Kenyon’s faculty approved the development of the Program in Computing in February 2022. With the hire of a founding director, the following scholarly guidelines have been developed by a faculty committee with interest in the development of the program.
The Program in Computing (COMP) expects its faculty members to be active and engaged scholars in disciplinary computer science, computationally-oriented social or natural science, digital humanities or digital fine arts. COMP faculty members are also expected to be committed to the interdisciplinary nature of the program. Continued intellectual and professional growth is vital to the strength and renewal of the COMP curriculum, and scholarly engagement is instrumental in establishing faculty as innovative and productive role models for Kenyon students.
Computing education research is valued as an additional component of a research program, and specific value is placed on research that benefits diversity and inclusion in computing fields.
While scholarly projects may change over time, and rates of publication may vary, faculty should be continually evolving their research programs, leading to work that is public and peer-reviewed. Additionally, a faculty member’s scholarly engagement should include active and visible participation in a community of scholars outside of Kenyon.
Publication
We expect our faculty to pursue peer-reviewed publication. This may include print and electronic journal articles, chapters in books, entire books (including textbooks), invited and contributed papers that appear in conference proceedings, and contributions to literature for wider circulation (books, magazines, web encyclopedias, etc.). For certain disciplines like computer science, accepted abstracts to meetings and extended abstracts may also be an indication of research productivity. To complement disciplinary scholarship, we recognize and value contributions to the study of teaching and learning, as affirmed in the collegiate guidelines on scholarly engagement.
The rate of publication varies from one academic discipline to another, and even from one scholar to another. Hence we do not want to reduce the definition of successful scholarship to a single number of publications, nor do we want to define a single
pathway for success. Additionally, given the interdisciplinary focus of the COMP program, research with faculty in other departments or programs that leads to peer-reviewed publication would also be highly regarded.
Research with Students
Creative research with students is a valuable scholarly activity. By engaging in cooperative, innovative research with our students, we expand our professional horizons and involve our students in the wonderful process of intellectual discovery. The most valuable research project is one in which the student and faculty member cooperatively address questions whose answers are unknown and otherwise unavailable to them. We encourage faculty to participate in research activities in collaboration with students that lead to public presentations and peer-reviewed publications. Kenyon summer research opportunities provide an excellent opportunity for cooperative research with students.
Consulting
Additionally, we deem that professional consulting work done cooperatively with or on behalf of representatives from academia, industry, or government is a valuable scholarly activity, insofar as it is active participation in the faculty member’s field. As is the case with other forms of scholarship, evaluation of consulting work will rely on written work (e.g., technical reports and published papers) and presentations given by the faculty member.
Unreviewed Research
Occasionally computational researchers participate in activities that are not available for the standard review process. Two examples are proprietary research funded by a private corporation and research that is classified as secret by the government. In such cases, it is the responsibility of the researcher under review to provide evidence of the quality of the work, usually through a confidential letter of evaluation solicited by the Provost from an individual who is knowledgeable about the project.
Other Activities
Presenting at and attending professional conferences, chairing or organizing special sessions at professional meetings, developing software tools, and writing grant proposals are valuable scholarly activities.
Service to the Discipline
Service to the discipline is important as a support to other scholarly activities. This service may take many forms, including but not limited to: editing journals or books, serving on the committees of professional organizations or other professional committees, writing professional reviews, refereeing, and grading advanced placement exams.