Department of Computer and Information Science

 

M.S. Degree in Engineering Science (Computer Science)

Revised: February 14, 2005

Forms

General

The M.S. degree program in Engineering Science (Computer Science) is one of the graduate degree programs of the School of Engineering administered through the Graduate School of the University of Mississippi. Students in this program must comply with all the rules and satisfy all the requirements set by the Graduate School and the School of Engineering. In addition, the Department of Computer and Information Science (CIS) has the following rules and requirements.

Admission

The student must be recommended for admission to the M.S. degree program by the Department of Computer and Information Science. To be admitted into the M.S. degree program a student should:

  1. Possess a Bachelor's degree or equivalent,
  2. Have a B average on all undergraduate work (3.0 on a 4.0 scale),
  3. Submit a competitive score on the General GRE,
  4. Submit a minimum score of 550 on the TOEFL (for international students),
  5. Satisfy the undergraduate core requirements, which consist of twelve essential engineering science courses, specifically:
    • Computer Programming I (CSCI 111)
    • Computer Programming II (CSCI 112)
    • File Systems (CSCI 211)
    • Computer Organization and Assembly Language (CSCI 223)
    • Fundamental Concepts in Computing (CSCI 500)
    • Fundamental Concepts in Systems (CSCI 501)
    • Fundamental Concepts in Algorithms (CSCI 502)
    • Fundamental Concepts in Languages (CSCI 503)
    • Unified Calculus and Analytic Geometry I (MATH 261)
    • Unified Calculus and Analytic Geometry II (MATH 262)
    • Discrete Mathematics (MATH 301)
    • Applied Modern Algebra (MATH 302)

The graduate catalog defines the following three types of degree-seeking admissions:

  1. Full Standing Admission: Students who meet all of the admission requirements may be admitted in full standing.
  2. Conditional Admission: Students who meet most (but not all) of the admission requirements may be admitted conditionally. The conditions of admission will be stated in the admission letter. Students with such admission status may take graduate-level courses counted toward the M.S. degree requirements. However, the specified conditions admission must be met within one semester of enrollment; otherwise, the student's admission status will be changed from conditional admission to qualifying for admission (see below). The student must remain at the qualifying for admission status until his or her admission conditions are met. It is every student's responsibility to satisfy his or her conditions for admission as soon as possible after acceptance.
  3. Qualifying for Admission: Student who have a number of deficiencies may possibly be admitted to a qualifying for admission status. Graduate students in this status are restricted to enrolling in courses at the undergraduate level (400 level and below) which may not be counted toward the M.S. degree requirements. On admission, students with qualifying for admission status are typically required to take designated undergraduate-level courses at the University of Mississippi to satisfy the undergraduate core requirements. The student must maintain a grade point average of B or better (with no grade lower than a C) on those designated undergraduate-level courses. At the time of completion or near completion of those designated undergraduate-level courses, the student may petition the Graduate Committee of the Department of Computer and Information Science to be promoted to full standing admission.

Application Deadlines

The application deadline for admissiosn and financial aid decisions are:

  • April 1, for summer term and fall semester admissions and financial aid
  • October 1, for spring semester admissions and financial aid

The applications available on those dates will be processed as promptly as possible, within one month of the closing date. Admission decisions will be based on the space available and the criteria and preferences explained elsewhere. Applications received after the deadline will be considered if space is available, but such applications will normally not be considered until the next appropriate application deadline.

M.S. Degree Requirements

  1. Research project option: (a) 30 semester hours credit of approved course work, of which three semester hours credit must be earned from an independent study research project (enrollment in ENGR693), (b) a written project paper, and (c) a successful completion of a final public oral examination over the work in the research project area. The project can be a survey of results in a particular research area, a design and implementation of a known idea, or a thorough study of a research problem.
  2. Thesis option: (a) 30 semester hours credit of approved course work, of which six semester hours credit must be earned from thesis (enrollment in ENGR 697), (b) a written thesis, and (c) successful completion of a final public oral examination over the work in the thesis area.

Other Requirements

The following rules are applicable to both the thesis and research project options.

  1. Each student must consult his or her permanent advisor to set up a tentative program of study as early as possible after entry into the program. Upon acceptance into the program, each student will be assigned to a temporary advisor in the CIS department. It is the student's responsibility to obtain a permanent advisor from the CIS department no later than the beginning of the second term of study (excluding the summer term). The completed Declaration of Permanent Advisor and Plan of Study forms should be filed with the Graduate Committee at that time. Every student must obtain approval of his or her (temporary or permanent) advisor for registration.
  2. Each student is encouraged to begin formulating a plan of research early in their studies. By the end of the first 12 hours of graduate work, the student must present a Research Proposal Form to the Graduate Committee (via the departmental secretary). The purpose of the form is to identify members of the Master's Degree Committee and their acceptance of the line of research proposed by the student. This form must bear the signatures of three graduate faculty members willing to serve on the committee and should clearly identify the chairperson of the committee, who will also serve as the supervisor of the research and the student's permanent advisor. In addition to specifying whether the student is seeking the research project or thesis option, the proposal must include a short description of the research and a timetable for completion of the work.

    The committee chairperson must be a member of the graduate faculty of the Department of Computer and Information Science. A second member of the committee must be a member of the graduate faculty of the CIS department as well. It is expected that the student will take a course(s) from each committee member. It is understood that the proposal is preliminary and modifications of the research plan may occur. If a significant deviation should occur, a new Research Proposal Form must be filed with the Graduate Committee by the end of the first week of the semester in which the student expects to graduate. The new form should explain the changes to the plan, and must be approved by each member of the student's Masters Degree Committee.

  3. All students will be required to maintain a minimum graduate overall GPA of 3.0 until completion of the degree. Should the student's overall GPA fall below 3.0, the student will be allowed to make up the deficiency in a probation period of one semester (Fall, Spring, or a full Summer) if the student is full-time, or another nine credit hours if the student is part-time. If the overall GPA at the end of this probation period is still below 3.0, the student will be dismissed from the degree program.
  4. A student must complete the M.S. course distribution requirement; that is, a student must successfully complete at least two courses from any one area listed below and at least one course from each of the other two areas:

    Applications

    • CSCI 517 Natural Language Processing
    • CSCI 531 Artificial Intelligence
    • CSCI 541 Expert Systems
    • CSCI 562 Software Engineering
    • CSCI 575 Database Management Systems

    Systems

    • CSCI 523 Operating Systems
    • CSCI 524 Distributed Operating System Design
    • CSCI 525 Compiler Construction
    • CSCI 530 Computer Architecture and Design
    • CSCI 561 Computer Networks

    Theory

    • CSCI 533 Analysis of Algorithms
    • CSCI 550 Program Semantics and Derivation
    • CSCI 555 Functional Programming

    Note that 600-level (6xx) Computer Science courses may be allowed to count in the distribution; an Exception to Curriculum Form must be filed in this case.

  5. No more than six semester hours may be transferred from another university and applied toward the M.S. degree requirements (as per the Graduate School Catalog).
  6. Courses numbered lower than 510 may not be counted toward the 30 hours required for the M.S. degree. (In particular, CSCI 500, CSCI 501, CSCI 502, and CSCI 503 may not be counted toward the M.S. degree requirements.)
  7. In addition to the thesis or project course, a student may count up to two non-regular courses (6 hours) toward their degree. For the purpose of this document, a non-regular course is:
    • an independent study, or
    • any other course not listed in the published class schedule (unless it was added and advertised by the department as open to all students).
  8. In addition to the thesis or research project course, a minimum of nine semester hours must be regular Computer Science courses at the 600-level (e.g., ENGR 6xx).
  9. By the start of classes of the semester in which the student expects to graduate, the student must submit a Graduate Application for Degree Form to the graduate committee.
  10. A final public oral examination (which consists of a presentation of the project or thesis, followed by a question and answer period) must be taken during the semester in which a student expects to complete his or her degree requirements. Requests for oral examinations must reach the Graduate Dean's office 14 days prior to the anticipated date of the oral examination. No student will be allowed to take the final oral examination while the student is not fully admitted or is in a probation period.
  11. The date and time of the oral examination will be announced to the University community. The presentation will be open to the public. Only members of the student's Masters Degree Committee will determine whether or not the student passes the examination. Any student who fails the final oral examination twice will be dropped from the M.S. program.
  12. A copy of the thesis or project paper in its final draft form should be submitted to each committee member seven days before the scheduled date for the oral examination.
  13. Any exception to these rules must be requested using the departmental Exception to Curriculum Form and must be approved, in writing, by the Graduate Committee of the CIS Department.

Forms

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Last Updated: Wednesday, January 18, 2006, 11:59:06 CST