Jakob Barnard, PhD

Biography

Originally from Hasting, MN, I have lived in Jamestown, ND, since coming to Jamestown College in the fall of 2000. After graduating from Jamestown College in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History/Political Science, my wife and I moved to Fargo for a year before returning to Jamestown. We have grown our family with a son and pets through this time. My wife (a fellow Jimmie) is a co-founder of Triumph Incorporated here in Jamestown, a human service-orientated company. Over the years, I have worked in roles such as software support, IT Helpdesk, and director of data science at various local companies. I am also a volunteer firefighter with the Jamestown Rural Fire Department.

In 2017, I completed a Master of Science in Computer Information Systems with a concentration in Databases and Business Intelligence from Boston University. That fall, I had the opportunity to rejoin the University of Jamestown as an adjunct instructor. In 2018, I joined the Computer Science & Technology Department as a full-time instructor. I was promoted to Assistant Professor in May 2021 and Department Chair in May 2022. I was promoted to Associate Professor in May 2024 and Chair of our combined Combined Computing, Design, and Communication (and related online programs) department.

I am also passionately involved with the ACM SIGCSE Committee on Computing Education in Liberal Arts Colleges and working with the broader computer science education community. In the fall of 2024, the Dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs’ responsibility allowed me to continue to work with students and other faculty members in an even greater capacity.

Scholarly and Creative Works

• CS Curricular Innovations with a Liberal Arts Philosophy. Proceedings of the 52^ndACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education – SIGCS ’22, 537-543. https://doi.org/10.1145/3478431.3499329 
• Doctoral Dissertation through the University of the Cumberlands on “A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Project Exploring The Adoption of Cybersecurity Into Liberal Arts Computing Programs.” (2022) https://drbarnard.one/publications/
• Reflective Curriculum Review for Liberal Arts Computing Programs. The Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges – Papers of the 29th CCSC Midwestern Conference, 38(4), 58-60. https://dl.acm.org/journal/jcsc
• Computer Science Curricular Guidelines: A New Liberal Arts Perspective. Proceedings of the 53^rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education – SIGCSE ’23, https://sigcse2023.sigcse.org/details/sigcse-ts-2023-papers/72/Computer-Science-Curricular-Guidelines-A-New-Liberal-Arts-Perspective [Pre-publication abstract]
• Developing Identity-Focused Program-Level Learning Outcomes for Liberal Arts Computing Programs (J. Barnard, G. Braught, J. Davis, A. Holland-Minkley, D. Reed, K. Schmitt, A. Tartaro, J. Teresco). Regional Tutorials: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3636988.3636993

Awards and Grants

• ACM SIGCSE 2019 Travel Grant Recipient
• Cyberpaths @ CoFC 2019 Travel Grant Recipient
• NSF IUES Grant for CS Distinctive Curriculum Pilot (Participant)

Professional Affiliations and Memberships

• ACM (Association of Computing Machinery) Member
• SIGCSE (ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education) Member
• USENIX (Advanced Computing Systems Association) Member
• NDFA (North Dakota Firefighter’s Association) Instructor/Firefighter