1. Computer Science Graduate Students Orientation
Lan Wang
Fall 2015

2. Agenda Welcome by Dr. Dasgupta Main Presentation Open Questions
Department overview
Program overviews
Common issues
Graduate Student Association
Open Questions

3. Department of Computer Science
Office: DH 375
Offering
Computer Science: Bachelor, Masters, Ph.D.
Information assurance: Graduate Certificate
Bioinformatics: MS (with other departments)
Cutting-edge research
Areas such as: artificial intelligence, bio-inspired computing, big-data, natural language processing, networking, security, software engineering, etc.
Strong research funding and publication record

4. The roll-call (our faculty)
William Baggett
Dipankar Dasgupta (Chair)
Scott Fleming
Max Garzon
Santosh Kumar
Kriangsiri Malasri (Advising Coordinator)
Vinhthuy Phan (Undergraduate Coordinator)
Marko Puljic
Vasile Rus
Sajjan Shiva
Deepak Venugopal
Lan Wang (Associate Chair and Graduate Coordinator)
Zhuo Lu

5. Who I should HAVE MET Department secretary: Lyndsey Rush (DH 375)
Give any forms for me to sign to the secretary
Your academic advisor
If you do not have one yet, talk to Kriangsiri (Top) Malasri and he will assign you one.
Call him/her Dr. Lastname (e.g., Dr. Wang) or firstname if your advisor prefers
Get your advisor’s permission before you do anything related to your courses and research
Set up an appointment before meeting your advisor.
If you have any questions, ask your advisor first.
Your advisor should me any questions he/she cannot answer.
You can change academic advisor, but let Top know and both the old and new advisors

6. Master Program: Requirements
34 credits (will be 33 starting Fall 2016)
Main points
4 core courses: COMP 7012, 7212, 7612, 7712, At least 3 of the 4 have to be B- or better
Maximum 6 credits of non-coursework (project/thesis/independent studies etc.)
At most 6 credits of 6000-level courses
Project/Thesis: COMP 7996 or COMP 7980
GPA : should be at least 3.0
Grades : should not have more than two “C+/C/C-”, No D or F
Programming test requirement

7. Ph.D. Program – Requirements
Course credits
Qualifying exams: 4 core courses
Comprehensive exam/Dissertation Proposal
Final Dissertation defense
Remember to fill out the PhD curriculum planning form (on department website) the first semester.
Must be approved by advisor, graduate coordinator and department chair

8. Ph.D. Program – Course credits
72 credits from Bachelor degree
If you do not come with a Master’s
The 4 Master level core courses, must get at least B in all of them, before your first 36 credits
In case of failure, an additional exam will be given
If you come with an approved Master, you need (72 – number of graduate credits from you MS degree) 8000-level courses.
Other requirements
9-15 credits of COMP 9000 (Dissertation) – must be consecutive
At least 18 credits of 8000-level or above courses
At most 15 credits of Independent studies

9. Approved Master’s Degree
Courses and requirements similar to our MS degree
Give your transcript to advisor for evaluation
Advisor makes his/her recommendation to the graduate committee over along with your transcript
If approved (up to 36 credits), put this info in the PhD curriculum planning form.
Put in degree candidacy form when graduating.

10. Ph.D. Program – Comprehensive exam/Dissertation proposal
Student should find a dissertation proposal advisor
Settle for an advisor 2 years after BS/1 year after M.S.
No need to be your initial advisor
Prepare a dissertation proposal – what research to do for dissertation?
Select a dissertation committee
4 members minimum
Set a date for comprehensive exam
Include dissertation proposal defense
Questions on areas of study

11. Ph.D. Program – Dissertation defense
Final defense with dissertation committee
Have the final draft of the dissertation early to the committee
Follow graduate school guidelines “to the letter”

12. Ph.D. Program – What to do NOW!
If you’re a new Ph.D student
Talk to your initial advisor ASAP
Fill out a Ph.D Planning Form
Available from the department web site:
Have you advisor approve it and send it to the department
If you are a current Ph.D. student and have not filled in the form, do it ASAP.
Form needs to be updated and approved after passing qualifying exam.

13. Programming Test Make sure you can write programs that run
1 week before semester begins
1 hr test on computer
Java, C or C++ (ask if you want to use other language)
You must either
Pass the test within your first 2 attempts
Take a programming course (chosen by the department) and get a B or better (B- do NOT count)
Remember, this course does NOT count towards the degree
Students who have not passed programming test cannot be department GA.

14. Course Registration
GA: university-supported graduate assistants are expected to carry a 9-credit-hour load every semester (or 6 hours when enrolled only in thesis or dissertation hours).
Grant-supported GAs may register in fewer than 9 credits but international students still need to follow the rules below.
International Students: Graduate students may reduce to fewer than 9 credit hours only if they have met all coursework requirements and have dissertation-only, thesis-only, or final-project-only remaining.

15. Not all courses count… Some classes do not count towards the degree
Any pre-req course
Course for non-majors: COMP 6001, 6005, 6014, 6011, 6030, 6040, 6270, 6601, etc.
Cognitive Science seminar (COMP7/8514):
only if closely related to computer science or your research
need to get advisor’s approval (based on course syllabus)
Courses from other departments
Rule of thumb: may count 1-2 at most toward a degree, but must have approval of your advisor before taking the course (above 2 need advisor’s statement on why)
Easier version of our courses from other departments do not count (e.g. MIS database)

16. Academic Fraud Serious matter! Zero tolerance
Plagiarism/Cheating: doing the following without clearly acknowledging the source
Direct copying the work of another person
Paraphrasing the ideas of another person
Recycling previously submitted work
Potential action
F grade – cannot be removed
Appear at University committee

17. Academic Probation GPA < 3.0 → Academic Probation First semester:
You must talk to your advisor and grad coordinator before registration
You will lose your GA
Two consecutive semesters:
You will appear before a 3-member committee
Make your case
Committee may decide
Terminate your student status
Require you to take extra courses
To avoid getting into trouble
Work hard
Don’t overload yourself

18. Other Common Issues Waiving core courses 1-credit COMP7950
removed in catalog
If you’ll graduate in Fall 2015 or later, switch to new catalog.
Otherwise, register this course under your advisor’s section.
Transfer credits
Talk to advisor. Apply for credit transfer in the first semester
Must be CS relevant course that has not been used to fulfill another degree
No UG level course can be transferred
For Masters students: at most 12
For Ph.D. students: at most 36
For PhD students, advisor puts his/her recommendation in the PhD curriculum planning form.
Waiving core courses
Need to be approved by advisor based on transcript, course syllabus, etc.
Advisor: me for MS students, record in PhD form for for PhD students

19. Misc Information CS Notice board : Outside the CS dept office
Departmental activities
Fall: Social – have a bit of fun!
Spring: Research day – show off your research
Computer Science Colloquium
Fridays 12:30 – 2pm
All undergraduate and graduate students are welcome and department GAs must attend.

20. Computer Science Graduate Student Association
Goals
Better communication and interaction among graduate students in the Computer Science department.
Student participation in departmental activities
Activities
Organize CS research day, CS open house, etc.
Participate in open house, faculty hiring committees, student recruitment, and curriculum development.
Nominate fellow students for scholarships/awards.
Develop videos on research, lab activities, etc.

21. Roles of Officers and Members
President
Lead monthly meetings
correspond with faculty advisors
plan events for the graduate students
Secretary
Assist the president in planning events
record notes from meetings
distribute the notes to the graduate students for reference
Vice President, treasurer, …
Liaisons
represent graduate students on faculty committee, e.g., hiring, graduate curriculum, etc.
report the committee activities to students and get feedback
Members: all CS graduate students
Elect officers and liaisons
Participate in the CSGSA activities
Basically members help out and do what was stated in previous slides, but lead by the president and secretary.
Positions held for (possibilities):
a school year (eg fall 2015 and spring 2016)
a calendar year (eg spring 2016 and fall 2016)
a semesters (eg fall 2015)

22. Immediate Actions
Solicit volunteers for the officer positions: president and secretary
If multiple students volunteer for a position
Each candidate gives a short speech of why they would like to be in the position
Voting
Establish forum for discussion, meeting space, mailing list.
Develop by-laws for electing officers and liaisons in the futures.