Through a recent collaboration, North Idaho College students can expect new kinds of instructors for their computer science classes. The University of Idaho with the Coeur d’Alene campus will allow graduate students to teach these computer science courses with supervision by the UI computer science faculty.
All these courses will be associate-level and taught to undergraduate students.
This new partnership, now being called the “North Idaho Fellowship for Excellence in Computer Science and Robotics Engineering,” will begin during the Fall 2024 semester. This will continue for four years.
“We have a great opportunity to take advantage of our unique relationship with NIC,” Bob Rinker, the computer science department’s associate chair in Coeur d’Alene, said in an email. “The close proximity of our computer science program to NIC, being literally on the NIC campus, will allow us to learn a lot about what works and what doesn’t. This knowledge can be applied to other locations around the state.”
The program is in response to a recent number of faculty shortages for the computer science program that NIC has been experiencing.
“Probably the biggest motivator for this agreement is to help with a shortage of faculty and adjuncts at NIC,” Rinker said in an email. “In the world of computer science, and IT in general, salaries are much higher in the industry than NIC’s salary structure allows, leading to a shortage of instructors. The addition of our computer science fellows will allow NIC to teach more classes more frequently, thus providing NIC students with more class choices.”
Through this fellowship agreement, both parties hope that this will streamline degree pathways for students from an associate degree to a doctoral degree through computer science.
Dan Blanchette is an undergraduate student who is studying at U of I Coeur D’Alene and will pursue his master’s degree next Fall. He is one of the students who knows a lot about the Fellowship Program.
“I still can’t believe that I was able to have the opportunity to complete my bachelor’s degree in Coeur d’Alene,” Blanchette said in an email. “I’ve also had amazing support from staff and faculty at both institutions. Thanks to their dedication to student success, I had no trouble saying yes to continuing my education at UI as a master’s degree student and continuing into a Ph. D program after.”
The Hedlund building on NIC’s campus is already held by their computer science program and UI’s Coeur d’Alene as well, making this program accessible to students and easy for these students to teach the classes to undergraduates.
“Being able to give back to future students through teaching computer science courses enhances academic relationships with NIC students,” Blanchette said in an email. “It also provides UI grad students with valuable teaching experience for their program.”
UI Coeur d’Alene and NIC have always had an interchangeable partnership when it comes to students.
“UI has always had a strong relationship with NIC, starting long before our Computer Science Program was brought to Coeur d’Alene,” Rinker said in an email. “Many successful UI students started at NIC – NIC places a strong emphasis on preparing students to transfer to UI. This agreement just adds a new dimension to the cooperative efforts that have been successful over the years.”
There is a hope since graduate students are closer in age to undergraduate students than other faculty members, that learning will become more relatable and better retained by students.
“The computer science fellows are only a few years ahead of the NIC students, so they are like peers to these younger students,” Rinker said. “UI has a vested interest in the success of the program since many of these students will form the student pipeline into our bachelor’s program. Introducing the NIC students into the “Vandal culture” will simply help this process.”
More information is soon to come regarding the rest of the program and students can learn more from UI Coeur d’Alene’s website of NIC’s.
“The computer science fellows program strengthens the relationship between NIC and UI, provides great opportunities for our grad students, and provides more classes for NIC students,” Rinker said in an email. “Everybody wins!”
Andrea Roberts can be reached at [email protected]
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