From the Department of Computer Science
Ms. Janet Brunelle, CDA
This program has seen tremendous growth in popularity and enrollment over the past five years. This is in part due to the increasing demand
for talented and knowledgeable computer scientists who can command entry-level salaries in the $50K range in the local Hampton Roads area.
Job categories include programmers, database specialists and analysts, network specialists and analysts, and web developers, to name a few.
The degree's rewards do not come without hard work and dedication. It is scientifically and mathematically intensive in order to produce
qualified and talented graduates. The number of students lured by the promise and implied simplicity of the web quickly find that they are
not prepared for the level of rigor required to be successful. Graduates of our program benefit from a strong conceptual and demonstration
based curriculum founded with hands-on laboratory experiences.
In order to help you decide if this is the career path for you, please review the following list of degree requirements:
- Entering freshmen are assumed to be ready to take Calculus I (Math 211); those entering in General Studies math or College Algebra will
add at least a year to the length of the program. Most students enter with Pre-Calculus skills.
- The set of required programming courses must be taken in a specified order; deviations or course withdrawals will result in additional
time (minimum length of this chain is six semesters).
- Mathematic requirements include: Calculus I and II (Math 211 and 212), Linear Algebra (Math 316), and Introduction to Statistics (Stat
330). Additional mathematical-based courses are required within our own discipline: Discrete Math (CS 381), Theoretical Computer Science
(CS 390), and Computational Methods and Software (CS 417).
- Two technical electives are required in addition to the full year of lab science necessary to satisfy the General Education requirements.
It is most desirable that these courses come from any of the natural sciences, but other courses may be chosen, with prior approval, as long
as they are technical in nature (e.g. accounting, engineering).
In addition to the required courses, students must take 4 upper level electives that can include the following areas of concentration:
- Databases: Internet Databases (CS 419), Database Concepts (CS 450), Database Administration (CS 456, CS 457)
- Network: Network Management (CS 454), Networks & Communication (CS 455), Unix System Administration (CS 458), Network Security (CS 472),
Parallel Computing (CS 486, 487)
- Systems: System Programming (CS 476, 477), Compiler Construction (CS 488)
- Web programming: Internet Concepts (CS 312), Web Programming (CS 418), Internet Databases (CS 419)
- Miscellaneous: Computer Graphics (CS 460), Computer Simulation (CS 475), Software Engineering (CS 451), Artificial Intelligence (CS 480)
Our program, due to its content, is well recognized in the professional community, especially in regard to our senior project courses: CS
410 and 411W (Professional Workforce Development). This two-semester sequence has been developed to help students better understand how to
apply their education to real world problems. The focus is on such topics as: technical research, market research, presentation skills,
group collaboration, interviews, budgeting, proposal writing, presentation tools, scheduling, hardware availability research, system
architectural design, requirements specification, simulation, prototyping, and cost estimation. Feedback from our students, potential
employers, and an external board of advisors confirms both that the most successful graduates may not be those with the best technical
education. This effort provides that additional dimension to the traditional CS curriculum, which better prepares students to contribute to
the solution of real problems.
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