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Department of Computer Science (CPS) (ITC)

The Program
Master of Science
      Admission Requirements
      Degree Requirements
      Plan A
      Plan B
Unspecified Content or Variable Credit Courses
CPS Course Descriptions
ITC Course Descriptions

Department of Computer Science website

Gongzhu Hu, Chairperson
413 Pearce Hall, (989) 774-3774

Thomas E. Ahlswede, Ph.D., Natural Language Processing, Computer Graphics.
Jie Dai, Ph.D., Computer Security, Telecommunication, Software Engineering
Gongzhu Hu, Ph.D., Databases, Distributed Programming, Pattern Recognition
Patrick Kinnecutt, Ph.D., Geostatistics, Science Informatics
Roger Y. Lee, Ph.D., Ph.D., Software Engineering, Object-oriented Modeling
S. N. Jayaram Murthy, Ph.D., Multimedia, Pattern Recognition, Data Mining
Ishwar Rattan, Ph.D., Operating Systems, Distributed Processing
Neelima Shrikhande, Ph.D., Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision, Image Processing
Lal P. S. Singh, Ph.D., Databases, Intelligent Tutoring Systems
Michael C. Stinson, Ph.D., Neural Networks, Software Engineering
Ahmet Ugur, Ph.D., Evolutionary Programming, Generic Algorithms, Biocomputing

The Program
The graduate programs in computer science are supported by a UNIX lab, 3 PC labs and dedicated laboratories for computer graphics, databases, operating systems, networks, and software engineering. In addition, the university's computer network is available.

Some graduate assistantships are available; the application deadline is February 15 for fall and October 1 for spring. Research assistantships may be available depending on funding.
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Master of Science

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Admission Requirements
Conditional admission may be granted upon completion of a bachelor’s degree, including a two semester sequence in a modern programming language with elementary data structures (CPS 180, CPS 181), from an accredited institution with a minimum overall grade point average of 3.0 in the last two years of study, as well as in the programming courses. International students are required to score 550 or higher on the TOEFL exam or satisfy an alternative method for demonstrating English competency. (See section on TOEFL).
 
Regular admission is granted to students who meet the above conditional requirements and have completed the following or the equivalent:

Assembly Language and Computer Organization (CPS 210)
Advanced Data Structures and Algorithms (CPS 340)
Computer Design and Architecture (CPS 360)
Programming Language Concepts (CPS 450)
Introduction to Operating Systems (CPS 470)
Calculus I (MTH 132)
Discrete Mathematics (MTH 175)

Conditionally admitted students who have not met all these requirements will be required to get the department chairperson's permission to register in each graduate course.

CPS 502 could be taken to satisfy the prerequisite requirements in block structured language with elementary data structures. CPS 503 could be taken to satisfy the prerequisite requirements in assembly language and computer organization, design, and architecture.

Students are required to achieve a minimum grade point average of 2.5 in the above-listed courses.

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Degree Requirements
The following requirements apply to both Plan A and Plan B options:

1. Minimum credit hours: 36
    
2. The following courses are required: CPS 542 (3) Analysis and Design of Algorithms CPS 650 (3) Theory and Practice of Complier Construction CPS 670 (3) Operating Systems
    
3. Among the remaining 27 semester hours of electives, at least 21 hours must have the CPS designator. Electives from related areas are selected with approval of the CPS advisor.
    
4. At least 15 semester hours of courses must be at 600-level or above.
   A student who satisfied any of the course requirements prior to entering the program may be excused from that course requirement. However, the 36-hour requirement will not be affected.

Plan A
The 36-hour requirements include 30 hours of coursework, a Masters thesis of 6 hours (CPS 798), and an oral examination on the thesis. For Masters thesis, a Thesis Committee shall be formed according to the procedure outlined in the Thesis, Field Study, or Dissertation section of College of Graduate Studies Bulletin.

Plan B
The requirements include 36 hours of coursework and a Plan B project. A student must complete a substantial written report in computer science or an application of computer science for the Plan B project. Copies of procedures for such projects are available from the department chairperson. The project will ordinarily include a significant original programming component with a written defense of the programming component and must include evidence of scholarly and creative ability. The project must be supervised while in progress and approved by a committee of two faculty members.
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Unspecified content or variable credit courses. Click here for additional information regarding these types of courses. The following courses offered through the department are of unspecified content or variable credit: CPS  596, 597, 696, 697.

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