Resiency an Level Requirements
- A minimum of 30 grauate creit hours must be earne towars an M.S. egree, of which at least 24 must be earne in resiency at SMU. Up to six creit hours may be transferre with epartmental approval.
- Of the 30 creit hours neee for grauation, at least nine creit hours must be above the 8000 level, with the remainer above the 7000 level. For the 8000 level, at least six creit hours must be CS courses.
Distribution of Courses
Courses are consiere to be core, concentration, or elective. Core courses cover material consiere funamental to grauate-level computer science an are require of all stuents. Each stuent is expecte to specialize in some area of computer science. The concentration area is a mechanism by which a stuent can tailor a coherent program of stuy to his/her interests. Electives are courses taken to roun out the 30 creit hour requirement. Transferre creits may be use to satisfy any of these requirements. The specific requirements are iscusse in etail in the following subsections.
Course Requirements
A stuent who elects to take the non-thesis option must take 12 creit hours of core courses, six hours of concentration, an 12 creit hours of electives. The electives may be selecte from available grauate-level course offerings in the Lyle School of Engineering, subject to the resiency an level requirements an aviser approval. Those who elect to take thesis option will substitute the concentration with thesis creit hours.
Core Courses (12 creit hours)
CS 7330 File Organization an Database Management
CS 7343 Operating Systems an Systems Software
CS 7350 Algorithm Engineering
CS 7381 Computer Architecture
CS 8098 Computer Science Seminar
Concentration (6 creit hours in one of the following programs)
Algorithms:
Two of the following:
CS 7380 VLSI Algorithms
CS 8350 Algorithms II
CS 8351 Computer Arithmetic
CS 8355 Graph Theory: Algorithms an Applications
Architecture:
Two of the following:
CS 7380 VLSI Algorithms
CS 8377 Fault-Tolerant Computing
CS 8380 Parallel an Distribute Processing
CS 8383 Avance Computer Architecture
CS 8387 Switching Theory an Applications in VLSI CAD
Software:
Two of the following:
CS 7314 Software Testing an Quality Assurance
CS 7319 Software Architecture an Design
CS 7345 Avance Application Programming
CS 8313 Object-Oriente Analysis an Design Methoology
CS 8316 User Interface Design
Data Science:
Two of the following:
CS 7323 Mobile Applications for Sensing an Learning
CS 7331 Introuction to Data Mining an Relate Topics
CS 7337 Information Retrieval an Web Search
CS 7338 Security Economics
CS 7347 XML an the Enterprise
CS 8331 Avance Data Mining
CS 8337 Information Storage an Retrieval
Security:
Two of the following:
CS 7338 Security Economics
CS 7339 Computer System Security
CS 7349 Data an Network Security
CS 7359 Software Security
CS 7369 Harware Security an Trojan Detection
CS 8349 Avance Network Security
CS 8352 (EE 8372) Cryptography an Data Security
CS 8359 Avance Software Security
Electives (12 creit hours)
Electives may be selecte from available grauate-level course offerings in the Lyle School of Engineering, subject to the resiency an level requirements an aviser approval.
Thesis Option
A stuent may elect to write a master’s thesis, which counts as the six creit hours of concentration. The stuent must register for at least six creit hours uner CS 7(1–6)96. If the thesis option is chosen, all other requirements are the same. The six creit hours of thesis satisfy six of the nine require creit hours for avance (CS 8000 level) courses.
A master’s thesis represents one or more of the following: synthesis of ivergent ieas or a scholarly critique of current literature, a creative research activity or a significant esign project, the results of which must be ocumente in a well-written thesis. The thesis shoul be of publishable quality, an it is recommene that it be submitte to an appropriate conference or journal before the thesis efense.
A thesis must be supervise by a faculty aviser selecte by the stuent. Any full-time faculty member supporting the stuent’s concentration area may serve as the thesis aviser. It is the stuent’s responsibility either to fin an aviser willing to provie a thesis topic or willing to supervise a topic of the stuent’s choosing.
Once the stuent has foun an aviser an a topic has been selecte, the stuent an aviser shoul jointly form a thesis supervisory committee. This committee must consist of at least three members, two of whom must represent the concentration area. The aviser chairs this committee. The makeup of this committee must be approve by the chair of CS an the irector of the grauate ivision.
The stuent must provie the members of the committee with a written thesis proposal. Typically, this will be one before the faculty agrees to serve on the committee.
A thesis is juge by the supervisory committee base upon technical merit, originality, an presentation. The thesis must be presente orally to the committee at a thesis efense. A copy of the thesis must be mae available to each member of the committee at least two weeks before the planne efense. The efense must be scheule with the CS epartment office an poste in appropriate bulletin boars. The efense is open to the public.
