Master of Science Official Degree Requirements - January 1, 1999

January 1, 1999
(minor revisions August 1, 1999)

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 1999 edition. Apparent errors in the present document should be called to the attention of the Director of Graduate Studies.

ADVISING

When a student enrolls in the department, a faculty member is appointed to serve as the student's initial Program Adviser.

While the department administration tries to match student and advisor interests in the assignment of initial Program Advisors, these assignments are based on incomplete information and are not binding. Students can change the faculty advisor as appropriate as the student's plans and interests change.

Advisors provide advice, of course, but they are also contact points for advising bulletins, registration PINs, and alerting the student to academic progress milestones. During the faculty's review of student progress, the program advisor is called upon to describe the student's progress and discuss any problems or delays in that progress.

Consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies is recommended in advance of a change of advisor for any reason other than designation of the research director as the program advisor. (Changes of advisor for that reason are completely normal and almost automatically approved.)

If a student elects to write a thesis for the M.S. degree, the thesis adviser should be designated the official program adviser and chair of the student's guidance committee.

To request a change of advisor, the student should send the request by e-mail to the Student Services Manager with copies to the Director of Graduate Studies and the involved faculty (old and new advisors). Such requests are usually approved without comment, but factors such as faculty load sometimes intervene.

The Director of Graduate Studies serves as the backup advisor for routine signatures in case the program advisor is not available.

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 made available on the department home web or from the Manager, whose office is 147 Sitterson Hall. The Manager will handle the forms or forward them to the appropriate office.

COURSES

Thirty (30) semester hours of courses numbered 100 or higher must be taken, of which at least 18 hours must be in Computer Science (designated COMP in the catalog) of which up to 6 hours may be COMP 393: Master's Thesis Research. The choice of courses is subject to approval by the Graduate Studies Committee in the mandatory review of the M.S. Program of Study (Form CS-3). Registrations for COMP 390 for research team meetings (denoted by section numbers > 100) do not
count toward the credit hours requirement; other COMP 390 registrations do count.

Each student is responsible for mastering the content of the following core courses, but it 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 from 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 total credits requirement (GSH 2.7).

Course transfers should be indicated on the Program of Study form and must be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee and by the Graduate School. The Graduate School may require the student to pass an examination on the course content before approving the transfer.

Courses taken 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 2.20).

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 encouraged to elect at least three hours taught by a department other than COMP, unless the student has an unusually broad background.

The courses COMP 220-227 are a device called "module courses" that permit a student to take part of a course for part of the credit. Thus a student who is familiar with the content of part of a 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 better than minimum preparation to make room for more advanced courses in the student's area of interest.

The decision to create a module of a course belongs to the instructor of the full course. The student should begin by contacting the instructor to negotiate what the module(s) should cover. The instructor should communicate the decision to the Associate Chairman for Academic Affairs.

Establishment of a module and registration for it must be handled on a case-by-case basis by the Associate Chairman for Academic Affairs and the Registration Coordinator. (The Associate Chairman and Registration Coordinator do not approve or disapprove the instructor's decision, but they must coordinate with the Registrar's office to establish the module, and given the primitive computing support there this must be handled on a case-by-case basis.)

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 2.8.

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 product-quality program product. This means that the student must demonstrate experience in the design, development, and documentation of a software product of significant size and complexity, preferably as part of a team.

The requirement can be satisfied by taking COMP 145: Software Engineering Laboratory or by submitting for review a qualifying product produced in prior employment or academic work. The student must file Form CS-13 to document completion of the requirement.

TECHNICAL WRITING REQUIREMENT

Each student must demonstrate the ability to write a professional-quality technical document. There are three options available for satisfying this requirement, as follows:

Writing Course Option

The most common method of satisfying the Technical Writing Requirement is to take the course Comp 291: Professional Writing in Computer Science. The course includes (a) study of writing techniques and (b) 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 291 instructor.

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. A 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. This option must be reported on Form CS-8.

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 guidance committee of at least three 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.

The thesis must meet normal standards of scholarly writing and prescribed standards of form (GSH 2.44) and the Graduate School document A Guide to the Preparation and Submission of Theses and Dissertations).

The student must register for at least three hours, but not more than six hours, of COMP 393: Masters Thesis. 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 guidance 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 faculty and students 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 M.S. 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.

The student must be registered during the semester(s) in which the M.S. thesis presentation is held. Provided that no use of University faculty time and/or facilities is required, a student need not be registered in the semester in which the degree is to awarded, unless the thesis is defended and submitted to the Graduate School during the same semester.

Outside Review Option

A student who has written certain technical material in academic or nonacademic work may use this 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:

1. The document is written in the English language.
2. 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.
3. The document has technical content and is approximately 5000 words long (or longer).
4. The document has been reviewed, evaluated, and approved
for both style and content by each of at least two readers.
Reviews, and evidence that required changes were made, should be included.
5. The review process was such that the result of a negative review would have been rejection of the document.
6. The review process was unrelated to this writing
requirement.

Documents that satisfy this policy 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 the M.S. program of study, students must pass a comprehensive examination (this is a Graduate School requirement). The student may elect to take either a written or an oral comprehensive exam.

A student must be registered during the semester in which the M.S. Comprehensive Exam is taken.

The Written M.S. Comprehensive Examination tests the student's mastery of the graduate core course material and supporting undergraduate content. In the Department of Computer Science, the Core Comprehensive Exam (CCE) serves as the written form of the M.S. Comprehensive Exam. Most M.S. students in Computer Science satisfy the Written M.S. Comprehensive Exam by taking the CCE. If passed, the Written M.S. Comprehensive Exam can also satisfy the Doctoral Written Exam should the student choose to continue toward the Ph.D. degree.

The student may opt to take an Oral M.S. Comprehensive Exam. Passing an oral M.S. Comprehensive Exam cannot satisfy the Ph.D. Written Exam requirement. The scope of the Oral M.S. Comprehensive Exam is broader than that of the CCE: it may cover all courses listed in the 30
hours of credit required for the degree rather than just core courses.

If the student passes the exam, that fact is reported to the Graduate School by the Department.

If the student fails the exam, the Comprehensive examination may be retaken, only once (again by petition only), 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 may be designated to 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 Committee on Examinations will so notify the student.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

There is no foreign language requirement for the M.S. or for the Ph.D. 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. Moreover, assistantship awards and fellowship recommendations are made taking language study here into account, so as not to penalize students for any prolongation of program resulting from language study.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

Residency

Two semesters of residence credit must be earned (GSH 2.42). This is achieved by the completion of 9 or more hours of course work in each of two semesters or by part time registration over a larger number of semesters. Please refer to the Graduate School Handbook, page 2.42, for the residence credit calculation. Transferred credit will not be included in the residence credit calculation.

Candidacy

Applications for admission to candidacy and for award of the degree must be filed as stated in GSH 2.9.

Time Limit

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, the 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 2.46). 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, he or she has the option of continuing under the old rules or switching and satisfying all the new rules.

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.

A summary and a list of required forms to be filled out are listed below.

SUMMARY AND REQUIRED FORMS
(obtainable from the department home web page or the Student
Services Manager, 147 Sitterson)

By the end of semester 2
* Complete 18 credit hours
* Submit Proposed Program of Study (CS-3) indicating how each
of the M.S. requirements has been or will be met.

During semester 4
* Complete coursework (at least 30 hours in approved Program of
Study)
* Submit Application for Admission to Candidacy and Degree Card (the deadline for these forms is about one month after the beginning of the semester)
* Register for the Core Comprehensive Exam
* Take the comprehensive examination

Satisfying the program product requirement and the writing requirement (can be done at any time)
* Satisfy the program product requirement by review of a product you have developed (Form CS-13) or by passing COMP 145 (note:
offered in Spring only)
* Satisfy the writing requirement:

Option 1: Pass COMP 291 and have the associated paper
accepted by two approved readers (Form CS-8).

Option 2: Appoint an M.S. thesis committee (CS-5).
Submit an approved M.S. thesis.

Pass the Final Oral Examination (thesis presentation).

Option 3: Submit an approved thesis substitute document (CS-4).

Just before you leave . . .
* Turn in office keys and access card to receptionist.
* Submit "Change of Address" forms to the Registrar's Office and the
Payroll Office