What happens in City Center Plaza during the summer? If you pop in during the summer, depending on the week, you might be surprised at how much is happening! The CS Main Office is open all summer long, planning and preparing for the next academic year but also supporting some pretty cool summer efforts as well. Here are some things that happen during the summer in CCP that you might be surprised to learn about.
1) Research
Unlike spring semester course work, research work usually doesn’t conclude at the beginning of May. Faculty with grants work year-round seeking answers to challenges or questions in the field of computer science alongside their undergraduate and graduate research student teams. Research neighborhoods in CCP will likely be staffed even more than during the semester as many students and faculty will be able to devote full time effort towards their research.
Additionally, this summer CCP will house several undergraduate CS students from universities across the country who will be teaming up with Boise State CS undergrads and faculty in the Blockchain Technology for a Secure Data and Communication Future Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU). We’ll also be welcoming a visiting PhD student from Italy who will be working on Machine Learning research through the Fall.
2) Summer Camps
What would summer be without camping? Not an Idaho summer, that’s for sure! In the CS department we save the marshmallow roasting for the outdoors but in CCP we’ll be using Raspberry Pis and Sphero bots in NSA funded GenCyber camps to teach cybersecurity awareness to high school students and middle/high school teachers (applications close this month!). See our summer camps page for more information on these and other related summer camps at Boise State!
3) Maintenance and Refresh
Summer isn’t just a great refresh for all of us personally, it’s also a great time to focus on much needed building and equipment maintenance. CCP is turning six years old on July 15th! This summer we’re expecting some wall repair and repainting throughout the building. As always, if you see anything that might need attention or repair, shoot us an email at computerscience@boisestate.edu!
4) Landing Pad
We hope to see many of you who are staying local during the break continuing to make use of the space. Your building access will continue and there’s plenty of study seating and team work areas to meet up with classmates or just get some of your own projects done. Also if you need a break from that internship nearby, come on down for a game of ping pong or enjoy one of the third floor terraces particularly on Wednesday nights when good tunes fill the air during Alive after Five in The Grove Plaza.
5) Courses!
One thing that won’t seem so different, students attending courses! Taking summer courses is a great way to catch up or get ahead in degree progress, completing coursework quicker and at a cheaper per credit rate than during the academic year. Check out below for the CS courses being offered during summer 2022 and get enrolled now!
CS 111 – Introduction to Programming (Online)
CS 117 – C++ for Engineers (In-Person)
CS 121 – Computer Science I (In-Person)
CS 133 – Foundations of Data Science (In-Person)
CS-HU 153 – Navigating Computer Systems (Online)
CS 221 – Computer Science II (Online)
CS-HU 250 – Introduction to Version Control (Online)
CS 253 – Software Development in C (Online)
CS-HU 271 – Agile Development (Remote)
CS-HU 310 – Intro to Database Systems Usage (Remote)
CS 321 – Data Structures (In-Person)
CS 333 – Network Security and Defense (In-Person)
CS 410 – Databases (Remote)
CS 421 – Algorithms (In-Person)
1/2) Soak up some ☀️ on the 3rd floor
During business hours you can access the Main Office terrace which is always a nice sunny spot to enjoy your coffee or lunch. You can also checkout the terrace on the west side of the building accessible through the 3rd floor research area. This one is shaded but is a great spot to catch the tunes during Alive After Five on Wednesday afternoons!