Working group studies options for creating a new set of faculty hires for MIT’s new college.
(l-r) Eran Ben-Joseph, William Freeman
Image: Bryce Vickmark, Lillie Paquette
Since February, five working groups have been generating ideas about the form and content of the new MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing. That includes a Working Group on Faculty Appointments. Its co-chairs are Eran Ben-Joseph, head of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, and William Freeman, the Thomas and Gerd Perkins Professor of Electrical Engineering. MIT News talked to Ben-Joseph and Freeman about the group’s progress and ideas at this point.
Q: What are the major issues your working group was formed to address?
Freeman: It’s a really big opportunity to have this college. And now we have to decide important things, such as: How does the electrical engineering and computer science department (EECS) relate to the new college, and how does the rest of the university relate to it? The big sense I got from our working group is that people really want to be included and don’t want to be left out. How faculty appointments are made is important – to make sure existing faculty are included, and of course that new faculty are included as well.
