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St. Cloud State University

St. Cloud State University

Graduate Bulletin Table of Contents

Computer Science Graduate Program (CSCI)Engineering and Computing Center

Offered through the Department of Computer Science
in the College of Science and Engineering
139 Engineering and Computing Center
Phone: 320.308.4966
Fax: 320.308.4269
E-mail: computerscience@stcloudstate.edu
Web: www.stcloudstate.edu/cose/computer.asp

Department Chairperson: Dr. Ramnath Sarnath
Department Secretary: Ms. Sue Pope

Graduate Coordinator: Dr. Jayantha Herath
Graduate Faculty: Anda, Bagley, Deng, Hamnes, Herath, Hu, Jha, Julstrom, Sarnath, Schoenberger

Accreditation Specific to the Program

  • Computer Science Accreditation Commission

The Profession

The Master of Science in Computer Science prepares students for a profession in the field of information systems. The program qualifies students for a job as a software engineer, a system administrator, a programmer, or a software system analyst and designer.

Employers

Graduates have enjoyed professional employment in a variety of settings, including Guidant, Medtronics, IBM, Beckman Coulter, Silicon Graphics, Quest Publishing, software consulting companies and as instructors at two-year colleges.

Admission requirements specific to the program

  • Admission is competitive.
  • An applicant for this degree must have completed the equivalent of an undergraduate degree with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
  • A strong showing (more than 75th percentile) in the quantitative GRE score is essential.
  • A strong score in the verbal scores is required.
  • Positive letters of recommendation are important, as is a good undergraduate performance.
  • Lack of a computer science background is usually not a major concern, since prerequisite courses are prescribed. However, a background in the sciences and mathematics is essential.
  • Admission decisions are made at specific times associated with the application deadlines, usually in the week following the deadlines.
  • A final admission decision may take up to six weeks to receive from the application deadline and up to ten weeks for I-20s to be issued to international students.
  • Fully-qualified applicants will have taken courses that cover the following topics:
    • Non-linear data structures, sorting and searching algorithms.
    • Computer architecture: hardware organization, I/O interface, interrupt mechanisms and pipeline processor design.
    • File systems; hashed indexed, ISAM files; B-trees; external sorting.
    • Programming languages: design and implementation.
    • Operating systems: process, memory and file system management, device handlers.
    • Finite mathematics and modern algebra.

Additional Program Preparation Requirements

  • Those without undergraduate computer science background are required to take CSCI 201, 200, and MATH 253, 273, 373 and preparatory courses CSCI 591, 592, and 593.
  • Those deemed to have inadequate preparation, or those whose ability to perform well at the graduate level is in doubt, are required to take preparatory courses CSCI 591, 592, and 593, or test out of the same.

Application Deadlines Specific to the Program

  • Fall semester — March 1
  • Spring semester — October 1
  • Summer sessions: No admission available

Length of Program — Measured by Semesters

  • Part-time student following Plan A: five semesters taking six credits per semester (not counting preparatory courses, if taken).
  • Part-time student following Plan B: six semesters taking six credits per semester.
  • Full-time student: three semesters taking 12 credits per semester (not counting prerequisites and preparatory courses).

Graduate Assistantship Overview

  • Five to seven graduate assistantship positions are generally sponsored each year, and are available both fall and spring semesters.
  • Graduate assistants in computer science provide teaching assistance to faculty in a variety of situations. In situations where an arrangement can be arrived at, the assistantship is provided via internships in local industry.

Degrees and Plans Offered

  • Master of Science: Plan A (Thesis) at 30 credits
  • Master of Science: Plan B (Starred Paper) at 32 credits

Program Overview

Upon entering the graduate program, students must select an adivsor and a degree plan and submit a program of study before completing 18 credits (usually before the end of the second semester of course work). Students can choose one of two degree plans: Plan A, which requires a thesis and a minimum of 30 credits, or Plan B, which requires a starred paper and a minimum of 32 credits.

Master of Science — Computer Science (Non-teaching)

Plan A, 30 credits

Research course
6 credits

  • CSCI 699. Thesis in Computer Science, 1-6 credits

Core courses
11 credits

  • CSCI 610. Advanced Concepts in Operating Systems, 3 credits
  • CSCI 620. Advanced Computer Architecture, 3 credits

Take two credits

  • CSCI 680. Seminar in Computer Science, 1-2 credits

Choose one

  • CSCI 502. Introduction to the Theory of Computation, 3 credits
  • CSCI 504. Design and Analysis of Algorithms, 3 credits

Elective courses
9 credits

  • At least three credits at the 600 level (see below for distribution requirements).

Additional course work
4 credits

  • As approved by the advisor/committee

 

Plan B, 32 credits

 

Research course

3 credits

  • CSCI 697. Starred Paper in Computer Science, 3 credits

Core courses

11 credits

  • CSCI 610. Advanced Concepts in Operating Systems, 3 credits
  • CSCI 620. Advanced Computer Architecture, 3 credits

Take two credits of

  • CSCI 680. Seminar in Computer Science, 1-2 credits

Take either

  • CSCI 502. Introduction to the Theory of Computation, 3 credits
  • CSCI 504. Design and Analysis of Algorithms, 3 credits

Electives

12 credits

  • At least three credits at the 600 level (see below for distribution requirements)

Additional course work
6 credits

  • As approved by the advisor/committee

Distribution Requirements for CSCI Elective Credits for both Plan A and Plan B

The set of elective courses must be chosen from the courses listed below and must include courses from at least two of the following areas:

Theory

  • CSCI 502. Introduction to the Theory of Computation, 3 credits
  • CSCI 504. Design and Analysis of Algorithms, 3 credits
  • CSCI 521. Introduction to Finite Switching and Automata, 4 credits
    CSCI 601. Recursive Function Theory, 3 credits
  • CSCI 602. Models of Computation, 3 credits
  • CSCI 604. Advanced Data Structures, 3 credits

Software development

  • CSCI 530. Object-Oriented Software Development, 3 credits
  • CSCI 531. Software Engineering I, 5 credits
  • CSCI 532. Software Engineering II, 5 credits

Systems software

  • CSCI 540. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, 3 credits
  • CSCI 541. Neural Networks, 3 credits
  • CSCI 542. Expert Systems, 3 credits
  • CSCI 543. Evolutionary Computation, 3 credits
  • CSCI 641. Machine Vision and Manipulators, 3 credits
  • CSCI 642. Natural Language Processing, 3 credits

Artificial Intelligence

  • CSCI 540. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, 3 credits
  • CSCI 541. Neural Networks, 3 credits
  • CSCI 542. Expert Systems, 3 credits
  • CSCI 543. Evolutionary Computation, 3 credits
  • CSCI 641. Machine Vision and Manipulators, 3 credits
  • CSCI 642. Natural Language Processing, 3 credits

Applications

  • CSCI 503. Theory, Design and Construction of Compilers, 3 credits
  • CSCI 550. Computer Graphics, 3 credits
  • CSCI 615. Advanced Topics in Computer and Network Security, 3 credits
  • CSCI 621. VLSI Design and Testing, 4 credits

NOTE:

  • For Plan A and B at least one-half of the credits must be earned at the 600 level.
  • A course may not count as both a core and as an elective. A student who successfully completes a course may not take, for credit, any prerequisite to that course afterwards.
  • Students taking graduate courses before being admitted to the graduate program may apply up to nine of those credits to the degree, with the consent of the adviser.
  • Students may be able to apply up to ten semester credits of graduate credits completed elsewhere, with approval of the advisor and the graduate dean.
  • Students who are required to take preparatory classes (CSCI 591,592 and 593) must complete the courses with grades of B or higher. Failure to do so will render them ineligible to continue in the program. Up to three credits of these preparatory courses can be used towards the graduate program, subject to a maximum of two credits per course.