Agenda for CSE Department Meeting 3-31-21

Attending Graduation?
In-person graduation; who wants to go? Does anyone need to go in order to hood a PhD student? Admin can accept up to 40, need info by Friday. Graduating students include ones that graduated last May/August/December. Let me know if you would like to attend.
CAHSI Update
Google wants our underrepresented students. Do you know any underrepresented student that I should nominate for a Google summer special program (akin to an internship)? BTW, our Women in Computing have numerous times asserted that they represented this broader group of students from underrepresented groups. That is great, but if I was a male, I might not identify with that name.
CSE Department Showcase
Still need more student presenters 4/15. Have so far
Advisory Board
We will meet 4/16 from 9:30-12. We have added Kai-Li Cheng as student representative. Darryl Ackley has expressed willingness to serve on the board. We also have William Claycomb, Michael Fisk, Danny Quist, and Bob Robey. Son Tran has agreed to serve on the board but will not be available on 4/16.
IT Assessment
So, Peter Mozley would really like me to turn in an IT program assessment and last year our IT assessment contained no assessment data, but instead had a promissory note saying that we'd assess three years' of IT data (F2017-S2020) this year.
MS Deficiencies
Proposed draft catalog language, pertaining to our expectations
Ph.D Course Requirements
The talk last time was that an oral qual is where it's at. Less work than a written qual, and less easy for students to learn and copy. I said I would draft catalog language with an oral qual.
Coursework Before Candidacy Exam

In order for CS Ph.D. students to proceed to their candidacy exam, they must complete the following:

  1. CSE 585 (Graduate Seminar, 3 credit hours): Students must take this and pass it with a grade of "B" or higher, unless already completed at the "B" level at NMT. It is recommended that they should take this in their first semester as a Ph.D. student.
  2. Complete at least three courses from the CS core areas (9 credit hours):
    • One course on the theoretical aspects of computer science: either CSE 544 (3) or CSE 546 (3)
    • One course involving substantial programming on systems aspects: of CSE 423 (4) (not an option if already taken at NMT) or CSE 525 (3).
    • One course involving advanced applications: CSE 541 Advanced Cryptography (3) or CSE 567 Soft Computing (3) or CYBSC 5XX Data Science (3) Action item: Hamdy and Ramyaa write up a CSE 5XX Machine Learning core course that they are both happy to teach.
    For each of these courses:
    • Either take the class and pass it with a grade of "A" (students who have taken equivalent courses at a ranked institution may petition to satisify these requirements by transfer), or
    • Pass the corresponding Qualifying Exam. Qualifying Exams are oral exams offered once per semester and scheduled only on request, typically one week before the start of the semester when the corresponding course is offered. A qualifying exam for a course is administered and graded by two faculty and attended by the department chair. In the event of a split vote, the chair breaks the tie.
  3. Complete the required minimum credit hours as follows:
    • For students with MS in CS or closely related area: 6 credit hours of CSE graduate courses.
    • For student without MS in CS or closely related area: 21 credit hours, detailed as follows:
      • i. 15 credit hours of CSE graduate courses
      • ii. 6 credit hours of 300-level or higher courses (CSE or related/needed areas)
All students who are financially supported by the department must finish the above requirements within their first four semesters (from the time of joining the Ph.D. program); otherwise, their financial support is subject to termination without further notice.