From Concepts to Community: Purdue’s Bridge Program Empowers New CS Students

08-26-2024

For new computer science, data science, and AI students at Purdue, the Bridge Program is more than just an introduction to programming and computer science—it’s an opportunity to forge lasting connections and gain the confidence needed to excel in their studies.

Year after year, this program helps incoming computer science, data science and AI students with little to no prior programming experience succeed in their classes. Daily lectures and labs are designed to prepare students for their first course, CS 18000. The Bridge Program follows a comfortable pace, and assignments are not graded, so students can focus on learning the material.

Lectures are led by Dr. H.E. “Buster” Dunsmore, associate professor of computer science, who teaches CS 18000, and labs are led by a group of undergraduate teaching assistants. Outside of classes and lectures, the Director of Student Affairs, Amber Stanley, coordinates housing, food and extracurricular events for students. The connections made in the Bridge Program last well into students’ undergraduate years, as they form study groups and friendships. 

“As a student, the Bridge teaching assistants were always a great resource for labs and general tips for college life. They were welcoming and non-judgemental, and fostered an environment in which I felt understood,” said Genna Yavaraski, the Bridge Program’s head teaching assistant. “The teaching assistants made me feel like no question was silly and no idea was ‘too out there,’ which made me more confident as someone new to programming. They also helped me realize that life extends far beyond grades and to take advantage of everything Purdue has to offer.”

Dunsmore founded the Bridge Program to meet the needs of undergraduate students in computer science, data science and AI with little to no prior programming experience. These students represent an important diversification of the department's undergraduate population. Many Bridge Program students have a passion for problem solving without a computer science background, which offers them unique perspectives and enriches the student population.

Purdue CS is a rigorous and highly ranked program, and the long running Bridge Program allows these new Boilermakers to not only succeed, but exceed and thrive. Dunsmore attributes the success of the program to the work of the dedicated staff and undergraduate teaching assistants who help to design and teach the program. 

Many undergraduate teaching assistants are graduates of the program, including Yavaraski, who led the group for two years. “The memories I've made in Bridge continue to be a major highlight of my college career, and I wanted the opportunity to provide the same experience I had as a student to others.” 

About the Department of Computer Science at Purdue University

Founded in 1962, the Department of Computer Science was created to be an innovative base of knowledge in the emerging field of computing as the first degree-awarding program in the United States. The department continues to advance the computer science industry through research. US News & Reports ranks Purdue CS #8 in computer engineering and #19 and #18 overall in graduate and undergraduate computer science. Additionally the program is ranked 6th in cybersecurity, 8th in software engineering, 13th in systems, 15th in programming languages and data analytics, and 18th in theory. Graduates of the program are able to solve complex and challenging problems in many fields. Our consistent success in an ever-changing landscape is reflected in the record undergraduate enrollment, increased faculty hiring, innovative research projects, and the creation of new academic programs. The increasing centrality of computer science in academic disciplines and society, and new research activities—centered around foundations and applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning, such as natural language processing, human computer interaction, vision, and robotics, as well as systems and security—are the future focus of the department. cs.purdue.edu

 

Writer: Molly Walker, walke598@purdue.edu

Sources: Buster Dunsmore, Amber Stanley and Genna Yavaraski