DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
GRADUATE PROGRAM
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DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE GRADUATE PROGRAM |
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 the Information Security or Software Engineering major may then apply to that major for admission.
In all majors, a student must complete 35 hours in computer science courses numbered 5000 or above, including CIS 5935 (2). The other 33 hours will consist of regular courses, approved offerings of CIS 5930 and CIS 6930 (Special Topics), and at most 9 thesis hours or 6 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 35 hours if approved by the major professor and Director of Graduate Studies. Supervised teaching, supervised research, seminars, DIS and courses with prefix CGS do not count towards the 35 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 (other than thesis and project hours). Once these minimum requirements are met it is permissible to take any subsequent courses on an "S/U" basis. All work for the Masters degree, including any transferred credit, must be completed within seven (7) calendar years of the date of graduation.
Note: If a student enrolled prior to Spring 2008, then 32 instead of 35 total hours will be required and at most 6 thesis hours or 3 project hours if enrolled in the thesis or project options respectively.
As part of the 35 hours, each student is required to take:Additional course requirements are associated with the specialized majors.
This major also includes the award of the Information Security Specialist Certificate. For details of admission to the program see Admissions InfoSec
Note: Starting Fall 2004 this major will ONLY be offered at the Panama City campus.
A student in the SE major is required to take:A plan of study will be developed by the student and the major professor which will include courses from the following list. This list is under revision at this time but will include:
The courses listed as CIS 5930 will be taught as Special Topics until assigned a permanent number. Those in the above list with an (*) also satisfy the area requirements.
A student in this major must have a minimum of one year of full-time equivalence of documented software engineering experience involving actual work as a member of a software development team, with real customers, for pay. For admissions and professional experience details see Admissions SE
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 nine (9) hours of CIS 5970r, Thesis. At most nine (9) hours of CIS 5970r can be counted toward the required 35 hours for the MS degree. The eight courses must include at least one course from each area as described above. Approved offerings of 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 unanimously 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 six (6) hours of CIS 5915r Graduate Software Project. At most six (6) hours of CIS 5915 can be counted toward the required 35 hours for the MS degree. The nine courses must include at least one from each of the areas described above. Approved offerings of 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 unanimous 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), eleven (11) courses (33 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 11 courses, but supervised teaching, supervised research, seminars, DIS, CIS 5970 and CIS 5915 cannot be included. A student must earn a grade of B+ or higher for at least 6 of the 11 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.