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All University students, staff and faculty have a University Internet account. This is the way that the University will contact you for all official business. You will use your Internet ID and password for the Internet account to access all online information about yourself, including registration and financial account information. To initiate your University Internet account, please go to the U of M Student Internet Account Initiation page.
You must also apply for a CS computer and email account. Complete the form and submit it at the front desk. Please be sure to initiate and use this email account as we send important announcements to the grad alias. You will also need to add yourself to the “grads” list serve. Go to CS Mailing lists and add yourself to the “grads” list serve. Women graduate students should also add themselves to the “fgrads” list serve.
Go to the International Student and Scholar Office, 190 Humphrey Center to set up a time for International Orientation. After attending their Orientation, they will remove the ISSS hold from your records.
Go to Boynton Health Service to verify vaccinations and TB immunization. After that is completed, they will remove your Health hold.
You may also have a hold from the Graduate School if they need proof of degree. You can go to 309 Johnston Hall for that.
Registration for Fall semester classes for current students began in early April. You will find a few courses that are close to capacity or that are already closed, however, we still have sufficient courses available to new students and getting courses has not been problematic the last couple years. We recommend you begin taking Breadth requirement courses, as they should be completed in your first year. The 5xxx level classes listed for fall are only offered this fall (except for 5421 Advanced Algorithms and Data Structures and 5103 Operating Systems) so you will want to make sure that you register for them this fall if they are of interest to you. Master’s students are required to take at least one advanced course (8xxx level), Plan C and MCS are required to take two. You also need to take one semester of Colloquium, also to be completed your first year. All PhD students are requested to register for CSci 8001 Introduction to Research in Computer Science I in the fall and CSci 8002 Introduction to Research in Computer Science II in the spring.
The Graduate Student Services Coordinator can answer most questions and advise students on degree requirements, department procedures, or just general issues about being a graduate student. All new students are expected to meet with her upon arrival.
Most PhD students have been assigned advisors in their field of interest. We encourage each of you to talk with your assigned advisor (and with any other faculty members) about your general academic goals and research interests. Please also realize that most of you will find a “real” research advisor who may be different from your pre-assigned one. You are expected to take some time to look around, talk with professors and other graduate students, and then talk with your prospective advisor. We expect you to find an advisor by the end of your first year in the program. Advising is a mutually voluntary arrangement. You never will be obligated to work with someone against your choice, and no faculty member is obligated to take on any particular student.
The majority of MS students will not need a research advisor depending upon which Plan option is chosen. If you decide that you wish to do a research project or thesis, you will need a research advisor. You are expected to take some time to look around, talk with professors and other graduate students, and then talk with your prospective advisor. For those who do plan to do a research MS, you should have an advisor by the beginning of your second year. Advising is a mutually voluntary arrangement. You never will be obligated to work with someone against your choice, and no faculty member is obligated to take on any particular student.
Please see our web pages for more information about the faculty and their research.
43 course credits – 3.45 GPA minimum
Choose advisor by end of 1st year
Background Knowledge Requirement
Written Preliminary Exam (WPE)
File Degree Program form
Preliminary Oral Exam – exam on written report
Take 24 thesis credits
Thesis Proposal Exam
Write dissertation
Final Oral Defense
Awarded PhD
31 course credits – 3.25 GPA
Choose advisor by beginning of 2nd year, Plan A and B only
File degree program form before end of 3rd semester.
Final Oral Defense
Awarded MS
31 course credits – 3.0 GPA
File degree program form before your last semester.
Awarded MCS
Students who take 6 credits or more are considered full time graduate students. All international students and students who hold a graduate assistantship, fellowship or traineeship are required to be full time students.
Almost all of the graduate level courses in CS (5000 level and above) are 3 credits each.
Special topics courses (CSci 5980 or 8980) are courses taught one time only and are good options if the topic is of interest to you. These do not count towards Breadth requirements but the 8000 level ones will count towards the 8000 level requirement.
We encourage students to take 6 credits the first semester and then you should be able to determine what the best course load will be for you in the following semesters.
Prerequisites are not enforced but should be considered as guidelines. They indicate that you should have the knowledge presented in the prerequisite course in order to be successful in the subsequent course. How you got that knowledge, (by another course from another university, by industry experience, or self-study) or how much of that prerequisite knowledge you have, is an individual decision. You know best your learning style and capabilities as well as your comfort level in taking a course in which you might be unfamiliar with the content.
All CS courses must be taken A/F unless only offered S/N, such as Colloquium or Plan B project. No more than one-third of the courses on your degree program form (courses that will count towards your degree) can be taken on the S/N basis.
One Stop is a very valuable site and one that you should use to check on a variety of University information. You can register from this site, check on cancel/add deadlines, look at tuition and fees information, find out how to get around campus or the Twin cities and many other things.
Courses taken for graduate credit either here from the University as a non-degree seeking student or from another university as a graduate student, can be transferred to your current degree within certain guidelines. These can be discussed during your first semester. Generally speaking, we do not recommend that you take a course that is similar or identical to a course that you are considering requesting to transfer.
The Minor Field is defined as a minimum of 12 (PhD) or 6 (MS) semester credits of coursework outside CS in a single department of the College of Science and Engineering (e.g., EE, Math, Stat, IEOR, etc.), Management, Cognitive Science and/or other related fields for a designated minor. The minor is awarded by that department and their requirements for a minor must be met in order to qualify for a minor in that field. The minor must be declared before passing the Preliminary Oral Examination for doctoral students.
The Supporting Program is defined as a minimum of 6 semester credits of coherent coursework outside CS in a field within the College of Science and Engineering, Management, Cognitive Science and other related fields. These courses should contribute to your research or career goals. (PhD students)
We have a grad computer lab located in room 2-216 next to the grad
lounge, which is room 2-212. These rooms open with a card reader. Grad
student mailboxes are located in room 4-201 and use the same card
reader. The card you will use is your University ID card, also known as
your U card. Once you have gotten your U card, you may sign up for
Grad Lab Access
.
You will need your CS account name and password and then
will have to enter the 17-digit number, which is the second line on
your ID card. This will give you access to all three rooms. Since your
information is not automatically uploaded to these card readers, it
will take several days before systems staff will update the doors
and then you will have access. Please see
CS&E Online Help if you have
questions or concerns.
If you have a TA or RA position, you are required to complete some paperwork in order for you to be entered into our payroll system. Please check with the front desk or email payroll [at] cs.umn.edu for assistance.
The Department sponsors weekly Coffee Hours for grad students and faculty. These are held on Friday mornings from 10:30 am to 11:30 am. These are held in the Grad Student Lounge, room 2-212. Please try to attend and meet other grad students and faculty.
If you have questions, feel free to contact the Graduate Student Coordinator at dgs [at] cs.umn.edu or 625-1592, or your faculty advisor.