Graduate Studies Programs in Computer Science or Computer Information Systems
CS&IS Graduate Students Announcement - April 18, 2008
Over the past two years, the Computer Science & Information Systems Department has reviewed its graduate curriculum. This review has resulted in some curriculum revisions for these programs. The newly established curriculum will impact the graduate student graduation requirements. The new curriculum is now in the process of approval by the university curriculum committee and university senate. The Department has decided to implement the following changes from this review during the fall semester, 2008.
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Computer Science
In addition to satisfying all the Graduate School requirements for the degree, all candidates for the master's degree must satisfy the following departmental requirements:
- At least 36 hours of graduate level coursework
- No "D" grades can be counted in the completion of requirements for the degree
- Beginning with students entering the MS degree program in the Fall semester of 2008, there will be no separate programming test as a part of the graduation requirement for all CS and CIS graduate students. A programming test will become a part of the newly developed CS502 “Advanced Programming” course examination. Students with a weaker academic record in computer programming that are admitted to the program will be required to take CS502 as their prerequisite.
- For students entering the MS degree program prior to the Fall semester of 2008 who have not taken or passed the programming test, the department will offer a 1 credit hour "CS410: Programming lab in C++" course during Summer I session, 2008. A programming test will be given as a part of the final exam for this class. All current students have the option either to register for the class or to take the regular programming test in Fall 2008. This exam is administered before the student has completed nine hours of graduate work. Students who fail are advised to take appropriate undergraduate courses before attempting the exam again. Students are given three opportunities to pass the exam.
Interested and qualified students are offered the option of writing a master's thesis. Students selecting this option are encouraged to choose an advisor and topic as early as possible in order to plan the thesis development and any needed supporting coursework. The following policies apply to theses:
- A minimum grade point average of 3.5 in computer science and computer information systems graduate courses is required for students enrolling in CS 699 (Thesis)
- No student may register for CS 699 until 18 hours of graduate courses have been completed in the Department
- Six credit hours of CS 699 are required and, upon completion, the thesis must be defended in an oral examination. No grade will be given for CS 699 until after the oral defense
- A written outline of the thesis project and a tentative schedule must be submitted to and approved by the Graduate Advisor and the Chair prior to the registration for CS 699.
In addition to meeting all the general requirements of the Graduate School and of the Department as stated above, candidates must satisfy the following requirements.
- At least 30 of the 36 hours required must be in computer science courses. At most, six hours may be earned in approved courses other than those labeled CS
- The following core requirements must be satisfied (either by taking the course or showing evidence of the completion of an equivalent course elsewhere): CS 503 or CS 615, CS 516, CS 518, CS 519, CS 550 or CS 643, CS 682, CS 609, CS 521 or CS 514
- Two of the following two-courses sequences must be completed: CS 500 and CS 530, CS 615 and CS 616, CS 514 and CS 614, CS 521 and CS 522, CS 510 and CS 511, CS 519 and CS 570, CS 609 and CS 505.
Computer Information Systems
In addition to satisfying all the Graduate School requirements for the degree, all candidates for the master's degree must satisfy the following departmental requirements:
- At least 36 hours of graduate level coursework
- No "D" grades can be counted in the completion of requirements for the degree
- Pass a written comprehensive examination that will be based on the core requirements for the program pursued
- Beginning with students entering the MS degree program in the Fall semester of 2008, there will be no separate programming test as a part of the graduation requirement for all CS and CIS graduate students. A programming test will become a part of the newly developed CS502 “Advanced Programming” course examination. Students with a weaker academic record in computer programming that are admitted to the program will be required to take CS502 as their prerequisite.
- For students entering the MS degree program prior to the Fall semester of 2008 who have not taken or passed the programming test, the department will offer a 1 credit hour "CS410: Programming lab in C++" course during Summer I session, 2008. A programming test will be given as a part of the final exam for this class. All current students have the option either to register for the class or to take the regular programming test in Fall 2008. This exam is administered before the student has completed nine hours of graduate work. Students who fail are advised to take appropriate undergraduate courses before attempting the exam again. Students are given three opportunities to pass the exam.
Interested and qualified students are offered the option of writing a master's thesis. Students selecting this option are encouraged to choose an advisor and topic as early as possible in order to plan the thesis development and any needed supporting coursework. The following policies apply to theses:
- A minimum grade point average of 3.5 in computer science and computer information systems graduate courses is required for students enrolling in CS 699 (Thesis)
- No student may register for CS 699 until 18 hours of graduate courses have been completed in the Department
- Six credit hours of CS 699 are required and, upon completion, the thesis must be defended in an oral examination. No grade will be given for CS 699 until after the oral defense.
- A written outline of the thesis project and a tentative schedule must be submitted to and approved by the Graduate Advisor and the Chair prior to the registration for CS 699.
In addition to meeting all the general requirements of the Graduate School and of the Department as stated above, candidates for the master's degree in computer information systems must satisfy the following requirements:
- At least 21 of the 36 hours required must be in computer information systems or computer science courses
- A minimum of 12 hours must be taken in courses outside the Department. These courses must form a coherent program in an applications area and must be approved by the Graduate Advisor
- The following core requirements must be met (either by taking the course or by showing evidence of having completed an equivalent course elsewhere): CIS 571, CIS 572, CIS 588, CIS 607, CIS 608 and CS 609. (CS 615 and CS 643 are recommended).