CSE 5194: Orientation Seminar
Fall 2014
Leonidas Fegaras
Class website: <https://lambda.uta.edu/cse5194/>
Fall 2014
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CSE and the College of
Engineering
Fall 2013 -> Fall 2014 Enrollment
 CoE: 4849 -> 6000 total
 3051 -> 3400 undergraduates
 1800 -> 2600 graduate
 CSE: 1067 -> 1546 total
 660 -> 878 undergraduates
 316 -> 572 Masters
 91 -> 96 Doctoral
Fall 2014
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CSE Grad Website
Where?
http://www.cse.uta.edu/graduate
What?
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Contacts and Advising Hours
MS Guide
Various forms
Graduation checklists
Announcements
Course descriptions
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Other Resources
Grad School Website – New & Current
Students: http://grad.pci.uta.edu/students
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Graduate Catalog
Graduate Calendar
Funding Opportunities
Thesis/Dissertation Guidelines
Grad School Forms and Info
Lots of other useful information!
E-mail: we will use your UTA account
(exclusively) for announcements
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Personnel
Graduate Secretary
 Camille Costabile (ERB 630)
 Her office is the one-stop clearinghouse for all things MS
Graduate Advisors (ERB 6th Floor)
 Bahram Khalili
 General Advising – MS & PhD
 In charge of S/W Eng. curriculum
 Ramez Elmasri
 CSE Associate Chair
 General Advising – MS & PhD
 Leonidas Fegaras
 General Advising - MS
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CSE Degree Options
 MS CpE (Computer Engineering)
 Must have Undergraduate degree in Engineering
 Requires specialization is Systems/Architecture
 MS CS (Computer Science)
 Exact same degree program as MS CpE, except
Systems/Architecture Specialization is not
required
 MSFWE (Master of Software Engineering)
 Curriculum pre-dominantly Software Engineering
*MS CS and CpE have Thesis and Non-Thesis options
available
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Definitions
Core Courses – These are mandatory
courses that all students MUST take.
Major (Specialty) Track Courses – Three
courses in a subject area including at least
one at 6000 level. Areas:
 AI, Database, Systems and Architecture,
Networks, Software Engineering, Graphics and
Multimedia, Information Security, Theory and
Algorithms, Bioinformatics.
Breadth Courses – Courses outside of your
major/specialty track(s)*
*Courses in chosen Major/Specialty Track cannot be used for breadth
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Non-Thesis (Structured) Degree
Option: 37 hours
 Orientation Seminar (5194)
 2 core courses: 5311, One of {5306, 5317, or 5301}
 3 breadth courses
 Only two may be in the same specialty area
 3 courses in major area 1 (one 6000-level)
 3 courses in major area 2 (one 6000-level)
 1 Elective (can be in area of Major/ Specialty or
outside the Department, with prior approval by
advisor)
 Must complete graduate survey in final semester
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Thesis Degree Option: 31 hours
 Orientation Seminar (5194)
 2 core courses : 5311, One of {5306, 5317, or 5301}
 3 courses in Major area (one 6000-level)
 2 Breadth courses
 The two have to be in two different areas
 1 Elective (can be in area of Major or outside the
Department, with prior approval by advisor)
 Thesis I (5398) No credit hours
 Thesis II (5698) Must be taken in graduating
semester. 6 credit hours
IMPORTANT NOTE: Thesis I is a pre-requisite for Thesis II
and must be taken in a semester before Thesis II. Thesis II
must be taken in the semester in which you plan to defend and
graduate. Thesis I and II may be repeated as necessary.
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MS Software Engineering: 37
hours
Orientation Seminar (5194)
5 Core courses: CSE 5311, 5324, 5325,
(includes 5328 and 5329 project, or
acceptable substitute)
2 Courses from: CSE 5326, 5320, 6324,
6329
5 Electives, including three from CSE
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Important Notes
You can use at most one non-CSE course in
your Degree Plan as an elective.
Max 2 courses can be transferred from
outside UTA (by formal request to GS)
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Must be from an accredited U.S. university;
Grade must be ‘B’ or better
Must satisfy a course requirement in your GMAP
Must be approved by grad advisor
There will be NO waivers for the Core
course requirements, even if you completed
one in your undergraduate studies
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Important Notes
Directed Study (5393) is not allowed under
the non-thesis (structured) option.
If your GPA falls under 3.0 => academic
probation
 Must have >=3.0 next semester, else withdraw
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Planning YOUR Courses
 Make sure your Program of Work is complete… it is
your responsibility
 If in doubt, ask questions before you commit yourself
to a plan
 Register early… get the courses you want
 Plan “Major” sequences for a two - three semester
stretch.
 Thesis students - Do not wait to complete all courses
before registering for Thesis I.
 Several “Topics” classes can be taken, if in subject
matter is different
 It is generally not a good idea to plan to graduate in
the summer if you need a “non-standard” or 6000level course to complete your plan
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Managing YOUR Degree Plan
CSE Graduate Students can register in
(almost) any course we offer… so BEWARE
 Only special CSE courses require clearance
(Directed/Individual Study, Thesis I, Thesis
II, deficiency classes, any web course)
YOUR plan is YOUR responsibility
 Use MyMav Degree Audit capability to view
your progress (GMAP)
 Ask questions of the graduate advisors if in
doubt about progress or applicability of a
specific course
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Managing YOUR Degree Plan with
MyMav
MyMav degree audit feature
 Your degree plan is associated with your id#
CS MS Non-Thesis, CS MS Thesis, CpE MS NonThesis, CpE MS Thesis, MS Software Engineering
Your graduate advisor can change between Thesis and
Non-Thesis
 MyMav uses best-fit algorithm to apply courses
taken to your specified degree plan
 Courses that do not fit will be shown as “notapplied”
 Certain courses will require advisor action to
apply in the correct spot
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Important Dates (e.g., Spring 2015)
 Current Student enrollment begins: November 3th 2014
 Open enrollment for all current/returning students
 Regular Enrollment ends: January 19th
 Late fees apply for course adds after this date
 Students may add/swap/drop courses until January 19th
 First day of classes, late registration begins: January 20th
 Late Registration ends: January 23th
 Students may not add/swap courses after this date
 Census Day: February 4th
 Official date of record for university enrollment figures/funding/etc
 Can only withdraw from courses without refund after this date
 File for graduation: January 27th
 Refer to checklist for graduating semester
http://grad.pci.uta.edu/about/catalog/current/calendar/
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Thesis
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Is it for you?
Sequence and Planning
Work Expectations
Assistantship Obligations - GTAs and GRAs
 GTAs need english proficiency
 Switching to and from thesis program
 Grades
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Curricular Practical Training (CPT)
- (Internship)
 Purpose: enhance your education through work experience
 F-1 Rules: see http://www.uta.edu/oie/forms/cpt_forms.php
 Current good academic standing
 Two semesters of graduate coursework complete
 Currently enrolled in an appropriate UTA course (hours cannot be used
for credit – CSE 5191)
 Part-time CPT students (20 hours or less) must be enrolled as full-time
student (9 credit-hours)
 CSE Rules
 CSE 5194 must be completed BEFORE internship
 6 graduate-level courses completed (18 credit-hours)
 Company and specific position/assignment must directly support the
student’s degree plan and be approved by CSE graduate advisor.
 GPA of at least 3.5
 No CPT in graduating semester
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Curricular Practical Training (CPT)
- (Internship)
 Procedures:
1. Ensure that you meet ALL requirements (OIE and CSE)
2. Obtain an offer letter from your employer
Must be on company letterhead signed by company official
Must state that it is an internship offer
Must specify what the position/work assignment is and how
it directly supports your degree plan
Must specify dates of employment WITHIN the semester
for which the offer is given (see OIE site for date ranges)
Must specify whether the offer is for part-time (<= 20
hours/week) or full-time (> 20 hours/week) work
3. Complete the CPT Student application and bring the package
to a CSE graduate advisor for approval
4. The advisor will enroll you in cse5191
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Optional Practical Training (OPT)
 Optional Practical Training (OPT) is employment authorization in
field of study granted by OIE
 It is available to F-1 students in good academic standing who have
been enrolled full-time in their program for at least one academic
year
 Post-Completion OPT
Allows you to work in US up to 12 months after the completion
of the degree
You apply for OPT in the semester you will complete your
degree
Applications are accepted as early as 90 days before your
program completion date but must be received no later than 60
days after the completion date
An onetime only 17 month OPT extension is available
Pre-Completion OPT: available in limited circumstances before the
completion of your degree
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CSE 5194 Course Requirements
Need to complete:
1.Quiz: “Acknowledging Sources”
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Designed to test your understanding about how to
avoid plagiarism
2.Assignment: Summarize a Research Paper
o Goals:
 Let the new students know the CSE Department
and Faculty better
 Get a chance to focus on one professor’s work and
expertise
 The CSE web page has contact information for
each CSE professor
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CSE 5194 Web Sites
Two web sites:
1.The official cse5194 class web site:
https://lambda.uta.edu/cse5194/
You will use this web site for selecting a paper and for submitting
your paper summary
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Click on login/status to login
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Students have already received their password by email
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You may change your password (optional)
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Send email to GTA if you want to reset your password
1.The blackboard web site:
https://elearn.uta.edu/
You will use this to complete your quiz
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CSE 5194 Quiz
 Deadline: Friday November 21
 The quiz has 13 questions designed to test your
understanding about how to avoid plagiarism
 Directions:
1. Study the plagiarism tutorial found at:
http://library.uta.edu/plagiarism/
2. Take the quiz on the plagiarism tutorial on
Blackboard
o You may take the quiz as many times as you like
between now and the quiz due date
o The highest score of all your attempts will be counted
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CSE 5194 Assignment
Summarize a Research Paper:
 The goal of this assignment is to
 become familiar with the research work of a CSE
professor and
 motivate you to switch to the thesis degree option
by possibly completing a MS thesis under the
guidance of this professor
 The assignment is to
1.find a recent research paper coauthored by a CSE
professor
2.read it carefully
3.write a short summary
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CSE 5194 Assignment (cont.)
 This assignment must be done individually. No copying is
permitted. Plagiarism and Collusion at any level will not
be tolerated and will result to an F in the course
 Deadlines:
o Choose a paper: Deadline: Friday October 03 before
midnight
o Submit your report: Deadline: Friday November 21
before midnight
 Use the class web site to select a research paper:
https://lambda.uta.edu/cse5194/assignment.html
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CSE 5194 Assignment (cont.)
 Choose a Research Paper by 10/03/2014:
 Students must choose a paper authored/co-authored
by a current CSE faculty
 The published paper:
 should be authored/co-authored by a current CSE
faculty
 should be from a workshop, conference, or journal
published on or after 2005
 should be at least 8 pages long.
 No more than three students are allowed to critique
the same paper.
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CSE 5194 Assignment (cont.)
 Write the Report:
o The final report must:
• be 3-pages minimum, double-spaced, 11pts font
• summarize the main ideas/contributions of the
paper
• discuss how it differs from related or previous
work on the topic
• express your opinion on the published work.
o Make sure that:
• you put references for anything that you use on
your report
• you cite each and every point or rephrased idea.
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Assignment Completion
 Students must submit their final report
before the deadline (11/21/2014) using the
assignment submission web site:
http://lambda.uta.edu/cse5194/assignment.html
 We do not accept email or hardcopy submissions
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Contact Info for CSE 5194
Instructor: Leonidas Fegaras
Email: fegaras@cse.uta.edu
GTA: Sakthi Kumaran Shanmuganathan
Email: sakthi.shanmuganathan@mavs.uta.edu
Office Hours: Mo & Th 3.30 pm to 5.00 pm
Office: ERB 503 (or ERB 514)
For questions, email the GTA first and he
will compile your questions and discuss them
with me
 To reset your class password, email the GTA
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