1 GRADUATE COUNCIL MEETING 18 January 2012 102 Kern ...

Page D47
We are proposing an Integrated Undergraduate Graduate Program in Computer Science,
which necessitates a change to the Computer Science M.S. Program Bulletin to include the
IUG program.
Because we are updating the Bulletin to include the IUG program, we decided this was a
good time to include course changes we have had in progress. The addition of the IUG
program has not necessitated the following course changes.
All undergraduate courses with the "MA SC" prefix were eliminated after the UCA process.
MA SC 505 is currently the only course with the "MA SC" prefix. Thus, it is appropriate
now to move this course under the COMP prefix of this program. The title change is made to
more accurately reflect the content of the course.
When COMP 511 was created as a required, the pool of students entering the program had
very varied backgrounds. The objective of having MA SC 505 as a prerequisite, in addition
to CMPSC 463 (under a different number and prefix at that time), was to provide incoming
students with the necessary background to be successful in COMP 511. For the past several
years, the pool of incoming students has become more homogenized in their background.
Thus, the need for having MA SC 505 as a prerequisite has become unnecessary.
COMP 520 has a current prerequisite of COMP 511. This was established to ensure uniform
prior knowledge in the students coming from various backgrounds. Due to the recent trend of
incoming students having more homogeneous backgrounds, however, the prerequisite of
COMP 511 has not been strictly enforced and has frequently been substituted with any
undergraduate courses in the design and analysis of algorithms. To make this more explicit to
students, we propose to change the prerequisite from COMP 511 to CMPSC 463.
E. Written Evidence of Consultation
Departments affected by the change include the Computer Science programs at University Park
and Behrend. In addition, we consulted with the Information Systems program at Penn State
Harrisburg.
College Contact Response Comments
University Park Lee Coraor Concur
Behrend Ron McCarty Concur
Capital College Girish Subramanian Concur
43