Notes about MS Computer Science degree
policies
B. Wilkinson
Modification date Jan 11, 2011
Courses
that count for MS degree
- New
for those entering Spring 2010 or later. (Does not apply to students
who entered the MS Computer Science program before Spring 2010.)
- All courses taken to satisfy the core requirement must each
be passed with an “A” grade or a “B” grade.
- The three courses taken to satisfy the concentration
requirement must each be passed with an “A” grade or a “B” grade.
- No more than two C's can be used towards a graduate degree (a
university policy) and no more than two C's must be listed on your
candidacy form. ONLY
list those
30
hours that you wish to apply towards
the degree. The GPA on theses course must compute to 3.0 or greater.
- Core subject courses: ITCS 5102, ITCS 6112, and ITCS
6114 cannot be used as concentration courses. ITCS 5141 could
possibly be if not used as a core course.
- Nine hours of coursework are allowed from outside Computer
Science
but must be approved by your advisor
and must have significant
Computer Science content. Those
courses listed in our
ADKD certificate program can be used. ITIS courses are regarded
as outside CS.
- Only one individual study course is allowed (3 hours).
- ITCS 6490 Industrial Internship does not count
towards your 30 hrs for the MS CS degree.
- Only courses that are listed on the degree checksheet
as breadth courses can be used as breadth courses, i.e. no others
courses are allowed.
- One course used a breadth course can be also counted as part of
the concentration with approval, leaving two additional courses to
complete the concentration requirement.
ITIS courses
- In general, all graduate ITIS courses (5xxx and 6xxx) are
acceptable as free electives. (Note seven courses (21 hrs) must
be ITCS courses.)
- ITIS 5160 Applied Databases and ITCS 6160
Databases cannot both
be used towards the MS CS degree. Only ITCS
6160 is a breadth course. ITIS 5160 CANNOT BE USED AS A BREADTH COURSE.
ITIS 5160 can generally be used for a
database concentration or a free elective if ITCS 6160 is not taken,
but it counts as a non-CS course. Note also ITIS
5160 is a 5000 level course, see 15 hour rule below.
- Certain ITIS courses can be used in a concentration with
the adviser's approval.
- Example -- ITIS 5166 Network-Based Application
Development is suitable in a distributed computing concentration
with ITCS 5145 and ITCS 5146.
(Note two of the three
concentration courses must be ITCS courses.)
- CS students must take the ITCS section of cross listed ITCS/ITIS
courses such as ITCS/ITIS 6112 as registering for the ITIS section may
deny SIS students of a place.
If the SIS dept formally accepts CS students into their ITIS 6112
or ITIS 6114 sections, the course will be accepted as the
corresponding ITCS course, i.e. as ITCS 6112 or ITCS 6114
and will directly count as a CS course but this accommodation may
change in the future.
Elective courses outside CS/SIS
All courses used as free electives must have
the prior approval of your adviser and must be related to Computer
Science and be at the graduate level. You cannot take any graduate course and
count it in the MS CS program! The course(s) must also have
relationship with your plan of study. The following is for guidance:
- MBA courses: The MBA courses lised in the the Graduate
Certificate in Advanced Databases and Knowledge Discovery are
acceptable.
- ECE courses: Graduate Computer Engineering courses are in
general acceptable.
- Math courses: Graduate Math courses are acceptable if it
can be shown to have relationship with your plan of study.
IN ALL CASES, PRIOR APPROVAL MUST BE OBAINED FROM YOUR ADVISER.
Interpretation
of 21/15 hour rules
Degree requirements say
- At
least 21 hours must be from the Department of Computer Science.
- At
least 15 hours must be 6000 level or above courses.
21 hours must be ITCS courses. However, we will accept ITCS and
IT IS courses for the 15 hours that must be at the 6000 level
6-year rule
apply
Graduate courses used as part of the 30 hours require revalidation if
older than 6 years (Graduate School rule). No
course over 8 years old can be revalidated.
Undergraduate prerequisite
courses do not require formal revalidation.
I grade
(Incomplete)
(From graduate catalog) "The grade of “ I” is assigned at the
discretion of the instructor when a student who is otherwise passing
has not, due to circumstances beyond his/her control, completed all the
work in the course. The missing work must be completed and the final
grade reported within one calendar year from the date on which the “I”
grade was recorded. The instructor assigning the “I” grade may specify
a shorter time than one year for completion of the work and the
assignment of a final grade. If the “I” is not removed during the
specified time, a grade of “U” or “ N” as appropriate is automatically
assigned."
Generally, students will not be able to extend an I grade beyond one
semester and in any event there must be a valid reason for an I grade.
IP grade (In
Progress)
(From graduate catalog) "The grade of “IP” is based on coursework for
courses that extend over more than one semester. For example, a course
that requires enrollment for two consecutive semesters would be
eligible for an “IP” grade in the first term (i.e., Certificate
Project, Master’s Thesis, Master’s Project, Doctoral Dissertation,
etc.)"
Transferring
graduate courses from
other
institutions taken prior to coming to UNC-C
(or taken at UNC-C before entering
the MS program)
Student to fill in a Transfer Credit form, providing all
documentation of course including transcripts, catalog descriptions,
class tests etc. Maximum of 6 hours
can
be transferred but must be approved. Only Computer Science or related
graduate courses that fit into the program are allowed. Transfer
courses that have
direct and agreed correspondence to a numbered ITCS course can be
used to replace the specifically numbered ITCS courses. It may
also be possible to transfer a course to correspond to a ITCS 6010
topics course but in all cases such replacements must have approval and
approval is not automatic. The university is not obliged to accept any
specific transfer course. You cannot transfer
courses that you used for the award of a degree or diploma at another
institution
or another degree at UNC-C (unless there is a special dual degree
arrangement*).
To request a transfer of credit of courses, you will need to fill in a
"Application for Transfer of Credit into a Graduate Degree Program"
form and submit it to the graduate coordinator with attached
information describing the courses such as university catalog entries
and sylabii and a confirmation from UNC-C instructors who
normally teach the equivalent courses at UNC-C that the courses are
equivalent (letter or university email). It is for you to
get this docmented evidence.
*A special arrangement exists for those taking the UNCC 15-hour CS
graduate
certificate programs - all 15 hours can be transferred into the CS MS
program subsequently, but contact the certificate program coordinator
for more information.
ITCS 6880
(Individual Study)
ITCS 6880 (Individual Study) will only be approved with a Computer
Science faculty member as the superviser. If you want a faculty
member from the SIS department as superviser, consider their individual
study course (ITIS 6880). No more
than 3 hours of the 30 hours towards the CS MS degree may be Individual
Study.
ITCS 6991
(Computer Science Thesis)
ITCS 6991 (Computer Science Thesis) must have the majority of the
members of the thesis committee being Computer Science faculty.
Normally, a Computer
Science faculty member is the thesis adviser.
MS Computer Science thesis research requres 6 credit hours, which may
be achieved by registering for the appropriate sections of ITCS 6991
(A01 for 1 hr, B01 for 2 hrs, C01 for 3hrs), normally over more than
one semester.
The six hours of MS Computer Science thesis research may
be counted towards the 9 hours of the student’s approved concentration.
Three additional credit hours of approved related coursework is then
required to complete the concentration requirement.
If you
receive more than 2 C's or a U grade (academic suspension/termination)
If you receive more than 2 C's or a U grade (graduate courses), you
will be suspended from the university and you will be un-registered
from any classes you registered for in the subsequent
semester. The university calender gives the date that
suspension letters are sent to students (a few days after
the last day for grades to be posted). Note:
Suspension/termination letters are done the graduate school and the
graduate coordinator is not involved in these letters being issued.
You may
appeal the suspension as described in the graduate catalog:
"After notification of suspension is received, the student initiates
the appeal procedure by submitting a “Suspension Appeal Form” to the
graduate coordinator/director of his/her academic program explaining
any extenuating circumstances. The graduate coordinator/director will
forward this form to the Graduate School with a recommendation
regarding reinstatement."
If you are re-instated, all subsequent graduate courses must be passed
with a B grade or greater otherwise you will be terminated from the
university.
Grade Point Average
(GPA) and Repeating Graduate Courses The following is from
the 2009/2010 graduate catalog:
(http://graduateschool.uncc.edu/images/stories/catalogs/GraduateCatalog2009-2010.pdf
page 37):
Grade Point
Average (GPA)
The grade point average for a graduate student is based only on those
graduate courses taken at UNC Charlotte. It is determined by
multiplying the number of grade points for each grade (A=4, B=3, C=2,
U=0) by the number of semester hours credit received in that courses
adding all accumulated grade points together, and then dividing by the
total number of semester hours the student has attempted except those
for which the student received a grade of I, IP, W, P, N, AU, or NR.
When a course not listed as "May be repeated for credit" is repeated,
no additional credit hours attempted accrue and the hours earned and
grade points of the previous grade are replaced by those of the current
grade.
Graduate students must have a 3.0 GPA in the courses on their degree
plan of study in order to graduate. However, the grades for all courses
attempted will remain on the transcript and will be included in the
calculation of the student’s GPA as it is reported on the transcript
(except as described in the above paragraph).
Repeating a
Graduate Course
A graduate student will be allowed to repeat a maximum of two courses
in which the student has been assigned a grade of C or U (but not an
I). If the course grade has resulted in suspension or termination of
enrollment, the student must appeal to be reinstated in order to repeat
the course. A given course may be repeated one time only. Each grade
earned in a repeated course is shown on the student’s transcript. The
record of the first attempt will remain a part of the student's
permanent record and will count in the number of marginal (C) grades
accumulated. However, the hours earned and grade in the first attempt
will not be computed in the grade point average. Successfully repeating
a course does not change the number of marginal (C) grades accumulated.
Enrollment will be terminated if a student receives a grade of U in a
repeated course for which the student previously earned a U.