MSACS Fall Orientation

Wednesday August 15, first day of classes at KSU, but not the first day for the new MSACS students in the Classic Cohort. MSACS courses for the new Classic Cohort will start on the following week (August 20-24).

Classic Cohort: CS 8421 Computing Systems and CS 8430 OO Analysis & Design will meet for the first time during the orientation weekend (below), and then meet as regularly scheduled beginning on Tuesday August 21.
Hybrid Cohort: CS 8655 Digital Game Design, CS 8630 Database Administration, CS 8990 Linux & Python and all other courses will meet as regularly scheduled on August 15 or 16 as per the course schedule. Students will receive textbooks on the first day of class.
Both Groups : CS 6940 Applied Project Planing will meet for the first time during the orientation weekend (below), and then meet as occasionally.
Other 1-hour classes will meet sporadically, to be determined.

August 21-24: Monday - Thursday: CS 6000 Concepts in Computing (Classic Cohort) will meet during the orientation Saturday, and then sporadically thereafter This course is intended for students without undergraduate degrees in computer science. These lectures will be live using our distance technology system and recorded, so they may be viewed at any time convenient for the student. An exam for this one-hour course will be scheduled around the middle of the semester.

Friday August 17 & Saturday August 18: Fall Orientation, with banquet on Friday evening beginning around 5:30, and Orientation on Saturday, beginning at 9AM with buffet breakfast. Equipment hand-out will take place on Saturday, August 18.

Fall 2007 Orientation Itinerary (Subject to Change)

Monday August 20: Regular MSACS courses continue from the orientation weekend.

CS 6000 Concepts in Computing

The purpose of this new course is to facilitate the entry of our students into our graduate computer science program. Our unique program accommodates the admission of many students with various undergraduate majors requiring sufficient industrial computing background. Students from disparate disciplines may lack an overall appreciation of what computer science is, and how it has evolved. This course is intended to broaden the student's appreciation of computer science, while also acclimatizing our new students to the demands and expectations of graduate work in computer science.

Immediately prior to the start of the fall semester of courses, we will require most students without undergraduate degrees in computer science (based on admissions evaluation) to attend this course (at no additional cost) as an intensive one-week course introducing students to computer science, worth 1 graduate hour. All students without undergraduate Computer Science degrees will be required to take this course.

CS 6000 will be taught during the first week of regular classes. Our MSACS new student orientation will be pushed-back to the first weekend after classes start in order to accommodate this new course AND to allow time for last-minute students to be enrolled, receive their equipment, textbooks, and laptop, in time to attend the very important new student orientation. Students in our MSACS courses will receive their first week’s worth of instruction during the Friday-Saturday orientation weekend, which contains more than a week’s worth of contact hours.

By completing the majority of the CS 6000 course during the first week of classes but prior to the start of the other MSACS courses, students are able to study for their other two required 3-hour courses without having to attend lectures for this extra 1-hour course as well.