Scholarship Information:
In fulfilling graduate course requirements on any plan of study, only grades of "A", "B", or "C" are acceptable. All courses for which grades are given will be used in calculating the grade point average, unless a course has been repeated. In this case, both grades will appear on the transcript, but only the most recent grade will be used in calculation of the grade point average. (A specific course can be retaken only once and only a total of three courses may be retaken). To be in good standing and to receive a graduate degree, a student must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or "B".
The Department and/or advisory committee may require a higher performance than "C" in certain courses. While some courses may be used for graduate credit with a grade of "C", acquisition of more than two (2) grades of "C" or less may be grounds for dismissal upon recommendation by the department/program chair.
A student who fails to maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0 after the first two semesters of attendance will be placed on academic probation. He/she may not continue the pursuit of a graduate degree without special permission from the Dean of The Graduate School acting on the recommendation of the Computer Science Department. This recommendation must include a review of the student's status and a program of remediation that will afford the student the opportunity to return to a 3.0 cumulative grade point average within two additional semesters. If the cumulative grade point average is not 3.0 or better after two additional semesters, the student will be dismissed from the Graduate School. Students on academic probation are not eligible for graduate assistantships or tuition waivers.
Summary of Procedures for the Master's Degree
1. Gain admission to the Graduate School.
2. If appropriate, remove admission deficiencies in order to qualify for full- standing status (within the first year of study).
3. Select, with the major advisor, one or more department faculty members to serve on the supervisory committee. Remember, the third committee member is the Graduate School Appointee. The supervisory committee should be selected by the end of the student's third semester at NDSU.
4. Develop a plan of study with the major advisor in consultation with the supervisory committee (usually 3rd semester of attendance).
5. Submit the Plan of Study to the graduate dean for approval.
6. Complete courses listed on plan of study, including the disquisition.
7. Personally meet with the graduate school to verify that all courses on the plan of study have been completed and the required GPA has been attained.
8. Seek permission to schedule the oral examination from the major advisor. Remember, the request to schedule the examination is sent by the major advisor to the Graduate School two weeks prior to the examination.
9. Submit the disquisition in near final form to the committee members no less than seven days prior to the examination.
10. Be sure that the supervisory committee reports in writing the results of the examination to the graduate dean.
11. Once the examination is completed and any changes required by the Supervisory Committee have been made, submit the disquisition to a reader selected by the Graduate School.
12. Once the corrections required by the reader have been made, submit the disquisition to your advisor for final approval.
13. Complete all your obligations to the Computer Science Department, including returning all keys and equipment.
14. Bring the disquisition to the Department Chair for approval.
15. Bring one copy to the Graduate School for final approval.
16. Submit five final and approved copies of the disquisition to the Graduate School Office. Allow at least two weeks for the Graduate School review of the paper.
17. Attend commencement to receive the graduate degree (optional).
A. General Information
A student is initially assigned a coursework advisor by the Departmental Secretary. The student will eventually (usually by the end of the second semester) select a thesis or comprehensive study advisor, as described in the Graduate Bulletin. We call this faculty member the research advisor. Generally this person would be someone from whom you have taken at least one course and whose research interests include an area in which you are interested. If this faculty member agrees to be your advisor, then in consultation with him or her you will select the other members of your graduate committee. See below (C and D) for more information regarding selecting the committee and filing a Plan of Study.
B. Transfer of Credit
All graduate credits used to meet the requirements of a master's degree must be approved by the supervisory/advisory committee, the department/program chair, the academic dean, and the dean of the Graduate School. A maximum of nine semester hours of graduate credit with grades of "A" or "B" earned at another university may be transferred provided that institution is accredited to offer graduate courses. It is the responsibility of the student to provide official transcripts of graduate courses taken elsewhere to the Graduate School. Graduate credits earned through the Tri-College University are considered resident credits.
C. Plan of Study
The Plan of Study lists all the courses a student has taken and intends to take to satisfy the requirements for the M.S. degree. The names of the student's advisory committee are identified on this form as well. Any courses the student wishes to transfer to NDSU from another institution must be indicated on the Plan.
The Plan of Study shall be appropriate to meet the interests and needs of the student in his/her chosen field as determined by the supervisory committee and approved by the department/program chair, the academic dean, and the dean of the Graduate School. The master's Plan of Study must be filed in the Graduate School at least one semester prior to graduation. It shall include the specific courses the student is expected to complete and all other requirements of the particular master's degree that the student is seeking. Computer Science requires a minimum of 32 semester credits including two credits of seminar (CS 790). Operations Research requires 32 semester credits including two credits of graduate seminar (CS 790). At least two, and no more then nine, of the credits may be in CS 797 or 798. Computer Science permits a maximum of nine hours of independent study. All 600 and 700 level Computer Science courses may be used, except in cases where the department has determined that there is too much overlap between a 600-level course and a 700-level course in the same area. In such a case, students should take the 700-level course.
The Plan of Study may be revised as advisable and necessary. Revisions must be approved by the student, supervisory committee and dean of the Graduate School. The graduate dean will officially notify the student, supervisory committee, department/program chair, and registrar of all approved changes.
D. Supervisory Committee
For each prospective candidate for the master's degree, a supervisory committee consisting of at least four members of the NDSU graduate faculty will be appointed. The student, with the approval of the department/program chair, will select a major advisor The relationship between student and major advisor must be mutually acceptable. The major advisor will act as the chair of the student's supervisory committee and will be in charge of the Plan of Study. The major advisor and student will agree upon two additional committee members. A fourth committee member will serve as the appointee of the Graduate School. One committee member must be from outside the student's department. Additional committee members having expertise in the educational area may also be appointed. These additional members may not necessarily be NDSU graduate faculty. The supervisory committee agreed upon by the major advisor and student and approved by the department/program chair and the academic dean will be recommended to the dean of the Graduate School for approval and formal appointment. Each committee member will have an equal vote in committee decisions. The committee is to assist the student in the preparation of a program of study and to advise him/her during the period of graduate work. Thus, the supervisory committee should meet with the student periodically to review progress of graduate work.
E. Course Work
At least 32 approved credits, including:
(1) CS 708, 713, 724, and 765 (the core CS courses).
(2) At least two credits of research seminars (CS 790). These are all 1-credit seminars; currently the topics represented are artificial intelligence, database systems, computer systems, programming languages, ATM networking, combinatorial optimization, and educational technology. The seminar in a particular topic can be taken for credit more than once. No more than two credits may be applied to the 32-credit requirement.
(3) Transfer credits for a M.S. must have been earned within a five-year period prior to graduation.
(4) Course substitutions can be made with the approval of your advisor and the department chair or his designate.
E1. Course Work for Operations Research
At least 32 approved credits, including:
(1) The core courses: CS 708, CS 713, CS 737, CS 653, and one of the two courses CS 724 or CS 765.
(2) Two courses chosen from CS 654, CS 751, CS 752, CS 760 or CS 761.
(3) The following courses or their equivalent, if not included in undergraduate studies: Probability and Statistics (Stat 467, 468), *Linear Algebra (Math 260 or Math 327), *FORTRAN programming (CS 160)
(4) At least two credits of research seminars (CS 790). No more than two credits of seminars may be applied to the 32-credit requirement.
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* Courses below the 600-level may not be used as part of the 32 minimum required credits.
F. Comprehensive Examination
This is a three-hour written examination offered in both semesters, usually around the twelfth or thirteenth week. A passing score is required (usually between 60 and 70). The Graduate Coordinator should be consulted if you have any questions or concerns about this examination.
Every M.S. student must pass the comprehensive examination within the student's first two years in the program or by the first time it is offered after 24 semester hours are completed, whichever comes later. Students admitted with conditions will have three years to complete the comprehensive examination, since the conditions must be completed before they take the exam.
The reading list for the exam consists of the current texts for the four core courses. Mastery of the contents of these books will allow the student to answer all questions satisfactorily.
The test is made up of four parts, of approximately equal length, corresponding to the four courses. Normally questions covering the topics in a specific book are prepared and graded by one or more faculty members who have taught that course recently; this does not mean, however, that questions are restricted to topics covered in that offering of the course. In situations where two instructors have taught a course from different texts and it is not possible to select questions from a common body of material, it is sometimes necessary to include alternate versions of one part, or possibly to allow a student to choose from a set of questions.
A student will be allowed to take the comprehensive exam at most twice.
As of summer 2006, the reading list is as follows:
(1) (CS 708) Kfoury, Moll, and Arbib, A Programming Approach to Computability, Springer-Verlag, 1982. (This represents a change from the book used during the last several years. For the Fall 2006 exam, students will be able to choose either this version or the previous version, for which the text was Cohen, Programming in the 1990's, Springer-Verlag.)
(2) (CS713) Pressman, Software Engineering: A Practitioner's Approach, 6th Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2005.
(3) (CS 724) Luger, Artificial Intelligence: Structures and Strategies for Complex Problem-Solving, 4th Edition, Addison Wesley, 2002.
(4) (CS 765) Ramakrishnan and Gehrke, Database Management Systems, 3rd Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2002.
F1. Comprehensive Exam for Operations Research Option
The only difference from the exam described in F above is that the reading list corresponds to the five core courses taken for the O.R. option (see E1 above). The textbooks for CS 708, CS 713, CS 724,and CS 765 are shown in F. The current books corresponding to the other courses from which the five core courses may be selected are shown below.
(1) (CS 737) A. Law & D. Kelton, Simulation Modeling and Analysis, Third Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2000.
(2) (CS 653) M. Bazaraa , J. Jarvis, and H. Sherali, Linear Programming and Network Flows, Third Edition, Wiley, 2004.
(3) (CS 653) Robert Fourer, David M. Gay, and Brian W. Kernighan, AMPL: A Modeling Language for Mathematical Programming, Duxbury Press / Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 2002
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G. Thesis and Comprehensive Study Options
For the thesis option, the research credits (CS 798) must be between six and ten credits. For the Comprehensive Study option, the research credits (CS 797) must be between two and four credits.
A statement was prepared by the CS faculty regarding the two options for a masters degree. It is inserted in full below. (In addition, see the form "Requirements for Preparation of Comprehensive Studies and Theses", available from the Graduate School office.)
In the Computer Science and Operations Research (CS & OR) Department, the Master's Degree is offered in two options, Thesis Option or Comprehensive Study Option. Work carried out under either plan must satisfy the conditions specified in Section 1 below. Judgments that distinguish between the two options are made by the student's advisor and graduate committee, who evaluate the proposal and both the written and oral presentations. Thus, Sections 2 and 3 below do not specify sufficient conditions for the two plans, but provide characteristics which faculty have indicated can be factors in their judgments. These characteristics are provided in the interest of providing maximum information for the graduate student.
1. Requirements Common To Both Thesis and Comprehensive Study
1.1 A proposal of work no more than five pages in length must be prepared by the student and circulated to the members of his/her graduate committee. The Proposal contains (i) a description of the proposed work and (ii) a justification of why the work is suitable for a Thesis Paper or Comprehensive Study project. At least one semester before the final oral exam, all committee members must certify that the proposed work would be suitable for a Thesis or Comprehensive Study paper if carried out as described.
1.2 The final document should declare at the outset what sort of paper it is: an expository paper, a program, a new algorithm, a comparative study, etc., so that it can legitimately involve an application, experiment, program, survey or theoretical contribution. No attempt is made to restrict topics.
1.3 Techniques used in the work must reflect maturity and professionalism associated with Master's level expertise.
1.3.1 All programs must reflect the principles of good style and documentation as currently espoused by the department.
1.3.2 All programs must be fully tested, with results reported in the text of the paper. An application programming project should include evidence that the intended capability has been provided to the end user. In such cases, it is desirable to have testing by end users and to provide a User's Manual.
1.3.3 A conversational system must have well designed dialogue and menus, and response times appropriate to the tasks.
1.4 The context and scope of the work must be clearly explained and referenced. Depending on the topic, this may include references to the literature in Computer Science, Operations Research and/or an application area. Any significant paper of the preceding five years which has appeared in the accessible literature must be referenced.
1.5 The document must be an example of quality scientific writing in the English language.
1.6 The paper must include substantial analysis. If the work consists primarily of a computer program, the paper must explain why the approach used was employed and what other approaches might have been taken. The effectiveness of the approach used in practice must be described.
1.7 The implementation of software to provide an application in another area (e.g., transportation, agriculture, registration) will not be sufficient to form the basis for a paper or a project. The emphasis in the proposed work must be on the Computer Science. Hence, this type of project must be presented as a testbed only for a new requirement gathering procedure, design method, implementation method, testing method or documentation method.
2. Comprehensive Study Option
The intent of this option is to provide a broad exposure to the field by requiring 27 credits of graduate course work and a Comprehensive Study paper for which 2-3 credits are given. In some rare cases, at the discretion of a faculty member, independent study credits can be granted for carrying out work which develops expertise needed to begin a Comprehensive Study project (not more than three credits total). The work carried out should demonstrate the ability to do scholarly study appropriate to the major field. A mature and professional completion of the project could reasonably be expected of a person with a Master's degree, but not of a person who holds a bachelor's degree and has no experience.
3. Thesis Option
The intent of the thesis option is to provide a research-oriented degree, for those who wish to pursue a particular topic in depth. The thesis earns between six and ten credits. The number of credits is normally determined in consultation with the advisor, but issues concerning the number of credits granted can be brought to the student's committee for judgment. A thesis should demonstrate the ability to do research in the major field. Some indications of acceptability are given below.
3.1 Usefulness to the professional community. Examples include: (i) publishability in a professional journal, (ii) results which demonstrate superiority of a method or product to alternatives currently in wide professional use, or (iii) completion of a survey of importance to the professional community.
3.2 Outcome not assured. Thesis projects often begin with significant doubt whether the work can be done, and the investigation settles some of the issues which caused the doubt.
3.3 Significant originality, creativity or innovation in the work. Writing a program which implements an algorithm in an article or book is never acceptable.
4. Organizing the Paper
As you start to write your paper, you should keep the potential readers always in mind. You should assume your reader will be a Computer Science student similar in background to yourself, BUT without your specialized knowledge of the paper's area. Provide the background, motivation and explanations the reader will need. Do not make your reader work to understand or appreciate. Never depend on something being explained later. Always start each chapter with an explanation of what you expect the reader to learn or remember from that chapter. Your first chapter should provide motivation. Why should anyone care about your work? Why are these important?
A Typical Document Outline
Chapter 1 - Introduction. What are the goals? What are the constraints?
Chapter 2 - Background. What does a non-specialized reader need to know to understand and appreciate your work?
Chapter 3 - Literature Review. What have others accomplished which contributes to or contrasts with your work?
Chapter 4 - Your Approach. How did you solve the problem?
Chapter 5 - Evaluation. How well does your approach work? How does it compare with other approaches?
Chapter 6 - Conclusion. What have you achieved? How well have you met the goals? What extensions could be done?
H. Final Oral Exam
You may not schedule the final oral examination until you have passed the comprehensive examination.
You must pass a final oral examination (Graduate School requirement). The oral includes a brief presentation (typically 20-30 minutes) of highlights of your thesis or Comprehensive Study paper and questions on both the research and/or course work you have taken. You must schedule your oral (arrange the time and place with all committee members and inform the Graduate School of this information) and give each member of your committee a copy of your paper and a copy of your program of study (including grades and instructor's names) at least 7 days in advance of the Final Oral Exam. At this time, a graduate credit must be scheduled with the Graduate School Office (Old Main 201). The Final Oral must be passed at least 2 weeks before commencement. You must also get a program check slip (yellow) from the Graduate Office and return it to the Registrar's before taking the Oral.
A negative vote by more than one member of the student's committee will signify failure of the oral examination. If the report of the Committee recommends failure, the student may repeat the examination upon permission from a majority of the supervisory committee, the department chair, and special approval of the graduate dean following consultation with the Graduate Council. This committee will specify a period of time, not less than one month, that must lapse before the second examination.
I. Time Limit
It is a Graduate School requirement that all requirements for the masters Degree be completed within seven years of beginning the program. At the time of graduation, any requirements, especially courses, which were completed more than seven years earlier will not be credited. If they appear on the Plan of Study, they must be replaced with more recent course work.
J. Computer Science Minor
The Department has defined a Minor in Computer Science at the Master's level to consist of the four core CS courses (CS 708, 713, 724 and 765). Such a minor is available to students pursuing majors in other Departments. In particular, an Education, engineering or Business graduate student might wish to consider this minor.
K. Operations Research Minor
Students majoring in another Department may receive a minor in Operations Research by receiving grades of B or better in each of
CS 750-751
CS 760
CS 737 or CS 702
CS 761
L. Master's Degree with Two Major Areas
The general requirements formulated by the graduate school for a master's degree with two major areas are as follows:
"Under special circumstances, a student may pursue one master's degree with two major areas. Such a program must have the concurrent recommendation of the chairs of the two departments/programs. The Plan of
Study shall clearly delineate the course work required for each major area. A minimum of 40 semester hour credits is required, including at least 14 graduate course credits in each of the two major areas. No more than 10 of the required 40 credits shall be research credits. The student is required to conduct interdisciplinary research culminating in a disquisition acceptable to both major areas."
The Computer Science Department has specified the following additional requirements for a master's degree with two major areas including computer science.
1. The student must submit to the Graduate School an application for admission to the Computer Science Department's graduate program. The admissions committee will review the application using the same criteria applied to ordinary masters applicants. In particular, admission may be conditional if it is determined that undergraduate-level courses are necessary in order to remedy deficiencies or gaps in computer science background. A student admitted conditionally must satisfy all conditions and achieve full graduate standing before completing the degree (see also item 4 below).
2. The student's plan of study must include at least 21 didactic credits (non-research, non-seminar,
non-thesis)of computer science, including the four courses COMP 708, COMP 713, COMP 724, and
COMP 765.
3. The student must complete two credits of research seminars in the Computer Science Department.
4. The student must pass the Computer Science Comprehensive Examination, at the masters level. Before taking the exam, the student must have been admitted to full graduate standing in the department.
5. The advisors in both major departments must approve of the student's plan of study and disquisition.
6. There must be at least two Computer Science faculty on the student's masters committee.
M. Multiple Master's Degrees
A student who has already received a master's degree may wish to pursue an additional master's degree. In completing all department/program and Graduate School requirements for the additional degree, a maximum of nine semester hour credits of coursework earned in the completion of a previous master's degree may be applied to the requirements for the additional master's degree when approved by the supervisory committee, department/program chair, academic dean, and dean of the Graduate School. The thesis or comprehensive study paper must differ substantially and must result from work completed independently of any previous program. The time limitation of seven years shall apply to coursework.
A. Awarding of Assistantships
The Department offers graduate assistantships in teaching, research, and service. During the 1996-97 academic year, more than 40 graduate students were offered assistantships.
Teaching assistantships, awarded by the department, usually involve teaching one or two sections of undergraduate service courses. A few teaching assistantships involve paper-grading and/or tutoring. Research assistantships, which are arranged directly with faculty who have research funding, involve assisting faculty with their research. Service assistantships involve computer-science-related work, sometimes for other faculty or organizations on campus. During the 2002-2003 academic year, the normal stipend for a student who has a half-time teaching assistantship (see below) and is teaching one section of a service course is $456 per month. Stipends in other cases may vary slightly.
A full-time assistantship requires 20 hours of work per week, and a half-time assistantship 10 hours. An assistantship involving at least 10 hours per week qualifies the student for a waiver of all tuition and fees. The Department is not able to offer a waiver of tuition or fees to students who are not awarded assistantships. However, there is a scholarship program administered by the Dean of the Graduate School that offers some of these. Students should contact the Graduate School office for applications.
Decisions concerning financial aid are normally made by April 15 for the following academic year. This means that for persons applying for financial aid, it is important to get the applications in well before that date.
An application for financial aid requires a separate letter of application sent to the department, in addition to checking the box on the standard application form. A foreign applicant who is not a native English speaker may have an initial disadvantage with regard to the awarding of assistantships, simply because a foreign application is often more difficult to evaluate with regard to the applicant's proficiency in spoken English.
In addition, the following rules have been approved by NDSU regarding applicants who are not native speakers of English and who have not previously held assistantships. If the applicant's score on the TOEFL examination is lower than 525, he/she is not accepted initially as a regular graduate student, and no assistantship can be awarded. If the TOEFL score in between 525 and 600, before receiving an assistantship the applicant must take a summer course on English As A Second Language (offered by the Department of Modern Languages) and must have a personal interview conducted by a committee which contains both a member of the department granting the assistantship and a member of the faculty specializing in English As A Second Language. If the TOEFL score is over 600, the summer course is not required but the interview is still necessary. Note that the Computer Science Department normally requires a minimum TOEFL score of 550 for admission; see I, C.
B. Retention of Assistantships
The selection of a graduate teaching assistant (GTA) is based on an assessment of the individual's academic potential and potential as an instructor. The continuation of the assistantship will be determined by success in the courses in which the GTA is enrolled and by demonstration of satisfactory performance of instructional duties.
To retain the assistantship, an individual must be in good standing with the graduate school. That means maintaining a grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 in your courses that count for graduate study. The transition from undergraduate to graduate studies is sometimes difficult. In recognition of this fact, GTA's who fail to make at least a 3.0 GPA their first semester but earn a GPA of at least 2.6 will be placed on probation. That means retention of the GTA position depends on earning at least a 3.0 GPA in the second semester. GTA's who are not in good standing with the graduate school at the end of the two semesters of graduate work will not have their assistantship renewed. Once good standing is attained the students may reapply for an assistantship. GTA's whose cumulative GPA falls below 3.0 at any time other than the first semester of graduate school will lose the assistantship.
As a classroom instructor, a GTA represents NDSU in general and the Computer Science Department in particular. Hence the position requires satisfactory performance of duties. Each semester each GTA will be evaluated by a faculty supervisor. A copy of this written report will be given to the GTA and the department chair. If the performance is judged unsatisfactory, a written warning will be issued. This means the GTA is on probation. If the performance does not significantly improve, the assistantship will be terminated at the end of the semester the warning was issued. This termination may be appealed in writing to the chair of the Computer Science Department. The appellant may then be granted a hearing with the chair, the director of Graduate Studies and the faculty supervisor. The final decision rests with the chair.
