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In
designing the overall curriculum of study for the M.S. in Computer
Science, the guidelines for computer science curriculum content from the
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) were consulted. The ACM is a
highly respected professional organization that has guided the development
of computer science educational programs for many years. Essentially, the
ACM recognizes a set of fourteen (14) content areas that represent the
body of knowledge for computer science. These areas are as follows:
| 1. |
Discrete Structures (DS) |
2. |
Programming Fundamentals (PF) |
3. |
Algorithms and Complexity (AL) |
| 4. |
Architecture and Organization (AR) |
5. |
Operating Systems (OS) |
6. |
Net-Centric Computing(NC) |
| 7. |
Programming Languages (PL) |
8. |
Human-Computer Interaction (HC) |
9. |
Graphics and Visual Computing (GV) |
| 10. |
Intelligent Systems (IS) |
11. |
Information Management (IM) |
12. |
Social and Professional Issues (SP) |
| 13. |
Software Engineering (SE) |
14. |
Computational Science (CN) |
|
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The M.S. in
Computer Science requires the completion of thirty (30) semester credit hours to be completed
over a two-year period. Students enrolled will have the option of either doing a thesis (Plan A)
or not doing one (Plan B). For Plan A, six (6) semester credit hours are devoted to original
research, while Plan B requires the completion of six (6) extra elective credits.
For Plans A and B, 12 semester credit hours through four courses constitute a core curriculum
that must be completed before a student is allowed to attempt the Qualifying Examination for establishing
his/her candidacy for the M.S. Degree Plan A. The Examination may not be attempted more than twice for a
student to remain in good standing. Once the Qualifying Examination is successfully completed, the student
is admitted to candidacy for the M.S. in Computer Science. If the student elects to follow Plan A, he/she is
appointed a Thesis Advisor by the Chairperson of the Department of Computer Science in accordance with the
regulations of the Graduate School.
The four core courses address the first seven content areas of the fourteen total areas approved by the
ACM. The remaining content areas are addressed in elective offerings in accordance with the backgrounds and research
interests of the faculty members to anchor the overall graduate program.
Thus, Plan A curriculum requires completion of 4 core courses for 12 semester credit hours, 4 elective courses
for 12 semester credit hours, and 6 semester credit hours of thesis research for a total of 30 semester credit hours.
Plan B curriculum requires completion of four core courses for 12 semester credit hours, and 5 elective courses for 15
semester credit hours, and one course of independent study for 3 semester credit hours for a total of thirty (30) semester
credit hours. Plan A requires the passing of a departmental Qualifying Examination at the completion of the core
requirements. These overall plans are designed for students to complete at Texas Southern University once admitted.
Transfer students will not be recruited. However, in the event that a student wants to transfer credits from an accredited
institution of higher learning to the University for use in fulfilling requirements for the M.S. in Computer Science, the
Dean of the Graduate School must be contacted directly for review of the request. If the request for transfer credits is
approved by the Dean, official notification is provided to the Office of the University Registrar to include these credits
on the student’s official transcript. The following two restrictions apply to these transfer credits: no more than six (6)
semester credit hours may be transferred at the graduate level, and credits accepted for transfer must have been earned
with grades of “B” (3.00) or better.
The four core courses are listed below. Reference is made to the ACM content area(s) addressed at the end of
each course title.
| CS511 |
Algorithmic Analysis and Data Structures, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: PF, PL and AL |
| CS531 |
Computer Architectures, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content area: AR |
| CS541 |
Operating Systems, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: OS and NC |
| CS551 |
Theory of Computation, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: DS and AL
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The following courses are intended as electives for the degree program with ACM content areas noted:
| CS545 |
Computer Networks, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: NC and OS |
| CS547 |
Cryptography and Computer Security, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: SP and NC. |
| CS553 |
Formal Languages, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: PL, AL |
| CS571 |
Artificial Intelligence, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content area: IS |
| CS583 |
Data Mining, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content area: IM |
| CS591 |
Web Services, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: NC, HC, and PL |
| CS661 |
Advanced Software engineering, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content area: SE |
| CS681 |
Advanced Database Management Systems, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content area: IM |
| CS696 |
Special Topics in Computer Science, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: All Possible |
| CS697 |
Independent Master’s Project, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: All Possible |
| CS698 |
Master’s Thesis Research I, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: All Possible |
| CS699 |
Master’s Thesis Research II, 3 semester credit hours, ACM content areas: All Possible |
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