SPECIAL REPORT ACADEMIC MATTERS AND ACADEMIC PRIORITIES COUNCILS REVISION OF THE BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (B.S.) DEGREE IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

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1 SPECIAL REPORT of the ACADEMIC MATTERS AND ACADEMIC PRIORITIES COUNCILS concerning a REVISION OF THE BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (B.S.) DEGREE IN COMPUTER SCIENCE Presented at the 759 th Regular Meeting of the Faculty Senate May 5, 2016 COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP ACADEMIC MATTERS COUNCIL Neal Abraham, Wesley Autio, Martha Baker, Carol Barr, Bryan Beck, March Clark, Catherine Dimmitt, Sharon Domier, Diane Flaherty, Laura Francis, John Hagen, Jennifer Heuer, Patrick Kelly, Nancy Lamb, Clare Lamontagne, Molly Lehman, John Lenzi, Meredith Lind, Linda Lowry, Ryan Mahan, Pamela Marsh-Williams, Ruthanne Paradise, Lucas Patenaude, MJ Peterson, Linda Shea (Chair), Kelly Smiaroski, Kregg Strehorn, Patrick Sullivan, Ruth Verock-O Loughlin, Tom Weston, Jack Wileden ACADEMIC PRIORITIES COUNCIL Faune Albert, Richard Bogartz (Chair), Nicholas Bromell, Elizabeth Chilton, Suzanne Daly, Kathleen Debevec, Jean DeMartinis, Piper Gaubatz, Bryan Harvey, Masoud Hashemi, Deborah Henson, A Yęmisi Jimoh, Sangeeta Kamat, Stephen Magner, Ernest May, Katherine Newman, MJ Peterson, Monroe Rabin, James Rinderle, Peter Stern, Jack Wileden, Donna Zucker

2 ACADEMIC MATTERS COUNCIL The College of Information and Computer Sciences is proposing to revise the BS program in Computer Science. The program currently has a number of optional tracks that are meant to provide depth of knowledge in particular areas, but the college has found that the track requirements limit flexibility and cause difficulty for students in meeting graduation requirements. The main proposed revision is to eliminate the tracks, and instead have informal recommendations of groups of courses that fit with specific areas of computer science. The other proposed revisions are to allow one course from an outside department (from an approved list) to be counted as an upper-level CS elective, and to reduce the set of required upper-level CS courses to just COMPSCI 311 (these are consistent with the requirements of the current tracks). At its meeting on April 20, 2016, the Academic Matters Council voted unanimously to recommend Faculty Senate approval of the proposed Revision of the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Degree in Computer Science. It was submitted as proposal #2121 in the Course and Curriculum Management System. ACADEMIC PRIORITIES COUNCIL At its meeting on Thursday, April 21, 2016, the Academic Priorities Council endorsed approval of the Revision of the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Degree in Computer Science, Proposal #2121 in the Course and Curriculum Management System. MOTION: That the Faculty Senate approve the Revision of the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Degree in Computer Science, as presented in Sen. Doc. No

3 Please describe your proposal. Sen. Doc. No The main revisions to the BS in Computer Science program are a) removing the optional tracks; b) allowing an outside course to be counted as an upper-level elective (this was previously allowed only within specific tracks); and c) increasing flexibility within the major by reducing the set of upper-level courses that are mandatory. Please describe the existing program requirements, listing all required courses and available electives, as well as any additional requirements, and continuation or admissions policies. Please see Proposal #2121 in the Course and Curriculum Management System for the Academic Requirements Review. Please describe the requirements that you are proposing, listing course requirements, elective options, as well as any additional requirements, and continuation or admissions policies. The proposed requirements are as follows: The BS in Computer Science requires 14 computer science courses (not including 305) for a minimum of 48 credits, 4 math courses, and 2 approved lab science courses. Two (2) introductory computer science courses: COMPSCI 121 Introduction to Problem Solving with Computers (4 credits) COMPSCI 187 Programming with Data Structures (4 credits) (or equivalent courses/ap placements) Four (4) core computer science courses: COMPSCI 220 Programming Methodology (4 credits) COMPSCI 230 Computer Systems Principles (4 credits) COMPSCI 240 Reasoning Under Uncertainty (4 credits) COMPSCI 250 Introduction to Computation (4 credits) The Junior Year Writing Course: COMPSCI 305 Social Issues in Computing (3 credits) The Integrative Experience Courses: COMPSCI 320 Software Engineering (4 credits) or COMPSCI 326 Web Programming (3 credits); may also be used as a CS Elective Eight (8) Computer Science Electives at the 300-level or higher with the following requirements: COMPSCI 311 Introduction to Algorithms (4 credits) 3 CS electives >= 300 (not including COMPSCI 305) (at least 9 credits) 3 additional CS electives >= 400 (at least 9 credits) 1 additional CS elective >= 300 (at least 3 credits) or an outside elective from the following list: ECE 353 Computer Systems Lab I ECE 597AB ST-Security Engineering ECE 668 Computer Architecture LINGUIST 401 Intro to Syntax MATH 411 Intro to Abstract Algebra MATH 545 Linear Alg. for Applied Mathematics MATH 551 Intro to Sci. Computing MATH 552 Applications of Scientific Computing

4 Students may petition the Computer Science Undergraduate Program Director to count a different outside course that does not appear in the above list of pre-approved outside courses. Four (4) Math Courses. MATH 131, MATH 132, MATH 235, and one of either MATH 233 or STATISTCS 515 (equivalent courses or appropriate AP exam placements are acceptable in place of MATH ). Two (2) Lab Science Courses. Two of the three General Education Science courses must be introductory courses (with labs) intended for majors in some department in the College of Natural Sciences (8 total credits). Currently allowed courses are: CHEM 111 General Chemistry for Science and Engineering Majors or CHEM 121 General Chemistry CHEM 112 General Chemistry for Science and Engineering Majors or CHEM 122 General Chemistry (or equivalent Chemistry courses*) GEOLOGY 101 The Earth (with lab) or GEOLOGY 103/131 Intro Oceanography/Experiencing Geology or GEOLOGY 105/131 Dynamic Earth/Experiencing Geology (or equivalent Geology courses* ) PHYSICS 151/3 General Physics I (with lab) or PHYSICS 181/3 Physics I - Mechanics (with lab) PHYSICS 152/4 General Physics II (with lab) or PHYSICS 182/4 Physics II - Electricity and Magnetism (with lab) (or equivalent Physics courses*) *Equivalent courses as determined by the offering department. Variances from this requirement may be allowed under unusual circumstances. Students interested in counting a different science course toward this requirement should contact the Computer Science Undergraduate Program Director. BS computer science electives must be chosen from the department's regularly numbered courses 300 or higher. Experimental and seminar classes (numbered x90-x99) and independent studies (numbered x96) require Undergraduate Program Director (UPD) approval or an explicit designation indicating that the course can be used as an elective. No course taken on a pass/fail basis can be used to fulfill the BS requirements. Moreover, a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or better must be achieved in courses required for the major. Residency Requirement: At least five of the eight upper-level Computer Science Electives must be taken at UMass Amherst. Up to one course taken through Five College Exchange while the student is matriculated at UMass Amherst will be considered "taken at UMass Amherst". Also, regular UMass Amherst courses taken through Continuing Education or as a non-degree student will count for this rule, whether they count toward the university residence or not. Please provide the rationale for these revisions. The main change from the existing program is the elimination of the ten track options that were previously offered. The administration of these ten separate tracks was no longer considered to be feasible by the college. Specifically, fluctuations in the availability of courses could result in students not being able to complete the additional graduation requirements of certain tracks and the prerequisite structure of the upper level courses meant that oversubscribed courses could have a significant impact in reducing the options available to a student. Furthermore, many of the tracks attracted only a relatively small number of students. Most

5 importantly, the new requirements will give students the increased flexibility to take a set of courses that is suited to their interests while maintaining the option to focus in a particular sub-discipline of computer science or maintain breadth in their choice of upper level courses. The existing tracks will be replaced by informal recommendations of groups of courses that are relevant to specific areas of computer science. To maintain the academic diversity of the existing program, there are two further changes. First, one course from an outside department (from a pre-approved list) may be counted as a 300+ CS elective. Such an outside course was permitted in some of the existing tracks. Second, we reduced the set of required 300+ CS courses from COMPSCI 311, 377, and 383 in what was the general track to just COMPSCI 311. In many of the existing tracks only COMPSCI 311 was required amongst these three courses. These proposed changes were first discussed by the College Curriculum Committee, the Undergraduate Program Director, the Director of Instructional Programs, the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, and other interested parties. They were then voted upon at a faculty meeting with 28 in favor; 0 against; 0 abstaining. Academic Requirements Review Please see Proposal #2121 in the Course and Curriculum Management System. Resources: If this proposal requires no additional resources, say so and briefly explain why. If this proposal requires additional resources, explain how they will be paid for. For proposals involving instruction, indicate how many new enrollments are expected and whether the courses have room to accommodate them. No additional resources are required as no additional courses are required. Please see Proposal #2121 in the Course and Curriculum Management System for the BS-CS Tracking Form for Major Requirements.