SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND COMMUNICATION

Michael Poteat, Interim Dean

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION AND BROADCASTING

Dennis Cali, Interim Chairperson

The Department of Communication and Broadcasting offers the BA in communication with concentrations in journalism and public relations as well as the BS in communication with concentrations in electronic news, media performance, and media production.

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

Robert Bernhardt, Interim Chairperson

MS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

Applicants to the master of science degree in computer science must meet the admission requirements of the Graduate School, have an undergraduate degree in computer science or a related field, be able to demonstrate significant study in computer science including a study of computer architecture and software design, be proficient programmers in at least one high-level programming language, submit three letters of recommendation, and have satisfactory scores on the general portion of the Graduate Record Examinations.  Applicants whose native language is not English must additionally submit a satisfactory score on the Test of English as a Second Language (TOEFL). 

Each applicant’s credentials will be reviewed by the director of graduate studies, who will determine if undergraduate deficiencies are present and, if so, will prescribe a method for their removal and determine a precondition for admission.

Requirements for completing the master of science in computer science are as follows:

1. Core courses: CSCI 5210, 5220, 6120, 6420; an additional 18 s.h. of CSCI courses numbered 5000 or above, including 6 s.h. in a concentration and 3-6 s.h. of thesis or research project.  At least 15 s.h. must be in courses numbered 6000 or above.
2. Concentration area consisting of at least one of the following two-course sequences:
   • Software design and development: CSCI 6230, 6410
   • Computer architecture: CSCI 6120, 6130
   • Artificial intelligence: CSCI 5800, 6810
3. Satisfactory score on a comprehensive examination covering 12 s.h. of course work.
4. Following successful completion of the comprehensive examination, the student must design and complete CSCI 6995 or 7000 under the direction of an adviser.  The project or thesis must be successfully defended before the student’s examination committee.
5. Students must attend at least five research seminars and present at least one research seminar during the course of study.
6. A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 must be submitted for all graduate courses.  No more than 6 s.h. of course evaluated as C may be counted toward the degree.

CSCI: Computer Science

5002. Logic for Mathematics and Computer Science (3) Same as MATH 5002 P: CSCI 3510 or MATH 2427 or 2775 or 3223 or 3256 or PHIL 3580 or equivalent. Methods of mathematical logic important in mathematics and computer science applications.

5210. Operating Systems II (3) P: CSCI 4630 or consent of instructor. Theory and practice of concurrent processes in computer operating systems. Process scheduling. Memory and auxiliary storage management.

5220. Program Translation (3) P: CSCI 4627 or consent of instructor. Formal language specification for programming languages. Advanced parsing techniques. Code generation and optimization.

5501, 5502, 5503. Independent Study (1,2,3) Minimum of 3-6 hours per week depending on the nature of the work assigned. P: CSCI 3601 or equivalent or consent of instructor. Advanced computer science students study topics that supplement  the regular curriculum.

5774. Programming for Research (3) Same as MATH 5774 For graduate student who wishes to use computer science to meet required research skills in his or her dept. May not count toward MATH major or minor. P: General statistics course or consent of instructor. Emphasis on minimum-level programming skill and use of statistical packages.

5800. Artificial Intelligence (3) P: CSCI 3510 or consent of instructor. Fundamental problems and techniques of artificial intelligence. Heuristic search. Concepts of expert systems.

6120. Computer Systems Architecture (3) P: CSCI 4520 or consent of instructor. Sequential architectures, instruction sets, addressing modes, and control structures. Introduction to parallel architectures.

6130. Networking and Telecommunication (3) P: CSCI 6120 or consent of instructor. Theory and case studies of modern networking protocols and telecommunication methods. Local area and long-haul networks.

6220. Topics in Language Design (3) P: CSCI 3675 or consent of instructor. Semantics and implementation characteristics of languages supporting modern computing paradigms such as functional programming, logic programming, constraint programming, and object-oriented programming.

6230. Software Development (3) P: CSCI 4200 or consent of instructor. Study of management techniques for development of software systems. Project scheduling, cost estimation, personnel management. Practical experience in high-level system integration.

6410. Design and Analysis of Algorithms (3) P: CSCI 3650 or consent of instructor. Methods of designing efficient algorithms, case studies. Analysis of  complexity of an algorithm.

6420. Computability and Complexity (3) P: CSCI 4602 or consent of instructor. Computability, Church’s thesis, formal models of computation. Introduction to complexity theory.

6600. Data Base Management Systems (3) P: CSCI 2618 or equivalent. Theory and techniques of data base management systems. Examines implementations of DBMS.

6810. Topics in Artificial Intelligence (3) P: CSCI 5800 or consent of instructor. Study of state of the art in selected topic on artificial intelligence.

6820. Computer Graphics (3) P: CSCI 3800 or consent of instructor. Principles and techniques of image rendering. Use of image rendering software.

6905. Topics in Computer Science (3) May be repeated once with change of topic. P: Consent of instructor. Current topic in computer science.

6995. Research Project (3) P: Approval of director of graduate studies. Student selects, investigates, and reports to faculty on a challenging research project.

7000. Thesis (3) May be repeated. May count maximum of 3 s.h.

CSCI Banked Courses

5726. Scientific Programming (1)
6603. Microcomputer Programming (3)
6605. Data Structure and Algorithm Design (3)