Pictured | Ruth Davison-Hernandez | M.S. in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science | B.S. in Communications, Minor in Marketing, Holy Cross College, 2016 | South Bend, Indiana (hometown)
Degree Requirements
The program is tailored to individual student needs and consists of 30 credit hours. Students can choose between the following 3 options:
- Thesis option: 30 credits hours (24 credits coursework + 6 credits thesis)
- Project option: 30 credit hours (27 credits coursework + 3 credits project)
- Coursework option: 30 credit hours (30 credits coursework + exit exam)
A student can choose one of the four focus areas: Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, both disciplines, and Data Science.
- Graduating with a focus area (1) or (2) requires at least 21 credits in that discipline, including the thesis or project if applicable.
- No more than two 400-level courses may apply towards this degree.
- No more than 3 credit hours of CSCI-Y 798 may apply towards this degree.
- A student may transfer at most 6 credit hours of the Applied Mathematics and Computer Science degree program coursework from an accredited institution.
- At most 14 credit hours of online courses.
- At least 21 credit hours of courses taken at IU South Bend.
- Students are expected to maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above. Failure to maintain a 3.0 GPA for two consecutive semesters, or accumulating any two grades of D or below, may result in dismissal from the program.
- The program must be completed within seven years. Only courses taken within seven years of completion of the first course in the program may count toward this degree.
Computer Science
Students who pursue the Computer Science focus area complete their degree requirements by taking courses from the following list. Additional courses can be taken with the approval of the graduate director.
Recommended Courses
All courses are 3 credit hours, unless otherwise noted.
- CSCI-B 401 Fundamentals of Computing Theory
- CSCI-B 438 Fundamentals of Computer Networks
- CSCI-B 451 Security in Computing
- CSCI-B 503 Algorithms Design and Analysis
- CSCI-B 524 Parallelism in Programming Language and Systems
- CSCI-B 538 Networks and Distributed Computing
- CSCI-B 541 Hardware System Design I
- CSCI-B 551 Elementary Artificial Intelligence
- CSCI-B 553 Neural and Genetic Approaches to Artificial Intelligence
- CSCI-B 561 Advanced Database Concepts
- CSCI-B 581 Advanced Computer Graphics
- CSCI-B 582 Image Synthesis
- CSCI-B 583 Game Programming and Design
- CSCI-B 651 Natural Language Processing
- CSCI-B 657 Computer Vision
- CSCI-B 689 Topics in Graphics and HCI
- CSCI-C 435 Operating Systems 1
- CSCI-C 442 Database Systems
- CSCI-C 463 Artificial Intelligence I
- CSCI-C 490 Seminar in Computer Science
- CSCI-C 690 Special Topics in Computing
- CSCI-P 536 Advanced Operating Systems
- CSCI-P 565 Software Engineering I
Applied Mathematics
Recommended Courses
- MATH-M 414 Introduction to Analysis 2
- MATH-M 415 Elementary Complex Variables with Applications
- MATH-M 447 Mathematical Models/Applications 1
- MATH-M 448 Mathematical Models/Applications 2
- MATH-M 451 The Mathematics of Finance
- MATH-M 463 Introduction to Probability Theory 1
- MATH-M 466 Introduction to Mathematical Statistics
- MATH-M 546 Control Theory
- MATH-M 551 Markets and Asset Pricing
- MATH-M 560 Applied Stochastic Processes
- MATH-M 562 Statistical Design of Experiments
- MATH-M 565 Analysis of Variance
- MATH-M 569 Statistical Decision Theory
- MATH-M 571 Analysis of Numerical Methods I
- MATH-M 572 Analysis of Numerical Methods II
- MATH-M 574 Applied Regression Analysis
- MATH-M 575 Simulation Modeling
- MATH-M 576 Forecasting
- MATH-M 577 Operations Research: Modeling Approach
- MATH-M 578 Operations Research II
- MATH-M 590 Seminar
Students are encouraged to take courses bridging the two disciplines (e.g. MATH-M 562 Statistical Design of Experiments, MATH-M 571 Analysis of Numerical Methods, and CSCI-B 581 Advanced Computer Graphics). Both full- and part-time study is possible.
Data Science
- A student must take seven courses from the following four categories.
- If a project (3 cr hours) or a thesis (6 cr hours) is clearly related to at least one of the four categories, it may substitute one or two core courses in the corresponding category(ies).
- If a student has taken courses in one or more of the data science categories as part of their undergraduate degree, up to two such courses can be counted as satisfying a category requirement. However, these courses do not count towards the total graduate credits, which must be satisfied by taking other elective courses
Courses marked with an asterisk (*) can be counted only towards one of the listed categories
Data Mining
Select one (or more) from the following:
- CSCI-C 690 Special Topics in Computing
VT: Introduction to Data Science - CSCI-C 690 Special Topics in Computing *
VT: Applied Data Mining
- MATH-M 590 Seminar *
VT: Statistical Learning
Database and Computing
Select two (or more) from the following:
- CSCI-B 503 Algorithms Design and Analysis
- CSCI-B 561 Advanced Database Concepts
- CSCI-C 442 Database Systems
- CSCI-C 690 Special Topics in Computing
VT: Security
Machine Learning
Select two (or more) from the following:
- CSCI-B 551 Elements of Artificial Intelligence
- CSCI-B 553 Neural and Genetic Approaches to Artificial Intelligence
- CSCI-C 690 Special Topics in Computing *
VT: Applied Data Mining - CSCI-C 690 Special Topics in Computing
VT: Deep Learning - MATH-M 590 Seminar *
VT: Statistical Learning
Statistics
Select two (or more) From the following:
- MATH-M 562 Statistical Design of Experiments
- MATH-M 565 Analysis of Variance
- MATH-M 574 Applied Regression Analysis
- MATH-M 576 Forecasting
- MATH-M 590 Seminar *
VT: Statistical Learning
Thesis option
Students who choose the thesis option must complete six credit hours of thesis and 24 credit hours of coursework. In preparation for the thesis, a student should identify to the program’s graduate director an advisor and a committee. The advisor is a tenure-track or tenured faculty member from either the Department of Computer and Information Sciences or the Department of Mathematical Sciences. The committee is comprised of two faculty members representing the two areas of specialization, one of them being the advisor. A third member is required and can be a faculty member from within or outside of either department. The third member may also be an approved individual from business or industry. Additional members may be included in the committee with approval of the graduate director.
The student must submit a thesis proposal to the committee for approval and the approved proposal to the graduate director. Upon completion of the thesis, a written document is prepared and an oral defense is scheduled. The document is to be reported in a thesis format. After a successful defense, the final version will be archived in the department and in the IU South Bend library.
The thesis is considered complete when the student
- has successfully defended it
- has made all remaining corrections to the document
- has submitted the final version for archiving
Project Option
Students who choose the project option should complete three credit hours of the project and 27 credit hours of coursework. The student should identify an advisor and submit a 2-5 page project proposal approved by the advisor to the graduate director. The advisor is a tenure-track or tenured faculty member from either the Department of Computer and Information Sciences or the Department of Mathematical Sciences. Upon completion of the project, a report should be submitted to the graduate director in the form of a technical report (main body minimum 10 pages with 12-point font, 1.5 space, and 1 inch margin) or professional publication (no page number requirement). The report will be published on our program webpage.
Project samples can be found at http://www.cs.iusb.edu/current_students/research.html.
Coursework Option
Students who choose the coursework option should complete 30 credits of coursework and take an exit exam. The student should contact the graduate director one semester before the graduating semester for exam arrangements.
The exam is based on 3 courses (at least 2 courses at 500-level) chosen by the student from the list of courses that the student took. The exam is two hours long, and the passing grade is C (or 73%). If the student fails the exit exam, he or she has option to take the exam again up to three times total, or to do a project instead.
Transfer Credit Hours
Students wishing to transfer coursework from another graduate program should keep the following information in mind:
- Transfer credit hours must be approved by the program graduate director or persons designated by the Graduate Committee.
- Students are responsible for supplying course documentation, such as an official course description, a course syllabus, etc. to be used by the graduate director to assess transfer course applicability to this program.
- A student may transfer at most 6 credit hours of the Applied Mathematics and Computer Science degree program coursework from an accredited institution.
- The course must appear on an official transcript sent to IU South Bend.
- Only courses taken within seven years may be counted toward this degree. Courses transferred must be seven years old or less at the time of completion of the IU South Bend program. Exceptions are at the discretion of the graduate director.