Ph.D. in Computer Science (CISD)
Introduction
The
Curriculum
Course Descriptions
This program offers a course of study leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Computer Science. Its cluster format combines traditional and online instruction to provide professionals the opportunity to pursue graduate study while continuing to work in their current positions. The program is especially well suited to those in industry, education, or government who are involved with one of the many areas of computer science and information technology. It provides research-oriented professionals with knowledge in the major areas of computer science the ability to develop creative solutions to substantive real-world problems. Each student must complete eight core courses, two research courses, and a dissertation.
A graduate with a Ph.D. in Computer Science will have the ability to: (1) acquire advanced knowledge and deeper understanding of the field of computer science; (2) communicate professionally and ethically about computer science research issues; (3) identify, analyze, and synthesize scholarly literature related to the field of computer science; and (4) generate new knowledge through research/scholarship and disseminate that knowledge to others by demonstrating the necessary technical and intellectual skills to produce a written document that makes an original contribution to the field of computer science.
Orientation and Advisement
New Ph.D. students must attend an orientation day on the main campus in Fort Lauderdale at their first cluster. The orientation includes introductions to the program office staff, computer requirements, online access, software tools that enhance the educational process, library services, financial aid, and academic integrity. The school’s website provides an extensive online “help” system including downloadable software and documents. Students are offered dissertation counseling throughout the program. Advisement is provided by the program office and the faculty.
Program Formats and Term Dates
Students, while taking courses, attend four cluster sessions per year, held quarterly over an extended weekend (Friday, Saturday, and half-day Sunday) at the university. These weekends bring together students and faculty for participation in classes, seminars, and dissertation counseling, and provides ample opportunity for student-faculty and student-student interaction. Students are required to attend all of their scheduled class sessions. Between sessions, students work on course assignments and research, and participate in online activities that facilitate frequent interaction with the faculty and with other students. There are two 16-week terms a year. The fall term starts in August and the winter term starts in January.
The student enters doctoral candidacy upon completion of course requirements with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25. Immediately following candidacy, the student registers for the dissertation at 12 credits per term for two terms. Students who have not completed the dissertation after registrations for Dissertation I and Dissertation II must register for Continuing Dissertation until they have satisfied the dissertation requirement. Students are strongly encouraged to register for each term following the one in which they enter candidacy until the dissertation has been completed. Doctoral residence is defined as continuous enrollment for two consecutive terms at a minimum 12 credit hours per term.
The online component involves use of the web to access course materials, announcements, email, distance library services, subscription library databases, and for interaction with faculty and fellow students. Online, interactive learning methods are based on the use of WebCT as a course management system which includes threaded discussion boards, white boards, chat rooms, email, and multimedia presentations. In addition, WebCT enables students to submit assignments online in multimedia formats and to receive their professors’ reviews of assignments online in the same formats. Students are provided NSU computer accounts but must obtain their own Internet service providers and use their own computer systems.
Attendance Policy
Ph.D. students are required to be present at each on-campus meeting of their classes. Failure to attend may result in withdrawal from courses and suspension or dismissal from the Ph.D. program. Exceptions to this policy regarding individual class meetings may be made in the case of illness and possibly in other hardship situations. Such absences must be approved first by the course professor(s) and then by the program director, and must be made in advance of any anticipated absences. Participation requirements regarding the online components of doctoral courses will be covered in the syllabus of each course.
The Dissertation
Students will be permitted to register for the dissertation after they have completed their required course work with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.25. Both Dissertation I and Dissertation II are required. They are usually taken over two consecutive terms. The dissertation is the most important requirement for the Ph.D. Each student is expected, with the approval of a faculty advisor, to select an appropriate topic of sufficient scope to satisfy the requirements for the dissertation. Although registration for dissertation credits cannot occur until after course requirements have been met, students are encouraged to learn about the dissertation process as early as possible and to begin talking with faculty members about potential research topics early in the program. The dissertation must be an original work and must represent a significant extrapolation from a base of solid experience or knowledge in the student’s area of concentration. Dissertation results must, in a significant way, advance knowledge, improve professional practice, or contribute to understanding in the field of study. Results must be of sufficient strength to distill from the work a paper worthy of publication in a major journal. Although publication is not a requirement for completing the Ph.D., students are encouraged to submit their dissertation research for publication. Ph.D. students must follow the policies, procedures, and formatting requirements contained in the Dissertation Guide. The student will be required to present an oral defense of the dissertation.
Curriculum for the Ph.D. in Computer Science
The program requires 64 credit hours, of which 40 are for courses and 24 are for the dissertation. Courses and dissertation registrations are listed below:
Core Courses (four credits each) (Select eight of these.)
CISD 700 Theory and Principles of Programming
CISD 730 Operating Systems
CISD 740 Data Communications and Computer Networking (cross-listed with DCIS 740)
CISD 750 Database Management Systems
CISD 755 Database Security
CISD 760 Artificial Intelligence (cross-listed with DCIS 760)
CISD 765 Cryptography
CISD 770 Software Engineering (cross-listed with DCIS 770)
CISD 775 Network Security
CISD 792 Computer Graphics
CISD 794 Knowledge Discovery in Databases
Research Courses (four credits each) Select two of these. Must be taken following successful completion of the corresponding core course. With approval of the 800-level course professor, an 800-level course may be repeated for credit but only once.
CISD 800 Research in Theory and Principles of Programming
CISD 830 Research in Operating Systems
CISD 840 Research in Data Communications and Computer Networking
CISD 850 Research in Database Management Systems
CISD 855 Research in Database Security
CISD 860 Research in Artificial Intelligence
CISD 865 Research in Cryptography
CISD 870 Research in Software Engineering
CISD 875 Research in Network Security
CISD 892 Research in Computer Graphics
CISD 894 Research in Knowledge Discovery in Databases
Dissertation Registrations
CISD 910 Dissertation I (12 credits)
CISD 915 Dissertation II (12 credits)
CISD 920 Continuing Dissertation (6 credits)
CISD 700 Theory and Principles of Programming (4 credits)
Syntax of programming languages by parsing to abstract syntax. Semantics of common language constructs using an interpreter: arithmetic, symbolic, and conditional expressions; blocks; lexically-scoped recursive first-class procedures; control structures; and parameter passing variations. Static type checking and type inference; imperative, functional, and object-oriented language paradigms. Recent research and current trends.
CISD 730 Operating Systems (4 credits)
Recent advances in the theory and practice of state-of-the-art methods in the structure and development of operating systems with an emphasis on parallel and distributed systems. Topics include research in operating system architectures, clusters, parallel and distributed operating systems, real-time issues, performance, and software engineering issues associated with systems development. An emphasis will be placed on current systems development, future directions, and research topics.
CISD 740 Data Communications and Computer Networking (4 credits)
Recent advances and trends in data communication and computer network research are explored with a focus on design and analysis. Included in the course topics are network structure, protocols, layering, wireless communication, ad-hoc and mobile networking, resource discovery and management, and network management. The course materials will provide a foundation for the study of recent advances and new applications in the expanding field of ad-hoc, mobile, and ubiquitous computing. Current topics are presented, as well as future research trends.
CISD 750 Database Management Systems (4 credits)
Theory and principles of databases and their management. Selected topics in design and implementation of traditional and nontraditional database management systems to retrieve and store various types of data. Current issues, trends, future directions, and research topics in the areas will be explored.
CISD 755 Database Security (4 credits)
This course will include topics in, but not limited to, various database security models, access and authorization control mechanisms, secure database design, database intrusion prevention, privacy, confidential, and inference issues in statistical databases, database transaction audit, malicious transaction detection, database disaster and sabotage recovery techniques, privacy preservation in data mining, etc. Current issues, trends, future directions, and research topics in the areas will be explored. Prerequisite: CISD 750.
CISD 760 Artificial Intelligence (4 credits)
Theory and applications of artificial intelligence. Topics include knowledge representation, search, machine learning, and reasoning under uncertainty. Recent research and current trends are explored.
CISD 765 Cryptography (4 credits)
This course will focus on the existing and emerging techniques for cryptography and cryptanalysis. Particular
CISD 770 Software Engineering (4 credits)
Covers advanced topics in areas of current research interest in the development of software-intensive systems. Topics may include metrics, requirements definition, development life cycles, software engineering processes, reuse, formal methods, verification and validation, and project management.
CISD 775 Network Security (4 credits)
This course will focus on the technical challenges of securing computer networks, the tools and techniques that have been developed to address these challenges, and the current research in protecting computer networks.
CISD 792 Computer Graphics (4 credits)
Principles of computer graphics including raster operations and 3D graphics: transformations, scene graphs and other modeling methods, hidden surface removal and rendering, programming and graphics systems, visualization, and computer animation. Recent research and current trends will be explored.
CISD 794 Knowledge Discovery in Databases (4 credits)
This course will study a number of emerging technical approaches to knowledge discovery in databases such as algorithms for mining various types of data, measurements for set of mined rules, classification and predication, data clustering and summarization, finding dependency networks, analyzing changes, detecting anomalies, and their applications. Current issues, trends, future directions, and research topics in the areas will be explored. Prerequisite: CISD 750.
CISD 800 Research in Theory and Principles of Programming (4 credits)
Students pursue research on a current topic on the theory, principles, and design of programming languages, and related research areas. Prerequisite: CISD 700.
CISD 830 Research in Operating Systems (4 credits)
Students pursue research on a current topic in operating systems. Prerequisite: CISD 730.
CISD 840 Research in Data Communications and Computer Networking (4 credits)
Students pursue research on a current topic in data communications and computer networking. Prerequisite: CISD 740.
CISD 850 Research in Database Management Systems (4 credits)
Students pursue research on a current topic in database management systems and closely related research areas. Prerequisite: CISD 750.
CISD 855 Research in Database Security (4 credits)
Students pursue research on a current topic in database security. Prerequisite: CISD 755.
CISD 860 Research in Artificial Intelligence (4 credits)
Students pursue research in artificial intelligence. Topics of current interest are artificial life, learning technologies (including symbolic learning, neural networks, and genetic algorithms), intelligent agents, natural language processing, deep domain models in expert systems, vision, speech recognition, handwriting recognition, and parallel and distributed artificial intelligence. Prerequisite: CISD 760.
CISD 865 Research in Cryptography (4 credits)
Students pursue research on a current topic in the area of cyptography. Prerequisite: CISD 765.
CISD 870 Research in Software Engineering (4 credits)
Students pursue research on a current topic in software engineering. Topics of current interest are metrics, formal methods, development life cycles, reuse, object-oriented analysis and design and software engineering for distributed systems. Prerequisite: CISD 770.
CISD 875 Research in Network Security (4 credits)
Students pursue research on a current topic in the area of network security. Prerequisite: CISD 775.
CISD 892 Research in Computer Graphics (4 credits)
Students pursue research on a current topic in computer graphics and related research areas. Prerequisite: CISD 792.
CISD 894 Research in Knowledge Discovery in Databases (4 credits)
Students pursue research on a current topic in knowledge discovery in databases. The research process includes searching the literature, dissecting the existing methodologies for knowledge discovery in databases, and possibly developing a new approach for knowledge discovery in databases. Prerequisite: CISD 794.
CISD 910 Dissertation I (12 credits)
The student develops a framework within which doctoral research will be conducted and offers evidence of qualifications to pursue the research. Prerequisite: Satisfactory completion of all course work.
CISD 915 Dissertation II (12 credits)
Concepts and theories underlying the student’s doctoral research are articulated; the problem is clearly stated; specific, measurable goals are specified; a thorough literature review is presented; the methods of conducting the research are delineated; and a strategy to achieve the goal is given. Prerequisite: Dissertation I.
CISD 920 Continuing Dissertation (6 credits)
Students who have not completed the dissertation by the end of Dissertation II must register for Continuing Dissertation each term in order to receive faculty and administrative advice and support related to the dissertation. Prerequisite: Dissertation II.
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