Mission of the St. Olaf CS Program

1. To provide high quality education, advising and experiences in Computer Science,

   by means of a grounding in the fundamental principles of Computer Science as an academic discipline,

   in connection with the other liberal arts,

   through first-hand experience with exemplary computing systems, and

   as informed by the computing industry; and

2. To represent the field of Computer Science both within and beyond the St. Olaf community.

Notes:

• While specific computing systems come and go, the principles of Computer Science endure and are apparent in all forms of computing to persons who are aware of those principles.

• Ethical, social and professional issues in computing are among the elements of the discipline of Computer Science.

• We promote good communication and interpersonal skills throughout our program.

• We seek opportunities for interdisciplinary work involving Computer Science and other liberal arts fields.

• By experiencing good examples of computing systems, our students witness enduring computer science principles put into practice.

• Through internships, classroom examples and in program offerings, we relate the study of Computer Science in our liberal-arts context to the outer world of computing.

• As an essential part of our mission, we seek to inform others about the nature of Computer Science. We pursue this goal, in part, by participating in interdisciplinary collaborations and by clarifying the relationships and distinctions between the discipline of Computer Science and other sectors of computing.