Establishment of the Faculty of Computing at SUSL: A Historic Feat Accomplished

It is with great pride and pleasure we usher in the news that the Faculty of Computing (FoC) has been established as the 9th Faculty of the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka (SUSL) by an Order made by the Minister of Education Dr. A.D. Susil Premajayanth, under Section 27(1) published in the Gazette Extraordinary 2312/14 dated 27th December 2022. The Faculty which comprises three Departments: Department of Computing and Information Systems, Department of Data Science, and Department of Software Engineering will have a total number of annual student intake of 290. The curricula of all three Degree Programmes offered by the FoC align with the Association for Computing Machinery/ Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (ACM/ IEEE-CS) curriculum guidelines, enabling to absorb the state-of-the-art in computing education and practice, as well as of the future of the field of computing education for the 2020s and beyond.

The decade of skills development (2020 - 2030) has been designated with the goal of creating a digitally inclusive Sri Lanka and one that produces global technocrats with future-ready skills. The mandate for establishing the Faculty of Computing at SUSL was identified by the Vice Chancellor of the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Senior Prof. R.M.U.S.K. Rathnayake, in the University Action Plan 2021 “Way forward to a Smart University”. These were further supported by the findings of surveys conducted by the national IT industry steering bodies including the “National IT - BPM Workforce Survey 2019” in producing a competent workforce through higher educational institutions.

In light of this, starting in July 2021, the academic staff of the Department of Computing and Information Systems at the Faculty of Applied Sciences, SUSL under the leadership and guidance of the former Head of the Department of Computing and Information Systems Professor S. Vasanthapriyan, who is the Coordinator of the Faculty of Computing, initiated to prepare the proposal for the Establishment of the Faculty of Computing. Accordingly, a comprehensive Need Analysis Survey was carried out employing different stakeholder groups including university academics, researchers, industry representatives, alumni, representatives of government agencies, and IT industry governing bodies. The findings of the survey stressed the need for expanding opportunities for computing education and revealed the potential of SUSL in establishing the FoC and thereby contributing to cater the national goal of achieving a stable demand-supply in the ICT industry.
The proposal for the Establishment of FoC subsequently received the approval of the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Applied Sciences, the Senate, and the Council of the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka.

In November 2021, the proposal to the UGC Quality Assurance Council was submitted, which was approved by April 2022.  The proposal was presented to the UGC and the UGC Commission approved the Establishment of the Faculty of Computing on 6th October 2022 as the 9th Faculty of the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka.

In making this accomplishment, we express our profound gratitude to Senior Prof. R.M.U.S.K. Rathnayake, the Vice Chancellor of the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka; Prof. E.P.N. Udayakumara, the Dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences, Dr. Rasangi Sabaragamuwa, the former Dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences; Prof. Darshanee Ruwandeepika, the Director, Center for Quality Assurance; and Mr. Janitha Liyanage, Coordinator of the Faculty Quality Assurance Cell, for their invaluable guidance, inspiration, and support.  The cooperation extended by the University Grants Commission and the Ministry of Education throughout the entire process is greatly appreciated.  We owe our gratitude to Faculty members of the Faculty of Applied Sciences, members of the University Senate, and the Council. The cooperation extended by all the academic staff members including the visiting academics, academic-supportive and non-academic staff members, representatives from the ICT industry and the stakeholders from public and private sector organizations, the alumni and our own undergraduates of the Department of Computing and Information Systems are highly acknowledged for their tremendous support and cooperation.

With the proven capacity and collective effort, further strengthened by the support and cooperation from all the stakeholders, we are confident in continuing to grow, ensuring access to human capital and well-equipped physical infrastructure in order to deliver high-quality computing education at FoC, SUSL.