Graduate Curriculum Department of Computer Science Kent State University Fall 2004

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum2 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum3 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum4 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.

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum5 Master of Science 24 credits of course work 8 courses (3 credits * 8 = 24) 6 courses must be level or above Master’s Plan of Work 2 credit Masters Seminar (CS 69191) 6 credit Masters Thesis & Defense Total of 32 graduate level credit hours 26 credits at 6000 level or above.

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum6 What’s Changed? (M.S.) NO required core courses Plan of Work (new) This determines what courses to take Only 2 courses at the level count Only 3 credits of Research or Research Seminar count (may take more) Masters Seminar (new)

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum7 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum8 CS 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum9 Objective of Seminar Act as a forum for students to improve presentation/research/academic skills Foster student-faculty interaction Venue to discuss research being done in/out side the Department Can be taken multiple times but counts only for 2 credits towards graduation

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum10 M.S. Thesis & Defense 6 Credits CS 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum11 Master of Arts 27 credits of course work 9 courses (3 credits * 9 = 27) 7 courses must be level or above Master’s Plan of Work 2 credit Masters Seminar (CS 69191) 3 credit Research – MA Project/Defense Total of 32 graduate level credit hours 26 credits at level or above

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum12 What’s Changed? (M.A.) NO required core courses Plan of Work (new) Only 2 courses at the level count Masters Seminar (new) NO qualifier exit examination 3 credits Research as MA project (new) Project defense (new) – counts as exit exam

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum13 M.A. Project 3 Credits CS 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum14 Doctor of Philosophy Preliminary Examination Doctoral Plan of Work with Major & Minor concentrations 3 credits of CS Doctoral Seminar 27 credits at level or above: 18 credits course work 9 credits course work or research Candidacy Examination 30 credits Dissertation and defense 60 total credit hours

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum15 What’s Changed? (Ph.D.) Qualifiers dropped (no longer exist) New Preliminary Exams added No required core courses New Plan of Work with Major and Minor Concentration course requirements Only 9 credits of Research count New Doctoral Seminar

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum16 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum17 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum18 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum19 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum20 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum21 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum22 Coursework Requirements 18 credits of 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum23 CS 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum24 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum25 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum26 FAQ How do I switch to the new Masters program? Fill out Masters Plan of Work Take 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum27 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum28 FAQ Do level courses count towards the Ph.D. degree? No, only 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

September 2004CS Graduate Curriculum29 Questions? Other questions? Look to Graduate Website for further materials