Graduate Program
Admissions
The requirements for admission to the graduate program in Computer Science are:
  1. A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university. An undergraduate major in science, engineering, mathematics, or computing is desirable, but individuals with other backgrounds who are interested in the program are invited to discuss their career objectives with the program director.
  2. An undergraduate grade point average of 2.75 (A=4.0) or above.
  3. GRE general test scores taken within 5 years from the term for which admission is sought. A score of 650/800 in the Quantitative section is preferred. Under some circumstances this requirement may be waived in lieu of extensive work experience in the computer science field. To apply for a GRE waiver, an applicant should submit letters of recommendation and evidence of work experience in the field. Completion of prerequisite and required courses with grades of B or better, within two years prior to the term for which admission is sought, may also be considered in place of the GRE scores as supporting eligibility to enter the program.
  4. An international applicant whose native language is not English is required to demonstrate adequate proficiency in English. Applicant should have scored at least 550 on TOEFL paper exam with a minimum of 50th percentile in all three sections or at least 217 on the TOEFL computer exam with a minimum of 4.0 on the essay. TOEFL scores older than two years from the term for which the admission is sought are not valid.
  5. Submission of a statement detailing the applicant's background and career plans. Forward your statement detailing your background and career plans to the CS Graduate Program Director, Campus Box 1656, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), Edwardsville, IL 62026.
3+2 Program
The Department of Computer Science offers a five-year program leading to the Bachelor of Science (BS) and the Master of Science (MS) degrees. Undergraduates with senior level status (at least 90 semester hours) and a grade point average of at least 3.0 (A = 4.0) overall may be admitted to the BS-MS program. They may then take 34 semester hours of graduate level courses (400- and 500-level) during their combined senior and graduate years. An application for degree-seeking status as a graduate student must be approved by the Graduate School and the Graduate Committee in Computer Science following the procedures described under "Admissions". A program outline must also be submitted for approval by Graduate Records and the director of the graduate program in computer science prior to enrollment in any courses to be included as a part of the master's program. Official admission to the program and to status as a classified graduate student is made only after the award of the baccalaureate degree. In no case will a graduate degree be conferred before all requirements for both degrees have been completed.
Prerequisite Courses
Students entering the program will need the specific background detailed below. Normally a grade of B or above is required in each of the prerequisite courses. For those students who do not have all of the necessary background, some of the prerequisite courses may be completed after enrolling in the program. Please note that none of the prerequisite courses actually count toward the Master of Science degree in Computer Science.

CS Courses:
C++ Language
CS 140, CS 150, CS 240
Algorithms and Data Structures
CS 340
Computer Organization
CS 312
Operating Systems
CS 414

Math Courses:
Calculus I
MATH 150
Discrete Mathematics
MATH 224
TWO Additional Math Courses
Calculus II (MATH 152)
Linear Algebra (MATH 321)
Statistics (STAT 244)
Graph Theory (MATH 422)
Other Approved Courses
Program of Study
The program requires 34 semester hours and consists of three core courses and completion of either a Thesis option or Topic Paper option. The Thesis option requires six elective courses and 6 credit hours of thesis. The Topic Paper option requires eight elective courses and a one credit hour topic paper. At least 19 of the 34 hours must be 500 level courses or above. For the purposes of assessment, students are also expected to develop a Graduate Portfolio which consists of all returned homework, projects, and exams in the courses that constituted the student's program.

Thesis Option:
The culminating thesis is a research project that must build on existing knowledge or include some novel elements. The project may include major software implementation, software development as part of a research effort or may be purely research oriented and primarily theoretical or empirical in nature. A project is expected to contain some novel element, which could include a new algorithmic technique, an empirical study of existing techniques, or a unique application of some existing techniques. Students may participate in individual or group projects, but the final report and presentation must be the work of a single student. An Advisory Committee consisting of a chairperson and two additional committee members will be responsible for reviewing the student's Project Portfolio and overseeing the thesis project. When this option is selected the Topic Paper may serve as the proposal for the thesis. When the Advisory Committee determines that CS 598 has been completed, the student may register for CS 599. CS 599 will be taken for a total of 6 hours of credit. The project will normally be completed during the last semester or two in the program, but selection of the Advisory Committee and the CS 598 Topic Paper must be completed before the final semester. The final examination will include an oral presentation of the thesis and an oral examination on the thesis conducted by the Advisory Committee.

Topic Paper Option:
Students taking this option will need to fulfill the following requirements:
  1. Take a total of 35 hours of graduate course work
  2. Complete at least one three-course sequence in an area of concentration that is approved by the Program's Graduate Committee
  3. Complete CS 598, a one credit hour Topic Paper
An Advisory Committee consisting of a chairperson and two additional graduate faculty members will be responsible for reviewing the student's Graduate Portfolio, supervising the student's Topic Paper, and conducting the student's oral examination.

Prior to registering for CS 598, the student should obtain the approval of the Advisory Committee for the Topic paper. The final examination will include a presentation by the student and an oral exam conducted by his or her Committee. The oral exam will consist of questions related to the student's Topic Paper and the student's area of concentration.

Students in the program must maintain a grade point average of at least 3.0 in all graduate courses. Any course in which a grade below C has been earned will not count toward the graduate degree.
Computer Science Core (10 hours)
  • CS 456 Algorithms and Complexity
  • (must be taken during a student's first semester in the program)
  • CS 500-1 Graduate Seminar in Computer Science
  • CS 514 Operating Systems
  • CS 516 Computer Architecture
  • CS 598 Topic Paper
Elective Requirements (24 hours)
The Topic paper option requires twenty-four hours of approved elective courses; the Thesis option requires eighteen hours together with six hours of CS 599. Up to 6 hours of courses not listed below may be taken for graduate credit with the approval of the CS Program Director.

CS Elective Courses:
  • CS 423-3 Compiler Construction
  • CS 434-3 Database Management Systems
  • CS 438-3 Artificial Intelligence
  • CS 447-3 Networks and Data Communications
  • CS 454-3 Theory of Computation
  • CS 482-3 Computer Graphics
  • CS 525-3 Principles of Simulation
  • CS 530-3 Software and Systems Management
  • CS 535-3 Software Engineering
  • CS 547-3 Network Programming
  • CS 550-3 Object-Oriented Design and Programming
  • CS 565-3 Numerical Computation
  • CS 582-3 Advanced Computer Graphics
  • CS 583-3 Topics in Programming Languages
  • CS 584-3 Topics in Artificial Intelligence
  • CS 587-3 Topics in Computer Networking
  • CS 590-1 to 3 Seminar in Computer Science
  • CS 595-1 to 3 Independent Study
  • CS 599-1 to 6 Thesis

A student may take one other elective course (see list below) from outside the CS department. He/she can take additional outside electives if the courses are considered part of the concentration as approved by the graduate program director.

Non-CS Elective Courses:
  • ECE 438-3 Computer Vision
  • ECE 439-3 Digital Image Processing
  • ECE 577-3 Advanced Network Engineering
  • CMIS 540-3 Management of Information Systems Development
  • CMIS 565-3 Oracle Database Administration
Exit Requirements
Thesis Option:
The project will normally be completed during the last semester or two in the program, but selection of the advisory committee and of the CS 598 Topic Paper must be completed before the final semester. The final examination will include an oral presentation of the thesis and an oral examination on the thesis conducted by the advisory committee.

Non-Thesis Option:
The final examination will include a presentation by the student and an oral exam conducted by his or her Committee. The oral exam will consist of questions related to the student's Topic Paper and the student's area of concentration.
Research Interests
Professor
Interests
Dr. Stephen Blythe
Design Automation, Distributed Systems, Computer Systems
Dr. Bryon Ehlmann
Object-Oriented Databases, Data models, Software Engineering, Machine Learning, Scientific Databases, Computer-Human Interactions
Dr. Hiroshi Fujinoki
Communication Netwroks, Operating Systems, Graph Theory
Dr. Bernard Waxman
Algorithms and Complesity, Communication Networks, Distributed Computation
Dr. Jerry Wienberg
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Mobile Robotics, Robotics in Education, HCI
Dr. William White
Computer Graphics, Virtual Environments, Data Communications
Dr. Trong Wu
Petri Nets, Numeric Computation, Simulation and Modeling, Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining, Computer System Performance Evaluation, Ada Programming Language
Dr. Xudong Yu
Artificial Intelligence, Knowledge-Based Systems, Data Mining
Guidelines
Forms