Degree Requirements
Computer Information Systems Emphasis

The departmental requirements for the Master's degree are described below under the headings: core courses, electives, diagnostic exam,  thesis/project option, colloquium, GPA and time limit. All these requirements must be satisfied in addition to the University requirements outlined under the Academic Information section of the University catalog. University requirements state that "at least three-fifths of the course work must be completed at 600-700 levels". This means at most four 500 level courses can be counted toward MS degree.

• Core Courses: Two from each department.*

  • CS555 Introduction to Networks and ISYS 672 Modeling for Information Architectures and Communications
  • CS 551 Software Engineering Survey or
    ISYS 573 IS Design, Development, and Implementation
  • CS 554 Systems and Network Administration or
    ISYS 665 Network and Information Systems Administration

* Students who have taken undergraduate courses which cover similar material may request that these courses be waived. This allows the student to replace the waived course with an elective course.

• Elective Courses Six Electives: Three from each department.
  In addition to the required core courses, the student must take sufficient elective courses to satisfy degree requirements (see options below). The choice of electives is subject to several constraints whose main purpose is to ensure that all graduate students receive sufficient rigorous high level exposure to Computer Science/Information Science Principles and Concepts. These constraints are:
  • At most four 500-level courses can be counted towards the MS degree (University requirement)
  • No more that three Special Courses can be counted towards the MS degree. A special course includes Independent Study (CS697/ISI697), special topics (CS796/896) and Graduate Seminars (CS791/891).
  • Restrictions on courses taken outside the two Departments. 
  • Not all courses offered by the Computer Science Department can be counted towards a CS/ MS degree. Consult Start of Semester Checklist for more information..
  • The following restrictions regarding the electives in the two Departments apply

• CS 512 OO Programming & Reuse or ISYS 520 Object-Oriented Programming with C++ but not both

• CS 550 Database Concepts or ISYS 550 Database Concepts but not both

• CS 575 Computer Based Simulation Models or DSCI 576 Simulation and Modeling in Business but not both

• CS 580 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence or ISYS 512 Knowledge-Based Systems but not both

• Options
  Two options are available for candidates for Master's degree: Thesis option and Project option .
  • Thesis Option. A minimum of 31 credit hours is required, including 24 credits of course work, 6 credits of thesis research and 1 credit of Colloquium. The candidate is required to write a thesis and make an oral presentation of the results.
  • Project Option. A minimum of 34 credit hours is required, including 30 credits of course work, 3 credits of project work and 1 credit of Colloquium. The candidate is required to prepare a written report on the project and to orally present it. CS 698 Master's Project in Computer Science or ISYS 698 Master's Project in Information Systems
    
    

• Diagnostic Exam:
  In addition, at the end of the MS program a student must pass the comprehensive examination at the MS level. 
  Four questions must be answered:

  Two from Computer Science
  Two from Information Systems courses applied to program.

  For more detail of this examination see Comprehensive/Diagnostic Examination . 
  
  

• Colloquium Attendance:
  A student is also required to take one credit hour of Computer Science Colloquium (CS 690), which requires attendance to 10 or more weekly colloquia over the duration of the study. NOTE: it is not necessary to complete this requirement in the semester in which the student registers for CS690. Satisfaction of this requirement is checked during graduation certification in the semester the student plans to graduate.
  
  

• GPA requirement
  GPA of 3.00 is required for graduation.
  
  

• Time Limit.
  All requirements for the Master's degree must be completed within 6 years.

  Note that prerequisites to Masters program are listed elsewhere.

For more information:

Please visit our website at:

http://www.odu-cbpa.org/isds/MS-CS-CIS.htm
Or
Contact Dr. Wahab   (Department of Computer Science)
e-mail:  CSgpd@odu.edu
phone:  (757) 683-3915
Or  
Contact Dr. William Crouch  
(Department of Information Systems and Decision Sciences)
e-mail:  E-COMinfo@odu.edu
phone (757) 683-6188

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