A Letter from the Computer Science Department Chair
Read a letter to prospective students from the Computer Science Department chair.
The department is administratively under the College of Arts and Sciences, and its offices are located in Tyler Hall. It currently has a total of twelve full-time faculty members. The permanent faculty is supplemented by several full-time instructors. The University is committed to increasing the size of the Computer Science group. This will permit the department to expand its educational programs and intensify its research efforts.
To facilitate part-time study, the department regularly offers courses for graduate credits in Newport and Providence through the University’s College of Continuing Education.
The Department of Computer Science and Statistics was established in 1967, making it the first formal department of computer science in New England. The M.S. program in computer science was approved in 1968, and the M.S. program in statistics followed a year later; the first degrees were conferred in 1970. The department instituted an undergraduate program in 1975, and demand for the program has been very high. A Ph.D. in applied mathematical sciences was instituted in 1980, and the first Ph.D. was awarded in 1982.
The University
The University of Rhode Island is a medium-sized state university located in the southern part of Rhode Island. It has been a land-grant school since its founding in 1892. In part because of its unique location near the Ocean and Narragansett Bay, the University has developed strong marine programs and has been designated one of the national Sea Grant colleges.
The University enrolls about 12,000 students on its Kingston campus, and another 3,000 in credit courses throughout the state. There are about 10,250 undergraduate students, about 3,125 graduate students, and has a full-time teaching faculty of about 665. Approximately 950 graduate students are in full-time residence.
The Envision Lab Complex in Tyler Hall provides over 100 workstations for student and faculty use - from a traditional teaching lab to state-of-the-art graphics and video workstations. Some of the specific facilities are listed here. More information can be found on our Facilities page.
- Envision Teaching Lab
- Champlin Interactive 3D Lab
- Parallel Algorithm Development Cluster
- Render Farm
- Digital Forensics Center (DFC)
Location
The main campus of the University is located in the quiet historical village of Kingston, thirty miles south of Providence and six miles from the ocean. At the center of this spacious campus is a quadrangle of handsome old granite buildings surrounded by newer academic buildings, student residence halls, and fraternity and sorority houses. On the plain below Kingston Hill are gymnasiums, athletic fields, tennis courts, a fresh water pond, agricultural fields, and greenhouses.
Southern Rhode Island is a scenic area known for its magnificent beaches and ocean-related sports and industry. Swimming, boating, fishing, arts and craft fairs, and outdoor theater make it a popular vacationland during the summer months. The seaport resort of Newport is less than a half-hour’s drive from campus. The state is host to many cultural events and organizations including concerts, theaters, museums, and art galleries. Boston, New York, Cape Cod, and the northern New England mountains are easily accessible.
