Master of Science Official Degree Requirements - June 5, 1995
Master of Science.
An M.S. candidate must earn 30 semester hours of credit, of which six hours may be transferred from another institution. A thesis is optional; if one is written, it counts for six hours. Course work in the M.S. program consists of a core of five required courses (the Core: COMP 202, 203, 204, 205, 206) plus electives. Students with stronger preparation can substitute advanced elective courses for core courses. A comprehensive examination is required. In addition, the student must have performed the following: (1) programmed and documented a program product; and (2) written a significant piece of technical prose. Requirement 1 can be satisfied by course work or by presenting satisfactory documentation of previous experience. Requirement 2 can be satisfied by a writing course, or by a thesis. Although the M.S. degree has been earned in as little as 12 months, two academic years are normally required by with an assistantship.
COURSES FOR GRADUATE OR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
122 Algorithms and Analysis (3)
130 Files and Databases (3)
136 Introduction to Computer Graphics (3)
144 Programming Language Concepts (3)
145 Software Engineering Laboratory (3)
160 Digital Logic Techniques: Lecture (1.5)
161 Digital Logic Techniques: Lab (1.5)
170 Applications of Natural Language Processing (3)
171 Natural Language Processing (3)*
172 Information Retrieval (3)*
181 Models of Languages and Computation (3)
190 Topics in Computer Science (1-3)
GRADUATE CORE COURSES
202 Algorithm Analysis (3)
203 Parallel and Distributed Computing (3)
204 Software Design and Implementation (3)
205 Scientific and Geometric Computation (3)
206 Computer Architecture and Implementation (3)
ADVANCED GRADUATE COURSES
228 Advanced Analysis of Algorithms (3)
230 Data-Base Management Systems (3)
232 Real-Time Systems (3)
233 Discrete Event Simulation (3)*
235 Images, Graphics, and Vision (3)
236 Computer Graphics (3)
238 Raster Graphics (3)
239 Exploring Virtual Worlds (3)
240 Compiler Design (3)
241 Advanced Compiler Design (3)
242 Advanced Operating Systems (3)
243 Distributed Systems and Networks (3)
244 Advanced Programming Languages (3)
245 Functional Programming (3)
246 Logic Programming (3)
248 Semantics and Program Correctness (3)
249 Advanced Distributed Systems (3)
252 Monte Carlo Methods (3)
254 Image Processing and Analysis (3)
255 Computer Vision (3)
257 Visual Solid Shape (3)
258 Geometric Solid Modeling (3)
265 Advanced Computer Architecture (3)
267 Advanced Computer Implementation (3)
268 VLSI Systems Design (3)
269 Advanced Design of VLSI Systems (3)
273 Neural Networks (3)
275 Expert Systems (3)
277 Visual Perception (3)*
282 Mechanized Mathematical Inference (3)
286 Discrete Optimization: Algorithms and Complexity (3)*
288 Information Theory (3)
289 Error-Correcting Codes (3)
290 Topics in Computer Science (1-3)
291 Professional Writing in Computer Science (3)
321 Technical Communication in Computer Science (1)
322 Seminar in Professional Practice (1)
323 Seminar in Research (1)
324 Computers and Society (1)
345 Software Engineering Seminar (0.5)
390 Research Seminar in Computer Science (0.5-3)
391 Reading and Research (1-3)
393 Master's Thesis (0-6)
394 Doctoral Dissertation (0-6)
M.S. REQUIREMENTS
Updated: 5 June 1995
This document lists the combined requirements of the Graduate School and of the Department of Computer Science (COMP) and supersedes all previous issues. Reference is occasionally made for further details to the Graduate School Handbook (GSH). Page references are to the 1992 edition. Apparent errors in the present document should be called to the attention of the Director of Graduate Studies.
ADVISING
When a student enrolls, a faculty member is appointed to serve as the student's program adviser. If a student elects to write a thesis, he or she selects a thesis adviser, who normally replaces the program adviser and chairs the student's committee. A student who wishes to change program adviser for some other reason may do so in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies.
ADMINISTRATION
The Graduate Studies Committee (a standing committee of the Department faculty, chaired by the Director of Graduate Studies) interprets degree requirements, approves plans of study, and acts on petitions from students to the Department and to the Graduate School.
A full-time Student Services Manager maintains student records, answers student queries, and directs student requests to the Graduate Studies Committee and to the Graduate School. All student requests should be made through the Student Services Manager, usually on forms available from the Manager, whose office is Sitterson 133.
COURSE REQUIREMENT
Thirty semester hours of courses (numbered 100 or higher) must be taken, of which at least 18 hours must be in COMP and may include up to six hours of thesis research (COMP 393). The choice of courses is subject to approval by the Graduate Studies Committee. Registration in COMP 390 for research team meetings does not count toward the course requirement. Other registration in COMP 390 does count.
Each student is responsible for mastering the content of the following core courses, but is not specifically required to take any of them. The student's mastery of content will be tested by the Comprehensive examination.
COMP 202 (3 hrs) Algorithm Analysis
COMP 203 (3 hrs) Parallel and Distributed Computing
COMP 204 (3 hrs) The Design and Implementation of Software
COMP 205 (3 hrs) Scientific and Geometric Computation
COMP 206 (3 hrs) Computer Architecture
Up to six semester hours of graduate credit may be transferred from another accredited institution, or for courses taken at UNC-CH before admission to the Graduate School, or for courses taken in a different graduate program at UNC-CH, in partial fulfillment of the 30-hour requirement (GSH 14-15). Course transfers must be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee and by the Graduate School. Courses taken (while enrolled in the UNC-CH Graduate School) at Duke University, N.C. Central University, N.C. State University, UNC-Charlotte, and UNC-Greensboro count as home courses requiring no formal transfer (GSH 13-14).
Before completing the first 18 hours of courses, the student shall submit to the Graduate Studies Committee (on form CS-3) a proposed plan of study chosen after consultation with (but not necessarily approved by) the program adviser. The student may submit a plan early
to find out what will be acceptable, and may specify choices such as "Course x or Course y", retaining the right to make the choice later if it is approved.
Each student is strongly urged to elect at least three hours taught by a department other than COMP, unless the student has an unusually broad background.
The course modules COMP 220-227 are artifacts of registration that permit an entering student to take part of a core course for part of the credit. Thus a student who is familiar with the content of part of a core course, but not the whole course, is not forced to choose between omitting the course and taking all of it. This helps a student with more than minimum preparation to make room for more appropriate courses.
The election of a minor field is optional and infrequent. If a minor is elected, it must include at least 9 hours of courses that are taught by departments other than COMP (and not merely cross-listings of COMP courses). The minor must also meet all the requirements described in GSH 7.
In the rare event that one COMP graduate student takes a course taught by another COMP graduate student, the Director of Graduate Studies should be consulted to determine whether credit can be granted.
PROGRAM PRODUCT REQUIREMENT
Each student is required to have programmed and documented a program product. A nonexhaustive list of ways to meet the requirement includes: (1) having been a programmer (not simply a manager) on a team in the Software Engineering Laboratory course (COMP 145); (2) having written a large program in industry; and (3) having written a program product as part of an M.S. thesis or Ph.D. dissertation project. The student must file Form CS-13 to document completion of the requirement.
TECHNICAL WRITING REQUIREMENT
Each student must satisfy a technical writing requirement, and can elect any one of three options.
Writing Course Option.
The most common method of satisfying the technical writing requirement is to pass the Professional Writing in Computer Science course (COMP 291). The course includes study of writing techniques and the writing of an English-language paper of approximately 5000 words on an approved topic in computer science. The paper may be either an academic paper or an instance of some other type of writing typically produced by an M.S. computer scientist in the course of professional work. Approval of the topic is at the discretion of the COMP 291instructor.
The paper is reviewed by two readers, and revised by the student as necessary. One reader is the COMP 291 instructor; the other is a person--usually, but not necessarily, also a member of the Graduate Faculty--approved by the COMP 291 instructor. One requirement for passing COMP 291 is that both readers judge an academic paper to be of M.S. thesis quality with respect to both substance and presentation, or a nonacademic paper to be of comparable professional quality with
respect to both substance and presentation.
Thesis Option.
A written thesis is based either on research or on the solution and documentation of a substantial problem in application or system programming. The subject is chosen jointly by the student and the thesis adviser. The student selects a thesis committee, which normally consists of the thesis adviser plus two other members of the Graduate Faculty. The student must submit a brief written thesis proposal to the committee members during the early stages of thesis work. Selection of the committee is described in further detail under "Committee Composition".
The thesis must meet normal standards of scholarly writing and prescribed standards of form (GSH 22 and the Graduate School document A Guide to the Preparation and Submission of Theses and
Dissertations). Further important details are presented in the Departmental document Preparation of Theses and Dissertations.
The student must register for at least three hours, but not more than six hours, of thesis (COMP 393). Registration for COMP 393 can reduce to 24 the number of hours of non-research courses that the student must take.
A student who elects to write a thesis must make an oral presentation of the thesis to the committee. Before this presentation can take place, the adviser and at least one other member of the student's committee must agree that the thesis is in substantially finished form. The student may elect that the presentation be public. In that event the student gives a 50-minute presentation of the thesis, followed by questions from the committee and then from the audience. If the committee wishes, it may continue to question the student in private. If the student elects a private presentation, it will be of such form and duration as are prescribed by the committee. Public presentations are encouraged as a means of keeping the faculty and students of the department informed of current research and development activities, and to give the student experience in public speaking.
The thesis presentation is technically a Final Oral examination. The student may elect to combine it with the Oral Comprehensive examination on course work into a single examination, provided that the scheduling requirements for both have been met. This election is independent of whether to present the thesis publicly.
Outside Review Option.
A student who has written certain technical material in academic or nonacademic work may use that material to satisfy the writing requirement. The student should apply to the Graduate Studies
Committee on Form CS-4. The relevant documentation should be attached; it will be returned. Members of the Committee are normally willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement and read proprietary documents in confidence. Approval requires a two-thirds vote of the Graduate Studies Committee.
Documents may be accepted as satisfying this option only when all the following conditions have been met.
a. The document is written in the English language.
b. The student is the principal author of the document.
If there are co-authors, each will be asked to acknowledge that the student did the bulk of the writing.
c. The document has technical content and is approximately 5000 words long (or longer).
d. The document has been reviewed, evaluated, and approved for both style and content by each of at least two readers.
e. The review process was such that the result of a negative review would have been rejection of the document.
f. The review process was unrelated to this writing requirement.
Documents that satisfy this option include (1) Ph.D. dissertations and M.S. theses with technical content, and (2) most articles (of sufficient length and appropriate content) published in refereed
journals or conference proceedings. Documents that do not satisfy this policy include (1) term papers and project reports for UNC-CH COMP courses, and (2) papers written primarily to satisfy this option. Publication in an unrefereed collection does not disqualify a document that otherwise satisfies this option.
COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION
At the end of their program of study, students must pass a Comprehensive examination. The student may elect either an oral or a written examination.
The Oral Comprehensive examination, normally about two hours in length, is held when course work is completed or final courses are in progress. A student who elects to write a thesis is examined by the thesis committee. A student who elects another writing option is examined by a committee appointed for the purpose, as described in further detail under "Committee Composition". The examination covers the core courses and all other courses in the student's approved program of study, excluding COMP 291, up to a maximum of 24 hours of courses if the student elects the thesis option, or 30 hours if the student elects one of the other two options.
To reduce the number of courses to 30 (24) hours, the student may specify one or more non-core courses to be excluded. The relative emphasis upon the several courses is decided by the examining committee, which will inform the student of its decision, in writing, well in advance of the examination. The student is responsible for arranging the time and place of the examination.
The Written Comprehensive examination tests the student's mastery of the core course material. It is an examination of minimal comprehensive coverage of the core including the undergraduate component thereof. It tests mastery of definitions, concepts, and approaches. It may, but need not, have questions integrating material across courses. Because it is a test of knowledge, it should require minimal creativity to pass. The examination, which lasts not more than six hours, is offered twice per year.
If failed, the Comprehensive examination may be retaken, only once (except by petition), after a lapse of at least three months. The student may elect an oral or a written form for the second examination, independently of the form of the first. If the failure resulted primarily from weakness in a narrow area, the second examination will normally cover only that area of weakness. For an oral examination, the examining committee will notify the student, in writing, of the scope of the second examination. For a written examination, the departmental Examinations Committee will so notify the student.
COMMITTEE COMPOSITION
The student's thesis committee or Comprehensive examination committee is appointed by the Director of Graduate Studies, on the recommendation of the student. The committee must include at least two full members of the Graduate Faculty; at least one committee member must hold the rank of Associate Professor or higher. The student should use Form CS-5 to propose the composition of the committee.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
There is no foreign language requirement. The faculty believes, however, that competence in a modern foreign language is an important asset for a computer scientist. Therefore it recommends language study to prospective students.
OTHER REQUIREMENTS AND POLICIES
Two semesters of residence credit must be earned (GSH 7, 17-18). This is an automatic consequence of completing the 30 semester hours within 5 years at this campus. Applications for admission to candidacy and for award of the degree must be filed as stated in GSH 21-22.
All degree requirements must be completed within five calendar years from the date of the student's first registration in the Graduate School, whether in COMP or in another graduate program. As much as two years of time spent in active military service, the Peace Corps, or VISTA will not be counted, provided that the Department and the Graduate School approve. Also, student may request a leave of absence for a definite, stated time, not to exceed one year. If the Department and Graduate School approve, the duration of the leave is not counted against the time limit (GSH 9). Full-time master's students who are funded by the Department normally do not receive funding beyond their fourth semester.
If degree requirements change during a student's stay in the Department, the student has the option of continuing under the old rules or switching and satisfying all the new rules. In other words, the student can elect any point in time during his or her stay in the Department and satisfy the rules in effect at that point.
An exception to any rule may be requested for cause by petition. Decisions made by individual faculty members or by committees may be appealed to the Department faculty as a whole.