Computing program realignments: issues and recommendations

This paper discusses the issues related to alignment of computing related programs within different colleges and departments. Such alignments are result of institutional formation and market demands of the past, however in recent years may be driven by the student enrollment number challenges. This was the case for a university located in Western Pennsylvania that had three computing related programs in Information technology (IT), Information Systems (IS) and Computer Science (CS). The university decided to realign these three programs through the restructuring of the departments that housed them. The paper discusses the ramification of the decisions from point of view of professional identity of the discipline and the programs. Based on these ramifications it proposes an alternative structure.