senior experimental researchers in academia

___ letters from senior non-experimental researchers in academia

___ publications record

___ evidence of contributions other than publications (specify)

___ impact on industry

___ other (specify) _______________________

3.b-Faculty Arrivals: please consider as an ''arrival" a person hired into a tenured or tenure-track in experimental computer science or engineering (ECSE). Include regular faculty (those with research and teaching responsibilities) and tenure-eligible research-only faculty without regular teaching responsibilities. If you have been in your department for less than 10 years, please answer for the number of years you have been in your department. (Your best recollection will be adequate, though if you can check records without too much trouble, we encourage you to do so.)

ECSE ARRIVALS IN LAST 10 YEARS: Arriving fresh out of graduate school or from post-doc:

___ Number of new regular faculty hired with tenure

___ Number of new regular faculty hired without tenure

___ Number of new research-only faculty hired without tenure

___ Number of new research-only faculty hired without tenure

ECSE ARRIVALS IN LAST l0 YEARS: Arriving from faculty position in another university:

___ Number of new regular faculty hired with tenure

___ Number of new regular faculty hired without tenure

___ Number of new research-only faculty hired without tenure

___ Number of new research-only faculty hired without tenure

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
×

ECSE ARRIVALS IN LAST 10 YEARS: Arriving from industry:

____ Number of new regular faculty hired with tenure

____ Number of new regular faculty hired without tenure

____ Number of new research-only faculty hired without tenure

____ Number of new research-only faculty hired without tenure

3.c-Faculty Departures: please consider a departure an individual who left a tenured or tenure-track position in experimental computer science or engineering (ECSE). Include both regular faculty and research-only faculty. If you have been in your department for less than 10 years, please answer for the number of years you have been in your department.

____ TOTAL NUMBER OF ECSE DEPARTURES IN LAST 10 YEARS

____ After being denied tenure

____ After receiving tenure (CATEGORY A)

____ Before receiving tenure, but unlikely to have received tenure (CATEGORY B)

____ Before receiving tenure, but likely to have received tenure (CATEGORY C)

Generalizing to the extent possible from the cases in the last three categories (A, B, and C), what do you believe have been their reasons for leaving academia? Please use the following scale to indicate the relative importance of the factors below.

1 = important to most or all of the cases in question

2 = important to some of the cases in question

3 = important only to a few or none of the cases in question

If you feel it is necessary, please include a note about the DEGREE of impact of these factors on the decisions in question.

better pay in industry

A.____

B.____

C.____

better access to resources in industry

A.____

B.____

C.____

better opportunity for impact in industry

A.____

B.____

C.____

more professional recognition in industry

A.____

B.____

C.

better intellectual environment in industry

A.____

B.____

C.

better opportunities at another university

A.____

B.____

C.____

academic career not going well

A.____

B.____

C.____

deciding that academic career was not right for them

A.____

B.____

C.____

3.d-Tenure and Promotion (T/P) Cases for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers

Please include both regular faculty and research-only faculty eligible for tenure.

NOTE: If you have been in your department for less than 10 years, please answer for the number of

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
×

years you have been in your department.

____ total number of T/P cases in last 10 years (all parts of computer science and engineering)

____ total number of T/P cases in ECSE

____ total number of T/P cases in ECSE that were denied tenure

____ number of denials in ECSE that you think were inappropriate

Generalizing from the cases in the last row (i.e., those unsuccessful cases that should, in your judgment, have been successful), what were the factors contributing to the cases' lack of success? Indicate their relative importance according to the following scale:

1 = important to most or all of the cases in question

2 = important to some of the cases in question

3 = important to only a few or none of the cases in question

____ lack of publications

____ lack of research funding

____ lack of Ph.D. students

____ classroom teaching problems

____ problems with advising students

____ difficulty in evaluating "artifacts" or contributions other than publications

____ personal relationships between candidate and department

____ lack of appropriate mentoring from senior faculty

____ lack of students to perform research

____ difficulty of evaluating interdisciplinary or cross-departmental research

____ lack of knowledge to pursue some research opportunity

____ poor handling of tenure case by department

____ mismatch between faculty members' goals and metrics commonly used for evaluation

____ lack of a relationship with industry

____ too much industrial interaction

____ inadequate equipment infrastructure

____ lack of staff support (e.g., programmers, technicians)

____ other (specify) ________________________

4 — OTHER QUESTIONS

4.a-What is the dissemination channel you prefer for your work from the standpoint of MAXIMUM INTELLECTUAL IMPACT?. Please rank order the following channels, where 1 is your most preferred channel.

____ conference proceedings ____ archival journals

____ technical reports ____ other (specify)

4.b- For your #1 choice above, why is that your most preferred

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
×

dissemination channel?

4.c-What is the dissemination channel you prefer for your work from the standpoint of UNIVERSITY RECOGNITION? Please rank order the following channels, where 1 is your most preferred channel.

____ conference proceedings ____ archival journals

____ technical reports ____ other (specify)

4.d-For your #1 choice above, why is that your most preferred dissemination channel?

4.e-What advice would you give an incoming assistant professor who expresses an interest in doing experimental computer science?

4.f-Would you recommend an academic career in experimental computer science or engineering for a new graduate student today? Why or why not?

4.g-If any experimentalists stayed after being denied tenure, to what career track did they move?

4.h-Please add anything else you wish below. Otherwise, thanks for your help.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
×

Exhibit C: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS

Dear doctoral student:

The Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) of the National Research Council (NRC) is conducting a study on the difficulties encountered by experimental computer scientists and engineers in pursuing academic careers. The Computing Research Association is assisting with this study.

Some people believe that experimental computer scientists are handicapped in academia because the nature of their work (for example, the construction of large computer hardware or software systems, or experimentation with or on such systems) is fundamentally different from the work pursued in more traditional disciplines. Such differences might lead to difficulties in promotion and tenure or influence choices regarding research problems. Others believe that there is no problem unique to experimental computer science and engineering.

Your advisor was selected in a sampling of university faculty members to answer a few questions about academic careers in computer science and engineering. We are interested in your perceptions of academic careers in experimental computer science. Please answer the following questions and return your responses directly to: HLIN@NAS.EDU If you have any questions, please contact the CSTB at the address given below.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. Your cooperation is very much appreciated.

Sincerely,

John Rice

Professor of Computer Science, Purdue University Board Chair, Computing Research Association

Larry Snyder

Professor of Computer Science, University of Washington Chair, NRC Committee on Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists

1. Do you consider yourself an experimental computer scientist? What do you think differentiates experimental from non-experimental work in computer science or engineering?

2. What type of position do you plan to seek after graduation? Rank by order of preference (1 = most preferable)

____ academia (research-oriented university)

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
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____ academia (teaching-oriented university)

____ industrial research laboratory____ other industry

____ self-employed____ government

____ other (specify)________________

3. After you graduate, in what activities do you expect that you will spend your professional time? Please provide approximate percentages below:

____ teaching

____ doing experimental research that involves constructing hardware or software systems

____ doing non-experimental research

____ doing product development

____ other (specify)

4. What do you see as the primary minuses FOR YOU of seeking or taking academic positions in experimental computer science or engineering? (Please use the following scale in answering.)

1 = very much a minus

2 = something of a minus

3 = not much of a minus

4 = not at all a minus

__ a. difficulty of getting tenure in university

__ b. lack of adequate infrastructure for experimental work

__ c. too much teaching

__ d. too much emphasis on need to publish

__ e. too much emphasis on need to raise funds for research

__ f. salaries too low

__ g. too hard to find university position in good location

__ h. too hard to generate an academic job offer

__ i. academic work has too little practical result or influence

__ j. too difficult to do collaborative work at university

__ k. inadequate intellectual community for my interests

__ l. inadequate professional respect at university

__ m. other (specify)__________________

5. What do you see as the primary pluses FOR YOU of seeking or taking academic positions in experimental computer science or engineering? (Please use the following scale in answering.)

1 = very much a plus

2 = something of a plus

3 = not much of a plus

4 = not at all a plus

__ a. possibility of getting lifetime tenure

__ b. opportunity to teach

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
×

__ c. freedom to choose own topics of professional interest

__ d. opportunity to ignore commercial influences on research

__ e. opportunity to do cutting-edge state-of-the-art work

__ f. opportunities for intellectual collaboration

__ g. opportunity to work in an intellectually diverse environment

__ h. opportunity to supervise graduate student research

__ i. greater professional stature at university

__ j. other (specify) _______________

6. Please tell us anything else you wish below.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Surveying the ECSE Community." National Research Council. 1994. Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Scientists and Engineers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2236.
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Next: Appendix B: Comparing Journal and Conference Publication »
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The information age has grown out of the work of experimental computer science, which is dedicated to the development of new hardware, software, graphics, interfaces, and other computer system technologies. While it is important to society in this larger sense, experimental computer science has found an awkward fit in university environments. This volume examines what is special about experimental computer science and what can be done to achieve a better fit for its practitioners in the academic context.

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