Liberal arts CS programs often struggle to apply these guidelines within their in-situational context and goals. Historically, this has been addressed through the development of model CS curricula tailored for the liberal arts context. We take a different position: that no single model curriculum can apply across the wide range of liberal arts institutions. Instead, we argue that liberal arts CS educators need best practices for using guidelines such as CS2023 to inform curriculum design. These practices must acknowledge the opportunities and priorities of a liberal arts philosophy as well as a program’s mission and identity.

Curriculum guidelines are designed to establish consistency among degree programs within a discipline. Yet curriculum guidelines also permit flexibility in that they do not necessarily specify the assignment of topics or learning outcomes to particular courses, as in a model curriculum. Even with this flexibility liberal arts Computer Science (CS) programs often struggle to apply curriculum guidelines within their institutional context, mission, and goals.