Engineering and Computer Science Programs Merge at LSU
Louisiana State University’s Department of Computer Science, previously in the College of Science, and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, previously in the College of Engineering, have now merged and will both be housed in the College of Engineering. The new entity will be called the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
The merger between the two schools was approved by the LSU System Board of Supervisors back in February after more than 30 meetings since the beginning of the year. The merger request said the merger is “designed to enhance LSU’s combined strength in computer science and engineering, to achieve increased efficiency and effectiveness of instructional and research programs and to foster greater collaboration.”
The now combined entity will allow students to work in a more powerful community, collaborating, researching, and academic expertise are all high priorities.
“The School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science will be the new leader in computational scholarship for this state and is being positioned to become a national leader in the field,” said Jack Maxwell Hamilton, executive vice chancellor & provost. “This realignment, the result of many meetings with faculty and administrators, will foster greater collaboration among colleagues who have long been pursuing overlapping missions.”
Kevin Carman, dean of the College of Science, plans to keep commitments to faculty and students, maintaining a smooth transition into this new semester and year. Carman said, “Such commitments include scholarships, professorships and start-up packages for junior faculty.” He went on, saying, “This merger could be a boost in our ongoing goal of enhancing our research collaborations with the College of Engineering – a goal to which Dean Koubek and I are both deeply committed.”
