Author Archives: Janet Davis

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About Janet Davis

Liberal arts CS professor, semi-retired to a fellowship at King's College, Cambridge.

Designing a CS Commons

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In August, Whitman’s computer science faculty moved into three adjacent offices recently vacated by Technology Services. It so happens that there is a common space outside the offices, separate from the hallway. We were permitted to use funds left over from creating the two lab classrooms for minor renovations and furnishings.

I didn’t ask for a CS Commons, and I’m not entirely sure that we deserve it when so few other departments and programs at Whitman have space for students outside of classrooms. I’m very grateful nonetheless. This post will address the design of that space. Continue reading →

Academic honesty guidelines

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Students often have difficulty understanding how principles of academic honesty applies to problems in computer science, and especially programming problems. In my nine years at Grinnell, I had all too many discussions with my colleagues about interpreting evidence of academic dishonesty.

While core values and principles are held in common, institutional policies and procedures differ. This is one of the things that made last year a lonely year for me professionally. I sorely missed having colleagues to consult with about potential academic honesty cases, colleagues familiar with institutional policies and the special problems of academic honesty in computer science.

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I’ve got a POSSE

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When Grinnell College announced that its relationship with the Posse Foundation would end, many folks at Whitman asked me what I thought or if I had any inside information. This post is not about that Posse.

Rather, it’s about my experiences with the Professor’s Open Source Software Experience (POSSE), an NSF-funded project that engages faculty from across the US in developing and deploying learning activities that engage computing students with humanitarian free and open source software (HFOSS).

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Letter to the Editor: Whitman sees increased interest in computer science

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Yesterday the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin printed my first letter to the editor. I read an article about demand for computer science in the Sunday newspaper, and was disappointed that there was no local angle on the story. Wednesday morning I got to work early and wrote this letter. Thanks to Gina Ohnstad, Manager of Media and Public Relations, for her feedback and assistance. Continue reading →

Prospective students and pre-registration

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I’ve heard colleagues describe April as “the month of a thousand nights” because of all the senior recitals, shows, celebrations, and so on. April is also the month of admitted student visits and fall pre-registration. Next year I need to account for all the time in April I’ll spend just  talking with current and prospective students.

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