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Definition of Transitional M.S. or Ph.D. Student
For purposes of this document, a transitional Ph.D. student is defined to be anyone enrolled in the Ph.D. program during the 2002-2003 academic year who expects to meet his or her degree course requirements through a combination of quarter courses and subsequent semester courses taken here.
Excluded from this definition are Ph.D. students who have completed all required coursework under the quarter system and have also met the total quarter-hour requirements for the Ph.D. under the quarter system, even if they will not have completed all other degree requirements until the semester system is in effect. They are excluded because the remaining requirements (research paper, comprehensive exam, and dissertation defense) are not affected by the change from the quarter system to the semester system.
Similarly, a transitional M.S. student is defined to be any student enrolled in the M.S. program during the 2002-2003 academic year who expects to meet his or her degree course requirements through a combination of quarter courses and subsequent semester courses taken here, as long as this student has completed at least 6 quarter hours by September 2003.
Note that a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for a graduate student's degree requirements to be governed by this document are that his or her graduation date be on or after June 2004. Thus anyone graduating by September 2003 must meet the quarter system requirements currently in effect.
Policy For Transitional M.S. Students
A transitional M.S. student is expected to meet course requirements falling in the following categories, just like any M.S. student under the original quarter system:
• Core courses
• Concentration
• Distribution
• Electives
Each of these is spelled out in more detail below, but first it is useful to examine the overall total course requirements for transitional M.S. students.
Overall Credit Hours
Under the quarter system, students are required to complete a total of at least 48 quarter hours for the M.S. degree, which is equivalent to ¾ * 48 = 36 semester hours. For transitional M.S. students, the number of semester hours remaining to be completed is thus determined by multiplying the total number of quarter hours completed by ¾ and subtracting this from 36. Since each semester course is 4 semester hours, the number of such 4-semester-hour courses that must be taken is then determined by dividing by 4 and truncating to an integer. Because of this truncation, in most cases the actual total number of semester hours will be less than 36. The following table lists the results of this computation:
| Quarter Hours Completed | Semester Hours Remaining | 4-Semester-Hour Courses Remaining |
| 2 | 32 | 8 |
| 4 | 32 | 8 |
| 6 | 28 | 7 |
| 8 | 28 | 7 |
| 8 | 28 | 7 |
| 10 | 28 | 7 |
| 12 | 24 | 6 |
| 14 | 24 | 6 |
| 16 | 24 | 6 |
| 18 | 20 | 5 |
| 20 | 20 | 5 |
| 22 | 16 | 4 |
| 24 | 16 | 4 |
| 26 | 16 | 4 |
| 28 | 12 | 3 |
| 30 | 12 | 3 |
| 32 | 12 | 3 |
| 34 | 8 | 2 |
| 36 | 8 | 2 |
| 38 | 4 | 1 |
| 40 | 4 | 1 |
| 42 | 4 | 1 |
| 44 | 2* | 0.5* |
| 46 | 2* | 0.5* |
Note that any M.S. student who has completed less than 6 quarter hours toward the degree prior to the 2003-2004 academic year must complete 32 semester hours under the semester system, which is identical to the new requirements in place for the M.S. degree under the semester system. (In effect, the quarter hours completed do not count toward the degree.) This is why any M.S. student who has completed less than 6 quarter hours prior to the inception of the semester system is not considered to be a transitional student. All requirements for such students will be determined by the semester system policy, not the transitional policy detailed in this document.
2-Semester-Hour Transition Courses
During the 2003-2004 academic year, a special interim provision will be made to allow students who have completed 44 or 46 quarter hours by September 2003 (and who have otherwise met all transitional core course, distribution, and concentration requirements) to complete their total credit hour requirements under the semester system. In particular, a special course number will be created for a 2 semester-hour course to be named Topics in Computer Science.
To take this specially created interim course, a student must register for it but will actually participate in one of several possible regularly offered 4 semester-hour courses, completing only part of the work for that course and receiving a grade based on that portion of the work completed. The actual arrangements will be worked out by agreement with the instructor of that regular course.
A list of those regularly offered courses for which this special provision is available will be prepared and made available to all students affected prior to the beginning of the Fall semester of 2003. Not all regular courses are expected to offer this option. Furthermore, any student who wishes to obtain the benefit of participating in the entire course must enroll for the regular course, not the 2-semester-hour abbreviated version.
It must be emphasized that this abbreviated-course option is available only to students needing just 2 semester hours to graduate. Furthermore, this option will be provided only during the 2003-2004 academic year and will not be available in subsequent years.
Core Course Requirements
Under the quarter system, students must complete the following core courses:
Principles of Programming Languages (COM3351 or COM3352)
Operating Systems (COM3336 or COM3338)
Analysis of Algorithms (COM3390 or COM3392)
Any transitional MS student who has not completed any one of these core courses by the end of the 2002-2003 academic year must take the corresponding semester course to meet the corresponding core course requirement. The correspondence is as follows:
| Quarter Hours Completed | Quarter Course Semester Course |
| COM3351 (Principles of Prog. Langs.) | CSG111 (Principles of Prog. Langs.) |
| COM3336 (Operating Systems) | CSG112 (Computer Systems) |
| COM3390 (Analysis of Algorithms) | CSG113 (Algorithms) |
| COM3352 (Intensive Princ. of Prog. Langs.) | CSG711 (Intensive Princ. of Prog. Langs.) |
| COM3338 (Intensive Operating Systems) | CSG712 (Intensive Computer Systems) |
| COM3392 (Intensive Analysis of Algorithms) | CSG713 (Advanced Algorithms) |
While a new core course has been added to the M.S. requirements under the semester system (CSG110, Managing Software Development), transitional M.S. students are not required to take this as a core course. However, it may be taken as an elective or to meet the concentration or distribution requirements, as described further below.
Concentration Requirement
Under the quarter system every M.S. student is expected to complete a total of at least 12 quarter hours (3 quarter courses) in one of the concentration areas listed in the Graduate Guidebook. Under the semester system, the corresponding requirement has been changed to 8 semester hours (2 semester courses). Any transitional student expecting to meet this requirement with a combination of quarter and semester courses should consult the following table:
| Quarter Hours Completed in Concentration Area | Semester Hours Remaining to Take in Concentration Area |
| 0 | 8 |
| 4 | 4 |
| 8 | 4 |
| 12 | 0 |
For purposes of meeting this concentration requirement, the semester system core course CSG110 (Managing Software Development) can be counted as belonging to the Software Engineering concentration if taken by a transitional M.S. student.
Distribution Requirement
Although the distribution requirement is no longer part of the semester system M.S. requirements, a simpler version of it remains in effect for transitional M.S. students. The distribution requirement for transitional M.S. students will be met by taking any two computer science courses in two different areas, both different from the concentration area. These two courses may be any combination of quarter and semester courses, as detailed in the following table:
| Quarter Courses Completed Toward Distribution Requirement | Semester Courses Remaining Toward Distribution Requirement |
| 0 | 2 |
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 0 |
| 3 | 0 |
If a transitional student's concentration is not Software Engineering, the semester system core course CSG110 (Managing Software Development) may be taken and is eligible to be counted toward the distribution requirement.
Electives
The remaining courses in a transitional M.S. student's program are counted as electives. The number of hours of electives a student must take is determined by the number of overall hours required minus the number of hours devoted to core courses, concentration area courses, and distribution requirement courses. The number of elective courses a given transitional M.S. degree student will have room for may range from 1 to 3, but most students will take 2 electives.
Correspondence Between Quarter and Semester Courses
The following table lists for each semester course a quarter course (or logical combination of quarter courses) to which it is considered to correspond. The purpose of this correspondence is twofold: (1) degree credit will not be granted for both a semester course and the corresponding quarter course(s); and (2) semester course prerequisites can be translated into quarter course prerequisites based on this correspondence [1].
| Semester Course | Corresponding Quarter Course(s) |
| CSG106 Lisp Lab [2] | COM3112 |
| CSG110 Managing Software Development | COM3205 | ECE3311 |
| CSG111 Principles of Programming Langs. | COM3351 |
| CSG112 Computer Systems | (COM3336 | COM3338) & COM3200 |
| CSG113 Algorithms | COM3390 |
| CSG711 Intensive Principles of Prog. Langs. | COM3352 |
| CSG712 Intensive Computer Systems | COM3338 & COM3200 |
| CSG713 Advanced Algorithms | COM3392 |
| CSG714 Theory of Computation | COM3710 & COM3350 |
| CSG120 Foundations of Artificial Intelligence | COM3410 | COM3411 |
| CSG220 Machine Learning | COM3480 |
| CSG222 Knowledge-Based Systems | COM3420 |
| CSG224 Natural Language Processing | COM3440 |
| CSG130 Introduction to Database Systems | COM3315 |
| CSG131 Implementation of DB Mgmt. Systems | COM3316 |
| CSG140 Computer Graphics | COM3370 |
| CSG142 Digital Image Processing | COM3471 |
| CSG144 Pattern Recog. & Computer Vision | COM3450 & COM3470 |
| CSG150 Fund. of Computer Networking | COM3510 |
| CSG151 Principles of Internetworking | COM3515 |
| CSG250 Wireless Networks | COM3525 |
| CSG252 Cryptography and Comm. Security | COM3520 |
| CSG254 Network Security | None |
| CSG260 Advanced Software Development | COM3360 & COM3362 |
| CSG262 Compilers | COM3355 |
| CSG264 Semantics of Programming Langs. | COM3357 |
| CSG170 Computer-Human Interaction | COM3375 |
| CSG270 Methods of Software Development | COM3230 & (COM3240 | COM3360) |
| CSG272 Analysis of Software Artifacts | COM3220 & COM3230 |
| CSG274 Formal Methods & Software Analysis | COM3220 |
| CSG280 Parallel Architecture & Algorithms | COM3620 & COM3640 |
| CSG290 Distributed Algorithms | COM3395 |
Policy For Transitional Ph.D. Students
Overall Hours
All transitional Ph.D. students will be required to have completed a total of 16 semester hours after the M.S. degree or 48 semester hours after the B.S./B.A. degree. A transitional Ph.D. student's overall semester hours will be determined by adding ¾ of the student's quarter hour total to the student's semester hour total.
Specific Course Requirements and Recommendations
For students who entered the Ph.D. program during or before the 2001-2002 academic year:
By the end of the 2002-2003 academic year, such students should have completed all 7 core courses:
COM3352 (Intensive Principles of Programming Languages)
COM3338 (Intensive Operating Systems)
COM3392 (Intensive Analysis of Algorithms)
COM3710 (Automata)
COM3350 (Theory of Computation)
COM3200 (Architecture)
COM3841 (Ph.D. Seminar) [2 quarters]
Any student who has not completed these requirements by June 2003 (or who needs to retake any of these courses under the semester system) will be given individual semester transition advising on a case-by-case basis.
For students who enter the Ph.D. program in the Fall of 2002:
During the 2002-2003 academic year take these 4 core courses:
COM3352 (Intensive PPL) [Fall 2002]
COM3200 (Architecture) [Winter 2003]
COM3338 (Intensive OS) [Spring 2003]
COM3841 (Ph.D. Seminar) [Fall 2002 & Winter 2003]
Any student who has not completed the above quarter courses by June 2003 (or who will need to retake any of these courses under the semester system) will be given individual semester system advising on a case-by-case basis.
During the 2003-2004 academic year take these core courses:
CSG713 (Advanced Algorithms) [Fall 2003]
CSG714 (Theory of Computation) [Spring 2004]
For students who enter the Ph.D. program in the Winter of 2002:
During the 2002-2003 academic year take:
These 2 core courses:
COM3200 (Architecture) [Winter 2003]
COM3338 (Intensive OS) [Spring 2003]
One course in the chosen concentration area
During the 2003-2004 academic year take:
These core courses:
CSG712 (Intensive PPL) [Fall 2003]
CSG713 (Advanced Algorithms) [Fall 2003]
CSG714 (Theory of Computation) [Spring 2004]
CSG719 (Research Overview of CS) [Fall 2003 and Spring 2004]
A second course in the chosen concentration area
* These cases are not computed according to the rule given above but are instead governed by the constraint that transitional students must complete their requirements under the semester system. For details, see the section 2-Semester-Hour Transition Courses.
[1] Because these correspondences are only approximate at best, a student who expects to meet a semester system course prerequisite with the corresponding quarter system course should always consult an advisor (or better, the course instructor) to insure that his/her background is adequate.
[2] CSG 106 Lisp Lab is no longer offered by the college.