Shaping Our Digital Future

A proposal from UW–Madison to reorganize the School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences (CDIS) into a standalone college was approved in December by the UW Board of Regents. The vote marks a critical step toward the creation of a College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence, building on the university’s strengths in computer, data, library, and information sciences and statistics. The proposal grew out of the continuing success of CDIS, which was created within the College of Letters & Science in 2019.

The college would be the UW’s first new separate academic unit since 1983. The operating start is expected to be July 1.

“We will be shaping a future where UW–Madison leads in innovation while advancing knowledge for the common good,” says Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin. “We want to prepare UW–Madison students for a world where computing and technology intersect with every profession and discipline, from patient care to teaching, biomedical research to the humanities. Our expectation is that this college will engage with AI as a transformative and disruptive force, considering it as a technological tool with vast problem-solving potential while also confronting its significant moral and ethical implications.”

The reorganization will involve CDIS’s three units: computer sciences, the Information School, and statistics.

In recent years, enrollment in CDIS programs has significantly increased. In 2015, 1,043 students were enrolled as computer sciences majors. In fall 2025, that number climbed to more than 3,000.

The college will take a lean start-up approach, limiting the need for new positions and following best practices for financial responsibility.

“Artificial intelligence and computing are transforming every discipline, from veterinary medicine to political science, and we see the formation of a college as an important step toward serving as a campuswide resource while also meeting the needs of our students and the state of Wisconsin,” says CDIS director Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau. “The future workforce will be defined by those who can integrate computing and AI fluently into every discipline.”