George Mason University approved to start school of computing

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia gave the green light to George Mason University’s plan to start a school of computing, the Fairfax-based university announced today.

Three departments will comprise the core of the school, which will be the first of its kind in Virginia, the university said: statistics, computer science and information sciences and technology.

Those departments are being pulled out of the Volgenau School of Engineering and into their own school, which will fall under the new College of Engineering and Computing.

University officials said the new focus will prioritize and elevate George Mason’s computing brand for students and research partners and further economic development in the community.

The school’s interim divisional dean, Sanjeev Setia, said in a statement that several factors contributed to the school’s creation, including the Tech Talent Investment Program in Virginia.

The program, which Gov. Ralph Northam announced in November 2019, aims to create 31,000 new computer science graduates in 20 years through investment agreements with 11 public universities — including George Mason.

“The Tech Talent Investment Pipeline funding from the state of Virginia, the creation of the [Institute of Digital InnovAtion] and expansion of the Arlington campus, and the growing tech sector in Northern Virginia hastened this effort,” Setia said in a statement.

George Mason, which enrolls 39,000 students, ranked No. 1 in Virginia for research funding in computer and information sciences, the university said in its announcement, citing figures from the National Science Foundation.