Senate Bill No.: 0708-29
UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
Introduced by: Department of Computer Science
Date:
May 5, 2008
COMPUTER SCIENCE DEPARTMENTAL HONORS
IT IS HEREBY PROPOSED THAT THE FOLLOWING BE ADOPTED:
1. That the attached Computer Science Departmental Honors Program be approved
by the University Senate.
2. That this proposal be forwarded to the Interim President George M. Philip for
approval.
3. That this program become effective for students admitted to the
University for Fall 2008.
Rationale:
Revision of the Disciplinary Honor's Program in Computer Science. The revision
restricts the program to our BS majors, allows AP to replace beginning courses, suggests
taking honors calculus, allows more overlap with required credits for the major and for
the BS/MS program, invites honors study to be combined with BS/MS study, and
clarifies the admission procedures and the benefits of the honor's program. It excludes
grades in possibly very challenging graduate courses which are not used for the B.S.
from the honor's GPA calculation.
Bulletin Description:
The Computer Science Departmental Honors program is an opportunity
for qualified students to undertake research or innovative development
projects at the undergraduate level, under individualized guidance of
computer science faculty, and gain recognition by presenting their
accomplishments in a public forum and by a transcript designation.
The honors seminars and projects are often conducted within research
groups comprised of computer science and interdisciplinary faculty,
graduate students and other undergraduates.
Students are encouraged to enroll in the Combined BS/MS Program
together with this honors program. Combined BS/MS students can
substitute some graduate courses for their undergraduate
requirements. They might then get an Albany Masters of Science
degree sooner by including up to 12 credits from those graduate
courses. The honors and beginning graduate study together might
also provide excellent preparation for admission to a national research
internship program or a Computer Science Ph.D. program.
Eligibility: To be eligible for admission to the honors program in
Computer Science, a student must have declared one of the Bachelor
of Science major programs in Computer Science; must have completed
the following courses with a GPA of at least 3.5: Csi 201 (or AP), Csi
210, Csi 310 (or a 5 in the CS-AP AB exam), Csi 333, and preferably
Mat 118 and Mat 119 although Mat 111 or Mat 112, and Mat 113 are
acceptable; have an overall GPA of at least 3.25; and have permission
from a prospective faculty honor’s supervisor for a research
specialization area. Prospective honors students must identify and
consult a prospective supervisor prior to honors admission, and to
request admission during the semester when they will complete the
above courses so admission may be determined when all the required
grades are in and the proposed area is evaluated.
Requirements:
1. All the requirements for the chosen Bachelor of Science major
program must be completed with one or more elective courses
chosen in consultation with the faculty to develop rigorous
mastery in a disciplinary specialization. These courses may be
either part of or in addition to the major, a minor, a second major
or graduate requirements. Admitted departmental honor’s
students in the 73 credit Bachelor of Science Combined Major and
Minor in Computer Science may use ICSI487 for one of the three
Computer Science electives in that program. Students in the 66
credit Computer Science and Applied Mathematics program must
take its two electives in addition to ICSI487.
2. Three credits of Honors Seminar (ICSI487): As part of this course,
students will do independent study in preparation for research or
innovative development projects under the supervision of a faculty
member, and to present a colloquium on the topic. See the catalog
description.
3. At least three credits of honors or graduate project work (ICSI488Z
and/or ICSI68x and/or ICSI699): Students will be required to pursue
research or innovative development under the supervision of a
faculty member and submit a final report describing their original
work and its background. The courses necessarily have significant
writing components. The student will be required to present a
public seminar on the results when the project is completed. See
the catalog descriptions.
4. A GPA of at least 3.5 in the Computer Science courses that go
towards the B.S. major must be maintained to continue in the
honors program and graduate with an honors major. The faculty
supervisor must also certify to the department that the student
completed and presented the project results satisfactorily.
