Computer Science | Grinnell College

Grinnell College Department of Computer Science

Welcome to the Department of Computer Science at Grinnell College. This site contains information primarily of interest to current students and faculty. Prospective students may find additional useful information in the CS sections of the Grinnell College website and the College Catalog.

The CS Department maintains a mailing list for current students. We routinely send announcements for department social and academic events to this list, as well as occasional job postings, reminders about upcoming deadlines, and other information likely of interest to students who are currently taking CS courses. To join the mailing list please complete the CS Students Membership Form (Grinnell login required).

News and Events

  • ACM Student Chapter: Preliminary Meeting

    Professor Eric Autry
    Tuesday, February 21, 2023, noon–1:00pm in Noyce 3821

    There is no CS Table this week, so instead we will meet to discuss forming an ACM student chapter at Grinnell College. We have had one in the past, and I think it would be great if we could get it up and running again.

    A student chapter could open some new opportunities for our department: it can help facilitate the creation of and support for student computing clubs of various flavors, it can invited guest speakers to give seminar talks, it can host student conferences where all of you could present your work, it can lead outreach activities to the broader Iowa community, and much more!

    A student chapter is fundamentally run by and for students, so your participation will be necessary to get this endeavor going. To that end, I’d love to meet with any students who are interested in helping reform and run the student chapter.

    Pizza will be provided. Please complete the RSVP form to ensure there is enough food for all who attend.

    Review the ACM Student Chapter in a Box document for information about how a student chapter should be formed and run, as well as info about the various opportunities that it could provide.

  • CS Extras: Q&A: Undergrad+Grad (4+1) Master’s in CS with U. Iowa

    Professor Kasturi Varadarajan (University of Iowa)
    Thursday, February 16, 2023, Snacks in the CS Commons at 4pm; Talk from 4:15pm–5:15pm in Noyce 3821

    This gathering and information session will describe the Grinnell/UI cooperative degree program, which provides a way for Grinnell CS students to spend an extra year and get a Master’s degree in CS from the U of Iowa, in addition to their Grinnell Bachelor’s degree in CS. We will describe how the program works, how you might apply for it, and why it might be just right for you. Grinnell and UI faculty will be available to answer any questions about the program.

    At 4:00 p.m., refreshments will be served in the Computer Science Commons, Noyce 3817. The brief presentation with Q&A session will begin at 4:15 p.m. in Noyce 3821.

    You can read more about this program in the Grinnell College Catalog and at the University of Iowa U2G Page.

  • CS Table: ChatGPT in the Classroom

    Eric Autry
    Tuesday, February 14, 2023, 12–1pm in JRC 224A

    For our next CS Table, we will be discussing “ChatGPT in the classroom.” Attached* are a few articles discussing this new AI tool and how it is impacting classrooms, homework, and education in general (printouts will be available on one of the benches outside my office 3824 on Monday). Please consider reading the articles, showing up for lunch, and having a great discussion with us!

    The 3 articles can be found at the following links. The attached files are direct printouts of these pages.

    Please join us in JRC 224A (first door upstairs) at noon on Tuesday, February 14th. Students who do not have a meal plan may sign in at the entrance to the dining hall to charge their meals to the department; students who charge meals to the department are expected to participate in CS Table discussion.

You can find older news items in the news archive.