The
course of study for the M. S. Degree is dependent upon which degree program
the student selects.
The
M. S. Program In Computer Science
Students
seeking the M.S. degree in Computer Science have to fulfill the requirements
listed below and abide by the limitations listed after the requirements.
Requirements
CSC 513
if the student has not completed CSC 413.
Completion
of 33 hours of graduate course work to include 21 hours numbered 600
or above.
Completion
of CSC 616, CSC 623, and CSC 626.
Completion
of three courses from among CSC 620, CSC 624, CSC 632, CSC 633, and
CSC 638.
Satisfactory
completion of a final comprehensive examination.
Satisfactory
development of a research thesis (6 hours credit) or a significant project
(3 hours credit).
The remainder
of the student's program consists of a combination of unselected core
courses, computer science elective courses, and approved graduate courses
from outside the department of Computer Science and Statistics.
Limitations
Maximum
of 6 hours of classwork may be taken under CSC 691 (Topics in Computer
Science).
Maximum
of 6 hours of classwork may be taken outside the department of Computer
Science and Statistics. These outside courses must be approved by the
student's graduate committee.
The M.
S. Program In Computational Science
The M. S. program in Computational Sciences has the requirements listed
below and the limitations listed after the requirements.
Requirements
A minimum
of eighteen (18) semester hours must be in courses numbered 600 or higher.
Completion
of three graduate level mathematics courses from among the following:
MAT 560 - Numerical Analysis I
MAT 605 - Ordinary Differential Equations
MAT 606 - Partial Differential Equations
MAT 610 - Numerical Linear Algebra
Completion
of three graduate level physic courses from among the following:
PHY 551 - Physical Applications of the Fourier Transform
PHY 555 - Fluid Dynamics
PHY 603 - Statistical Physics
PHY 606 - Methods of Mathematical Physics
Completion
of three graduate level Computer Science courses from among the following:
CSC 513 - Algorithms
CSS 515 - Mathematical Statistics
CSC 635 - Computer Graphics
CSC 636 - Modeling and Simulation
Completion
of nine graduate level credits in Computer Science in addition to those
taken to satisfy the previous requirement.
Satisfactory
completion of a comprehensive examination.
Limitations
A maximum
of 6 hours of classwork may be taken under CSC 691 (Topics in Computer
Science).
A maximum
of 6 hours of classwork may be taken outside the department of Computer
Science and Statistics. These outside courses must be approved by the
student's graduate committee.
Graduate
Committees
Each graduate student must have a graduate committee. The purpose of this
committee is to guide the student through his/her graduate program, make
changes to his/her program, construct and grade comprehensive examinations,
and guide him/her in thesis or project research. Until the student's committee
is formed, the Director of Graduate Studies shall act as the student's
committee. The Director of Graduate Studies shall perform all academic
advisement on all graduate students.
Each graduate
student has the opportunity to select his/her own graduate committee.
The committee must consist of at least three members of the USM Graduate
Faculty (see the last two pages of this brochure for a complete list of
the USM Computer Science and Statistics Graduate Faculty and their research
interests). For a Computer Science major, the committee chair and at least
one other member must be members of the USM Computer Science and Statistics
Graduate Faculty. For a Computational Science major, the committee chair
must be a member of the USM Computer Science and Statistics Graduate Faculty.
It is to
the student's advantage to have his/her committee selected as soon as
possible. It is recommended that the student have his/her committee in
place by the time he/she has completed three graduate courses.
Students
may request a change in committee structure, but the timing is critical.
No changes shall be made unless:
There
is a resignation of one or more committee members.
There
is a change of thesis/project topic.
There
is a severe conflict between committee members.
There
is a severe conflict between the student and a committee member(s).
Special
Problem Courses and Non-Computer Science Courses
The student is allowed to take up to six graduate hours of Special Projects
(CSC 691) in the Department of Computer Science and Statistics. Additionally,
directed study courses (695) are also available to give the student a chance
to perform research in an area of Computer Science in which he/she is interested.
A student
with an undergraduate degree in computer science is also allowed to take
up to six graduate hours of computer science related courses (Mathematics,
Science, Business, etc.). The non-Computer Science courses are subject
to approval of the student's graduate committee.
Thesis
or Project Option
Each candidate for the Master's degree in Computer Science is required
to select either the thesis or the project option. This decision can be
made at any time during the student's tenure in the graduate program,
but it is advisable to make the decision as soon as possible. Candidates
for the M. S. Degree in Computational Science may elect to produce either
a thesis or project but are not required to do so.
Thesis
Option
The thesis is intended to be a scholarly piece of research designed to
expand the student's knowledge in an area of Computer Science. This research
must be conducted, written up, defended orally before the student's graduate
committee, be accepted by the USM Graduate Reader, and accepted by the
USM Graduate School. Thesis value is established at 6 graduate hours (2
course credits).
Project
Option
The project is also intended to be a scholarly piece of research. The
project must be conducted, written up, and defended orally before the
student's graduate committee. The project is not submitted to the USM
Graduate Reader or the USM Graduate School. The project value is established
at 3 graduate hours (1 course credit).
The student
is also strongly encouraged to present his thesis/project at a national
or regional conference (ex. annual Southeastern Regional ACM Conference
or any other Computer Science related conference).
Comprehensive
Examinations
All candidates for the Master's Degree in Computer Science are required
to successfully complete a comprehensive examination. The following set
of guidelines have been adopted by the USM Computer Science and Statistics
Graduate Faculty.
The examination
is constructed and graded by the student's graduate committee.
The examination
shall be administered once per semester as needed. All comprehensive
examinations will be administered at the same date and time each term.
This date and time of the examination is set by the Director of Graduate
Studies in Computer Science. The examination time will usually begin
at 8:00 a.m. and end at 12:00 noon.
The student
will be allowed to bring into the examination two standard-sized (8.5
by 11 inches) sheets of paper to be used as "assistance" sheets.
The sheets can not have additional surfaces such as "Post_It notes"
attached to the sheet. The Director of Graduate Studies or the Chair
of the Department of Computer Science and Statistics will be the judge
of whether the sheets are legal or not. If the sheets are declared to
be illegal, they will not be allowed during the examination. The student
may write whatever information he/she desires on both sides of each
sheet.
Examination
material will consist of:
Questions
that relate to the review and analysis of articles from current
literature.
Questions
that integrate material from more than one course.
The
student will be supplied with a reading guide (which contains selections
of articles from at least 3 research journal publications) at least
4 weeks before the date scheduled for the examination. This list is
obtained from the student's committee chair. It is the responsibility
of the student to secure the reading list from his/her committee chair.
Grading
of the comprehensive examination shall be as follows:
Each
member of the student's committee shall grade the question(s) in
the part of the exam that he/she had constructed. A score of 0 to
100 shall be assigned by each member.
The
committee shall use these examination scores to determine the student's
outcome on the examination. An average score of 75 or better, provided
that a score of at lease 40 is made on each section of the examination,
will be considered passing.
If
the student's committee has determined that the student has failed
the examination, it has two options for the student's re-take of
the examination.
Have
the student re-take the entire exam the next time it is offered
(the next term) or
Have
the student re-take the examination as an oral examination at
a time mutually agreed upon by the student and his/her committee.
As a
general guideline, oral examinations would only be considered when
the student's exam is considered a marginal fail-- the student scores
poorly (< 40) on a subpart of the examination (this is determined
by the student's committee) and does well on the remainder of the
examination.
Either
the written or oral re-take is considered the student's second attempt
at the examination.
Students
must register with the Director of Graduate Studies at least 6 weeks
before the scheduled date of the examination.
Students must complete a registration form (available in the Director
of Graduate Studies Office), have it signed by each member of their
committee, and return it to their committee chair before they can take
the comprehensive examination. A copy of the completed form must be
submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies.
Qualifying
Examination
At the discretion of the student's graduate committee, or upon attaining
a second grade of "C" or below in classwork, a student may be
given a qualifying examination. Makeup of the examining committee is left
to the discretion of the student's graduate committee. The examination
may be either written or oral at the discretion of the student's graduate
committee. Failing of this examination will result in either of two actions:
Termination
from the program or,
Requirement
that the student take additional background classwork.
