Policies

Computer Science Graduate Program Policies 

  • Plagiarism in CS297, CS298, and CS299
  • Transfer of Credits into the MSCS Program
  • Repeating CS297, CS298, or CS299

Policy on Plagiarism in CS297, CS298, and CS299

  1. Plagiarism is defined by Senate policy F88-10 [pdf] as follows: 
    "At 91ÁÔÆæ plagiarism is the act of representing the work of another as one's own (without giving appropriate credit) regardless of how that work was obtained, and submitting it to fulfill academic requirements. Plagiarism at 91ÁÔÆæ includes but is not limited to:
    • The act of incorporating the ideas, words, sentences, paragraphs, or parts thereof, or the specific substance of another's work, without giving appropriate credit, and representing the product as one's own work; and
    • Representing another's artistic/scholarly works such as musical compositions, computer programs, photographs, paintings, drawings, sculptures or similar works as one's own."
  2. When the project advisor or the department chair has found that student has engaged in plagiarism, as defined by Senate policy F88-10, in a CS 297, CS 298, or CS 299 project proposal, report, or thesis, the sanction shall be failure in the course and filing of an Academic Dishonesty Report. If the violation is a repeat incident of academic dishonesty, then the sanction shall be failure in the course and referral for administrative sanctions.
  3. It is up to the discretion of the project advisor whether or not to terminate the advising relationship with a student who has engaged in plagiarism.
  4. Students shall submit electronic versions of all proposals and final reports in CS 297, CS 298, and CS 299, to the graduate coordinator. Final CS 298/CS 299 reports and theses shall be submitted at least two (2) weeks before the date of the defense. The graduate coordinator shall post all such materials on a password-protected web site. Passwords are available to all interested faculty.
  5. Project advisors and committee members are reminded of their responsibility to check student work for plagiarism. Advisors shall put in place appropriate mechanisms for verifying the integrity of student work, such as using a search engine to scan work that seems at variance with student skill levels, or using a plagiarism detection service.
  6. Advisors and committee members shall report any suspected incidents of plagiarism promptly to the department chair.
  7. The graduate coordinator shall include links to this policy, the university policy, and informational pages on plagiarism, with the instructions for writing projects and theses.

Policy on Transfer of Credits into the MSCS Program

It is the policy of the Computer Science Department that, in order to be awarded the Master of Science, 80% of the credits required for graduation (i.e. 24 units) must be earned after admission to the program. Students may request to transfer credits earned before admission to the Master of Science program. Permission is required for all courses taken prior to admission, including courses that were taken at this department or at other 91ÁÔÆæ departments. 

Transfers are Subject to the Following Limitations 

  • The total number of credits transferred may not exceed 20% of the credits required for graduation (i.e. 6 units)
  • The courses must not have been used to satisfy another degree requirement
  • The courses must not have been conditions for achieving fully classified status
  • The courses must be equivalent to graduate courses or electives of the department

All Transfer Requests Must Be Approved by the Graduate Coordinator.

Repeating CS297/CS298/CS299

It is expected that the CS297/298/299 advisor will be the same. If a student switches advisors, the student must normally repeat CS297 and CS298 with the new advisor. Any exceptions must be approved by the graduate coordinator. Note that CS297 and CS298 can never be taken concurrently.