With two faculty resignations, the face of the computer science department is undergoing a change worthy of a television makeover show.
Assistant Professor of Computer Science Tom Conoley gave his resignation in June but plans to finish out the academic year, while Associate Professor of Computer Science Denis Popel became an adjunct professor. Rand Ziegler, interim dean of the college of arts and sciences, said searches for their replacements will not begin immediately.
“We’ll put together a committee to study the computer science program and determine exactly what type of replacement is needed,” he said.
Jean Johnson, mathematics, physics and computer science division chair confirmed there will be a committee.
“I think that we are having some changes,” she said. “I think it is a good time to look and evaluate our options. We don’t want to limit ourselves.”
Conoley said the department is in jeopardy due to lack of university support.
“The computer science students need to know more than the university is supporting,” he said. “Denis and I have been doing it on our own. “
Conoley supervises the Cerner project, which teams Baker students with professionals in the field. The students spend a semester developing a software product that’s presented to Cerner Corporation executives in an end-of-semester competition. He worries the project will suffer once they leave.
Conoley said partnerships are one of the best ways for Baker students to be competitive with other universities.
“When you’re doing stuff like that, you don’t have to have a multi-million dollar infrastructure,” he said. “You have to have vision, because we can’t afford all the technology larger schools can.”
Johnson said Business and Economics Department Chair Kevin McCarthy may take over the Cerner project when Conoley leaves.
“I believe that Kevin McCarthy has done it in the past, and that it is a more business-related project and the business department will be more interested in keeping that going,” she said.
Erik Abels, Baker alumnus and Cerner software engineer, said the type of student should be considered. “The business-minded ones are the ones who were more likely to be interested in the Cerner project.”
Popel said he has accepted a job building models that explore data, but was happy with the support given by Baker.
“I love teaching,” he said. “But I got an opportunity to do more research … It was a great tenure at Baker for me.”
Conoley said he is also taking an industry job.