NEW
PROGRAM PROPOSAL 
WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY

Submission Date: Jan 25, 2013

College: College of Applied Science and Technology

Department: Computer Science

Program Title: Mobile Application Development Institutional Certificate

1.	Complete Program Description
The Department of Computer Science (CS) offers an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) Degree and a Bachelor of Science (BS) Degree in Computer Science, as well as an Institutional Certificate in Game Development. The CS curriculum offers flexibility in that students may tailor their program of study to their interests and professional aspirations. The curriculum is aligned with ABET suggested program outcomes and also provides a Customized Option for students seeking a second bachelor’s degree or a minor in a different academic area. The Department also offers a minor, a teaching minor, and a BIS concentration.
The Computer Science program employs a technical, scientific approach requiring a solid foundation in mathematics and physics. The program blends scientific and engineering principles implemented through actual, practical, and applications-oriented experience as well as the intellectual study of computation. It is designed to provide a sound fundamental understanding of logic and of digital computer organization as well as the interaction between hardware, software, and the interconnection of system components.  Also emphasized is software engineering which includes understanding operating systems design, implementing the theory of computing, analysis of algorithms, simulation design, and the development of knowledge-based systems. The objectives of the Computer Science program are to provide students with an education that will help them achieve their academic and career goals while simultaneously meeting the needs of industry partners.

The Institutional Certificate for Mobile Application Development will provide a comprehensive and concise treatment of software development strategies for current handheld devices. The program is available to both post-graduate students and those students simultaneously seeking a BS degree in Computer Science. The program will highlight hands-on design and development of both native mobile applications and mobile Web applications. A student receiving this certification will be prepared to meet the specialized software development challenges associated with handheld platforms in both industrial and research settings.

2.	Purpose of Degree
Unprecedented widespread use of handheld computing devices such as tablets and mobile phones has introduced a consistent demand for software developers familiar with the specialized skillsets associated with programming applications for these smaller platforms.  Commensurate with this industry demand, student interest in developing software for mobile devices has substantially increased over the past three years. The Department of Computer Science has responded to this demand by not only developing additional courses that focus primarily on the mobile development area, but also integrating mobile application design projects within existing courses in the CS program.

Mobile application development forms the foundation of various entrepreneurial and innovative projects. Many technical professionals who have been in the workforce for some time regard mobile development as a vital skill set to be acquired through continuing education. The Institutional Certificate proposed here would provide an accessible and flexible avenue for both working professionals and current students to gain expertise in this rapidly expanding discipline. In addition, the Department of Computer Science seeks to establish an ongoing, productive relationship with Continuing Education and the Weber State University Research Foundation in the new Mobile App Lab/Technology Incubator to be located on Washington Street in downtown Ogden. The city of Ogden recently received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Association to establish this Mobile Applications Lab. This proposed Institutional Certificate will provide a self-contained, certification program that could be offered at this center, and attract interested working technical personnel from the local community.

3.	Institutional Readiness
The program will consist of three courses that are currently listed within the Computer Science program. These courses have been delivered several times previously to students in the CS program and thus have been assessed for their effectiveness and content. No new organizational or administrative structures are required. Because the courses are currently electives and fully integrated into the CS program, no impact to the delivery of undergraduate or lower-division education is anticipated. 

4.	Faculty
No additional faculty will be required to offer the proposed Institutional Certificate. Expertise levels of several of the CS faculty will supply the instructional support for the three courses that are required for the certification.

5.	Staff
No additional staff will be required to offer the proposed Institutional Certificate.

6.	Library and Information Resources
Because the existing courses required for this Institutional Certificate were granted library approval when they were first proposed as new courses, no additional library resources will be needed. 

7.	Admission Requirements
A student may pursue a Mobile Application Development Institutional Certificate provided he or she has fulfilled the following:
•	Concurrent or previous completion of a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from the WSU College of Applied Science and Technology or any other accredited institution.

8.	Student Advisement
Prospective students interested in the Mobile Application Development Institutional Certificate may avail themselves of the advising faculty traditionally provided by the Department of Computer Science.  Current CS students pursuing a BS can integrate the certification classes into their program of study.  Post-graduate students will be referred to advising faculty to establish a timetable in which the required courses for the Certificate can be completed.

9.	Justification for Graduation Standards and Number of Credits
As stated in Section 3 of the University Curriculum Committee Policy and Procedures Manual:  “Students are awarded an Institutional Certificate when they complete a program of study fulfilling a 10 credit hour minimum in residence at Weber State. Course work for institutional certificates is designed in a specific area for career and technical education purposes or for professional development.”

The proposed Institutional Certificate program will require a total of 12 credit hours. The requirements for the Certificate were carefully examined by all members of the CS Faculty to ensure a comprehensive treatment of mobile development strategies while avoiding extraneous topics irrelevant to the purpose of the Certification. The CS Faculty believes the requirements of the program are more than sufficient to satisfy the needs of both the student and industry. 

10.	External Review and Accreditation
Industry advisors to the CS department were polled about the overall value and importance of a Mobile Development Certificate – all agreed that this type of certification would be beneficial for the department, university, and community. No paid external consultants were involved in the details of developing the proposed program. As indicated above, all CS Faculty were consulted about the specific requirements for the certification.  

11.	Projected Enrollment
Based on current student enrollments in the three courses that comprise this proposed Institutional Certificate, and interest expressed by local industry partners, the following table provides projected enrollment numbers:

Year	Student Headcount	# of Faculty	Student-to-Faculty Ratio	Accreditation Req’d Ratio	
1	20	3	6.66	N/A	
2	50	3	16.66	N/A	
3	90	4	22.5	N/A	
4	140	5	28	N/A	
5	200	5	40	N/A	

12.	Expansion of Existing Program
This proposed Institutional Certificate is regarded as a self-contained, stand-alone offering separate from the current AAS/BS programs in Computer Science. 

Need
13.	Program Need
Numerous news reports cite the recent exponential trend in handheld device ownership and usage. One such report states:  “Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Matt Erskine announced the grant Thursday, saying the U.S. is experiencing an explosion in the use of mobile devices, along with a growing demand for new applications to run on them.” (Salt Lake Tribune, June 7, 2012) 
Given the dramatic proliferation of mobile platforms, there exists a corresponding increasing need for developers who can create reliable and purposeful software for these devices. This technological wave should not be ignored by either industry or academia. The Institutional Certificate proposed here can be regarded as a part of Weber State University’s response to supplying the workforce and knowledge-base necessary to support and sustain this evolutionary technological change. In addition, the introduction of this certification will play a role in achieving the Utah higher education goals put forth by the Governor’s office: namely, to have 66% of Utahns – men and women age 25 to 64 – with a postsecondary degree or certificate by the year 2020.   

14.	Labor Market Demand
Various online job boards and market analysis sites have predicted extremely high demand for mobile developers. Examples include:
IT professionals who can develop applications for mobile devices are hands down the hottest commodity in IT these days. IT staffing experts agree that this group will remain in this enviable position through 2012, as companies race to adapt their Websites and apps for smartphones and tablets.

Demand for mobile application developers is obvious on Dice.com, where job postings for Android and iPhone developers are up 129 and 190 percent, respectively, over last year, according to Hill.

The technology division of staffing firm Robert Half International projects starting salaries for mobile application developers to increase 9.1 percent in 2012, to a range of $85,000 to $122,500 per year.

Yoh's Browning says salaries for mobile game developers range from $110,000 to $140,000 per year, but she notes, they tend to prefer to work as free agents. "On average, an Android developer can demand $70 per hour to $100 per hour on a contract," she says.

Adds Hill, "It's never a bad time to be a software developer, especially right now, and if you're a mobile software developer, it's your year."

Source: http://www.itworldcanada.com/news/six-hot-it-jobs-that-will-pay-well-in-2012/144442

Developers and designers who fully understand the constraints and the opportunities afforded by the smaller real estate and touch interfaces of the smart device platform are in high demand. 
Market watchers say it's the ability to grasp mobile's new usage rules, and not simply the ability to master new programming skills, that separates those with an affinity for mobile development from those who just don't get it.
Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9217885/Your_next_job_Mobile_app_developer_

A recent book (2012) entitled The Mobile Wave: How Mobile Intelligence will Change Everything by Michael Saylor states the following:
Developing nations are leap-frogging into the twenty-first century with the help of smartphones and tablets and cell towers. I firmly believe this will be a game-changer for the global economy: the ability to deliver a First World education—as well as critical, time-sensitive information—to nearly everyone for a thousand times less capital. By 2015, at the rate the world is building and consuming smartphones, we’re going to have 4.5 billion such devices connecting people worldwide. Mobile communications can only improve the quality of life for most, particularly in those parts of the world where paved roads and crowded airports are things left to the imagination. This is incredibly exciting for all of us who are interested in progress in general.

Data about mobile application developer opportunities is typically subsumed under statistics for software developers and programmers in general. According to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of applications software developers is expected to grow 28 percent by 2020. Given the overall positive outlook for mobile developers, in the unlikely event of a downward market demand, the program’s existence, since it is offered as a certification, will ultimately remain dependent on student enrollments and interest.  If necessary, the program may be discontinued with no negative effect on the current CS program.

15.	Student Demand
At least one of the three courses that constitute the proposed Institutional Certificate has been offered to Weber State University students each semester (including Summer) since Spring 2011.  Enrollments in each section have averaged 16 students, keeping in mind that none of these courses are required in either the AAS or BS Computer Science programs. Anecdotally, students consistently inquire about when the mobile development classes will be offered, and there were specific requests from students to investigate jQuery and its role in developing mobile Web sites. We project that student demand will continue to increase as mobile devices become integrated into more students’ day-to-day experiences.

16.	Similar Programs
The University of Utah Continuing Education program offers the following Mobile Application Developer Certifications: Apple iOS Mobile Apps Certificate, and Google Android Mobile Apps Certificate. Single, mobile development course offerings exist within Computer Science departments at the University of Utah (CS4962 – Mobile Application Programming), Utah State University (CS3200 – Mobile Application Development), SUU (CSIS4300 – Mobile Application Development), and elsewhere, including Davis ATC.
This proposed Institutional Certificate will be maintained and administered by the Weber State Computer Science department and will serve individuals and industry in the Northern Utah region where the course offerings and programs provided by University of Utah’s Continuing Education are either inconvenient or effectively unavailable. This WSU Institutional Certificate program will essentially provide an avenue for students and working professionals in Weber, Davis, and Morgan counties to formally substantiate and validate mobile application development expertise through a certification process administered through a recognized Utah institution of higher education.

17.	Collaboration with and Impact on Other USHE Institutions
As noted above, other than independent dedicated courses offered by CS departments at other USHE institutions, the Technology Education program within University of Utah Continuing Education provides an actual certification track for Mobile Development. As indicated in the attached email exchange, the department chair of WSU Computer Science, Brian Rague, has discussed the proposed certification with Inita Lyon, the Director of Technology Education at the University of Utah, who expressed no concerns about the WSU certification.  Because the purpose of this certification is to serve students and working professionals primarily from the local Ogden community, very little to no impact is projected for existing programs.
18.	Benefits
The availability of a certification in Mobile Application Development would raise Weber State University’s profile as an institution that responds to current technological trends in both the workplace and the community. Offering this certification track at the new Mobile App Lab/Technology Incubator located on Washington Street in downtown Ogden would significantly bolster Weber State’s efforts to solidify and expand its working relationship with Ogden City. In addition, the introduction of this certification will play a role in achieving the Utah higher education goals put forth by the Governor’s office: namely, to have 66% of Utahns – men and women age 25 to 64 – with a postsecondary degree or certificate by the year 2020.   

19.	Consistency with Institutional Mission
This proposed certification program aligns with the Institutional Mission, Vision, Core Themes, and Core Values of Weber State University. Providing Access (Core Theme) to training in an exponentially growing technical discipline, the Mobile Application Development certification will expand the careers of northern Utah’s computing professionals and promote the entrepreneurial efforts of professionals who grasp the opportunities in this cutting-edge field, thereby strengthening the University’s position as an “economic leader for the region.” (Mission). Because the certification will satisfy an educational/training need in the local business community, the program will also increase WSU’s community engagement (Vision, Core Themes, Core Values) and also raise community awareness of WSU’s support of the technology sector.

Program and Student Assessment 
20.	Program Assessment
Program goal: A student receiving this certification will be prepared to meet the specialized software development challenges associated with mobile/handheld platforms in both industrial and research settings.

The courses that constitute the certification will be reviewed on a semester basis by CS faculty to ensure that topics are current and applicable to the workplace, and allow certified students to pursue ongoing investigation and research into mobile technologies. Reviews of the individual courses will also include industry experts, identified through the Weber State University Research Foundation and the WSU Computer Science Industry Advisory Council. As students earn this certification, inquiries will be made of the organizations that employ these students to “close the loop” about the effectiveness of the program.  Feedback from industry partners will be used to adjust course delivery and projects as needed.  

21.	Expected Standards of Performance
Students will demonstrate technical proficiency in designing and developing mobile applications for the most widely used and available handheld platforms. Currently this includes the Android and iOS mobile operating systems, as well as HTML5/jQuery mobile web application development. The technologies selected for this certification include those that currently enjoy the most popular and widespread support among technologists and mobile device manufacturers.
Each course within the certification will require traditional classroom formative and summative assessments such as exams and course projects (see attached syllabi). The grading standards currently enforced by the Computer Science department will also apply to students who seek to earn the proposed certification.

Program Curriculum

22.	All Program Courses
List all courses, including new courses, to be offered in the proposed program by prefix, number, title, and credit hours.

Course Prefix & Number	Title	Credit Hours	
Course Courses	CS 3260 – Mobile Development for the iPhone	4	
	CS 3270 – Mobile Development for Android	4	
	CS 3630 – Rich Internet Application Development	4	
	Total Number of Credits	12	

23.	New Courses to be Added in the Next Five Years
No new courses are currently planned. However, demand for new/replacement courses based on emerging mobile technologies and platforms will most definitely be considered. 

INFORMATION PAGE

Did this program proposal receive unanimous approval within the Department? _Yes_   If not, what are the major concerns raised by the opponents?

Explain how this program will differ from similar offerings by other departments.  Also explain any effects this proposal will have on program requirements or enrollments in other departments including the Bachelor of Integrated Studies Program.  In the case of similar offerings or affected programs, you should include letters from the departments in question stating their support or opposition to the proposed program.

No effect on other programs.

A Master’s Degree program must have a minimum of 30 credit hours with a maximum of 36 credit hours.

A Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Music, or Bachelor of Integrated Studies must have a minimum of 120 credit hours with a program maximum of 126 hours (This is a state system-wide requirement). Exceptions for the maximum number of program hours are allowed if accreditation issues require a set number of courses within a given program, i.e. Dental Hygiene, Nursing, Radiology. 

An Associate of Arts or an Associate of Science must have a minimum of 60 credit hours with a program maximum of 63 credit hours. An Associate of Applied Science must have a minimum of 63 credit hours with a program maximum of 69 credit hours. 

Major programs that require a minor will consist of not fewer than 30 credits and not more than 48 credits in the major field. Major programs that do not require a minor shall consist of not more than 63 credits in the major field.

A minor is a program of study generally selected to complement and strengthen a student’s major  and/or enrich the student’s overall educational program.  A minor consists of not fewer than 15 credits.  Courses that are used to satisfy the general education requirements can be used as part of the minimum number of hours needed for the minor requirements, unless prohibited by a particular college or department.

Indicate the number of credit hours for course work within the proposed program. (Do not include credit hours for General Education, SI, Diversity, or other courses unless those courses fulfill requirements within the proposed program.)     __12________  

Submit the original to the Faculty Senate Office, MC 1033, and an electronic copy to bstockberger@weber.edu 

Proposed Program Catalog Listing:

Mobile Application Development Institutional Certificate	

A student may apply for a certificate of competency in Mobile Application Development provided he or she has fulfilled the following requirements:
1.	Concurrent or previous completion of a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from the WSU College of Applied  Science and Technology or any other accredited institution.
2.	Completion of the following required courses with a grade of C or better. These courses may also be slotted as  electives for degree requirements.
3.		
(12 credit hours):

•	CS 3260 – Mobile Development for the iPhone (4)
•	CS 3270 – Mobile Development for Android (4)
•	CS 3630 – Rich Internet Application Development (4)

APPROVAL PAGE
for:    Mobile Application Development Institutional Certificate                           
		(Program Title)

          	The WSU Library has adequate information resources to support this proposal.
_____	Currently, the WSU Library does not have adequate information resources to support this program.  However, if this proposal is approved, a Library bibliographer will work closely with departmental faculty to acquire the information resources needed.  Funding for the new resources will come from the Library’s budget.

____________________________________ WSU Librarian/Date  (Must be signed by the Library)
Approval Sequence:

_______________________________________				
Department Chair/Date	(& BIS Director if applicable)	

_______________________________________				
College Curriculum Committee/Date	

_______________________________________				
Program Director or ATE Director (if applicable)/Date	

_______________________________________				
Dean of College/Date	

Programs leading to secondary undergraduate teacher certification must be approved by the University Council on Teacher Education before being submitted to the Curriculum Committee.
_______________________________________				
University Council on Teacher Education/Date					

Master’s programs must be reviewed by the University Graduate Council before being submitted to the Curriculum Committee.  

I have read the proposal and discussed it with the program director .
__________________________________________
University Graduate Council  Representative/Date	

______________________________________	University Curriculum Committee/Date							

Passed by Faculty Senate ____________________			Effective Semester__________________________________
Print this page	
RE: WSU Institutional Certificate
From:	INITA LYON <ilyon@aoce.utah.edu>	
To:	Brian RAGUE <brague@weber.edu>	
Date:	Monday - January 28, 2013 11:23 AM	
Subject: 	RE: WSU Institutional Certificate	
Attachments:	Mime.822	
Hi Brian,

Please consider this email as my acknowledgement of our phone conversation about Weber State University's intent to create and administer an institutional certificate in mobile application development.

I appreciate the courtesy you've extended in notifying Technology Education at the University of Utah of your plans. I don't foresee any potential concerns.

Sincerely,
Inita

Inita L. Lyon
Director, Technology Education
Continuing Education
University of Utah
801-585-1964

-----Original Message-----
From: Brian RAGUE [mailto:brague@weber.edu] 
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2013 11:18 AM
To: INITA LYON
Subject: WSU Institutional Certificate

Hi Inita,

It was a pleasure to speak with you by phone earlier today. As I mentioned in our conversation, I would very much appreciate your acknowledgement of our discussion about the proposed Weber State University Institutional Certificate in mobile application development.

This Certificate will be administered through the Computer Science department at Weber State and will require students pursuing the certification to demonstrate concurrent or previous completion of a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from the WSU College of Applied Science and Technology or any other accredited institution. The purpose of this certification is to serve students and working professionals primarily from the local Ogden community.

Thanks in advance for your reply,
Brian

Brian Rague, PhD
Department Chair, Associate Professor
Dept. of Computer Science
Weber State University
2401 University Circle
Ogden, UT 84408-2401
801-626-7377
brague@weber.edu
http://faculty.cs.weber.edu/brague