CSCI Graduate Course Planning: Fall 2008

Last updated Apr 3, 2008

This is a summary of how to plan for and enroll in courses for graduate study in Computer Science at Indiana University. The file is located at http://www.cs.indiana.edu/Academics/graduate/orientation/advising.aug08.html. It includes:

• Registration guidelines
• Academic policy highlights - all students are responsible for reviewing these and checking for updates each semester
• Links to resources to aid schedule planning (conflict planner, degree worksheets)
• Links to Fall 2008 graduate CS course lists and tips for reading them

The course planning guide for Spring 2008 is still available as a reference.

For any advising questions not addressed below, please contact Amr Sabry, Director of Graduate Studies. For procedural questions about enrollment, please contact Sherry Kay, Graduate Administrator.

Continuing students should register by April 25. Please register by this deadline, as courses with insufficient enrollments risk being cancelled. Prompt registration is especially important for specialized classes with small enrollments.

See the Registrar's web site for registration and drop and add for details on university procedures. The full schedule of classes is available from the Office of the Registrar.

Registration guidelines:

• Register for three CS Courses. You should choose three courses (typically 3 hours each) that count towards your intended degree.
• If a course which you'd like to take is shown as full, be sure to put your name on the waitlist. There are likely to be some drops, enabling students to enter courses which appeared full.
• Be sure to finalize your schedule promptly. For course drops in the first week, IU refunds the full tuition for the course. In the second, third, and fourth weeks, refunds are 75%, 50%, and 25%. Later drops receive no refunds.
• Be sure to adhere to the following policies, which are conditions for maintaining good standing and financial aid eligibility (See the CS support page for all policies concerning aid.)
  • "Satisfactory progress" for CS students depends on taking and successfully completing at least 9 credits of CS courses for credit towards their degree requirements each Fall and Spring semester, with a semester GPA of least 3.0. This is a condition for financial aid for students with CS department teaching assistantships.
  • Students with research assistantships must secure their RA supervisors' advance written permission to take any outside courses in addition to the required 9 credits of CS courses contributing towards their degrees. This approval must be provided to the Graduate Administrator prior to registration.
  • Students must enroll in three courses even if they are making up incompletes from a previous semester. Students are expected to maintain a normal load as they make up incompletes.
  • MS students are required to complete all "P" courses required for their degrees by the time they reach 10 courses.
• Applicability of fee remissions: Fee remissions normally are not applicable to outside courses not counting towards your degree.
• English Course(s). Any International Student who received a form requiring English courses (Ling T101) must enroll in all the courses checked. These are required for graduation.

Extremely important notes for international students:

• Course loads: International students should note that SEVIS regulations are stringent about having a full course load, and that it's essential to check with International Services well in advance of any event that might affect visa status (e.g., dropping a course), to avoid the risk of deportation for being out of status. Check IU International Services student pages (F-1 or J-1) for links to information on staying in status, to be sure that you are aware of the current policies.
• Don't "drop and add"; instead "add and drop": When you replace courses, be sure to add the new course first and then drop the old, so that you're always above the minimum number of credits for status.
• Completion dates for visa purposes:International students are considered to have completed their degrees as soon as they have completed the degree requirements, regardless of whether they have filed for the degree. Consequently, it is essential to make sure that post-graduation visa arrangements are in place before completing the requirements. International Services is expert on these rules.
• Completion dates used for OPT applications: For Optional Practical training, your date of graduation is normally the end of the semester in which you take the last courses needed for the degree, regardless of whether you will receive an incomplete in one of these courses. Even if you have an incomplete that prevents receiving your degree, you should expect the OPT to be processed using the normal completion date for your last courses (the last day of finals). Note that extensions are only possible for major academic reasons or emergency medical reasons, not to accommodate your OPT dates.

Procedures for independent study courses:

• Which research course you should take:
  • Y790's are taken before formal approval of candidacy.
  • Y890's are only allowed after all candidacy paperwork has been processed, and are for dissertation research.
  • G901 is only allowed after candidacy and completion of the required 90 credits.
• How to sign up: For independent study or research courses, the Independent Research Permission Form (doc, pdf, ps). must be signed by the research supervisor and turned in to the Graduate Administrator to obtain permission to register. This applies to any Y790, Y890, or G901 section. All Y790's in a given semester have the same section number, and likewise for Y890 and G901. For the current section numbers, please see the table below. Please be sure to allow enough time to get the instructor's signature before the deadline at the top of this page, to avoid late registration fees.
• Approvals for Y790's for R,T,or S options for the MS: If you wish to take a Y790 to count towards the R, T, or S option for the MS degree, you must discuss your plans with the research supervisor and secure the supervisor's approval before signing up for the first Y790 for the project. The first Y790 form should indicate your plan and describe expectations for the entire project.
• Y790's with supervision outside CS: If your supervisor is outside of the CS Faculty, you will need to find a CS faculty member to co-supervise the project and co-sign the form. The CS faculty member must assess the student's work at the end of the semester and submit the grade for the course. Please be sure that all needed information is provided to him or her at the end of the semester, in time for the grade submission deadline.
• Time limits on G901: Students are only allowed 6 semesters of G901. If you are out of G901's you must register for Y890. Please make sure you are eligible for the G901 registration before submitting your form to the Graduate Administrator.

Academic Policies:

Withdrawals from courses: During the automatic withdrawal period, students who withdraw will be assigned an automatic grade of W (see the Registrar's official calendar for exact dates). After that period, withdrawals are only possible with approval from the Dean, which is normally given only for urgent reasons such as illness. Note that CS students must successfully complete at least 9cr of courses towards their degrees each semester to be considered to be making satisfactory progress. The amount of tuition refund (if any) for a dropped course depends on when the course is dropped. Soon there is zero refund. After this time, students who drop one course and add another will receive no refund for the dropped course and will have to pay full tuition for the added course.

Time Limits for Courses Counted Towards Graduate Degrees: The Graduate Bulletin states: "Normally, a course may not be counted toward degree requirements if it has been completed more than (a) five years prior to the awarding of the degree for master's students or, (b) seven years prior to the passing of the qualifying examination for Ph.D. students."

Timing of Written Qualifying Exams: Students entering the PhD program with preparation in the qualifier areas are expected to use their "free try" at the qualifying exams on entry. Those who do not complete the requirement at that time must take both qualifiers in the August preceeding their second year, and must pass both by the August preceeding their third year. Students transferring from the IU Computer Science MS program must take both qualifiers in August preceding their first year as PhD students, and must pass both in August preceding their second year as PhD students. Information on exam dates and contents is available from the Qualifying Examination Implementation page.

Graduate Course Grades: Students should be aware that page 4 of the University Graduate School Bulletin stipulates that courses completed with grades below C (2.0) do not count towards degree requirements; however, these grades (e.g., C-, D+, D, D-, F) are counted in calculating the grade point average, which must be a B (3.0) or above to continue in graduate study.

Deficiencies: If you have not completed an undergraduate degree in Computer Science, you must at least take or know the material covered in C241, A592(C212), and A594(C343). It is desirable to have taken or be familiar with the material in the basic five core undergraduate courses: C241 (Discrete Structures for CSCI), A591 (C211: Intro to Computer Science), A592 (C212: Intro to Software Systems), A593 (C335: Computer Structures), and A594 (C343: Data Structures); the sixth core course, A596 (C311: Programming Languages), is also highly recommended if you do not plan to take the graduate course, B521 (Programming Language Principles), instead.

Transferring courses: As described in the Bulletin of the University Graduate School, PhD candidates may transfer up to 30 hours of courses from another graduate institution, and MS candidates may transfer up to 8 hours, subject to approval of course content (transfer is not automatic) and to various conditions (e.g., courses transferred for a degree may not have been counted towards a previous degree at the same level, the course must have been completed (1) under a graduate course number, (2) while enrolled at the graduate level, (3) within given time limits, and (4) with a grade of B or better). For details, see the Academic Regulations section of the Graduate School Bulletin.

Curricular Practical Training: International Students planning summer employment under the CPT program must enroll in Y798 and complete the arrangements with International Services and the Computer Science Department outlined in the Curricular Practical Training Y798 Authorization Form, (PDF), (Postscript). All related forms (including those requiring an advisor signature) should be submitted to the Graduate Administrator, Sherry Kay. Y798 is not allowed with an RAship or AIship, due to the departmental policy that AIs and RAs are not allowed to take additional employment.

Resources for Choosing Courses:

A Master's work sheet is available in either Postscript or PDF format to help Master's students plan their courses.
A corresponding PhD work sheet is available in Postscript or PDF format to help PhD students plan their course requirements. (Students who entered before Spring, 2001, should use the pre-2001 PhD course work sheet ( pdf ).)

See the Course Conflict Planner for a visual summary of possible time conflicts.

Links to Fall 2008 Course Offerings

• Descriptions are available on-line for special Fall '08 course offerings, such as topics courses (note that this list does not include regular offerings)
• The schedule of classes has a full list of fall CS courses with times and rooms.
• For descriptions of regular offerings, see the departmental course overview page for links to descriptions and home pages from previous semesters (prior syllabi are subject to change).

• B501, B503, and P536 are the quals preparation courses. Details on the qualifiers are available from the qualifiers implementation page.
• Different topics courses may share the same course number (e.g., two different courses may both be numbered B669). Please check course titles and be sure you register for the section with the topic you want. Section numbers are unique.
• Prerequisites and other restrictions are listed in the Graduate Bulletin. Please consult these before you register, especially if you have completed undergraduate CSCI courses at IU. Having taken certain undergraduate courses may preclude credit for their graduate equivalents.

Courses in other areas counting for CS Master's Degree