Random Thoughts from a Computer Science Student…

I’m supporting Andre Bisasor for HESA President.  I’d like to explain my reasoning and some exasperation at some of the other candidate statements.

In my humble opinion, HES students are supposed to be selecting someone for their executive experience. By that, I mean that the job primarily requires those who have the skills to set goals and achieve them. Sometimes that means doing the work yourself. At other times, it means motivating others to do the work.

It isn’t about dreaming up ideas. Lots of people can do that. It isn’t hard to come up with ideas.
It isn’t about having some sort of background. Lots of people come from disadvantaged backgrounds.

One thing I think has been steadfastly lacking in past HESA administrations is the level of professionalism and attention to detail. I think we really had something with Carlos. More than any other administration, he reached out to students and committed himself to opening up HESA to a wider audience.

He sent out regular emails about the workings of the administration.
He posted here very frequently.
He took steps to make the results of the meetings a matter of the public record. The HESA website contained links to minutes of (almost) every meeting.

These were good things. A lot of it was dry reading but it as important because people who weren’t on campus or couldn’t make meetings could at least follow along as things happened. We don’t have a group that endeavors to cover our political meetings or write articles in the Crimson about new developments so it’s at least mildly novel that he took steps to do these things without any outside pressure.

But that all stopped when Carlos left. Whatever transparency we had was lost. The HESA website fell into disuse and the postings trailed off.

I believe that a lack of executive experience is the reason that this happened. Without any background in “making things happen” we got a lot of half-hearted efforts from the current administration. Some events were poorly attended because invitations came too late. Other opportunities to increase the profile and influence of HES were missed.

But working quietly in the background was Andre Bisasor. He put together the HESLS and re-launched an entire conference. He turned an entirely defunct organization around. That’s a remarkable feat.

He wasn’t paid for his efforts. He wasn’t directed to do this by the current HESA administration. He saw an opportunity to get something done and then went out and did it.

He didn’t ask to be recognized for a job he hadn’t already completed. That speaks volumes about his character.

I’m afraid that the other candidates are simply missing the point. They either believe that they are owed the position or are trying to imply that their on-the-job accomplishments make them a natural fit for president.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

It’s far too easy to become discouraged as HESA president. It’s an all volunteer ogranization and sometimes, people don’t feel like it’s important for them to work at it. Grandiose plans are great, but if there isn’t someone there to actually translate those ideas into actions, nothing happens. It actually hurts us to have too-ambitious goals.

That’s why I’m so critical of the other candidates and supportive of Andre Bisasor. I’m tired of candidate statements that reflect not a single iota of activity at Harvard. Nothing. Not forming a club. Not attending the HESA meetings. Not even showing up to the debates.

I think that Andre is different. He worked with Carlos and has seen at least one effective administration up close. If he can use that example, we can see great things from HESA in the coming years by building on what has already been accomplished.

We don’t need economic development activities. We don’t need more parties. We need simple, effective leadership that concentrates our efforts on measurable and meaningful activities that benefit the school as a whole as well as individual students. Events like the Negotiation and Leadership conference are exactly the sort of thing I’m talking about.

In my four years at HES, no other event has made me feel more connected to the school and to the university. I got a chance to meet members of many different schools at Harvard. It was a great networking opportunity and a chance to meet other HES students.

If we can get even one more of those events under our belt as an organization under the HESA banner, we will be doing splendidly.

I spent this past Saturday at the Harvard Negotiation and Leadership Conference.

If you weren’t one of the over 300 people at the conference, you missed out.

I’m going to post a more detailed review in the next few days, but I was very impressed by the quality of the conference and the discussions among the speakers.

Andre convinced some very notable names to attend the conference and give presentations and it’s clear that the audience enjoyed the opportunity to ask them questions.

What’s even more impressive is that this conference represented the first inter-school arranged conference. Both Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School cooperated with Andre Bisasor at the Harvard Extension School to make this conference a reality.

My opinion is that this event symbolizes how HES participates as a full member of the Harvard academic community. I think we need many more such examples.

When I started this blog, my stated purpose for completing my undergraduate degree was to get a credential that I needed to attend graduate school. Now that I’m essentially done with the ALB program (I walk at June commencement) I’m finding that it’s a little more difficult to choose a program than I initially thought.

One of the problems that I face, and I’m sure that others face is one of resources: time and money. Another concern is the desire for flexibility in how the actual classes are delivered. There are a lot of distance/part-time options out there but they vary in quality very widely.

Initially, I was thinking about Columbia’s CVN program for a Master’s degree in Computer Science. The problem with this is the fact that EACH class costs a little over $4000. The classes are delivered on-line and there is no residency requirement.

Another option is the Part-time MBA from UMass-Amherst. It’s also delivered completely online and a relative bargain. The whole program of 37 credits will only cost a about 26K. That’s a big savings over the cost of about $45K for the MS at Columbia.

Then there is a third option: the ALM-M program at HES. It requires 12 classes, but each class is only about $2K. Not only is that a little less expensive than the pMBA program, but it’s a tad more attractive since it appears there is some evidence that they will be increasing the admissions requirements. This can only benefit the program. It’s a unique idea, since the Harvard Business School already offers a (very prestigious) MBA at a very expensive 46K per year (and you require two years). It appears that it is a bit MBA-like, with some other coursework thrown in to make the program a bit more tailored for someone who isn’t necessarily on track to be a CEO but wants to add to their management/leadership skill-set.

I’m still trying to decide and it isn’t fun. Whatever choice I make, I’m going to incur some opportunity cost.

I need to think long and hard about this.

I’m done with all of my coursework.

It’s been a long time since I posted and that’s mainly because I’ve been focused on taking care of all the other things that I neglected while I was working on school.

One of the things I have been focusing is what to do next.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m looking at what kind of graduate program I might like to pursue. So far, I’ve only discussed the CVN program at Columbia University. There are others.

One I’ve been looking into is the MBA program at University of Massachusetts-Amherst. The entire program can be taken online and is AACSB accredited. I’m intrigued.

More to come…

I had a job at Circuit City about 15 years ago.

When I started there, I had just moved to Gainesville, FL.  My plan was to try and get into the University of Florida (I did) and to do that, I needed to make some money.  I signed up for a temporary holiday position and started working.

It was a fun job.  I sold computers and TVs and made a better than average wage for the time.  The job had flexible hours and I liked the people I worked with.  After the holiday season, they asked me to stay on and I took a part-time job there.

But somewhere along the line, things changed.

For one thing, management started scheduling me for 35 hours per week while still classifying me as part-time.  According to their own rules, I was supposed to be classified as full-time if I was regularly scheduled for more than 30 hours a week.  Being part-time meant I didn’t get any benefits.

Then they started cutting our commissions.  As a salesperson, we were paid a gross commission on the total dollar amount we sold as well as specific dollar amount (SPFs) on certain items.  The gross commission went from 1% to 0.5% and the SPFs were cut as well.

Then they started making it possible for customers to purchase items without involving a salesperson.  So we lost a bunch of sales.

The last straw came when they forced everyone to agree to a binding arbitration agreement for essentially everything that they might get sued for.  Think things like endangering worker health, racial discrimination,  or sexual harassment.

That’s when I left.

That’s why this latest bit of news didn’t surprise me.  It’s a sad tale but reflects a pattern of management behavior that made a sequence of decisions leading to their probable demise.  They treated their workforce as a cost rather than an asset and did everything they could to drive the good employees away and hire cheap ones.

It also reminded me that I had to leave school because my work was conflicting with my coursework.  I earned bad grades because I let Circuit City push me around.  They were interested in maximizing my availability and a degree program got in the way of that.  They simply didn’t care.  I was complicit in this because I stayed longer than I should have and I let my grades suffer to keep management happy.

I never made that mistake again.

When I started at Harvard Extension, my previous employer initially was supportive.  When it became clear that I needed more flexibility to complete my studies than they were used to giving, they tried to push me to give up my coursework.

This time I made the right choice and found another job.  As it happens, that employer had a tuition reimbursement program that gave me $4000 per year to apply to a degree program.  Not a lot, but every little bit helps.  They subsequently doubled that to $8000.

I’m lucky to be employed by a company that values their employees.  They have made an investment in me and my education and I’m grateful for that.  If you’ve ever been in my situation, you know how it feels for an employer to see you as a valued asset rather than a problem to be dealt with.  Companies that pay their employees well and treat them with respect tend to be more profitable as well.

A while back Circuit City made headlines when it laid off its most senior employees but offered to hire them back at reduced compensation level.  In essence, they were trying to get someone who had become good enough at their job to warrant a series of pay increases for a greatly reduced price.  Most of them (rightfully) declined.  Circuit City’s profits plunged in subsequent quarters as the less experienced and less productive employees couldn’t make up the shortfall in sales volume.

I know that a lot of people who read this blog are working professionals.  Quite a few are juggling work and family along with their studies.  It might seem obvious but if you are serious about doing well in school, you need to make sure your employer will value you and support your quest to earn a degree.

I’ve had the experience of working for one who didn’t and the one thing I learned is that it isn’t worth the hassle.  Changing jobs is never easy but it can be worthwhile if the cost of not doing so is a poor showing in your degree program.

UPDATE: Looks like it’s the beginning of the end.  Just don’t believe the line about “economic conditions” being the reason for this.  The nails were put into the coffin by management making a host of bad decisions about marketing and strategy, especially when it comes to their most valuable asset: their employees.

Long time, no post.  That’s because I’ve been up to my eyeballs in Problem Sets.

Computer Science programs at traditional universities tend to be pretty rich in theory classes.  CS is very much like a math degree and many CS departments are linked to the math departments which can surprise some people.  That’s a big difference from your typical IT degree offered at a garden-variety non-traditional school.  When I was looking for programs that would allow me to complete my degree on-line, the focus for most of those schools was on learning some programming language or development tool or framework.  The theory of computation isn’t nearly as concrete a skill-set as C# programming.

Of course, this is a good thing from my perspective.  I was specifically looking for a program that was heavy on theory but allowed for some mix-in of practical skills that would be useful to someone who needed a specific skill.  I’m happy to say that Harvard Extension provides this environment.

That’s why I signed up for CSCI E-207, Formal Systems and Computation.  It’s actually a taped version of CS-121, a course taught at Harvard College.  Harvard Extension typically offers about 20 to 30 of these classes every year, which give non-traditional students to opportunity to learn from regular Harvard faculty.

if you ever had any questions about the differences between the material at HES and the College, take a close look at these two problem sets.

CSCI E-207 Problem Set 3

CS-121 Problem Set 3

Petty similar, eh?  The one major difference is that the points awarded are different.  I’m not sure what the rationale for this is.  It’s possible that the College students are being graded on some different scale than the Extension students.  What’s important to realize is that the material we are expected to absorb and the work we’re expected to do is pretty close to what they expect of the Harvard kids.  If you ever entertained the thought that HES isn’t really Harvard, then you might change your opinion if you had to actually take one of these classes.

I’m excited and a little anxious about performing well in this class.  This course is about as close to being about pure computation as you can get.  Understanding the fundamental principles they are covering is an important part of any real computer science degree.  It’s right up there with understanding data structures and algorithms.

I’m also taking CSCI E-168 this semester, Ruby on Rails.  It’s pretty much a boot-camp style course on Ruby and Web Development using Rails.  One suggestion: if you are planning on taking a heavy course like E-207, mix it with another class that’s not as intense a time demand or take it alone.

You have been warned.

I can’t under-emphasize how much of a difference this makes for me.

I do most of my work on a 15-inch Macbook Pro laptop and when I started to work with some of the more complicated programming assignments for class, I noticed that I was using the “spaces” feature of Leopard to switch between programming and debugging tools.  I also had a window open for a browser in case I needed to look up some reference information.

Now I can do all of those on the same screen.

It’s hard to emphasize how much of a difference it makes in the way you interact with your computer.

In my case, I’m expecting to do a lot of programming this semester.  Couple that with the distance ed courses I’m taking in Ruby/Rails and Formal Methods and I’m going to be spending a lot of time in front of the machine.  It made sense to optimize the experience as much as possible.

Ultimately, it was my birthday that provided the final justification for the purchase.

Go out and take a look at a few and then start saving.  Amazon has a number of them at various price points.

Apple 30-inch Cinema Display

Ian over at Harvard Extended has posted an editorial criticizing the Harvard Extension School push into distance education.  Specifically, he questions whether a degree program composed primarily of classes taken remotely via the Internet can ever really compare to the learning experience offered by in-person attendance on the campus, particularly the Harvard campus.  He notes that out of about 600 classes, more than 100 online classes are offered at HES, with a clear uptick in the number year-over-year.

There is some evidence that the Extension School shares at least some of his concerns.  Last year, the ALB program was modified to include a requirement for 4 (out of a minimum of 16) courses to be completed that are offered on campus only.

I’d like to rebut that argument and make the case that distance education at Harvard can provide a comparable experience if we carefully consider our definition of what a satisfactory Harvard Experience actually represents.

Ian writes:

…permitting students in some programs to get most of their degree credit sitting in front of a computer terminal, often with few opportunities for direct interaction with faculty and classmates, is a mistake. Two of the Extension School’s most popular degree programs — the undergraduate ALB and the graduate ALM in IT — allow students to complete 88% and 90% of their coursework online, respectively.

His concern seems to center on the premise that there are fewer opportunities for direct interaction with faculty and other classmates, and that this necessarily constitutes a somewhat lesser experience than would otherwise be provided by a program that was composed of entirely on-campus coursework.  I think that this reasoning is flawed.

First, there is no evidence that in-class presence helps students to develop a deeper understanding of course material.  While presence on campus might help a student feel as if their connection to a university is stronger, my own experience has been that being in class is only marginally better than viewing the same lecture over the Internet.  Indeed, I am completing the vast majority of the 64 hours that I need for the ALB from my home in Washington, DC.  As part of my experience at Harvard, I regularly travelled between DC and Boston to take classes and exams on campus and I had the opportunity to sample both modes of learning from the very beginning.  I prefer the online courses.

If my grades are any indication, I’m doing far better in my online coursework than I ever did in my on-campus coursework.

I took a number of courses in which I depended heavily on the TFs (teaching fellows) to answer questions when I had them.  I didn’t get a chance to meet any of the other students from most of those courses.   Surprisingly, that didn’t seem to have any effect on my ability to absorb the material.  With occasional help from the TF’s, I managed to pick up enough material to earn A’s (or A-’s) in nearly all of my classes.

I’ll note that there were a few instances where the TF’s seemed to be either too preoccupied or too difficult to communicate with.  In those situations, I learned that the best option was to simply drop the course and replace it with another.

But I’ll note that in no case was I ever at a disadvantage because I wasn’t able to question a fellow student for help with the material.  I certainly had to be more diligent about making use of the resources I had to grasp the material, but I didn’t seem to suffer grade-wise because I was working alone.

Furthermore, I didn’t see a great deal of class participation in the classes I took on campus.  If there was an upside to taking an on-campus class, it was the ability to buttonhole your TF or professor about some assignment you were waiting to receive back.

And leads me to the the point that I think that Ian’s really trying to make: how much of Harvard do you really get if you’ve only ever seen a few of your professors online and you only know a couple of fellow students in your program, or none?

Of course, the same argument could be made about the Extension School as a whole.  As an ALB candidate, I’m never going to live in the residence halls, arguably one of the best maturation and networking opportunities available to anyone under the age of 22.  Does that make my degree worth less as an educational credential?

I’d argue that for a significant proportion of classes, the interactive component of on campus presence isn’t much help.  I allow that there are many fields in which essentially the entire class is about teamwork and interaction with fellow students.  Management classes and language instruction are two notable examples, but I suppose that there are others.

Far more important (for me at least) is how effective Harvard Extension is at transmitting knowledge through an asynchronous medium like the Internet.  On that score, I think they’ve done a fine job.  With very few exceptions, I’ve felt that my professors and TFs have been very responsive.  In one particular case, I had a TF take my call at 11PM one evening.  I’ve had the opportunity to meet my professors in person after taking their class and felt as if I knew them well after having only ever seen them through a window on my PC.  I recognized one of my TFs from another class walking down the street and introduced myself one random afternoon while visiting Cambridge.

So, at least in my case, I’ve managed to nurture and maintain a connection to Harvard (even going so far as to decide I have a favorite professor) even though my coursework was largely completed online.

What could be wrong with that?

I understand Ian’s concerns: that the Extension School is moving too fast in expanding the reach of distance education and that this will detract from the high quality of instruction (and candidates) that the degree programs are known for.

Criticism, offered in good faith, is a good thing.  It’s important that the quality of the degree programs is maintained, even if that means forgoing some revenue or tempering the growth of the school.

My experience and my intuition tell me that these concerns are premature.  For me, the greater concern is how to increase the feeling of community and connection at the Extension School without compromising the non-traditional orientation.  If the goal is to reach further than the walls of Harvard Yard, then some form of distance education is clearly going to be in the mix.  Pointing to distance learning as the problem is simply not productive.

Thus, the better question to ask is if a program that was composed entirely of online coursework could ever be considered a true Harvard degree.  I submit that it can.

If we examine the subset of classes that are taught to Harvard College students on campus and to Harvard Extension students via distance ed, we see that they perform roughly on par with each other.  Ian acknowledges this himself.  As a somewhat crude example, this seems to indicate that it isn’t really the distance aspect of instruction that is important for learning.  What matters far more is the quality of the professors and the TFs and their own comfort with the technology.

By far, the professors I have had in my distance classes seem keenly aware of this fact.  They understand the limitations of time and place and seek to transcend them with technology.  It is possible to compensate for the sensory deprivation that seems to follow distance education.  I, for one, don’t agree that some sort of virtual reality environment that replicates a lecture hall is needed.  What could be more silly than sitting in a chair at home manipulating an avatar sitting in a chair in a virtual classroom?

In the real world, commercial enterprise has embraced each evolution of technology that eliminates the need to travel in order to communicate or conduct business.  From the telegraph to the telephone and TV, conference calling, video conferencing and the Internet, the value of eliminating the need to schedule a meeting among a widely dispersed group of individuals is clearly recognized by many.

Why should education be any different?

If your goal is to have some sort of experience, then maybe distance learning isn’t right for you.  It will be impossible with current technology to replicate the experience of sitting in a cramped chair huddled with a few others trying to master some arcane subject.  If instead your goal is to develop a deeper understanding of some particular subject or skill without the extraneous aspects of college life, then you might give distance ed a try.

Taking a distance education class at Harvard is no less valuable an experience than sitting through one on-campus.  It’s simply a different experience.  It’s up to the administration to make that a good one.

I registered for my final semester of classes at Harvard Extension.

I was only going to take one course on Formal Systems and Computation (CSCI E-207), which is a taped version of a regular Harvard course.  I changed my mind when I spotted this class:

CSCI E-168:

This course is a thorough introduction to Ruby and Ruby on Rails, focusing especially on the major strength of Rails: rapid prototyping and iterative development. The course culminates in the design and implementation of a web-based software product.

I’ve been toying around with Ruby on Rails for a few months now.  It essentially a relatively flexible way to build a dynamic website application.  Lots of websites use it and it’s VERY popular.  I’m excited about this course because it looks like it will combine some traditional academic rigor about representational data models with a useful, practical skill that can immediately translate into increased productivity and opportunity for entrepreneurship.

This strikes me as a notable strength of the Harvard Extension program orientation compared to the College: a focus on combining practical skill-sets with exposure to academic critical thinking methodology.  If a student is only interested in gaining some specific skill or exposure to some specific technology, that’s implicitly provided in the coursework.  But if another student is more interested in the more expansive objectives of how this particular technology/method/topic fits into the broader picture, that’s also provided.

Harry Lewis, a former dean of Harvard College and a Computer Science professor, writes in Excellence Without a Soul: How a Great University Forgot Education:

At Harvard, at least, students are bewildered by how the university proudly denies preprofessional curricular options to students who in great numbers will enter the professions after they graduate.[14]

and:

The tensions between the objectives of students and the ideals of professors are evident everywhere.  The Harvard Economics Department won’t teach accounting – it once did but dropped the course even as its faculty and course offerings expanded.[204]

If you want learn accounting at Harvard, you have to take it at the Extension School.  It’s interesting that this is the case, but it does demonstrate that if what you want is some amount of practical skill combined with an opportunity to pursue a pure academic endeavor, Harvard isn’t your best choice.  You can’t major in Business Administration at Harvard.

It’s helpful to keep in mind that Harvard is a liberal arts school.  Their program is tailored to deliver a broad mix of instruction on a variety of topics.  The idea is to build a well rounded individual with the tools to think critically about the world they live and work in.  I’m a fan of this approach but pure liberal arts instruction doesn’t often match the specific needs of the population most likely to be interested in attending school while managing a career.

In a nutshell, this is one thing I love about Harvard Extension.  In a single semester, I’m taking two classes which are both about computer science, but with entirely different objectives.

One course (Formal Methods) is about the theoretical mathematical underpinnings of modern computer science.  We’ll never touch a computer in the course; the work is all about doing proofs of computational possibility and complexity.  It’s not practical in any sense of the word if you are trying to learn how to program, but it’s absolutely essential if you want to know whether you can even solve a problem or not with a computer.

The other (Ruby on Rails) is about getting some real work done.   I have a feeling that this course, combined with some traditional technical ability, would prepare a student to launch their own web firm.  I have some ideas about things I’d like to do on a website but without a structured framework to undertake the job of actually learning how to get it done, I’d probably waste a lot of time.  This course is almost a sort of boot camp on Rails for me.

I’m excited.

I just completed my second to last semester at Harvard Extension.  If I continue on the path I’m currently on, I only need two more classes (one semester) to qualify for the ALB degree.

It’s been an interesting experience.  One remaining matter is the decision to pursue a senior thesis reading and research project for my last semester.  Doing so would probably make me a good candidate for graudate programs.

One thing I’d do differently would be to get my language requirement out of the way earlier.  I had an opportunity to get that requirement taken care of much earlier and I deferred it till late in the program.  Bad idea.  If you go the HES way, take care of the language requirement early.  It’s impossible to do it via distance and a pain to complete at HES because all of the classes meet twice per week.

Now I just need to get some more paperwork out of the way.