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Regulations Graduated Studies 2004 - 2005

 

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• 1.  Goals of the Graduate  Program
  	The  Computer Science Department (CSD) at the University of Pittsburgh has a graduate program of study that provides high quality, advanced training in the field of computer science. The program combines course work, supervised research, and independent research, none of which is sufficient alone. Degrees are awarded at both the Master's (M.S.) and Doctoral (Ph.D.) levels. The purpose of the M.S. program is to prepare students for responsible jobs in industry. The purpose of the Ph.D. program is to prepare students for a career of research and/or teaching in computer science. Graduate students are expected to participate actively in their own training, to build a foundation of knowledge in computer science from course work and independent study, to identify interesting problems for their own research, and to contribute to the progress of their fellow students as well as to the science. This brochure lists the regulations for graduate study in the CSD. University regulations, which are listed in the Graduate and Professional Bulletin and the brochure Regulations Governing Graduate Study at the University of Pittsburgh must also be observed and will take precedence. 1  Requests for exceptions to any regulation must be made in writing to the CSD's Graduate Programs and Examinations Committee (GPEC); written approval is required for an exception to be granted.
  2. Academic Standing
  	2.1     Graduate Admission Status   Graduate admission decisions are made by the “Graduate Admissions and Financial Aid Committee” (GAFA). There are three categories of admission status:   2.1.1           Full Graduate Status   A student admitted with full graduate status is certified as meeting all admission requirements in the degree program to which he or she is admitted.   2.1.2          Provisional Graduate Status   A student may be admitted to a degree program with provisional status if his or her background is lacking in some respect in comparison to full admission standards. In the letter of admission with provisional status, the student is given specific performance goals that must be met in order to achieve full status. If the student's advisor detects additional deficiencies at the time the student initially registers, then the set of performance goals may be augmented to include specific additional course requirements. Typically, the performance goals involve either or both of the following:   •       Completing specific courses to remove deficiencies. A grade of B or better must be earned in each of these courses. These courses will not count towards the M.S. or the Ph.D. degrees. •       Completing 12 credits, exclusive of transfer credit, towards the graduate degree sought. A grade of B or better must be earned in each course.   A student admitted with provisional status must satisfy all performance goals before completing 18 credits of course work. Normally this is six courses, or one year of full­time graduate studies. A student who does not satisfy the performance goals within this time limit is subject to dismissal. When the goals have been met, the Department recommends to the Dean of  Arts and Sciences (AS) that the student be advanced to full graduate status. Note that students with provisional status are not allowed:   •       to hold an assistantship or fellowship; •       to register for an M.S. project or thesis; •       to take preliminary or comprehensive examinations for Ph.D.; •       to begin work on the Ph.D. dissertation.   2.1.3          Special (temporary) Status   A student may be admitted temporarily to take specific courses with the consent of GAFA and of the instructors concerned. Special students are not admitted to any degree program.     2.2     Admission/Transfer to a Degree Program   All students, except those with special status, are admitted to either the MS program or to the Ph.D. program. Admission to a particular degree program may be at the request of the applicant or at the discretion of GAFA. Students admitted to the MS program are eligible to complete the requirements for that degree. If they wish to transfer to the Ph.D. program, they must apply to GPEC for a transfer. GPEC will make its decision based on the student's performance in the MS program and on the recommendation of the faculty. Students admitted to the Ph.D. program are not eligible to register for the MS project course or the MS thesis course before they complete (pass or fail) the Ph.D. preliminary examination. Transferring from the Ph.D. program to the MS program is only possible if recommended by GPEC   2.3      Probation   A student with full graduate status may be placed on probation, and thereby notified that his or her progress is unsatisfactory. (Students with provisional status are not placed on probation, because they already have a specified set of performance goals.) Dismissal will follow if performance is not improved according to the criteria listed below in Section 2.3.2.   2.3.1          Placement on Probation   A student may be placed on probation for one or more of the following reasons:     •       Low QPA. Whenever the cumulative Quality Point Average (QPA) of a student falls below 3.0, he or she is automatically placed on probation whether formally notified or not.   •       Incomplete work. When in the judgment of the Department a student's record shows a disproportionate number of G, I, N, or W grades, he or she may be placed on probation. (Note: A definition of the grades given in AS can be found in the Bulletin of AS.)   •       Lack of satisfactory progress. When in the judgment of the Department a student is not making satisfactory progress, he or she may be placed on probation. Examples of unsatisfactory progress include the failure to complete an acceptable number of courses and/or acceptable amount of research each term or year; or delay in taking the preliminary or comprehensive examinations.     2.3.2          Removal from Probation   The criteria for removal from probation depend on the reason(s) the student was originally put on probation:   •       Low QPA. A student put on probation for low QPA must raise his or her cumulative QPA to 3.0 or above by the time twelve additional credits of graduate work are completed.   •       Incomplete work. A student put on probation for incomplete work must complete nine  additional credits of  prescribed graduate study at a rate satisfactory to his or her advisor.   •       Lack of satisfactory progress. A student put on probation for lack of satisfactory progress must complete additional work at the rate prescribed in the letter informing the student that he or she was placed on probation.
  3.  Ph.D. Program
  	A student interested in earning the Ph.D. must be admitted into that program. In particular, only students admitted to the Ph.D. program may take the preliminary examinations, except in unusual circumstances and with the approval of GPEC.   3.1     Ph.D. Course Requirements   The Ph.D. degree requires 72 credits of formal course work, independent study, directed study, and/or dissertation research.   The following courses must be completed:   Course Requirements (see COMPUTER SCIENCE COURSES for course descriptions)   All Students must pass a total of 10 graduate level courses plus the mandatory CS 2001 and CS 2002 (for a total of 12 courses). All courses must be completed with an overall or above at least 2 courses must be at the 3000 level. All coursework must be completed with an overall grade point average of “3.0” or better. Among the 12 required courses there must be at least one course from each of the following specialization areas. Architecture and Compilers CS 2410 Computer Architecture or CS 2210 Compiler Design Operating Systems and Networks CS 2510 Computer Operating Systems or CS 2520 Wide Area Networks Artificial Intelligence and Database Systems CS 2710 Foundations of Artificial Intelligence or CS 2550 Principles of Database Systems Theory and Algorithms CS 2110 Theory of Computation or CS 2150 Design and Analysis of Algorithms. In addition to 12 courses required above, All students must complete CS 2001, Research Topics in Computer Science, and CS 2002, Research Experiences in Computer Science with a grade of “B” or better.   The following requirements apply to the 12 required courses: All must be taken for a letter grade. The student must receive a grade of B or better in each of the required courses, and a grade of C or   better in each of the six additional courses; in addition, he or she must maintain an overall average of B or better.   No more than 6 of the 12 courses may be taken outside of the CSD. This includes courses that are transferred from other universities. All courses from outside the CSD must be approved by GPEC; see Section 5.6 for details. All courses must be at the 2000­ or 3000­level and at least 2 courses must be at the 3000 level. All 12 courses must be successfully completed before admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. (This normally occurs when the student passes the oral examination on the dissertation proposal.) 3.2   Residency Requirement   All students seeking the Ph.D. degree in the CSD must engage in a minimum of one term of full time graduate study by the end of the term in which the comprehensive examination (see Section 3.4) is taken.       3.3 PhD. Preliminary Examinations:    Individual preliminary examinations are given in each of the eight topics that make up the four specialization areas. Each student must pass one preliminary examination in each specialization area for a total of four exams.   Students are required to complete the preliminary examinations by the end of the fourth regular semester of study. Regular semesters include the fall and spring and do not include the summer session.   3.4  Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination:   To pass the comprehensive exam a student must demonstrate sufficient expertise and depth of knowledge in a selected area of specialization to conduct research leading to a dissertation in that area. The comprehensive exam is typically an oral exam and is often administered in conjunction with the presentation of the Ph.D. dissertation proposal.   Normally, the comprehensive exam should be completed within one to two years of completing the preliminary exams.   Research   All Ph.D. students must conduct original research leading to a dissertation. This research must be conducted under the direction of a faculty advisor and begins with the preparation of a dissertation proposal. A written dissertation proposal of approximately 30-40 pages and a presentation of the dissertation proposal are made to a committee of graduate faculty.  This committee will examine the dissertation topic and research methods. The presentation provide an opportunity for substantive feedback from the student's committee.   After obtaining approval of the dissertation proposal from the faculty committee, a student gains the official status of a Ph.D. candidate. At this time the proposed research is conducted under the direction of the faculty advisor. Yearly meetings with the student’s dissertation committee are required.  Upon completion of the research, and subject to agreement from the faculty advisor and committee, the candidate schedules an open meeting at which the dissertation is presented and defended.   3.5 Dissertation Proposal   The intent of requiring a dissertation proposal and an examination on it is to provide opportunities for substantive feedback from a student's committee on the dissertation topic and methods of research. The proposal and examination can aid the student in identifying especially promising research issues and in avoiding work that the committee deems to be unnecessary or inappropriate.   3.5.1 Doctoral Committee   Each student intending to complete a Ph.D. degree should work carefully with his or her advisor to select a doctoral committee. The committee is composed of:   •       the student's advisor, who must be a full time CSD faculty member and a member of the AS graduate faculty, •       at least two other CSD faculty members, •       at least one faculty member from another department within the University. With the approval of the AS Dean, the outside member of the committee may come from outside the university.   A majority of the committee members, including the advisor, must be members of the AS graduate faculty. AS regulations require that the doctoral candidate and his or her committee meet at least once per year to evaluate the candidate's progress. The membership of the committee may be changed whenever it is appropriate or necessary, subject to the approval of the CSD chair and the Dean of AS. Note that the doctoral committee need not be identical with the comprehensive examination committee, although usually there will be significant overlap between the two.   3.5.2 Written Proposal   A written proposal must be distributed to the examining committee at least two weeks in advance of the oral examination on the proposal. There is no specific requirement on the length of the written proposal. However, each member of the Doctoral Committee may request that the student provides him/her with a short document (about 30 double spaced pages) that summarizes the proposed research. This document normally contains the following:   •       a clear statement of the problem to be solved, •       proposed methods of solution, •       scholarly review of related work, •       preliminary results obtained from a prototype program and/or a partial analysis, and •       a detailed research plan, stating the issues remaining to be addressed and suggestions for how they will be addressed, within a specified time frame.   Additional documents (including papers or technical reports) may be provided as appendices.   3.5.3   Oral Examination on the Proposal   After writing the proposal and conferring with his or her advisor, the student must schedule an oral examination and send an announcement of the examination to all faculty and graduate students at least one week in advance of it. The oral examination (sometimes called the prospectus meeting) consists of two parts:   •       a public presentation of the proposal open to all members of the University community, followed by questions from the general audience; this component is normally 40­50 minutes in length, and •       a private examination by the doctoral committee.   Any CSD faculty member may attend the private examination, but only the examining committee will vote on results. The doctoral committee must unanimously approve the dissertation topic and research plan before the student may be admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree. It is the student's responsibility to schedule meetings with members of the examining committee within a few weeks after the examination to review criticisms and suggestions.   3.6 Dissertation Research and Defense   After passing the oral examination on the proposal, a student gains the official status of a Ph.D. candidate, and carries out the proposed research. As noted above, the student must meet with his or her entire dissertation committee at least once per year during the time in which the research is being done. The student will also be meeting regularly with his or her advisor. Upon completion of the research, the student prepares a written dissertation, and, in consultation with his or her advisor and dissertation committee, schedules an oral defense. The normal format for the defense of dissertation is an oral presentation of the research followed by questions by the dissertation committee and general audience. Only the dissertation committee will vote on the result. If the outcome is not unanimous, the case is referred to the Dean for resolution. It is the responsibility of the student's advisor to ensure that the dissertation is in final form before requesting signatures of all committee members. After the final oral examination is successfully completed, the student must submit his or hers theses or dissertation electronically. Check the website http://www.pitt.edu/~graduate/etd/training.html to see what you will need to submit for the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD). AS policy requires that the advisor provide the Dean of Graduate Studies with a notice of the defense at least four weeks in advance, so that it can be announced in the University Times.   3.7 Research Training   Because the Ph.D. degree is a research degree, students should expect to participate in research projects as a way of learning the art of doing research. Normally, a student will start by working with a faculty member on a pre­defined research problem, and later will define his or her own research problem as the subject of the dissertation. There is no departmental requirement that students participate in the preparation of research grant proposals. However, it is desirable that all doctoral students have some exposure to the process of preparing and submitting research grant proposals. Normally this will be part of the mentoring by each student's advisor.   3.8 Timetable   To complete the Ph.D. program in the CSD, students must: •       complete the 6 required  foundation courses, with a B or better in each, and the 6 additional courses,  with a C or better in each, achieving an overall average of B or better, before admission to candidacy. •       complete a total of 72 credits. •       pass examinations in four out of the eight core areas within two years after full­status registration.  •       pass a comprehensive examination within three calendar years of successfully completing the preliminary examinations. Normally, the comprehensive examination should be completed within one to two years of completing the preliminary examinations. ·         file an application for admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree, after passing the dissertation proposal examination. The application must be filed at least eight months before the defense of the dissertation. •       write a dissertation and present an oral defense of it. •       submit an approved complete dissertation to the AS Dean within three calendar years of passing the comprehensive examination. Normally, this is expected within one to two years after passing the comprehensive examination.   •       file an official Application for Graduation in the Office of Graduate Studies, 5141 Sennott Square early in the term in which graduation is expected. A student must be registered for at -least one credit during that term.   Requirements for the Ph.D. degree must be completed within a period of ten calendar years from the student's initial registration for graduate study (or within eight calendar years for students who enter with a master's degree in computer science and who transfer the credits from that degree). These limits apply to all students, whether full­time or part­time. Normally, the degree is completed in about five to six years.
  4.  General Policies
  	4.1      M.S. Course Requirements   The M.S. degree requires 30 credits of formal course work. The 30 credits should include the following:   •       All Students must pass a total of 8 courses plus an MS thesis or, or 9 courses plus an MS project. •       All courses must be at the 1600 level or above (except for 1510/1511). •       All coursework must be completed with an overall grade point average of “3.0” or better. •       Among the required courses there must be at least one course from each of the following specialization areas. These courses must be completed with a grade of “B” or better.   Architecture and Compilers -     CS 2410 Computer Architecture or       CS 2210 Compiler Design                 Operating Systems and Networks  -    CS 2510 Computer Operating Systems or       CS 2520 Wide Area Networks  Artificial Intelligence and Database Systems  -    CS 2710 Foundations of Artificial Intelligence or       CS 2550 Principles of Database Systems  Theory and Algorithms  -    CS 1511 Introduction to Theory of Computation or       CS 1510 Design and Analysis of Algorithms                            Any four (for thesis option), or five (for project option) additional graduate (2000-level or higher) CSD courses.  These cannot be independent studies, CS 2001, CS 2002, directed study or thesis research.       The following requirements apply to these courses:   •       All must be taken for a letter grade. •       The student must receive a grade of B or better for each required course, and must maintain an overall average of B or better. •       A student may petition GPEC to count either one out­of­department course or a student can take one CS 1600­level course towards the M.S.    4.2     M.S. Project or Thesis   There are two options for completing the M.S. degree: the thesis option and the project option. For the thesis option, the student must complete a written thesis, taking at least six credits of CS2000, which must be taken with the S/N grading option. The student's advisor will assist him or her in selecting a thesis committee, to consist of at least three faculty members. The committee will conduct an oral final examination. Copies of the thesis must be submitted to the committee at least two weeks in advance of the examination. The committee will vote on the outcome, and sign a report that will be filed in the AS Dean's office. After successfully completing the final oral examination, the student must provide the Dean's office with at least one copy of the approved complete thesis and a receipt for thesis binding and microfilming fees. For the project option, the student must complete a Master's project, taking at least three credits of CS2910, with the S/N grading option. A project report and satisfactory performance in an oral examination on the project by the advisor are required. Copies of the project report must be submitted to the advisor at least a week in advance of the examination. Note that students selecting the thesis option must complete a total of four electives, plus core courses and thesis research (CS2000), while students completing the project option must complete a total of five electives, plus core courses and directed research (CS2910).     4.3     Timetable   M.S. degrees must be completed within four calendar years from the student's initial registration for graduate studies. This limit applies to all students, whether full­time or part-time. Normally, full­time students will complete the degree within two years. Students must file an official Application for Graduation in the Office of Graduate Studies, 5141 Sennott Square, early in the term in which graduation is expected. A student must be registered for at least one credit during that term.
  5.  Responsibilities
  	The following parties share responsibilities for a student's academic progress:   The student is expected to:   •       be knowledgeable of AS and departmental regulations; •       keep his or her advisor current about academic status (i.e., provisional or probation), progress, and plans; •       register for courses on time (preferably as early as possible); •       assist the secretary in CSD Graduate Programs Office in keeping current his or her file, including an up­to­date mailing address; •       notify the secretary in the CSD Graduate Programs Office if he or she changes advisor; •       provide advisor with materials for the spring evaluation meeting;  •       (for doctoral students) file an application for candidacy for the Ph.D. degree, after passing the dissertation proposal examination and at least eight months before the defense of the dissertation; •       follow the published instructions on AS procedures for graduation, including filing an official application for Graduation early in the term in which graduation is expected; •       deliver two copies of a final M.S. thesis or Ph.D. dissertation to the CS Library, and deliver the required copies of the thesis or dissertation, abstracts, and receipt for binding/microfilming fee to the AS Dean's office;   The advisor is expected to:   •       assist the student in selecting courses and sign his or her registration form (except in the case of students who are on probation, and whose form must be signed by the Graduate Enrollment Officer); •       counsel the student and verify that his or her planned program is appropriate, given the student's academic goals and the CSD regulations; •       assess the student's progress towards a degree and provide him or her with advice on this; ·present information about the student's progress at the annual student performance evaluation  meeting; •       assist the student in selecting a research area and a principal advisor; •       validate the appropriateness of the student's research problem for a M.S. project or thesis or Ph.D. Dissertation; •       assist the student in forming thesis, comprehensive examination, and/or dissertation supervising committees, as appropriate; •       oversee the student's oral examination for an M.S. thesis, doctoral comprehensive examination,  doctoral dissertation proposal meeting, and doctoral dissertation defense examination. In all cases, after the examination has been completed the advisor will secure the signatures of all committee members, complete the required forms and give them to the secretary in the CSD Graduate Programs office, and communicate the results to the student.   The Chairperson of GPEC is expected to:   •       act on petitions for transfer of credit, substitution of course requirements, and similar matters; •       announce the timing of Ph.D. preliminary examinations to all graduate students and faculty; •       oversee the preparation, grading and review of these examinations; •       report the results of the examinations to the student, the student's advisor, the secretary in CSD Graduate Programs Office, and the AS Dean.   5.1     Calculation of QPA and Repeating Courses   For CSD purposes, a student's quality point average (QPA) will be computed according to the following guidelines:   •       All graduate­level courses taken during fulfillment of degree requirements, even if more than the minimally required number, will be used in computing the QPA. This includes courses taken outside the Department, with GPEC approval, after enrolling in the CSD.   •       The following courses are not used in computing a QPA: courses taken to remove a deficiency while on provisional status; elective courses not carrying graduate credit; courses taken prior to admission; courses for which non­letter grades are given (i.e., courses in which the student receives G, I, N, S, or W)   Note also that students are prohibited from repeating courses in the CSD solely for the purpose of increasing their QPA. If a course is repeated solely for this purpose, only the first grade received will be used in computing the QPA. Repetition of failed core courses is expected, and the second (or subsequent) grade will be counted toward the QPA.   5.2    Registration Requirements and Statute of Limitations   AS regulations impose certain conditions on a student's registration, including the following:   1.       Continuous registration. Any student who does not register for at least one credit during a 12­month period is automatically put on inactive status. In order to resume his or her program, the student must reapply for admission, and pay the application fee. If readmitted, the student must complete any review work stipulated by GAFA.   2.       Level of registration. A student must be registered at all times for a number of credits fairly reflecting his or her utilization of departmental resources. In particular, a student must be registered for thesis or dissertation credits during any term in which he or she confers with his or her thesis advisor. A student must also be registered in the term in which they take preliminary and comprehensive examinations. Moreover, a student must be registered for at least one credit during the 12­month period preceding graduation, and must be registered during the term in which he or she is graduated.   3.       Statute of Limitations. Requirements for the master's degree must be completed within a period of four calendar years from the student's initial registration for graduate study. Requirements for the doctoral degree must be fulfilled within a period of ten calendar years from the student's initial registration for graduate study. For those students entering with a master's degree in computer science, requirements for the doctoral degree must be completed within a period of eight calendar years from their first registration for graduate study if those credits are transferred.    The CSD applies the eight­year, post­M.S. limit to students with M.S. degrees both from other universities and from the University of Pittsburgh. A student is not permitted to continue in his or her graduate program when the statute of limitations has been reached. Under exceptional circumstances a candidate for an advanced degree may apply for an extension of the statute of limitations. Applications must state the reason for the delay, provide evidence of continuing progress toward the completion of the degree and include a plan and proposed date for the completion of the degree. The request must be made in writing, approved by the student's advisor, GPEC, and the Department Chairperson, and then submitted to the Dean for final action. Each student who requests an extension of the statute of limitations must be prepared to demonstrate proper preparation for the completion of all current degree requirements. Under special circumstances, a graduate student may be granted one leave of absence. Consistent with AS regulations, a maximum leave of two years may be granted to doctoral students or one year to master's students. An application for a leave of absence must state the reason for the request, and must be approved by the student's advisor, GPEC, and the Department Chairperson, and then submitted to the Dean for final action. If approved, the time of the leave shall not count against the total time allowed for the degree(s) being sought by the student.   5.3      Grading Options   All formal course requirements in the CSD must be completed with letter grades. Directed and independent study, and thesis and dissertation research must be taken with the S/N grading option. This includes CS2000, CS2910, CS2990, CS3000, and CS3900.   5.4      Independent Study and Directed Study   Students may elect to undertake individual study under the supervision of a faculty member. A student who wishes to register for CS 2000 (Master's Thesis), CS 2910(Master's Project), CS 2990 (Independent Study), CS 3000 (Ph.D. Dissertation Research), or CS 3900 (Ph.D. Directed Study) must complete an individual study permit form and have it signed by the supervising faculty member. The completed form must be submitted to the CSD Graduate Programs Office by the end of add/drop period. Note that there is a sharp distinction between CS 2990 and CS 3900. The first involves no faculty supervision. It is a reasonable choice, for example, when a student is preparing for the Ph.D. preliminary or comprehensive examinations. CS 3900, on the other hand, does require faculty­directed work, with specific projects or products to be evaluated by the advisor. An example is preparation of a Ph.D. dissertation proposal. Neither of these may serve as any part of the departmental M.S. or Ph.D. course requirements, including the additional three­credit elective required in the M.S. project option, but they may count toward the University's overall credit requirements.   5.5    Transferring Courses   Normally, students will fulfill CSD course requirements by taking graduate­level courses within the CSD, while they are enrolled in the department. However, in some cases, it may be desirable for a student to count coursework done outside the CSD and/or prior to the time the student enrolls in the department. In such cases, written approval of GPEC is required. Students can petition GPEC to use courses taken outside the Department in two different ways. First, students may apply to transfer the credits for these courses, using the credits towards the total number needed for a degree. Second, students may apply to use these courses to place out of requirements, i.e., to substitute a course taken elsewhere for a course required by the CSD. Note that these actions neither entail one another nor are mutually exclusive. For example, a student might enter the CSD having previously taken a graduate­level course in, say Operating Systems. In that case, he or she might petition both to receive 3 transfer credits and to place out of the requirement to take CS2510. In another case, a student might have taken a course that is relevant to graduate studies in computer science, but does not directly correspond to any course required by the CSD, for example, a course in Neural Networks. In that case, the student might petition only for a transfer of 3 credits. Finally, in yet another case, suppose that a M.S. student enters having previously taken graduate­level courses in, say, Compiler Design and in Computer Architecture. Only one out­of­department course can be counted for the M.S. degree. Thus, the student might request the transfer of 3 credits and placement out of the requirement for one of the two courses (say, CS2210); he or she might then request only placement out of the requirement for the second course (in this example, CS2410). Petitions to count courses taken outside of the CSD must be submitted according to the following schedule:   1.      A petition to count a course to be taken outside the CSD during a given term must be submitted no               later than 2 weeks after the start of the registration period for that term. 2.       A petition to count course(s) taken prior to enrolling in the CSD must be submitted within the first   two terms after entering the program, and normally within the student's first term. A student must    submit all petitions to transfer or substitute courses taken prior to enrollment at the same time. Petitions should be submitted during the first three weeks of any given term and GPEC will meet during the fourth week of every term to look into these petitions. 3.      Normally, an incoming student will not enroll for credit in courses outside the CSD during his or her first semester in the program. In unusual cases, an incoming student may petition GPEC during the first week of classes to count such a course.   The following regulations apply to courses taken outside the CSD:   •       Only courses taken at an accredited graduate institution and in which the student received a grade of B or better will be considered for transfer of credit or for use to place out of a requirement; •       For the M.S. degree, no more than one course (3 credits) that is either taken out­of­department or is      1600­level can be counted. This does not include the required course in theory or algorithms (CS1510 or CS1511). In no case will a 1000­level course taken prior to enrollment in the CSD count towards the M.S. degree. •       For the Ph.D. degree, no more than 24 credits taken at the M.S. level may be transferred from out of the department. In addition, for courses taken beyond the M.S. level, 12 more transfer credits may be acceptable. Note however, that at most 6 of the 12 required courses for the Ph.D. may be taken outside the department. Thus, additional transfer credits (beyond 18 used to satisfy required courses) may be used towards the 72­credit requirement, but students must still complete 6 courses in the CSD. •       Students will not normally be given approval to take a course outside the CSD, after enrolling in the   program, in place of a required CSD course if the student could take the required CSD course within  the next academic year.   Petitions to transfer credit and/or place out of requirements must be submitted to GPEC. For each course the student must submit the following:   •       a transfer/course substitution form, available from the secretary in the CSD Graduate Programs Office, signed by the student's advisor. If the petition includes a request to place out of a requirement, the form should also be signed by a CSD faculty member who teaches the equivalent course. Students may contact the GPEC chair if they need assistance in locating the appropriate faculty member(s).   •       for courses taken prior to enrolling in the CSD: -  a transcript showing the course name and grade; -  an explanation of course numbering and grading systems at the university where the course was taken; -  a statement of the departmental requirements for a degree in the department at which the course was taken; -  a syllabus for the course; -  a course description. •       courses that the student would like to take after enrolling in the CSD: -  a course description; -  a syllabus for the course, if available; -  a statement of the reasons that courses within the CSD will not satisfy the student's goals or constraints.   For requests to transfer credits, GPEC will either recommend approval or reject the petition.  If GPEC recommends approval, it will send the recommendation to the AS Dean, who will make a final decision and notify the student. GPEC will make the final decision about requests to place out of requirements, and will notify the student directly.   5.6    Awarding of Teaching Assistantships   The CSD supports a number of students with Teaching Assistantships and Fellowships (TAs/TFs). In awarding these, the Department gives priority to Ph.D. students. The following policies apply to the awarding of TAs and TFs; note that these policies are subject to the Department having adequate funds, as discussed below.   1.       Students may be admitted with or without support. Those offered support will be offered full support, except under extenuating circumstances.   2.       All students admitted with support will continue to be provided the same level of support they were initially offered (typically, full support), provided that:   (a)     they are not placed on probation (b)    they score at least a 4 in the English Language Fluency Test (c)     they perform their TA/TF duties satisfactorily (d)    they complete their preliminary examinations within 2 years of enrollment (e)     they have been in the program no more than 5 years.   Support for students that fail to satisfy any of conditions b, c, d or e will be considered on a case­by­case basis. (See 4 below).   3.       Students who have completed the preliminary examinations will be given support provided that:   (a)     they are not placed on probation (b)    they score at least a 4 in the English Language Fluency Test (c)     they perform their TA/TF duties satisfactorily  (d)    they have been in the program no more than 5 years.   As above, support in this category is contingent on the department having adequate funds. Students who have completed the preliminary examinations but who fail to satisfy any of conditions b, c or d will be considered for support on a case­by­case basis. (See 4.)   4.       All other students will be considered for support on a case­by­case basis. Criteria used in giving support to these students will include:   (a)  the number of course requirements already completed (b) scholarly performance, including QPA and evidence of research potential, (c)  the results of attempts to pass the preliminary examination, (d) the score in the English Language Fluency Test, and (e)  the quality of previous teaching performance (if applicable)   Note that it is often the case that some TA positions become available only on very short notice before the start of a term. In order to satisfy the Department's teaching needs, these positions may be filled on  an “emergency'' basis, without maximally following these criteria.  Students receiving these emergency appointments should be aware that their appointment does not imply any preferential treatment for appointments in subsequent terms.   5.   In order to be considered for financial aid for the Fall term, a student has to file an application in the CSD Graduate Programs Office by March 1st. Copies of a vita, an up­to­date grade report and teaching evaluations (when applicable) must be enclosed with the application. Awards for the Fall term will normally be for a full academic year (i.e., Fall and Spring terms), except in the case of emergency positions as noted above. Applications for the Spring and Summer terms are due Nov. 1 and Mar. 1, respectively.   6.   A student who has signed a TA contract may resign from all or part of the assignment for a given term any time up to four weeks before the start of that term. If a student does not resign from the TA assignment, he or she is bound by that assignment. Students violating this rule will not be eligible for TA positions in any subsequent semester.           5.7    Grievance Procedures   Students who believe that a decision about their academic program has been made on the basis of incomplete or incorrect information may appeal the decision. To do this, the student should prepare a letter that outlines his or her position and provide evidence that supports the claim that the decision was appropriate. The student should send the letter to the CSD Chairperson, after securing the endorsement of his or her advisor. The CSD Chairperson may either reject the appeal or forward it to the Dean of AS for consideration. Appeals must be made within thirty days of  the date of notification of any decision.
  A.  Glossary Procedures
  	CSD     Computer Science Department  AS       Arts and Sciences GAFA   Graduate Admissions and Financial Aid Committee GPEC   Graduate Programs and Examinations Committee QPA     Quality Point Average
  B.  Whom to Contact
  	Department Chair Graduate Programs Director       Co-Chair of GPEC                       Co-Chair of GAFA                   Graduate Enrollment Officer Graduate Programs Secretary	Prof. Rami Melhem Prof. Robert Daley Prof. Daniel Mosse Prof. Panos Crysanthis Prof. Rami Melhem Ms. Loretta Shabatura
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