NIU computer science graduates have nothing but praise for their department.

Rodney Angotti, computer science department chairman, said NIU came up with some money for the department and they used it to send out questionnaires to 3,500 alumni as part of its program review process.

“Out of the 3,500 people polled, we got 300 responses back which is pretty good when you consider our students are all over the United States,” he said.

From those 300, 100 graduates were randomly selected for a more in-depth, follow-up study, Angotti said.

The smaller-sampling study concluded that 95 percent of respondents have a high opinion of their major, 94 percent are confident about their abilities to discover new information and interpret it and 92 percent believe their computing abilities compares favorably or exceeds that of their peers.

The poll also shows 93 percent feel their major was a well-integrated set of courses, 89 percent feel their major provided them with an in-depth understanding of the discipline; most of the respondents believe that their English and communication courses serve them well.

Also, most indicated that, on average, salaries during their fifth year of employment were in the $40,000 to $50,000 range.

Joe Dworak, who graduated in December 1986, is a product of the college recruiting program at NIU. He now works at the SMC Corporation/Dallas Data Center in Texas as a systems programmer.

When he is not working, Dworak participates in SMC’s program recruiting. The corporation presently has five key schools—including NIU—that they recruit from that are known for their computer science departments.

“The skills acquired at NIU are literally unparalleled in the nation,” Dworak said. “Other than an MIT or a Stanford, we have not come across a better school. NIU is our hidden treasure chest of undergraduate computer science technicians.”

NIU alumni Mark Evenson graduated with a computer science degree last year. He now is working for Motorola in Schaumburg, Ill. as a programmer/analyst.

Evenson said the NIU computer science program is definitely good because it prepares students with the proper tools needed to get started on major projects.

“When I first came to Motorola, I developed a system used worldwide throughout Motorola that I probably wouldn’t have been able to do without my NIU education,” Evenson said.

Evenson also said being able to communicate with their software users is a big advantage some employees do not have. He said being able to communicate verbally and on paper is very important.

Lee Gaines, NIU associate professor of computer science, has been teaching in the department for close to 28 years.

“NIU has a very strong computer science program and I feel it is one of the better programs in the country,” she said.