Letter: Program outdated

To the editor:

The following is an open letter to the interested faculty and staff of Lakehead University. I’ve sent this letter to as many parties that I could think of in hopes that through sheer numbers it will be taken seriously and hopefully spawn a healthy debate.

I am a student in the computer science program at Lakehead University and am writing to say how disappointed I am in the planning and implementation of this program. I realize part of the reason it is overlooked is because there is little interest from students in this field but as it is growing so rapidly perhaps this could be remedied with some simple attention. I’m going to relate a few specific examples of the issues I have but these are just a small sampling.

First, to give some context to my point of view, let me just explain where I am coming from.
I began my attendance at LU in 2004 and after two years I found I was not fit for the program. I spent a few years elsewhere before I was offered a job in the industry. I then decided to return in hopes I matured enough to complete the program. However, after almost a year and a half back I now realize my maturity was not the problem.

In the computer technology industry it is important to stay up to date. Everything is constantly changing and companies must adopt the new technologies in order to remain relevant. This applies to educational institutions as well. Before I go on I want to explicitly state I am not attacking the character, intelligence or personality of the professors at LU. They are brilliant people who deserve a lot of respect.

In my graphics course we are learning to use OpenGL. The program we are using to develop with was created in the 1990s and was last updated in 2001. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you a decade in this industry is a lifetime. Not only is it an outdated program but also the professor has made it clear the methods we are using and the version of OpenGL we are learning is out of date and being phased out of use. 

I understand the importance of learning the concepts and math that can be carried on and used elsewhere but in an industry where we are always looking ahead and trying to stay current I find it shocking we are knowingly being taught redundant technologies. 

In my Logic Design class, which is the design of computer circuitry, the issue whether or not the material is current is irrelevant because it is essentially the foundation of computer design. 
My issue, however, is with its relevancy to my degree.  There are three threads in computer science at LU: hardware, software and business.  I am enrolled in the business thread, which means I take courses to help me apply what I learn to the business world. 

What we learn in the Logic Design course is how to create the hardware of a computer.  I am a software developer, which is an entirely different profession.  As important an area as hardware design is, it has no place in my profession. Learning how to design a computer would be likened to a marketer learning to design televisions. While they need to know the capabilities and use them to do their jobs, they have no need to design them. It begs the question of why all computer science students, regardless of their program thread, are required to take this course.

I find it a ridiculous thought that I, and other students, pay so much money to be poorly prepared and have the material be so out of date. I am lucky enough to already be working in the industry and as such am able to realize how out of touch this program really is. 

My boss, a CEO of a respected software development corporation in Toronto, has been fighting tooth and nail trying to convince me to leave Lakehead and go back to Toronto to work full time because he and his colleagues find this education to be so useless and they continue to insist that in one year of work I will learn infinitely more than I can in three or four years at LU. 

He will tell you that they force themselves to use techniques one to six months old; simply to vet out processes that have not proven themselves but not so old as to fall behind the market demands and competition.  And to be completely honest I am running out of ways to defend my decision.  The only argument I have left is that I will have a piece of paper at the end that will say I’ve completed the degree. 

But if the very people I am getting the paper to impress are looking at it with such disregard then what is the point?

The program needs to be seriously retooled and re-evaluated and then brought into the next generation. Excuse the exaggeration but we are not using Commodores anymore. With their current facilities Lakehead has some impressive technological potential and it is such a shame this program is being wasted like this. 

I recently took a tour of Confederation College’s facilities and their set up – while less well known than LU’s – rivals ours. It really makes me wonder why they don’t institute a development program of their own.

I’d just like to reiterate that I am not attacking anybody and only want the program to be improved. It’s already to late for me to benefit from any changes but hopefully this will spark controversy either among students, teachers or both and maybe bring about some changes. Thank you for your time.


Derek Harasen,
Thunder Bay