Driving Innovation & Elevating Student Success
Since the start of the In For Allegheny campaign, we have been expanding our efforts to build something truly meaningful within our department. These are our goals for the next 2 years:
Our 2024 Five Year Action Plan
- Maintain a Relevant Curriculum
- Drive Inclusivity with Systemic Changes
- Unlock New Opportunities through Microcredentials
- Strengthen Recruitment and Clear Pathways
- Enhance Learning through Assessment-Driven Design
- Boost Career Readiness with Expanded TAB Mentorship
- Share Our Story by Publishing Relevant Educational Research
Keep the Curriculum Relevant
We are refreshing and strengthening our curriculum to reflect the technologies, practices, and skills shaping today’s computing industry and academic landscape. Our goal is an education that is not only rigorous, but engaging, current, and responsive to where the field is headed, giving students the knowledge and experience they need to build productive, meaningful careers in computing.
Drive Inclusivity Through Systemic Change
Inclusion is more than a goal. It is an ongoing commitment. We are working to create a department where students from every background feel welcomed, supported, and empowered to succeed. Through intentional changes to our practices and culture, we are strengthening diversity, expanding student engagement, and creating more equitable opportunities to participate, lead, and succeed.
Unlock New Opportunities with Microcredentials
An upgraded microcredentials program is on the horizon, giving students new ways to demonstrate expertise beyond the traditional course transcript. These stackable credentials will allow students to build and showcase specialized skills in emerging areas of technology, providing a clear signal to employers and graduate programs that they are prepared to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
Strengthen Recruitment and Create Clearer Pathways
Our revamped recruitment strategy is designed to support continued growth and a stronger connection with prospective students. From dynamic promotional materials and a refreshed online presence to clearer academic pathways, we are creating a more cohesive experience that helps students understand where a CIS education can take them and how to get there.
Enhance Learning Through Assessment-Driven Design
We are redesigning assignments and assessment practices with one goal in mind: helping students learn more effectively. By using evidence of student learning to inform how we design coursework, we can create stronger connections between what students learn in the classroom, what they can demonstrate, and what they will be expected to do beyond Allegheny.
The result is a curriculum designed not simply to measure learning, but to actively improve it.
Boost Career Readiness Through Expanded TAB Mentorship
The Technical Advisory Board (TAB) is expanding its role in career advising and mentorship, creating stronger connections between our students and computing professionals. By bringing industry experience closer to the classroom, we can help students navigate career possibilities, develop professional networks, and understand the skills employers are looking for, long before graduation.
Share Our Story Through Relevant Educational Research
Our commitment to innovation extends beyond what happens in the classroom. Faculty are advancing research in computing education and educational innovation, contributing new ideas to the broader academic community and strengthening Allegheny’s voice in conversations about how computing should be taught.
By sharing this work through scholarship, publications, and national and international venues, we are not simply responding to changes in CIS education. We are helping shape what comes next.