Agenda for CSE Department Meeting 4-7-21

CAHSI "partners"

Does our department have any "partners"? Gov't, industry, non-profit or other educational partners? We are doing joint projects with who-all? NMSU? ENMU? EPSCOR. MOU's with 2 year colleges.

CSE Department Showcase

Thanks for rounding up a batch of student researchers. I hope you will join me there, and support our students. Adam Merrill, Elijah Pelofske, Wesley Pick-Roth, Brandon Bicknell, or Ahshanul Haque.

Advisory Board

We will meet 4/16 from 9:30-12. Kai-Li Cheng is the student representative. Darryl Ackley, 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. Darko Stefanovic has been invited and is perhaps thinking about it.

• 9:30-9:40 greetings and intros [Clint, dean Corey Leclerc]
• 9:40-9:50 department overview [Clint]
• 9:50-10:05 department compute infrastructure [ Sylvain, Kevin ]
• 10:05-10:25 teaching & curriculum - each faculty might contribute 1-2 slides on things learned, things new in the curriculum, impact of covid, best practices... [ faculty ]
  • Covid: problems and adjustments
  • Rita and Amy will be proctoring their final; Lorie will present for them
  • Amy -- WiCS, Google grant
  • IT curriculum, MGT/IT joint courses, e.g. Project Management
• 10:25-10:40 Q&A on teaching & curriculum
• 10:40-10:50 break
• 10:50-11:10 research & service - each faculty might contribute 1-2 slides, e.g. on research activities [faculty]
• 11:10-11:35 meet with students [ Kevin, Spencer, Joseph Servash, Celia Pacheco, Summer Bronson, all graduating students? encourage them to also chat ]
• 11:35-12:00 discussion, feedback, conclusions, next steps

Questions:

1. Any suggested changes to the agenda?
2. Who is willing to present on teaching, and/or contribute slides?
3. Who is willing to present on research, and/or contribute slides?

IT Assessment

Peter Mozley wants an IT program assessment, working on our promissory note last year saying that we'd assess three years' of IT data (F2017-S2020) this year. I have received material from Amy. If you taught a required IT course F17-S20 I am looking for either any data you can provide, or a statement that the data is not available. I think this is: Frank, Subhasish, Jizhou, Dongwan, ChrisG., Rita, Ramyaa [not expecting data from Lorie, DavidC., ScottC., Omar]

Ph.D Course Requirements

We had a good discussion last time based on draft oral qual language. Hamdy and Ramyaa are going to write up a CSE 5XX core ML course. Any progress on that? Today I would like to discuss the blue portion.

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 "B" or higher. Students who have taken equivalent graduate courses at a ranked institution may petition to satisfy these requirements by transfer, OR
   • Pass the corresponding Competency Exam. Competency exams are offered yearly, typically during the first week of the semester when the corresponding course is offered.
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.