Program Information
continues to generate a need for highly trained workers
to design and develop new hardware and software systems, and
to incorporate new technologies into existing systems.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
“Computer systems analysts, database administrators, and computer scientists are expected to be among the fastest growing occupations through 2012. Employment of these computer specialists is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations as organizations continue to adopt and integrate increasingly sophisticated technologies.” [http://www.bls.gov/oco/, November 2005]
The Bureau also points out that rapidly changing technology requires an increasing level of skill and education on the part of employees. In addition to technical knowledge, companies want professionals who have communication and other interpersonal skills and can adapt their problem solving skills to different situations.
The Computer Science Program at WSU is designed to prepare students in exactly these ways…
- Majors take courses to develop not only their programming skills and technical knowledge, but also their communication and critical thinking skills.
- Students are given opportunities, both inside and outside of the classroom, to apply their knowledge to real-world problems.
- Students are able to take special applied computer science courses/tracks relative to areas such as bioinformatics, business, psychology, and geology.
- Through service-learning, independent research projects, and internships, students have the opportunity to work one-on-one with faculty in specialized areas, such as
- digital image processing
- computer assistive technology
- game technology
- embedded systems
- database design
- web programming
- software engineering
- networking
By combining these opportunities, we are able to prepare students for long-term success in the computer science field.
The Computer Science Department includes a approximately 250 majors. These majors are served by 12 faculty members and 2 support staff, with average class size of 20-25 students.
In addition to the programs for the Computer Science Major, the department offers a Computer Science Minor and a Computer Technology Minor.
And, as part of Winona State’s laptop program, our students have access to state-of-the-art computers at all times!
Details
- Computer Science Options
- Scheduling Recommendations
- Graduation Requirements
- University Study Flag Requirements
- Graduation with Honors
- Prerequisites
- Pass/No-Credit Courses
- Rochester Center
- Course Repetition Limit Policy
- Collaboration Policy
Computer Science Options
Computer science majors choose between two options: Computer Science and Applied Computer Science. Both options require a common core set of courses that are designed to give students a fundamental understanding of both theoretical and applied computer science. Upper-level courses within each option build on these concepts to provide depth in particular areas. As such, all computer science majors are prepared for computer science careers and, if they desire, further graduate study in computer-related fields.
The Computer Science Option allows students to study the technical and theoretical aspects of computer science and software development in depth. Students in this option take two semesters of calculus, one course in physics, and nine upper-level computer science (CS) courses beyond the core. Required CS courses include Operating Systems, Programming Languages, and Theory of Computation.
The Applied Computer Science option allows students to study computer science concepts in the context of an applied area. Students choose a specific track in this option and, in addition to the core, take courses in an applied area, CS courses tied directly to the applied area, and CS electives. Currently, the department offers four tracks: Bioinformatics, Computer Information Systems, Human Computer Interaction and Geographic Information Technology.
- Bioinformatics is the study of using computational tools and computer technologies to model, analyze, store, retrieve, manage, present, and visualize biological data. Primarily, the data to be processed are huge amounts of molecular biology data such as DNA sequences and proteins.
- Computer Information Systems involves the study of business-related processes and software. An integral component of this track is web programming—both client-side and server-side technologies, and also component-based reusable software architectures. These topics are important in the development of software to support E-business applications.
- Human Computer Interaction (HCI) is an interdisciplinary field that attempts to understand the tendencies and limitations of humans in order to design and develop effective software that is user friendly. As such, a successful HCI computer scientist must be well-versed in both computer science and psychology.
- Geographic Information Technology (GIT) involves the development of software to support the rapidly growing field of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS uses digital technology to combine maps and images with computer databases. As such, GIS has a broad range of applications that allow businesses, engineers, and governments to make quicker and more informed decisions.
Scheduling Recommendations
A student who is interested in becoming a computer science major should ask to be assigned an advisor as soon as possible. All prospective and current computer science majors, including incoming first-year and transfer students, should consult a computer science advisor before registering.
Graduation Requirements
- Students must have an overall GPA of at least 2.5. The cumulative GPA for all Computer Science Major and Minor requirements and electives must be at least 2.5, and each course must be completed with a grade of "C" or better (except CS 491).
- For majors, at least 18 credit hours of 300 & 400 level CS courses, with at least 12 credits hours beyond the Computer Science core requirements, must be earned from WSU. Courses taken through the MSU Common Market Program do not satisfy this requirement.
University Studies Flag Requirements
Students may use Flag courses to satisfy both University Studies and major requirements. Flag courses will usually be in the student's major or minor program. The Department of Computer Science offers the following flag courses in the University Studies Program:
FLAGS
| Oral | CS | 411 | Software Testing (3) |
| Oral | CS | 471 | Object Oriented Design (3) |
| Writing | CS | 385 | Applied Database Management Systems |
| Writing | CS | 410 | Software Engineering (3) |
| Writing | CS | 495 | Computer Science Research Seminar (3) |
| M/S - CA | CS | 341 | Advanced Data Structures (4) |
Flag courses that can be used to satisfy Computer Science major/minor requirements are identified in the lists of required courses and electives in this section.
Graduation with Honors
For graduation with honors in computer science, a student must:
- Complete one of the following majors: computer science or applied computer science
- Have an overall GPA of 3.0
- Have a WSU computer science GPA of 3.25
- Complete an honors project or thesis
The student may either take CS 495 to develop an honors thesis or they may work independently with an advisor. If they chose to work independently with an advisor, the student must find a second reader for the project/thesis. Advisors and readers must be regular WSU faculty members unless a waiver is obtained from the Honors Committee. An advisor oversees a maximum of three honors students at a time. With the advisor, the student prepares and submits a proposal to the department’s Honors Committee. Once the project is approved, the student completes the project/thesis and presents it to the advisor and the second reader. In all cases, a copy of the project/thesis must be submitted to the department library.
Prerequisites
Prerequisite courses for any computer science course must be met with a "C" grade or better. Students who have not met the prerequisites with a grade of "C" or better before the course begins will be dropped from the class.
Pass/No Credit Courses
All required courses and elective courses for a major/minor must be taken for a letter grade, except CS 491
Rochester Center
Some of the Department's majors and the minor are available through the 2+2 Program at the Rochester Center.
Course Repetition Limit Policy
Students are allowed to attempt a particular computer science course at most three times. It is considered to be an attempt each time the name of a student appears on the course's final grade roster. After three attempts, a student is no longer eligible to take the particular course. If, by the third attempt, a student has not passed a required computer science course with a "C" or better grade, the student can not graduate in this program. A student wishing to appeal this policy must follow the process defined in the Course Repetition Limit Appeal document.
Collaboration Policy
The Computer Science Department advocates collaborative study and learning for its students. Activities designed to support this are given in class, and students are encouraged to participate in in-class as well as out-of-class collaborative exercises.
Collaborative work is not acceptable, however, for independent work on which students are evaluated for a grade. Independent work includes in-class tests and quizzes, take-home tests and quizzes, and written and programming assignments. All written and programming assignments are considered to be equivalent to tests in this regard.
Unless otherwise specified by your instructor, no collaboration is allowed for independent work. Specifically:
Discussions with the instructor or department tutor about independent work are allowed. For in-class tests and quizzes, access to any type of written material other than the test itself is not allowed. For take-home tests, written assignments and programming assignments, access to notes, books, and other publications is allowed. Discussions about the problem are allowed. However, stealing, giving, or receiving any code, drawings, diagrams, text, or design from another person (student or not) about the solution is not allowed. Having access to another student's work on the system is not allowed.
Students who participate in illegal collaboration on independent work, as determined by the department's Illegal Collaboration Policy, will receive a course grade of F. All such incidents will be reported to the Computer Science Department and to the Dean of Students.
