Program Policies

Program Policies

Policies for Students in Graduate Programs

Students are expected to know the requirements of the academic program in which they are enrolled. The official program and course requirements are outlined in the appropriate Rowan Catalog and students are expected to follow the Catalog requirements associated with the academic year in which they matriculated. Additional information and details about specific academic program policies (especially concerning benchmarks, placements, etc.) should be obtained from the official Catalog and Program Overview or directly from the academic program/department. While faculty and staff will assist in every possible manner, students are responsible for becoming aware and remaining informed of their current academic program and graduation requirements, their status in that program, and their progress toward graduation. For the best possible academic experience, students should meet with their Academic Advisor throughout their program to ensure their registration and path toward program completion is on track.

Policy Disclaimer: The University reserves the right to amend, modify or cancel the policies, terms and conditions, course information and other materials within the Rowan Student Handbook or on official policy websites as needed. Errors or omissions in this information are subject to the appropriate University policy or legislation, which takes precedence over language of University publications.

Graduate students in any Master of Science are required to be familiar with all the policies and procedures related to the program. These include the official Rowan University policies as defined through the Provost office. The policies of the Graduate School/Division of Global Learning & Partnerships, and the programmatic rules as articulated by the Computer Science Department endorsed by the Dean’s Office in the College of Science & Mathematics.  Failure to be in compliance with the rules and regulations among these academic units can result in penalties including dismissal from the program.

Graduate School/Division of Global Learning & Partnerships policies can be found here: https://sites.rowan.edu/student-success/_docs/gac-policy-guide.pdf

Rowan University policies can be found here: https://confluence.rowan.edu/display/POLICY/Administrative+Policies

Please refer to the specific Computer Science policies below.

Graduate Policies of the Department of Computer Science

Attendance in Courses

The Computer Science Department at Rowan University values faculty and student engagement and expects students to abide by the official Rowan University policy on attendance: 

“Students are expected to attend each meeting of each scheduled class for which they are officially registered and are responsible for knowing their instructors’ attendance policies as stated in the syllabus.” 

Therefore, lack of attendance and participation will negatively impact your grades.  Please be aware of the official university policy on attendance in terms of student and faculty responsibilities:  https://confluence.rowan.edu/display/POLICY/Attendance+Policy

Inclement weather is not accepted as a reason for absence/lateness/disengagement from any online component of a course (whether fully online or hybrid).  Online, hybrid and off-site courses do not necessarily close down when Rowan University closes. 

Statistics regarding student usage are collected.  Faculty and administration can track student usage throughout the system including the number of times a student logs into Canvas and every section, tool, page that a student visits within the system (duration of time spent in the system is not tracked, nor does it have any bearing on attendance).

Attendance in online courses and/or the online portion of hybrid courses: To officially be considered “present” in the online portion of the course, system tracking reports must show that the student in question has visited each page, tool, or assignment as is reasonably necessary to conduct class work by the end of that week. This includes at least one visit to all materials and tools presented in the current weekly lesson folder as well as any other materials associated with class work for that week as specified in the current weekly overview. Instructors may actively check attendance and provide students with written notice regarding their attendance records at their discretion. Additional policies regarding attendance and consequences for failure to meet the attendance requirements for this course, if any, are provided in the official course syllabus.

Switching Graduate Programs

Once accepted into a graduate program sponsored by the Computer Science department, students are not able to switch into a different graduate program.  If a student wishes to obtain a different graduate degree, they must reapply to Rowan for that program.  If accepted into the new program, all earned academic credits that count toward the new program will be retained.

There are three notable exceptions to this policy.

  1. 4+1 students.  A 4+1 student who is in their final undergraduate year (typically year 4) might be able to change their desired Master's degree program -- but only when the student still maintains undergraduate status.  Once the student is in their final year, they are considered a full graduate student and the policy above applies to them -- thereby requiring a reapplication process.  

    If a student desiring a program switch has not received their baccalaureate degree, they should approach CS Graduate Advising for further details.

  2. PhD in Data Science.  Students who were directly admitted into the Master's of Data Science can choose to convert to a PhD track. To transfer into the doctoral program, Master's students must have a cumulative MS GPA of 3.3 with no grade lower than a B at the end of the spring semester of their first Master's year.   If not, they may successfully complete the MS and then be allowed to transfer into the PhD program, completing the remaining coursework and graduation requirements.  Courses completed in the Master’s program will be applied towards the PhD.  Before a student is allowed to switch from the Master's in Data Science to the PhD in Data Science, they must first secure a dissertation advisor and obtain the approval of the PhD Data Science coordinator.

    Students in the PhD in Data Science may choose to switch to the MS in Data Science if desired (e.g. career aspirations change). This model allows high flexibility and accessibility to help meet the needs of students.

  3. Switching before the start of studies.  In certain circumstances, students may be allowed to switch their program before the first day of classes on their first semester as a graduate student if and only if the Program Coordinator of the receiving program reviews the student's application and agrees to accept the student into their new choice.  If this situation applies to you, please contact the Program Coordinators of both your new and your old program at least one week before classes begin.

    Please note that, because of varying admissions criteria, only the following program switches will be allowed under this exception:

    1. MS in Computer Science --> MS in Data Science or MS in Cybersecurity;
    2. MS in Data Science --> MS in Cybersecurity.

      This exception does not apply to the MS in Cybersecurity.

 

 

Maximum Credits per Semester

The maximum number of credits allowed per semester for matriculated Graduate Students in the Department of Computer Science is 9.  However, in a student's first matriculating semester as a graduate student, they will be allowed to take 10 credits (three 3 credit courses plus the required 1 credit graduate seminar course.)

Graduate students may not register for more than 9 semester hours/credits each semester unless approval is obtained from the Program Coordinator, the Computer Science Department Head, and the Assistant Dean of the College of Science & Mathematics and forwarded to Rowan Global Enrollment Services or Computer Science Graduate Advising.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress is imperative in Graduate Programs.

The Master of Science Programs are designated as a Category 3 program this means that the following rules apply.

To maintain Minimum Satisfactory Academic Progress in and to successfully graduate from a Category 3 program students must:                 

  • Earn no more than two total C grades of any combination of “C+” or “C.” (“C-“grades are not acceptable).
  • Earn no grades lower than a “C”
  • Earn an official cumulative GPA (according to matriculation level) of at least 3.000 on Rowan’s 4.000 scale. See “Calculation of the Official GPA at Rowan University” section for more details.

Graduate Assistantships or Graduate Research Assistant Recipients have unique, stricter standards and are detailed within their respective agreements. 

Details on Satisfactory Academic Progress can be found here:  https://sites.rowan.edu/student-success/_docs/gac-policy-guide.pdf

Preparation for Thesis Defense

When preparing for a thesis defense, the first step is to have a faculty member provide the operations coordinator (Will Wiegard - wiegard@rowan.edu) with a thesis defense form. This form would include:

  • Date & Time
  • Zoom/Webex link (if a virtual defense is agreed upon by the committee)
  • Thesis Title
  • Thesis Abstract
  • Candidate Bio

An example can be found here.

The operations coordinator will proceed by helping to find a venue for the defense. Once completed, an announcement will be emailed to everyone in the CS department (usually around one week before the defense). The candidate must provide a draft thesis at least one week before their defense (or timeline agreed upon by the committee members). The announcement can be distributed earlier if it can provided to the operations coordinator earlier. The announcement can also be forwarded to other departments if they consider their work of interest and an outside audience may be invited to the event. The advisor/committee has a lot of discretion regarding the defense timeline as long as it is communicated to the candidate clearly and is agreed upon by the candidate.

Taking Courses Outside your Program

The MS in Computer Science will allow students with a solid GPA (as determined by their Program Coordinator) to take up to two courses not listed on the Program Guide, provided a strong justification for the deviation. 

The MS in Data Science does not have such a provision, due to the presence of the Analytics bank which allows students to select electives outside of Computer Science and Mathematics domains.

The MS in Cybersecurity also does not have such a provision.