Thesis & Project Info
Thesis Policy Statement
The thesis option in Computer Science permits students to carry out a research program that is then embodied in the thesis document.
Below is the timeline for students who are on a 2-year M.S. Program with thesis option.
| Timeline | |
|---|---|
| By last day of class in the 2nd Semester | Submit to Graduate Program Director the name of the faculty adviser with whom the student plans to work. Submit to Graduate Program Director a 1-paragraph description of the broad topic of the proposed thesis work. |
| Within 30 days from the start of classes of the 3rd semester | Finalize thesis committee members (three faculty members, at least two are Computer Science Department faculty). Submit a 6 to 8 page thesis proposal document (using the University thesis template guideline) to the thesis committee and include the followings: 1. Problem statement (the importance of the problem) 2. Discussion and critique of prior work in the area 3. Overview of the proposed approach 4. Expected outcomes of the research |
| By the first half of the 3rd semester | Students to schedule a 20-30 minute Thesis Proposal Presentation (not open to public). |
| One month before the end of the 4th semester | Submit the first chapter of thesis to Graduate School to be checked for formatting. |
| By the end of the 4th semester | Thesis Defense (open to public). Thesis submission |
The thesis defense provides an opportunity for students to be challenged intellectually in an oral defense of their work, to have their ideas tested in a scholarly setting, and to enter the world of advanced scholarly attainment. Specific deadlines for the thesis format check, defense and submission can be found in the Graduate School Calendar.
Project Policy Statement
The project option in computer science affords a student a software design and program development experience. Often this will be in conjunction with faculty research.
The project option consists of both a complete software design using accepted software engineering methodology and a successful software implementation under the supervision of a project adviser. Final approval of the project is given by the student’s Project Committee.
A student must find a faculty adviser with whom to work on the project. Typically the project will have a natural relationship with the adviser’s research. More than one student may work with an adviser on a related topic, but each must satisfy the requirements of the project completely.
Each student’s Project Committee will be composed of at least three members of the Computer Science Department: a project adviser, an individual to serve as the Project Committee chair, and one more department member. At least two of the three members of the Project Committee must be members of the Graduate Faculty of the University. The Project Committee will decide upon the acceptability of both the proposed project and the final design document and implementation resulting from the approved design proposal.
All projects must explicitly comply with some widely accepted software engineering methodology – For example, the seven critical steps as stated in the Waterfall Methodology found in standard software engineering texts: feasibility, requirements, design and analysis, code and module testing, integration and system testing, delivery and deployment, and maintenance.
Upon completion of the planning, analysis, and design stages of the methodology, the student must submit those phases as a document to his or her Project Committee. Students who desire to graduate in May must submit this document by the second week of the previous fall semester, all others must submit by the second week of the previous Spring semester. For the student to proceed with the project, the student’s Project Committee must give written permission which indicates the first three phases have been successfully completed. This initial permission does not ensure final approval of the completed design and implementation.
There must be a public presentation of the work associated with the project. The annual Research Day sponsored by the Graduate School is an appropriate forum.
The student must submit a complete software design document consistent with the software methodology used, as well as the implementation, to his or her Project Committee. The Project Committee will transmit a written recommendation to the Dean of the Graduate School concerning the acceptability of the project.
Typically a project will require a minimum of two semesters to complete.
Adopted: January 5, 2005