Aug. 21, 1998

Contact: Ross West (541) 346-2060

The Executive Committee of the Oregon State Board of Higher Education today approved a new Oregon Master of Software Engineering (OMSE) degree intended to boost Oregon’s competitiveness in high tech fields. The approval will go into effect immediately–the entire state Board will be asked to provide final approval at its October meeting. "This degree was designed in close collaboration with some of Oregon’s top high tech industries such as Tektronix, Intel and Mentor Graphics. These large employers want to be able to hire and promote skilled Oregonians instead of hiring from outside the state," says Michal Young, a University of Oregon computer science professor who will teach in the new program. "We are combining solid academic grounding with practical skills to deliver the most useful education possible," Young says. Software engineering is important in creating large and complex software applications. "Software engineering helps coordinate and integrate the efforts of groups working together and is vital to completing complex projects with successful results in a predictable and reliable way," Young explains. Students may obtain the degree at four Oregon institutions of higher education: the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Portland State University and the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology. SOURCE: Michal Young, associate professor of computer and information science, UO Department of Computer and Information Sciences at (541) 346-4140. Additional information available on the Oregon Master of Software Engineering home page at http://www.cs.pdx.edu/omse/.