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.

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 two 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.
   

   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.

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.

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