College of Computing initiative focuses on digital skills across majors

When Diana Lawson, dean of the Seidman College of Business, speaks with CEOs and the region’s business leaders, a recurring theme emerges as they discuss recruiting future talent. 

“We hear over and over from them that they want students to have durable digital skills,” Lawson said. 

The College of Computing’s April 24 Innovation Day outlined its plan to help students build those skills through the Computing + X initiative, a collaboration with schools and colleges across campus designed to strengthen interdisciplinary connections and break down silos. 

Marouane Kessentini, dean of the College of Computing, said the initiative will extend across Grand Valley’s campuses. 

“Access is important — access to knowledge and learning, and inclusive computing,” Kessentini said. “We want to ensure the democratization of computing is part of our intentional work.”

Lawson joined Jennifer Drake, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs; Donovan Anderson, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; and Linda Lewandowski, dean of the Kirkhof College of Nursing, in discussing how interdisciplinary collaboration will benefit students.

“The humanities, arts, social sciences and sciences bring essential knowledge to bear in the Computing + X equation,” Drake said. “Our students will enter careers and live lives that demand the ability to think critically, collaborate across differences and navigate complex, ethical questions, including those about the relationships with humanity, technology and the environment.”

Faculty members and department chairs from anthropology, advertising and public relations, criminal justice, English, business, allied health services, mathematics, modern languages, nursing, political science and statistics offered a preview of how programming could be integrated into those fields. 

Elizabeth Arnold, associate professor and assistant chair in the anthropology department, said that as artificial intelligence and computing increasingly emphasize human-centered design, anthropology offers a natural complement.

“Anthropology is the study of people, across time, around the world and all the cultural differences that impact how we use technology,” Arnold said. “As computing students think about how their technology goes out into the world and across cultures and peoples, then the skills of anthropology have an impact to bring them as well.”