graduate curriculum department of computer science kent state university fall 2004

Graduate Curriculum

Department of Computer ScienceKent State UniversityFall 2004

September 2004 CS Graduate Curriculum 2

Department Administration

Dr. Johnnie Baker, Chair Dr. Robert Walker, Assistant Chair Dr. C.C. Lu, Graduate Coordinator Dr. Jonathan Maletic, Curriculum Coordinator

Sue Peti, Senior Secretary Marcy Curtiss, Graduate Secretary Valorie Adkins, Secretary Radu Brumariu, Senior Systems Administrator


Graduate Curriculum Changes

Fall ’04 Graduate Catalog redefines and updates: Master of Science Master of Arts Doctor of Philosophy

Changes include: Course requirements Exit requirements Qualifier/Preliminary Exams


Goals of Curriculum

Enhance the production of scholarly work and activities

Support current and future research initiatives Increase the diversity of course offerings Enhance retention and matriculation of

students Address the ever changing needs of industry

and the computer science community.


Master of Science

24 credits of course work8 courses (3 credits * 8 = 24)6 courses must be 60000 level or above

Master’s Plan of Work 2 credit Masters Seminar (CS 69191)6 credit Masters Thesis & DefenseTotal of 32 graduate level credit hours

26 credits at 6000 level or above.


What’s Changed? (M.S.)

NO required core coursesPlan of Work (new)

This determines what courses to takeOnly 2 courses at the 50000 level count Only 3 credits of Research or Research

Seminar count (may take more)Masters Seminar (new)


Masters Plan of Work

Departmental Form (see webpage) Needs to be submitted with 12 months upon entering

the program Describes courses and program (MS/MA) Filled out by Student and Advisor Student must complete at least one course in three

different topic areas Approved by Advisor and Graduate Coordinator Can be changed - but must be approved


CS 69191 Masters Seminar

2 credit hours - offered every term – during the evening in the summer (as necessary)

Must make a public presentation a minimum of one time before graduation (Department Form)

Presentation based on research, course project work, etc.

Can not count Defense (MS or MA) as the presentation

Must be done one term before graduation and not more then two years after starting the program


Objective of Seminar

Act as a forum for students to improve presentation/research/academic skills

Foster student-faculty interactionVenue to discuss research being done

in/out side the DepartmentCan be taken multiple times but counts

only for 2 credits towards graduation


M.S. Thesis & Defense

6 Credits CS 69199 Write suitable Thesis under direction of a

Research Advisor Original contribution – i.e., publishable Thesis topic must be approved by Advisor and

Graduate Coordinator Thesis Committee - Advisor & two other

graduate faculty Final defense approved by committee


Master of Arts

27 credits of course work9 courses (3 credits * 9 = 27)7 courses must be 60000 level or above

Master’s Plan of Work2 credit Masters Seminar (CS 69191)3 credit Research – MA Project/DefenseTotal of 32 graduate level credit hours

26 credits at 60000 level or above


What’s Changed? (M.A.)

NO required core coursesPlan of Work (new)Only 2 courses at the 50000 level count Masters Seminar (new)NO qualifier exit examination3 credits Research as MA project (new)Project defense (new) – counts as exit

exam


M.A. Project

3 Credits CS 69098 Research Develop a suitable project under direction of

an Advisor Software system/product, literature survey, tool

survey, industry project, etc. Written project report – submitted to committee Topic and committee is approved by Graduate

Coordinator Project Committee - Advisor & two other

graduate faculty must approve project/defense Project defense acts as exit examination


Doctor of Philosophy

Preliminary Examination Doctoral Plan of Work with Major & Minor

concentrations 3 credits of CS 89191 Doctoral Seminar 27 credits at 70000 level or above:

18 credits course work 9 credits course work or research

Candidacy Examination 30 credits Dissertation and defense 60 total credit hours


What’s Changed? (Ph.D.)

Qualifiers dropped (no longer exist)New Preliminary Exams addedNo required core coursesNew Plan of Work with Major and Minor

Concentration course requirementsOnly 9 credits of Research countNew Doctoral Seminar


Preliminary Exam

Intended to assess a Graduate Student’s understanding of the prerequisite concepts for entrance into Doctoral program Must complete (pass) exam 20 months after

entering program Topic based (NOT course based) Not research issues but core knowledge A reading list will be provided Offered in August and January each year Already offered twice: January & August 2004


Prelim Exam Topics

Exam 1 Discrete Structures Design and Analysis of Algorithms

Exam 2 Foundations of Programming Languages Data Structures and Fundamentals of Programming

Exam 3 Computer Operating Systems Computer Architecture and Organization


Reading List (current)

Rosen, Discrete Mathematics and its Applications, McGraw Hill, 2003

Brassard & Bratley, Fundamentals of Algorithmics, Prentice Hall, 1996

Ghezzi & Jazayeri, Programming Language Concepts 3rd Edition, Wiley, 1997

Ford & Topp, Data Structures with C++, Prentice Hall 2002

Silberschatz & Galvin, Operating Systems Concepts, Addison-Wesley, 2003

Patterson & Hennessy, Computer Organization & Design, Morgan Kaufmann 1998


Prelim Exam Committee (PEC)

Preliminary Examination is developed and graded by Committee (PEC)

Composed of 5-6 graduate faculty and includes the graduate coordinator

Questions are solicited from whole CS faculty - all questions must be approved/agreed upon by the committee

No one faculty member owns a topic or area – the whole committee does


Grading the Prelims

Each exam has 8 questions of which 5 must be answered successfully

Must answer at least 2 questions from each topic

Must average 75% in each topic to pass Grading is done by committee Past exam question will not be made public –

the reading list supplies ample example questions


Doctoral Plan of Work

Major Concentration 3 courses taken (in Masters) or yet to be taken Advisor determines Depth of knowledge in research area

Minor Concentration 3 courses taken (in Masters) or yet to be taken Student and Advisor determine Breadth/depth knowledge in related area

Must be submitted within 18 months of entering program


Coursework Requirements

18 credits of 70000 coursework beyond Masters (6 courses) - rest can be Research

Courses taken during Masters program can count as Major/Minor Concentration courses

However, must take other coursework to fulfill the 18 credit hour requirement


CS 89191 Doctoral Seminar

Same format and objectives as Masters Seminar

Ph.D. students must do two presentations before graduating

Must take the course twice (3 credits). It is only offered for 1 or 2 credits. May take more then 2 times


Final Ph.D. Requirements

Candidacy Exam – Department is defining a new standard format

Dissertation topic and committee must be approved by advisor and graduate coordinator

Final public dissertation defense


Transitional Students

Program is now in effect - Fall 2004

Masters Students on a pre-Fall’04 catalog should seriously consider finishing under the new program – new program subsumes old

Ph.D. students that recently entered the program (pre-Fall’04) should move to new program Don’t take Qualifier Exams Take Preliminary Exams instead


FAQ

How do I switch to the new Masters program?Fill out Masters Plan of WorkTake Masters Seminar (F’04)

I’ve already taken the core courses, will they count in the new program?YES, the new program subsumes the old one


FAQ

I’ve passed part of the Qualifying Exams already, can I move to the new program?Talk with your advisor and Grad Coordinator

I’ve been in the Doctoral program for a year, have not done the Quals, and want to move to the new program. Can I?Yes, we will give extra time to transitional

students


FAQ

Do 50000 level courses count towards the Ph.D. degree?No, only 70000 level and above

I’ve pass part of the Quals for the MA, can I move to the new program?Yes, you need to do the Masters Seminar,

Masters Plan of Work, and MA project & defense


Questions?

Other questions?

Look to Graduate Website for further materials

www.cs.kent.edu

graduate curriculum department of computer science kent state university fall 2004

Documents

graduate catalog

graduate coordinatorcan

graduate coordinatordr

credits of research

graduate facultyfinal

level count

research seminar count

thesis defense6 credits