A minimum of 34 credit hours is required including CS 7999 (Thesis Research).
In general, any work that contributes to the credit hour requirement for the MS cannot be used to fulfill the requirements for another degree.
CS Coursework
At least 14 credits must be earned through CS coursework. (CS 7999 and seminars cannot be used.)
All CS courses must be 4000-level or higher.
Students must complete at least four CS courses that are at the 5000 level or higher and one of these must be at the 6000-level.
All CS courses must be taken for a letter grade and that grade must be C or better for the course to count.
Committee
MS students must have at least 2 members of the graduate faculty on their special committee - one in the major subject (the chair) and one in the minor subject.
Committees must be formed by the end of the 2nd semester for MS students.
The Outside Minor and Credit for Non-CS Courses
Students are required to have an outside minor and to have a Minor Field Member on their Thesis Committee.
The outside minor requirement typically involves 2-3 courses and is determined by the outside minor field.
Non-CS courses and courses not associated with the outside minor can also be used to fulfill the 34 credit hour minimum. These courses must be approved by the Director, but typically graduate -level courses in any field are acceptable if they relate to the student’s educational objectives
Thesis Research (CS 7999)
Students are required to have a Thesis Advisor.
Students must complete between 6 and 12 credits hours of thesis research (CS 7999).
CS 7999 can be taken multiple times, i.e., thesis research can be spread over several semesters.
All CS 7999’s must be taken for a letter grade and only if the grade is B or better can it count towards the fulfillment thesis research requirement.
The volume of work associated with the thesis is determined by the Thesis Advisor. The thesis itself will typically be between 20-50 pages in length.
A 30-50 minute oral presentation of thesis results is required.
Good Standing
A cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0 must be maintained to continue in the program.
You must be considered a strong TA in the courses that you act as a TA. This will be evaluated at the end of each term.
A student who receives a course grade less than C or a CS 7999 grade less than B may be asked to leave the program.
To be in good standing after the first, second, and third semesters, it is necessary to have completed at least 8, 16, and 24 credits hours of work respectively.
Course Load
Students are not allowed to take more that 12 credits hours during a semester unless permission is granted by the Director and and the Thesis Advisor.
