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Computer Science

Welcome Message from the Chair—2026

September 03, 2026

Welcome to the Department of Computer Science for the Fall 2026 academic year. For first-year students, you are embarking on a new phase of your life, which we hope will be filled with discovery. For fourth-year students, you are entering a dynamically changing job market, but have built the skills you will need. While challenging, the current change in the technology sector is a tremendous opportunity. Much like the era following the dot-com bubble, moments of rapid technological upheaval are precisely when the most significant careers are forged.

All incoming Fall 2026 students are entering a redesigned program, based on AI-driven changes in industry and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) guidelines. Returning students may opt into either the old or new architecture, and combined programs have been updated to match. Key changes include:

  • Required Ethics Course: Now a mandatory course requirement and a prerequisite for all third-year classes. Students remaining in the old program will automatically receive prerequisite waivers upon request for the ethics course until at least Fall 2028.

  • Streamlined Third Year: The third year now consists of nine core courses. Students must complete seven (or all nine for honors). Please check your prerequisites carefully, as some of the nine have others as prerequisites. 

  • Progressive AI Integration: AI usage will scale from limited in first year to extensive in third and fourth year, led by our SENG courses, but present everywhere.

  • New courses: CSC321 (formerly CSC421) has moved to third year to establish earlier AI foundations, allowing for more advanced fourth year AI courses. SENG365 is a newly created course focused on software engineering using AI agents.

If you have questions about navigating these changes, please consult our advisors, David Clark or Irene Statham.

Artificial Intelligence is fundamentally changing how we work, and we are committed to evolving with it. Our general rule is straightforward: you should fail if you use AI to complete an assignment in your first year, and fail in your fourth year if you do not. We will scaffold your learning so you can confidently deploy the latest tools when appropriate. This makes Academic Integrity—the other AI—critical. Almost all syllabi now feature specific AI usage policies. Read them carefully; they remain the final arbiter for any grading disputes.

It is in times of great change that computer scientists and software engineers make the biggest impact. We do not know exactly where the future leads, but the technology you develop will shape it. Welcome to Computer Science, the discipline and career that defines our time.

Kevin Stanley
Chair, Department of Computer Science