MSACS Program of Study and Applied Studies Plan

The purpose of this document is to help students organize and plan their activities for completing the Applied Studies component of the MSACS degree requirements, and to prepare a Plan-of-Study for consideration of MSACS director. Planning and budgeting of both dollars and time is necessary for students, faculty and staff.

The MSACS provides opportunities in a number of activities designed to round-out and provide a capstone-type experience to the Plan-of-Study. Students may choose to complete their 6 hours of Applied Studies through the following options. Note that each student must develop, submit, and earn the approval of the MSACS director for their Plan-of-Study, and there are (soft) budget constraints to consider. Once approved, the Plan-of-Study is like a contract for the degree.

1. Attend a conference: Students will also further research a topic introduced at the conference for, and present that research in a paper and a presentation to KSU MSACS faculty and students. Example embedded systems conference is at: http://www.esconline.com/electronicaUSA/tech_conf/esc/
   1. Embedded Systems Conference (Fall)
   2. Joint International MultiConference In Computer Science and Engineering (Las Vegas, July)
   3. Game Development Conference (San Jose, Winter)
2. Work toward a professional certification. UNIX and ORACLE certifications integrate well with the curriculum, but other choices are possible. This option also requires preplanning on the student’s part in order decide on a certification, and to plan a certification program that to spreads the certification coursework over multiple semesters. Total cost is a limitation.
3. Complete a research project under the direction of a faculty research director. This option requires prior planning on the student’s part, discussions with a faculty director, and the development of a research project plan. Details on this process are posted to the MSACS web site.
4. Thesis Option

All MSACS students will be requied to make a project presentation during their final semester of study. This can be a remote and online presentation, students are NOT required to be physically present on campus.

If you propose to complete a certification program, you must specify a vendor who will provide the courses, a timeline for when you will complete each course or portion of the certification, and the proposed total cost of the certification. Note that some certifications are very expensive (complete ORACLE certifications for example) and require substantial work. I can afford a more expensive certification if you we designate all six applied studies hours to be applied to a certification.

For events with upfront costs like arranged conference travel, students who commit to an event and KSU funds have been expended are truly committed to the event. Pulling-out of a paid-for activity will result in the student forfeiting their funding for applied studies activities.

Format of the Plan-of-Study:

It should contain a schedule for completing the required and elective coursework, plus it should explain in detail what Applied Studies activities will be completed: See attached MSWORD doc: Applied Studies Plan