Department of Computer Science

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Department of Computer Science

• Undergraduate Degree Program

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Overview
Main points

1. Computer Science is a good career choice
2. The Kent State University Department of Computer
   Science provides excellent preparation for a
   career in Computer Science

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Computer Science vs. Management Information
Science

• Computer science is programming intensive
• Involves
• system architecture
• software engineering
• application programming
• hardware
• theory

• Information Technology is organization related
  applications
• business related
• organizational automation

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Careers Graduating Bachelors

• Software Development
• Software Engineering
• Database Administration
• Database Programming

• Internet Engineering
• Web Development
• Systems Administration
• Network Administration
• Information Technology

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Job Prospects in CS

• Dot-com bust did not reduce the demand
• Outsourcing is mainly in lower level help desk
  jobs. More jobs are being created
• Job prospects are very bright
• 2004-2014, 71 of new jobs in science and
  engineering will be for computer specialists
• 59 of new jobs plus net replacements
• US universities will graduate half this amount

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New Jobs Labor Department
US Bureau of Labor Statistics, November 2005
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Job Prospects ( New Replacement )?
59
US Bureau of Labor Statistics, November 2005
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Job Demand Growth

• Computer Science graduates are in top 5 of demand
  market (CNN)?
• U.S. Department of Labor Projected to be top 5
  fastest growing occupations (46 over next 10
  years)?
• CNN Money says Software Engineer is best job in
  US
• 2700 Software development jobs are currently
  unfilled in Northeast Ohio (Northeast Ohio
  Workforce Report)?

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Employment and Salaries

• 75 alumni in Ohio companies such as
• Progressive Insurance, NASA Lewis, Goodyear,
  Cisco Systems, Hitachi Medical, Davey Tree, Fed
  Ex, Ernst Young, Philips Medical, Sherwin
  Williams, National City Bank, Key Corp, Procter
  and Gamble, Lexis-Nexis, Bell and Howell
• Multinational companies such as IBM, Intel
• National labs
• NASA, Oakridge and Lawrence Livermore
• Average Starting Salary 50K (2006)
• Earning range 60K - 90K

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KSU CS Degree Programs

• Bachelor of Science
• Minor in Computer Science
• Minor in Web Design and Programming
• Master of Science with thesis option
• Master of Science with course only option
• Doctor of Philosophy

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KSU CS Department Ranking

• National ranking top 60 CS departments
• State ranking top three CS departments
• Best in the Northeast Ohio
• Largest faculty
• Many courses are offered
• Industrial internship is part of the curriculum
• One of the four CS departments in Ohio funded by
  Ohio Board of Regents
• 100 employment of our graduates

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CS Undergraduate Curriculum

• Aligns with the current ACM IEEE-CS curriculum
  guidelines
• Keeps up with latest industry demands
• through senior year elective courses
• through internships
• ACM IEEE-CS are major professional
  organizations that provide curriculum guidelines
  for computing programs

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Focus of BS Program

• Integration of theory and system perspective of
  computer and software development
• Solid emphasis on software development
• Provide solid foundation essential to keep pace
  with rapid change in evolving field
• Keep up with the changing market demands
• Incorporation of new emerging areas through
• senior level elective optional courses
• project oriented courses
• internships in industries

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Flexible Course Structure

• Students take electives in junior/senior years
  based upon their interest
• Minors in other fields can broaden a student's
  perspectives and marketability
• bioinformatics and biotechnology
• web development and graphics
• mathematics
• business administration

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Teaching and Advising

• Interactive classes around 25 students
• Programming courses taught by Professors/Lecturers
  
• Coordinators for entry level courses
• Continuous monitoring and assessment of entry
  level courses for better coordination
• Graduate students help with labs/ entry level
  courses
• Junior / Senior level courses taught by
  Professors
• Evening courses for part-time students
• Opportunity for undergraduate research experience
  at junior and senior level
• Professional advisors for undergraduate students

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Work/Study Opportunities during BS

• Internships in industries organized through
  department
• Summer internships in national labs such as
• NASA Lewis, Oak Ridge, and Lawrence Livermore
• Part time employment in local companies
• Work study programs in local industries

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BS Student Research Experience

• An Individual Study course allows students to
  work on projects with professors for elective
  credit
• Many opportunities for undergraduate involvement
  in faculty research projects
• Combined Bachelors/Masters program
• time savings of one or two terms

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Faculty Research Project Areas

• Artificial Intelligence
• Bioinformatics and application to biotechnology
• Cluster computing
• Computer graphics and game Design
• Database and data mining
• Image processing
• Internet application

• Multimedia and programming languages
• Networking, Internet Engineering, and
  distributed sensor networks
• Software engineering
• Parallel distributed systems,
• Visualization
• Web based education

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Scholarships

• Scholarships for qualified Ohio students
• STEM scholarship for undergraduate research
  experience
• OBR scholarship for BS/MS students

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Cost Effectiveness of CS Program

• In state tuition is half of private colleges
• Low tuition fee for 12 or more credit hours
• 1 - 10 credit hours 384 / credit hour
• 11 and above fixed amount of 4215 / semester
• Best CS department in northeast Ohio with
  in-state tuition
• Credit transfer within NE Ohio universities
• Transfer from two year colleges possible

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Student Body

• Undergraduate majors 250
• Graduation rates (Bachelors) 35/year
• Most students are full-time (traditional) and
  come from NE Ohio
• Masters students 100
• Doctoral students 40

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Department Faculty Staff

• Professors 19 (largest in NE Ohio)
• nationally and international known
• some with industrial experience
• Lecturers 3
• university wide teaching award winning
  instructors
• Graduate teaching assistants 20
• Adjuncts 5
• Systems staff 3
• Office staff 3

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Department and Facilities

• Three instructional labs with 25 computers each
• Class rooms equipped with projectors
• Gigabit network speed
• Faculty offices equipped with computers
• All Faculty research labs have latest state of
  art computers

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BS Degree Requirements - 1

• Foundation Courses - 5
• Introduction to Computer Science (4)?
• Discrete Structures for Computer Science (3)?
• Computer Science I Programming Problem Solving
  (4)?
• Computer Science II Data Structures
  Abstraction (3)?
• Computer Architecture (3)?
• Mathematics Courses - 3
• Calculus I (5)?
• Calculus II (5)?
• Linear Algebra (3)?

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BS Degree Requirements - 2

• Core Upper Division Courses 8
• Operating Systems (3)?
• Structure of Programming Languages (3)?
• Social Ethical Issues (3)?
• Algorithms (3)?
• Networks (3)?
• Databases (3)?
• Software Engineering (3)?
• Capstone Project (4)?
• CS Electives Courses 5 X 3 credit hours
• Electives can be new selected topics courses to
  reflect latest industry demand and new emerging
  areas

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40000-Level Electives

• Artificial Intelligence
• Automata Theory
• Bioinformatics
• Compilers
• Computer architecture
• Game programming
• Graphics
• Human Computer Interfaces
• Information Security
• Internet Engineering

• Internship
• Numerical Computing
• Systems Administration
• Systems Programming
• VLSI Design
• Web design Programming
• Special Topics
• And others.

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BS Prerequisite Structure
70 credits in Major College requirements
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Student Activities in the Department

• Very active ACM student chapter
• organizes seminars from industry
• teaches popular courses such as Unix and Linux
• ACM programming competition
• IGDA local chapter

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For More Information

• See our web page
• www.cs.kent.edu
• Email ugradinfo_at_cs.kent.edu
• Phone [phone]

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References
BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook Ohio Labor
Market Information NorTech Technology Workforce
Report (pdf)? Money Magazine Sorfware
Engineering Article