UCC/UGC/ECCC
Proposal for Course Change
FAST TRACK
(Select if this will be a fast track item. Refer to UCC or UGC Fast Track Policy
for eligibility)
If the changes included in this proposal are significant, attach copies of original and proposed
syllabi in approved university format.
1. Course subject and number: CS 565
2. Units:
See upper and lower division undergraduate course definitions.
3. College:
CEFNS
5. Current Student Learning Outcomes of the
course.
Upon completion of the course the student
will be familiar with concepts and
abstractions of distributed systems, their
potential and limitations. The student will
know how to design and implement
distributed applications in such systems.
Apart from the theoretical knowledge about
distributed systems the student will acquire
important soft skills in the setting of a
professional seminar atmosphere. This
includes presenting knowledge before peers,
creating/authoring a paper about cutting
edge developments in distributed systems
and taking the leadership role in the context
of several programming assignments. See
the next paragraph “course structure” for
more details.
4. Academic Unit:
3
Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science
Show the proposed changes in this column (if
applicable). Bold the proposed changes in this
column to differentiate from what is not
changing, and Bold with strikethrough what is
being deleted. (Resources & Examples for
Developing Course Learning Outcomes)
Upon completion of the course the student
will be familiar with concepts and
abstractions of distributed systems, their
potential and limitations. The student will
know how to design and implement
distributed applications in such systems.
Apart from the theoretical knowledge about
distributed systems the student will acquire
important soft skills in the setting of a
professional seminar atmosphere. This
includes presenting knowledge before
peers, creating/authoring a paper about
cutting edge developments in distributed
systems and taking the leadership role in
the context of several programming
assignments. See the next paragraph
“course structure” for more details.
Upon completion of the course:
 The student will be familiar with
concepts and abstractions of distributed
Effective Fall 2012


systems and their potential and
limitations.
The student will know how to design and
implement distributed applications in
such systems.
Practical exercises in the form of team
programming assignments will enhance
the student’s ability to work in a team
and communicate efficiently.
As a co-convened class, graduate students
are expected to achieve learning outcomes
that go above and beyond of what the
undergraduate students are expected to
achieve. Specifically, these are:
 Graduate students will learn to research
the literature about cutting-edge
developments in the field of distributed
systems
 Graduate students will learn to distill
their findings in a professional paper
 Graduate students will also learn to
present their findings before class in a
professional seminar atmosphere
 Graduate students will be given the
opportunity to take leadership roles in
the planning, implementation and
presentation of results of comprehensive
programming assignments.
6. Current title, description and units. Cut and
paste, in its entirety, from the current on-line
academic catalog*
http://catalog.nau.edu/Catalog/.
Show the proposed changes in this column
Bold the proposed changes in this column to
differentiate from what is not changing, and
Bold with strikethrough what is being deleted.
CS 565 DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS (3)
CS 565 DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS (3)
Description: Concepts and implementation of
distributed systems; distribution of application
logic and resources/resource access, notion of
time, coordination and consistency, middleware,
case studies. Letter grade only. Prerequisite: CS
Description: Concepts and implementation of
distributed systems; distribution of application
logic and resources/resource access, notion of
time, coordination and consistency,
middleware, case studies. Co-convenes with
Effective Fall 2012
460 or CS 560.
CS 465. Letter grade only. Prerequisite: CS
460 or CS 560.
Units: 3
Units: 3
Requirement Designation:
Prerequisite: Admission to Egr-Civil Egr (MEng)
or Egr-CompSci & Egr (MEng) or Egr-ElectEgr
(MEng) or Egr-EnvEgr (MEng) or EgrIndProgStdy (MEng) or Egr-MechEgr (MEng) or
Egr (MEng) or Master of Engineering TriU or
Engineering (MS) or Non-Degree Graduates
Requirement Designation:
Prerequisite: CS 460 or CS 560
Admission to (Egr-Civil Egr (MEng) or EgrCompSci & Egr (MEng) or Egr-ElectEgr
(MEng) or Egr-EnvEgr (MEng) or EgrIndProgStdy (MEng) or Egr-MechEgr
(MEng) or Egr (MEng) or Master of
Engineering TriU or Engineering (MS) or
Non-Degree Graduates)
*if there has been a previously approved UCC/UGC/ECCC change since the last catalog year, please copy the approved
text from the proposal form into this field.
7. Justification for course change.
This proposal is to co-convene with the new CS 465 "Distributed Systems". In our resourceconstrained environment and our need for CS senior electives it became the norm to override
undergraduate students into the class, while CS 565 would not meet minimum enrollment
numbers on its own.
This proposal regularizes what has been common practice.
8. Effective BEGINNING of what term and year?
See effective dates calendar.
IN THE FOLLOWING SECTION, COMPLETE ONLY WHAT IS CHANGING
CURRENT
Current course subject and number:
PROPOSED
Proposed course subject and number:
Current number of units:
Proposed number of units:
Current short course title:
Proposed short course title (max 30 characters):
Current long course title:
Proposed long course title (max 100 characters):
Current grading option:
letter grade
pass/fail
or both
Proposed grading option:
letter grade
pass/fail
or both
Current repeat for additional units:
Proposed repeat for additional units:
Current max number of units:
Proposed max number of units:
Current prerequisite:
Proposed prerequisite (include rationale in the
justification):
(CS 460 or CS 560) and Admission to Egr-Civil
Egr (MEng) or Egr-CompSci & Egr (MEng) or
Effective Fall 2012
(CS 460 or CS 560)
Egr-ElectEgr (MEng) or Egr-EnvEgr (MEng) or
Egr-IndProgStdy (MEng) or Egr-MechEgr
(MEng) or Egr (MEng) or Master of Engineering
TriU or Engineering (MS) or Non-Degree
Graduates
Current co-requisite:
Proposed co-requisite (include rationale in the
justification):
Current co-convene with:
Proposed co-convene with:
NONE
CS 465
Current cross list with:
Proposed cross list with:
9. Is this course in any plan (major, minor, or certificate) or sub plan (emphasis)?
Yes
No
If yes, describe the impact and include a letter of response from each impacted academic unit.
10. Is there a related plan or sub plan change proposal being submitted?
If no, explain.
Yes
11. Does this course include combined lecture and lab components?
Yes
If yes, include the units specific to each component in the course description above.
No
No
Answer 12-15 for UCC/ECCC only:
12. Is this course an approved Liberal Studies or Diversity course?
If yes, select all that apply.
Liberal Studies
Diversity
Yes
No
Both
13. Do you want to remove the Liberal Studies or Diversity designation?
If yes, select all that apply.
Liberal Studies
Diversity
Both
Yes
No
14. Is this course listed in the Course Equivalency Guide?
Yes
No
15. Is this course a Shared Unique Numbering (SUN) course?
Yes
No
FLAGSTAFF MOUNTAIN CAMPUS
Scott Galland
Reviewed by Curriculum Process Associate
03/25/2013
Date
Approvals:
3/25/2013
Department Chair/Unit Head (if appropriate)
Effective Fall 2012
Date
Chair of college curriculum committee
Date
Dean of college
Date
For Committee use only:
UCC/UGC Approval
Date
Approved as submitted:
Yes
No
Approved as modified:
Yes
No
EXTENDED CAMPUSES
Reviewed by Curriculum Process Associate
Date
Approvals:
Academic Unit Head
Date
Division Curriculum Committee (Yuma, Yavapai, or Personal Learning)
Date
Division Administrator in Extended Campuses (Yuma, Yavapai, or Personal
Learning)
Date
Faculty Chair of Extended Campuses Curriculum Committee (Yuma, Yavapai, or
Personal Learning)
Date
Chief Academic Officer; Extended Offices (or Designee)
Date
Approved as submitted:
Yes
No
Approved as modified:
Yes
No
Effective Fall 2012
Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
CS 565 Distributed Systems
Course Syllabus
Fall 2013, 3 Credit Hours
General Information:
Time and Location:
4 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. TTh
Room: 120, Engineering Building
Instructor:
Wolf-Dieter Otte, Ph.D.
Office 219, (928) 523 0876, dieter.otte@nau.edu
Office Hours: TBD.
Class web site:
http://wolfdieterotte.com
Course Prerequisites:
Prerequisite: CS 460 or CS 560
Catalog Description:
Concepts and implementation of distributed systems; distribution of application logic and
resources/resource access, notion of time, coordination and consistency, middleware, case studies.
The course covers important topics related to distributing state and computation across computer
networks, e.g. time in networks, distributed coordination/consistency, transaction processing,
replication, load balancing/distribution, P2P networks etc.
Student Learning Expectations/Outcomes for this Course:
Upon completion of the course:
 The student will be familiar with concepts and abstractions of distributed systems and their
potential and limitations.
 The student will know how to design and implement distributed applications in such systems.
 Practical exercises in the form of team programming assignments will enhance the student’s
ability to work in a team and communicate efficiently.
As a co-convened class, graduate students are expected to achieve learning outcomes that go above
and beyond of what the undergraduate students are expected to achieve. Specifically, these are:
 Graduate students will learn to research the literature about cutting-edge developments in the
field of distributed systems
 Graduate students will learn to distill their findings in a professional paper
Effective Fall 2012


Graduate students will also learn to present their findings before class in a professional
seminar atmosphere
Graduate students will be given the opportunity to take leadership roles in the planning,
implementation and presentation of results of comprehensive programming assignments.
Course Structure/Approach:
This class is co-convened with CS 465 “Distributed Systems” - the theoretical knowledge presented will
be the same in both classes. However, the graduate nature of CS 565 will be reflected in an overall
higher workload, along with higher requirements on the quality of submitted work, as outlined in the
above learning outcomes.
Textbook and required Materials:
 Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design, Fourth Edition, Coulouris G. et. al., A&W, 2005.
 Additional required materials:
 Journal articles and scientific publications at the ACM
 Use the subscription NAU has through the Cline libraries web site at:
http://library.nau.edu/ to get access to this material
Recommended optional Materials/References:
Additional resources will be provided on my web site.
Course Outline:
Tentative Course Coverage:
Topic(s)
Estimated # weeks
1. Introduction to Distributed Systems
1
2. System Models
2
3. Time and Global States
3
4. Coordination and Agreement
1
5. Transactions and Concurrency Control
3
6. Replication
3
7. Load Balancing/Distribution
1
8. P2P networks
1
Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes:
Grading will be based on your performance in quizzes, presentation(s), team projects and the
midterm/final exam. Midterm and final exams will be scheduled compliant with the university’s academic
calendar, see http://events.nau.edu.
As mentioned above, the graduate nature of CS565 will be reflected in an overall higher workload, along
with higher requirements on the quality of submitted work, compared to the co-convening class CS465.
You as a graduate student will take a leadership role in this class in two ways:

You will present material on selected topics, along with the instructor. Preferred topics will
include replication, P2P systems and other cutting edge developments in distributed
systems. You will run at least one such class of up to two sessions, 50 minutes each.
Effective Fall 2012

You will be the manager/mentor of at least three comprehensive team projects. Here you
will lead a team of about three undergraduate students. Your duties in this role include
guiding the students’ design, making sure that the solution developed meets the
assignment’s specification, checking on the team’s progress, getting involved in the
design’s implementation etc. For details on the team project assignments, see the tentative
schedule of assignments at http://wolfdieterotte.com.
The above mentioned presentation(s) you are responsible for will result from a professional paper you
will create. In this paper you will research the latest developments in the topic area you are assigned. For
the research in preparation of the paper, the class’ textbook is not sufficient. You are expected to
demonstrate good coverage of the latest know-how in the assigned area by making extended use of
cutting-edge journal articles and scientific papers, see section “Textbook and required Materials/
Additional required materials” above. Furthermore, the final exam will include additional questions that
will refer to the area of inquiry you were assigned.
You are expected to come to class well-prepared, which usually means that you will have to do some
preparatory reading assignment in the text book. Normally, on Mondays and Wednesdays there will be
quizzes, that check on the level of your preparation. For details, see the tentative schedule of
assignments at: http://wolfdieterotte.com
Grading System:
Breakdown of assessment components and their weight in your final grade:
Professional paper
Class presentation
Team projects
Quizzes
Midterm
Final exam
20%
15%
25%
10%
10%
20%
Grading scale: A = [90—100], B= [80—90), C=[70—80), D=[60—70), and F=[0—60).
Course Policy:
(Note: The following are in addition to NAU’s and CEFNS’s. To conserve paper, copies of NAU and
CEFNS policies are not automatically distributed; if you have not received a copy of these policies in
other courses so far, ask the instructor for a copy.)
Material covered. Students are responsible for all material covered in lectures and, hence, students are
urged to attend regularly. Note that the syllabus is only a general guide and cannot be relied upon to alert
you to all that might be covered in lectures. Class participation is vital and, in general, students who do
not attend regularly have difficulty in successfully completing the course.
Reading assignments. Students are expected to read relevant portions of the textbook and other
assigned reading material.
Late submissions, missed exams, etc. Late submissions are not accepted. There will be make-up exams
only in case of an emergency as defined by NAU Policy. A missed exam/quiz counts for a 0 for that part
of the grade. Also see the section on “
Office Hours. My office hours are posted outside my door. If you need help but for some reason, cannot
see me during posted hours, make an appointment for some other time. I enjoy helping students outside
Effective Fall 2012
of class meetings and encourage you to see me if you encounter any difficulties, preferably sooner the
better.
Withdrawal Deadline. The deadline to drop with a “W” is (see announcements). Students who wish to
withdraw must complete all the relevant paperwork. Non-attendance of classes and/or non-completion of
assigned work does not constitute withdrawal from the course and will result in a failing grade.
Cheating. Copying or any other form of academic dishonesty will result in an immediate failure in the
course in addition to recommendation of other penalties. In the event of cheating, both the receiver(s)
and the giver(s) will be treated the same way.
Symptoms of flu. While class attendance is required per the [above/below] stated policy, please be
cautious about attending class if you are feeling ill. Please inform me by phone or email if you are
feeling unwell; if you are experiencing flu-like symptoms, you should not attend class; please take
precautions not to infect others, and seek medical attention if your symptoms worsen.
Also see my website at http://dieterotte.com/teaching/?q=freelinking/NAU%20Policy%20Statements for
NAU policy statements.
Effective Fall 2012