Technology Consulting in the Community
Undergraduate Course 15-391 or Graduate Course 95-822
A special university-community learning partnership.
Undergraduate course currently being offered in Spring 2008
in Pittsburgh and Doha
Both courses next offered in Fall 2008 in Pittsburgh

Instructors: Joseph S. Mertz, jr. and Scott McElfresh
Units: 9 for undergraduate course / 12 for graduate course

Technology Consulting in the Community was created in direct response to research into the retention of women in Computer Science. The findings of this research revealed that students have a very limited and skewed view of what the computer science profession entails. [6, 5] The research showed that students were acquiring the "geek mythology" from the computer cluster culture, where the "histories and behaviors of the 'boy wonder' super hackers become the dominant image of what it takes to be a computer scientist."

Students were not getting the perspective that computer science is a mix of theory, engineering, and people. Unlike some disciplines, computer science has not splintered theory, engineering and human factors [3]. Technology Consulting in the Community was created to give students a chance to experience the rich set of issues they will deal with professionally. The course de-emphasizes coding, asking the student instead to analyze complex situations and structure unstructured problems. It asks students to analyze the relationships between technology and people, work functions, organizational structure and the purposes around which structures are organized. By working with the leaders of organizations, students have the perfect vantage point from which to see these connections and can identify ways in which technical capacity can be expanded that enable the organization to realize its mission.

The course also addresses an important need in the community. Small community-based organizations of the type we mentioned earlier have yet to understand how information technology fits into their operations and programs, and rarely do they budget adequately to meet basic technical support needs. If the course were to just provide one semester of technical support, little would change. That is why the course's primary mission is to raise the technical capacity of the organization. By nurturing the organizations internal ability to maintain, operate, and plan for its use of technology, systemic change begins.

The course developers also work from an underlying assumption that it is good for the students to experience how their professional expertise is valuable not only in the for-profit sector, but also for non-profits. This course exposes them to organizations that serve an important function in our society, giving students the opportunity to consider career paths that are not traditional for computer scientists. As they move into their professional lives, we hope this experience predisposes students to support the work of community-based organizations with their time and money. Thus, we hope to influence good citizenship and caring beyond self-interest.

Official website for this course

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