Computer Science and Information Systems (Master of Science)

Director: Dr. Michael E. Farmer
Program Faculty: Associate Professors Michael E. Farmer, R. Shantaram, Stephen W. Turner; Assistant Professors Judith P. Carlisle, Suleyman Uludag

Program Mission and Assessment

The mission of the Computer Science and Information Systems (MS) program is to provide a solid understanding of the principles of computers and computing, not only in the context of problem solving, but also in technical support, education and training, and software/hardware management. Given a real world problem, the student should be able to understand the problem, analyze it, design a solution, and implement it on a computer with the tools available. The program has two concentrations; (i) Computer Science and (ii) Information Systems. The goal of the Computer Science concentration is to provide students with a thorough understanding of the theory and applications of traditional computer science. The goal of the Information Systems concentration is to provide students with a blend of computer science theory and business theory and applications. The program participates in the Universitywide effort to assess its academic programs. Information on Assessment plans, including goals, methods and outcomes is available at http://www.umflint.edu/assessment.

Admission to the Program

The program has a rolling admissions policy, meaning you can apply at any time and be notified of admission within 2-4 weeks. The application deadline is August 15 for the following Fall term and December 1 for the following Winter term. Conditional admission may be granted. For students with bachelor’s degrees in non-computer science disciplines, the department offers an accelerated “Fast Track” program consisting of the pre-requisite courses listed below, assuming prior programming experience. Application forms may be obtained from the Office of Graduate Programs.

Admission Criteria

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Computer Information Systems or Computer Engineering from an accredited institution. Candidates with other undergraduate degrees will be considered if the program prerequisites are completed.
Three letters of recommendation.
Minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 on a 4-point scale.
Written statement indicating personal goals for graduate study.

Prerequisites. Completion of the following courses or their equivalents:

CSC 335 , Computer Networks I, or CIS 335 , Telecommunication and Computer Networks.
CSC 365 , Computer Architecture, or CIS 365 , Information Technology Hardware and Software.
CSC 375 , Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis.
CSC 382 , Software Engineering I, or CIS 410 , System Design and Analysis.
CSC 384 / CIS 384 , Database Design.