University of Delaware
Graduate Catalog 1996-1997
College of Arts and Science
Department of Computer and Information Sciences
Requirements for Master of Science Degree

   In addition to satisfying the general requirements of the University,
candidates for the Master of Science degree must satisfy both the
departmental general requirements and the computer science course
requirements.

   An Application for Advanced Degree for the Master of Science degree
should be filed with the Departmental Graduate Committee no later than the
beginning of the semester in which the degree is expected. Application
forms are available from the Office of Graduate Studies.

A. Departmental General Requirements

   The Departmental General Requirements include:
     1. At least 9 credits of the 30 credits used to satisfy the degree
        requirements must be at the 800 level. Credits for independent
        study, research and master's thesis do not count towards this
        requirement.
     2. A minimum grade average of 3.0 is required in the graduate courses
        used to satisfy the degree requirements. The University also
        requires a minimum GPA of 3.0 in all graduate courses taken
        including any not used towards the required 30 credits. Students
        are encouraged to explore graduate courses (600 level or higher) in
        other areas such as electrical engineering, mathematics,
        linguistics, statistics, and business and economics. Graduate
        courses outside of Computer and Information Sciences to be used
        towards meeting degree requirements require written approval of the
        Graduate Committee.
     3. Students are encouraged to participate in the research activities
        of the Department by taking CISC 666, CISC 866-Special Problems and
        Independent Study or CISC 868-Research. This is especially true of
        potential Ph.D. students. No more than three credits of ClSC 666,
        CISC 866 or CISC 868 (combined) may be applied toward meeting the
        degree requirements or used in satisfying the required minimum
        grade average without prior written approval from the Graduate
        Committee. (Exception for master's thesis sudents-see later
        section.)
     4. Each semester all graduate students must explicitly register for
        CISC 890 - Colloquium and sign up and satisfactorily participate in
        one of the Department's special research interest groups. One
        faculty member for each group will be responsible for overseeing
        satisfactory participation for each student on an individual basis
        (e.g., simply attending, giving a presentation) and will assign a
        pass/fail grade accordingly. Each MS student needs 3 semesters of
        passed CISC 890 to graduate. Special arrangements for part-time
        students and those who finish in less than 3 semesters will be
        made.

B. Computer Science Course Requirements

   Breadth requirement - Core Areas:
      * Hardware Systems
         - Computer Architecture (CISC 662)
         - Operating Systems (CISC 663)
         - Computer Networks (CISC 650)
      * Software Systems
         - Programming Languages (CISC 670)
         - Theory of Translators (CISC 672)
         - Artificial Intelligence (CISC 681)
      * Theory
         - Theory of Computation (CISC 601)
         - Logic (CISC 604)
         - Analysis of Algorithms (CISC 621)

   1. All students must take a graduate course in either algorithm design
      and analysis (e.g., CISC 621) or in theory of computation (e.g., CISC
      601).
   2. All students must take four core courses, including at least one in
      each of the three areas.
   3. A grade of B- or better is required in any four of the core courses
      taken.
   4. Substitutions or satisfaction through courses taken at another
      university are permitted, but require written approval by the
      Graduate Committee.