Computer Science

The students are at the heart of the department’s mission and identity. Their curiosity, creativity, and drive to solve complex problems shape the intellectual energy of our programs and classrooms. The department deeply values their presence and takes pride in its students as future leaders in computing and remains committed to empowering them to succeed, grow, and make meaningful contributions to society.

The Computer Science faculty at Winston-Salem State University bring a dynamic blend of scholarly expertise, research experience, and an unwavering commitment to student success. Our faculty are accomplished researchers and dedicated educators whose work spans high-impact areas including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, mobile computing, data science, gaming, robotics, systems, software engineering, and computing education.

Through effective teaching, hands-on learning experiences, and collaborative research opportunities, our faculty mentor students in applying theory to real-world challenges. Whether guiding students in AI-driven problem solving, advancing cybersecurity practices, developing mobile and gaming applications, exploring data-driven insights, or designing intelligent robotic systems, our faculty foster creativity, critical thinking, and technical excellence. Their dedication to academic rigor, personalized mentorship, and meaningful engagement ensures that students are well-prepared for graduate study, research, and professional careers in the ever-evolving field of computing.

Faculty list:

• Dr. Mustafa Atay, Professor
  Elva Jones Computer Science Building, Room 3215, (336) 750.8641, ataymu@wssu.edu
• Dr. Jinsuk Baek, Professor
  Elva Jones Computer Science Bldg, Room 3205, (336) 734.5013, baekj@wssu.edu
•  Mr. James Belton, Lecturer and System Administrator
  Elva Jones Computer Science Building, Room 4209, (336) 750.2474, beltonj@wssu.edu
• Ms. Jacqueline Bethea, Lecturer and Graduate Program Coordinator
  Elva Jones Computer Science Building, Room 4211, (336) 750.2478, betheaj@wssu.edu
• Dr. Rebecca Caldwell, Associate Professor
  Elva Jones Computer Science, Room 3206, (336) 750.2484, caldwellr@wssu.edu
• Dr. Debzani Deb, RJ Reynolds Endowed Professor/Founding Director, Center for Applied Data Science
  Elva Jones Computer Science Building, Room 3211, (336) 750.8262, debd@wssu.edu
• Dr. Muztaba Fuad, Paul Fulton Endowed Professor and Chair
  Elva Jones Computer Science, Room 4203, (336)750.2485, fuadmo@wssu.edu
• Dr. Munene Kanampiu, Assistant Professor
  Elva Jones Computer Science, Room 4210, (336) 750.8734, kanampiumw@wssu.edu 
•  Dr. Adeel Malik, Assistant Professor
  Elva Jones Computer Science, Room 4214, (336) 750.2497, malikaa@wssu.edu
• Dr. Jonathan Rann, Adjunct Faculty
  Elva Jones Computer Science, Room 4212, rannjc@wssu.edu 
• Dr. Qiping Wei, Assistant Professor
  Elva Jones Computer Science, Room 3209,  (336) 750.2495, weiq@wssu.edu
• Dr. Jinghua Zhang, Professor
  Elva Jones Computer Science, Room 3213, (336) 750.3324, zhangji@wssu.edu

The Department is a vibrant and growing research unit housed in the Elva J. Jones Computer Science Building. The department brings together faculty whose grant supported scholarship spans data science, mobile computing, artificial intelligence, healthcare technology, cybersecurity, quantum computing, networking, and computer science education. The faculty has an unifying research emphasis on community impact and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Across its faculty, the department's research coalesces around several core themes:

• Data science and machine learning: predictive modeling, spatial analysis, neural networks, and responsible AI
• Cybersecurity and network systems: access control, covert actor detection, biometric fairness, and IoT security
• Gaming and Esports: Use of gaming in education, incorporation of esports into courses
• Quantum computing: foundational research into next-generation computing architectures
• Computer science education: evidence-based pedagogy, mobile learning systems, and broadening participation in computing
• Health informatics and mobile computing: applying crowdsensing, edge computing, and mobile applications to improve healthcare delivery for underserved populations

The department anchors the Center for Applied Data Science (CADS), led by Dr. Debzani Deb,  which drives interdisciplinary data science research across WSSU and serves as a hub for community facing projects in healthcare equity, social justice analytics, and responsible AI.

Research Strengths by Faculty

• Professor, Dr. Mustafa Atay, leads the Data Science and Management Research Lab. His research spans CS education, databases, information science, and information systems, with a current focus on access control models for relational XML databases. He has received NSF and NIH fundings for his research.    
• Professor, Dr. Jinsuk Baek, has broad research interests in computer Communication networks, Quantum Computing, and Robotics-driven Food Technology (incorporating 3D Food Printing). He has participated in a U.S. Department of Energy grant exploring quantum computing and information processing. He also secured grants from the Government of South Korea.   
• Associate Professor, Dr. Elvira Caldwell, has broad research interests in robotics, programming, and computer science education. She leads the Association of Computer Science Departments at Minority Institutions (ADMI) and contributes to the department's educational and research mission. She has received several NSF fundings for her research.
• RJ Reynolds Endowed Professor, Dr. Debzani Deb, is the founding Director for the Center for Applied Data Science. Her research area is AI, machine learning, and data Science. She has been awarded multiple fundings from NSF, NASA, the UNC Research Opportunities Initiative, Google, and the Mozilla Foundation.    
• Paul Fulton Endowed Professor, Dr. Muztaba Fuad, is the Chair of the department and a leads research in mobile computing, software engineering, and computer science education. He received several NSF foundings for his research.    
• Assistant Professor, Dr. Munene W. Kanampiu focuses on network security, IoT systems, and social network analysis. His published research includes covert actor detection schemes, secure group collaboration protocols with deception detection, and smart farm sensor placement models.
• Assistant Professor, Dr. Adeel A. Malik's current research focuses on cyber situational awareness, risk modeling and analytics, AI/ML, and distributed systems. He has been supported through WSSU's NC Collaboratory startup funding and has conducted interdisciplinary research in collaboration with colleagues from political science and social justice.   
• Assistant Professor, Dr. Qiping Wei works on exploring GenAI to enhance sequence generation in the symbolic execution for smart contracts.     
• Professor, Dr. Jinghua Zhang works at the intersection of computer science education and technology-enhanced learning using games and Esports. She is awarded multiple NSF fundings for her research work.

 

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Computer Science

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The Computer Science program is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET,  under the commission’s General Criteria and Program Criteria for Computer Science.

• Program Educational Objectives
  As productive members of the computer science profession, graduates will:

1. Demonstrate the ability to solve computing problems appropriate to their levels of professional experience.
2. Demonstrate the ability to contribute effectively and ethically to the benefit of teams.
3. Continue to update their professional knowledge and skills to adapt to the changes in technology and the needs of the workplace.

• Student Learning Outcomes
  The computer science program enables students to achieve, by the time of graduation the ability to:

1. Analyze a complex computing problem and to apply principles of computing and other relevant disciplines to identify solutions.
2. Design, implement, and evaluate a computing-based solution to meet a given set of computing requirements in the context of the program’s discipline.
3. Communicate effectively in a variety of professional contexts.
4. Recognize professional responsibilities and make informed judgments in computing practice based on legal and ethical principles.
5. Function effectively as a member or leader of a team engaged in activities appropriate to the program’s discipline.
6. Apply computer science theory and software development fundamentals to produce computing-based solutions.

• Enrollment and graduation data

Academic Year	Freshman	Sophomore	Junior	Senior	Total Student	Total Graduates
2024-2025	Part time: 1 Full time: 37	Part time: 2 Full time: 28	Part time: 4 Full time: 19	Part time: 1 Full time: 13	105	4
2025-2026	Part time: 1 Full time: 35	Part time: 1  Full time: 21	Part time: 1  Full time: 27	Part time: 2  Full time: 27	110	7
2026-2027
2027-2028
2028-2029

 

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Information Technology 

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The Information Technology program is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET, under the commission’s General Criteria and Program Criteria for Information Technology.

• Program Educational Objectives
  As productive members of the computer science profession, graduates will:

1. Demonstrate the ability to solve computing problems appropriate to their levels of professional experience.
2. Demonstrate the ability to contribute effectively and ethically to the benefit of teams.
3. Continue to update their professional knowledge and skills to adapt to the changes in technology and the needs of the workplace.

• Student Learning Outcomes
  The Information Technology Program enables students to achieve, by the time of graduation the ability to:

1. Analyze a complex computing problem and to apply principles of computing and other relevant disciplines to identify solutions.
2. Design, implement, and evaluate a computing-based solution to meet a given set of computing requirements in the context of the program’s discipline.
3. Communicate effectively in a variety of professional contexts.
4. Recognize professional responsibilities and make informed judgments in computing practice based on legal and ethical principles.
   
5. Function effectively as a member or leader of a team engaged in activities appropriate to the program’s discipline.
   
6. Identify and analyze user needs and to take them into account in the selection, creation, integration, evaluation, and administration of computing‐based systems. [IT]

• Enrollment and graduation data

Academic Year	Freshman	Sophomore	Junior	Senior	Total Student	Total Graduates
2024-2025	Part time: 0 Full time: 26	Part time: 0  Full time: 12	Part time: 2  Full time: 13	Part time: 4  Full time: 10	67	3
2025-2026	Part time: 0 Full time: 23	Part time: 1 Full time: 15	Part time: 2 Full time: 10	Part time: 2 Full time: 16	69	4
2026-2027
2027-2028
2028-2029

 

The Industry Advisory Board's play a critical role in helping us align our curriculum, research priorities, and strategic initiatives with current industry trends and societal needs. 

Board Roles and Responsibilities:

• Provide input and recommendations on academic programs, curricula, and research directions.
• Participate in biannual board meetings, either in person or virtually.
• Support departmental outreach, fundraising, and partnership initiatives.
• Serve as ambassadors for the department. 

2025-2028 Advisory Board Members:

• Brooke Miller
  Senior Data Engineer, Safelite

• Carrissa Waller Dixon
  Health IT executive, Duke University School of Medicine
• Casey Simmons
  Digital and IT Manager, Volvo Group

• Jameeka Chambers
  Software Engineer, Nationwide Insurance
• Jerry Akouala Gampio
  Technical Systems Engineering Leader, CISCO
• Josh Tan
  Systems Manager, Wake Forest University School of Medicine
• Kendra Reid
  Principal Data and GenAI Strategy Specialist, AWS Data and AI Strategy
• Kristen Johnson
  Founder, KR Scholars and IT Manager, Altria
• Michaelangelo Fields Jr.
  Business Data Analyst, Old Dominion Freight Line, inc.
• Siobahn Grady, Ph. D.
  Director of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Research (IAIER), North Carolina Central University
• Tai Cochran
  Founder, Her PM
• Timmy Newsome
  Founder/Chief Technology Officer, Newtec Business Solutions