This page is under construction, so it is entirely possible that it contains
errors. Watch out for falling rocks and chuckholes :>)
You have been warned!
The information presented in this document is thought to be correct, but may contain errors. If you detect an error, please send e-mail to pelz@uakron.edu with a reference to what you believe to be in error. This document does not supersede any official University of Akron publication; it is an attempt to collect such information in one location for the benefit of the student. The Department of Computer Science may have more stringent or additional requirements beyond those listed for the University in general; such changes are included in this document.
International Students on F-1 visa
International students on an F-1 visa must be full-time students in good standing
in order to remain in status. For a graduate student, this means being enrolled
in a minimum of 9 credit hours and maintaining a minimum 3.0 GPA. There are special
circumstances in which a student may be able to enroll for fewer than 9 credit hours.
Examples include the last semester of an academic program and the time period while on
Curricular Practical Training (CPT).
International students must also be timely in informing the University of any changes
in their circumstances (e.g., address change) to protect their visa status.
In all cases involving issues relating to visa
status, the student is encouraged to contact the Office of International Programs.
That office will have the most current information concerning regulations applying to
international students and will be able to provide advice in such matters.
Students admitted to the graduate program provisionally must petition the graduate faculty at the conclusion of their first year of study for permission to continue with their program. As part of this written petition, the student must present evidence that they have satisfied the requirements of their provisional admission. Any student failing to comply, or any student whose petition is rejected by the graduate faculty, will be terminated in the graduate program.
Grades, Probation, and Dismissal
A graduate student is expected to be in good standing while at the University. This means
that the student must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.0 out of a possible 4.0.
In terms of letter grades, this translates to an average of at least a B. There are also
additional conditions that relate to the student's status. The following material is taken
from The University of Akron Graduate Bulletin:
<< begin extract from graduate bulletin >>
For the purpose of administration of the full-time and part-time provisions of this
policy, full-time and part-time status are determined by the semester in which the
student goes on probation. Full-time enrollment constitutes nine or more graduate
credits; part-time is less than nine graduate credits.
The dean of the Graduate School, with the approval of the relevant department
chair, may also dismiss anyone who fails to make satisfactory progress toward
declared goals or who accumulates six semester credits of .C+. or below. The
accumulation of six semester credits of .F. will result in mandatory dismissal.*
A student dismissed from the Graduate School for academic reasons may not be
readmitted for one calendar year, and then only if evidence for expecting satisfactory
performance is submitted and found to be acceptable.
*Grades of "D+," "D," and "D-" are treated as "F" grades.
International students should become familiar with the grading system. Many students come
from a system in which percentage scores over 60% or 70% are considered good scores. For
most classes in our system, scores in the 60's are equivalent to grades of 'D' while scores
in the 70's are equivalent to grades of 'C'. Different instructors may have slightly
different grading schemes; be sure to understand early in a course what is expected of you
during the semester.
Any student whose cumulative graduate grade-point average falls below 3.00 will
be placed on probation and is no longer in good standing. In consultation with the
college or department, as appropriate, the dean of the Graduate School will dismiss
full-time students who do not return to good academic standing within two
consecutive semesters (excluding summers) and part-time students who do not
return to good academic standing within the attempting of 15 additional credits.
<< end extract from graduate bulletin >>
After completing at least 15 credits towards the master's degree, the student should apply
for Advancement to Candidacy. The form for this application is available in the Computer
Science office (CAS 221). The student completes the top portion of the form and also
must select either the non-thesis or thesis option. It is advisable to have discussed these
plans with the faculty member that has agreed to direct either the project (for the non-thesis
option) or the thesis (for the thesis option) before submitting the application. The form
should be submitted to the Computer Science Department.
The bottom portion of the form will be completed by the department and then submitted to the
Graduate School. The form will show all of the requirements that the student must complete
in order to finish the degree. A copy of the completed and signed form will be sent to the
student after processing is completed.
Deadlines for submitting the Advancement to Candidacy application are May 15 (Fall Graduation),
September 15 (Spring Graduation) and February 15 (Summer Graduation.)
The department policy on the Comprehensive Examination can be found at: Comprehensive Examination
Cooperative Education (especially CPT)
A student may participate in the Cooperative Education Option of the Master's degree.
The interested student should contact the Center for Career Management for details of
this program. In order to participate, the student must have completed at least two
semesters at The University of Akron. A student who participates in the Cooperative
Education program must earn a grade of CR (credit) in 3000:501 in order
to complete graduation requirements. This requirement will be included on the Advancement
to Candidacy form (or an amendment to that form) when the student starts the Cooperative
Education tour.
For international students, this option falls under the guidelines of Curricular Practical
Training (CPT) and additional restrictions can affect eligibility. A student may not use
CPT during their last semester. This means that the student must
attend at least one semester at the University after completing CPT. That is, the
student must have at least one required course (which can include research or thesis if there
is no previous enrollment in this course) for
which the student must enroll and which must be completed after CPT. Note that this
requirement is for
enrollment (registration) as well as completion. This can be tricky, so be careful.
If the only remaining requirement is removing an IP from a research or thesis course, the
student is not eligible for CPT.
OPT (Optional Practical Training), CPT (Curricular Practical Training), and RCL (Reduced Course Load) are terms that might be important to international students at The University of Akron.
The rules associated with each of these terms are fairly straightforward; however their interaction may lead to some unfortunate situations. In the interests of ensuring that students do not violate any of the rules (however unintentionally), the following guidelines will be followed:
There are a number of options available to the student both within the Department as well
as within the University. These options include partial tuition scholarships, instructional
support/teaching assistantships,
and research assistantships. All of these forms of financial assistance
require that the student be a full-time graduate student in good standing (minimum 3.0 GPA.)
Additional restrictions or requirements are given below. Because of the large number of
graduate students in Computer Science, we are restricting eligibility for financial
assistance to those students who have full (not provisional) admission.
Students interested in financial assistance should complete an application for an
assistantship available in the Department or on the Graduate School web pages.
A Partial Tuition Scholarship will pay up to a maximum of $1000 per semester ($500 for
summer.) Such a scholarship is available to a student only during their first academic year
at the University. This means that a student starting in the Fall would be eligible for a
scholarship in Fall, Spring, and Summer, whereas a student starting in the Spring would only
be eligible in Spring and Summer.
Instructional Support/Teaching Assistantships involve work related to the instructional
activities of the Department. Typically instructional support involves providing assistance
to a faculty member teaching one or more courses. This assistance may include grading homework
or programs, developing programming assignments, conducting help sessions, and/or other
activities. A teaching assistant usually monitors the laboratory sections of the beginning
undergraduate courses in Computer Science or possibly teaches a service course in Computer
Science for non-majors. In order to be eligible for a teaching assistantship, a student must
either come from a country in which English is the native language or receive a score of
at least 50 on the Test of Spoken English (TSE). A student on an instructional support
assistantship does not need such a score, but is expected to take the test while on the
assistantship. By taking the TSE test and receiving a score of at least 50, a student
will improve their chances of getting an assistantship. Recently, the university has developed
the U-ADEPT (the University of Akron Developed English Proficiency Test) as an alternative to
the TSE. For more information concerning this test, please see
U-ADEPT
Educational Testing Services has begun offering the Next Generation TOEFL called the iBT or
internet-based TOEFL. This test includes a speaking section. Candidates for a teaching assistantship
must score at least a 23 on this component of the iBT.
There are two types of Instructional Support Assistantships. The first type includes a stipend
of $500 per two-week period, includes a tuition waiver up to 15 credit hours per semester, and requires
20 hours per
week of effort from the student. The second type has a stipend of $250 per two-week period, has a
tuition waiver of 8 credit hours, and requires 10 hours per week of effort. Note that a student
holding the second type will be required to pay for at least one credit hour so that the
requirement of being a full-time student is met.
Decisions on Partial Tuition Scholarships and Assistantships are based on the student's
overall record, performance in course-work in the Department, performance on previous
assistantships, and the needs of the Department. Financial needs of the student are not a
consideration in these decisions.
In previous years, the Graduate School placed a limit of 4 semesters of support (not including
summers)
for a master's student. This limit included any semesters with a partial tuition
scholarship or an assistantship. Under this system a student on some kind of financial
assistance would have to finish the first master's
degree before becoming eligible for another 4 semesters of support. Recently this rule was
changed by the Graduate School so that a student could be supported for a maximum of 174 credit
hours before losing eligibility. This rule applies to any graduate student no matter how many
degrees have been earned previously. However, any decisions on financial assistance through
the Computer Science department will still use the older rule. With the large number of
students in our program (and an even larger number trying to get into the program) and the
limited resources
available in the Department, this seems the most equitable method of allocating our resources
to best benefit the students.
Research assistantships are only available through support provided by research grants held
by a faculty member. Typically such assistantships are offered to a student by the
individual faculty member based on the faculty member's experience with that student. If you
have no prior experience with a faculty member, it is a waste of your time
contacting them with a request for an assistantship.
To apply for an assistantship in the department, you must be admitted to the Master's program in
Computer Science and submit the completed form available at
Assistantship Application
along with 3 letters of recommendation to the department.
There are other assistantships available through other offices on campus for students with
knowledge and expertise in Computer Science. If you are interested in such positions, you
would need to contact those offices directly. We do not have prior knowledge of openings in
such positions; however we are notified when such positions are offered to students in our
academic programs.
The university has a policy that no more than one-third of the credits for a degree can be
transferred from another accredited institution. The department has a more restrictive
policy that no more than 3 credits can be transferred from other accredited
institutions to be applied towards the Master's degree.
If a student wishes to transfer more than 3 credits, the student must make a request to the
department for the additional credits. This request must include all course materials such
as syllabus, homework assignments, programming assignments, course notes, and tests so that
the faculty can make an informed decision on the request. A University policy requires a student
to successfully complete 12 credit hours of coursework at Akron before an application for transfer
work will be processed.
The Thesis Information portion of the Graduate School website has been updated to reflect recent
changes. See Thesis Information for this information.
Hard copies are no longer required or accepted by the Graduate School, however the Department does require
submission of a hard copy as well as a pdf file of the thesis. The hard copy must be bound, but the binding can be
a simple binding method such as coil, comb, or VeloBind®. Stapled submissions are not acceptable.
If you have questions or need additional information on Graduate School requirements, please
contact Jessica Fritz at extension 5169 or via e-mail at jfritz@uakron.edu
The Graduate School does not require submission of a project report, but the department has the same submission
requirements for projects and theses.
If it is appropriate for the research done for a thesis or a project to be primarily directed by a non-Computer
Science professor, the department has established a policy that the student must have a Computer Science co-advisor.
For a thesis, the committee must have a least 2 readers in addition to the advisor and co-advisor.
This document is maintained by pelz@uakron.edu.