CS619 FAQ

What is the purpose if this course?

The purpose of the course is for you to

How does this differ from the actual thesis course?

This is actually what constitutes the background work for your thesis. Typically, the material you create for your proposal is used as the background and problem definition areas of your thesis.

How often does this course meet?

Unless you have some specific questions or problems in defining a topic, you may never meet formally.

Then what should I be doing?

As listed above, you want to select a topic. If you already have a topic in mind, you should talk to faculty members interested in that area and get some feedback as to the appropriateness of the topic. If you don't have a topic, but know of a particular faculty member who knows about your general area of interest, you should go to the faculty member and ask for suggestions. If you are totally lost, see the faculty member in charge of THIS course for some guidance and direction. Most importantly, try to find something YOU like, because that's where you will do your best work.

When and what do I submit in order to obtain a grade?

The submission is your proposal/presentation. Until you are ready to have your proposal reviewed, there is nothing to submit. However, you should be conferring with your advisor as the work progresses so that there are no last minute surprises. The proposal should be presented to the committee in written form and should be presented in a timely manner as to allow the committee to review and comment on our proposal. Once again this is to avoid any last minute surprises. After you are comfortable that the committee has had a chance to comment on your work and you have made reasonable adjustments, you should prepare a powerpoint presentation and schedule a time for an oral presentation with your committee. Assistance with room reservation can be obtained from the departmental office manager.

What if I fail?

You won't fail. If you do an unsatisfactory job, you will be asked to redo it. Most often this is accompished by adding a section to your research or clarifying your intention.

What are the most common problems with the proposal?

Most often the problems are a lack of clarity of what you are intending to do and/or an unreasonable expectation of accomplishment. The latter class of problems are a result of being too ambitious. The committee will be looking primarily to see that you have a reasonable, well-defined problem which is either solvable or has a reasonable fall-back position if something goes wrong. The most important part of this review process is to protect the student so that a reasonable project is attempted and to optimze the likelihood that you will be successful.

What if I don't finish on time?

If you fail to complete the work by the end of the semester, you will effectively receive an incomplete. The incomplete is not a normal incomplete. It basically indicates your effort to be unsatisfactorily completed. If you actually copmlete in a timely manner, you still will not receive a letter grade. Instead you will receive a satisfactory copmletion. The actual letter grade will not be assigned until the time of completion of your thesis. You should not be discouraged if you do not complete the proposal and get it approved within the semester as this is not always an easy thing to do. Many students complete the proposal in a subsequent semester. It is entirely reasonable to have the grade assigned as an unsatisfactory completion for the semester of registration, changed to a satisfactory completion the following semester and changed again upon completion of the thesis.

Who actually assigns the grade?

The instructor of CS619 during the semester in which you register will be the person assigning the grade, but this instructor is most often merely forwarding the grade assigned by the advisor.