DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
ACADEMICS
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DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE ACADEMICS |
The department currently offers three majors at the Master's level: Computer Science, Information Security, and Software Engineering. Each major offers thesis, project and course-based options.
Upon admission to the MS program, students are automatically placed in the Computer Science major. Once enrolled, a student interested in one of the specialized majors may then apply to that major for admission.
In all majors, a student must complete 32 hours in computer science courses numbered 5000 or above, including CIS 5935 (2). The other 30 hours will consist of regular courses and may include approved CIS 5930 and CIS 6930 (Special Topics), and at most 6 thesis hours or 3 project hours if enrolled in the thesis or project options respectively. At most one course outside the department at the 5000 or 6000 level can also count towards the 32 hours if approved by the major professor and Director of Graduate Studies. However, supervised teaching, supervised research, seminars, DIS and courses with prefix CGS do not count towards the 32 hours. The student must receive a grade of "B-" or better on all graduate courses taken to satisfy the minimum course requirements of the degree. Once these minimum requirements are met, however, it is permissible to take any subsequent courses on an "S/U" basis. All work for the Masters degree must be completed within seven (7) calendar years from the time the student first registers for graduate courses. All transferred classes must be within the seven-year time frame.
As part of the 32 hours, each
student is required to take:
CIS 5935
Introductory Seminar on Research (2),
and at least one course from each of the
following
three areas to satisfy the area requirements:
Additional course requirements are associated with the specialized majors.
A student in the InfoSec major is required to take the following courses, some of which (*) also satisfy the area requirements:
This major also includes the award of the Information Security Specialist Certificate. For details of admission to the program see Admissions InfoSec.
A student in the SE major is required to take:
For each major, a student must select one of the three options of thesis, project, or course-based to complete the degree. Each option has a specific number of required courses as well as other requirements, as described below.
In any major, a student under the thesis option must take, in addition to CIS 5935 Introductory Seminar on Research (2), eight (8) courses (24 semester hours) at or above the 5000 level, plus at least six (6) hours of CIS 5970r, Thesis. At most six (6) hours of CIS 5970r can be counted toward the required 32 hours for the MS degree. The eight courses must include at least one course from each area as described above. Approved CIS 5930/6930 Special Topics are counted towards the 8 courses, but supervised teaching, supervised research, seminars, DIS and CIS 5915 (project hours) cannot be included. The thesis is defended by registering for CIS 8976 Master's Thesis Defense (0).
The student in the thesis option is required to propose and create an individual thesis topic of appropriate focus, size and complexity and to write a document discussing it. The thesis proposal must be approved by the supervisory committee. The thesis is to be written in accordance with the University standards. Upon completion, a thesis must be successfully defended to the department in an open forum, and be approved by the major professor and supervisory committee. An electronic version of the thesis must be submitted to the university as well as the CS webmaster.
In any major, a student under the project option must take, in addition to CIS 5935 Introductory Seminar on Research (2), nine (9) courses (27 semester hours) at or above the 5000 level, plus at least three (3) hours of CIS 5915r Graduate Software Project. At most three (3) hours of CIS 5915 can be counted toward the required 32 hours for the MS degree. The nine courses must include at least one from each of the areas described above. Approved CIS 5930/6930 Special Topics are counted towards the 9 courses, but supervised teaching, supervised research, seminars, DIS, and CIS 5970 (thesis hours) cannot be included. The student must also register for CIS 8974(0) to defend the project.
The student in the project option is required to propose and create an individual project of appropriate focus, size, and complexity and to write a document discussing it. The project proposal must be approved by the major professor and supervisory committee. The project document should be written with direction from the major professor and supervisory committee and in accordance with the description given at Master's Project . Upon completion, both the project and the document must be successfully defended to the department in an open forum with approval from the major professor and supervisory committee. An electronic version of the project must be submitted to the CS webmaster.
In any major, a student under the course-based option must take, in addition to CIS 5935 Introductory Seminar on Research (2), ten (10) courses (30 semester hours) at or above the 5000 level, including at least one course from each of the three core areas described above. Approved CIS 5930/6930 Special Topics are counted towards the 10 courses, but supervised teaching, supervised research, seminars, DIS, CIS 5970 and CIS 5915 cannot be included. A student must also have an average of at least a B+ for the three required core area courses in order to graduate in the course-based option. The student must also register for CIS 8966, Master's Comprehensive Exam (0) the semester of graduation (effective Spring 2005).
For the thesis and project options, it is the student's responsibility to form a supervisory committee regardless of his or her selected major. No later than the start of work on the thesis or project, the student will secure the consent of an eligible computer science faculty member to serve as the major professor. In consultation with the major professor, the student will secure the consent of at least two additional graduate faculty members to serve as the supervisory committee, chaired by the major professor.