CS 495: Senior Computer Science Seminar -- Spring 2018

Professor: Dr. Alan Garvey

Section 01: W 8:30-9:20am

Office Hours

Contact Information:

Catalog Course Description

Topics designed to aid computer science students in preparation for employment, graduate study, completion of degree requirements, and life as a computer science professional. This course should be taken in the first semester of the final year of the student’s degree program.

Prerequisites

Declared major in computer science and senior status

Textbook

There is no textbook for this course.

Course Content

Grading

There will be five assignments in this course. Each assignment will be graded on the following scale:

Excellent 3 points
Satisfactory 2 points
Poor 1 point
Failing 0 points

In addition, attendance will be taken, with each class meeting worth 1/3 point. Since there are 15 class meetings, a total of 5 points may be earned in attendance. The semester grade will be determined by the total number of points according to the following scale:

PointsGrade
18 – 20A
16 – 1723B
14 – 1523C
12 – 1323D
0 – 1123F

Every assignment has a time and date on which it is due. If you turn in an assignment after that time and date without making prior arrangements, you will lose points, at my discretion, up to the full value of the assignment. A typical deduction is one point per day, but deductions on each assignment are handled individually.

Class Attendance

The General Catalog states:

A student is expected to be present at all classes. Regular class attendance is necessary in order for a student to achieve the desired standard of academic achievement. Irregular attendance normally results in lower levels of achievement. Students are therefore expected to contact instructors as soon as possible when an absence occurs.

More information can be found in the General Catalog.

Absence

I recognize two categories of absences.

  1. Absence for a University sanctioned event. University sanctioned events are those activities in which students participate as recognized representatives of Truman State University and that are usually associated with academic credit or university funding. Examples of such activities are orchestral performances and intercollegiate athletics competitions. Most student organization activities do not fall into this category. If you need to miss class for a university sanctioned event, you will normally be given an opportunity to make up the work missed, provided you obtain from me prior approval for the absence. Even with prior approval, all responsibility for determining what you missed and meeting the obligations of the missed class is yours. Without prior approval of your absence, you may not be allowed to make up the missed work.
  2. Personal absence. Personal absences are those absences that result from emergencies, illnesses, and personal activities such as most student organization activities. If you miss class for personal reasons, you will usually not be allowed to make up missed work. There are exceptions to this, provided you obtain from me prior approval for the absence. Even with prior approval, all responsibility for determining what you missed and meeting the obligations of the missed class is yours. Without prior approval of your absence, you may not be allowed to make up the missed work.

Honesty

The General Catalog states:

Students are expected to do their own academic work. Any student involved in cheating on a paper, an examination or in any other form of academic dishonesty is subject to disciplinary action, including suspension or expulsion from the class, the student's academic program, or the University.
Serious cases of academic dishonesty are reported by the faculty member to his or her Department Chair and to his or her Dean, who may take additional disciplinary action against the dishonest student, including suspension or expulsion from classes in the School. The Dean reports the dishonesty to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, who may also report it to the Vice President for Student Affairs. The Dean may also report the dishonesty to the School in which the dishonest student is enrolled as a major; the Dean of this School may suspend or expel the student from the academic program in the major. The Dean of Students may also suspend or expel the student from the University as outlined in the Student Conduct Code for incidents of academic dishonesty.

More information can be found in the General Catalog and the Student Conduct Code Section 8.050.01

Anyone submitting work to be graded which, in my estimation and beyond reasonable doubt, is not his or her work alone will receive an F. No group work is allowed unless I explicitly indicate that you can work in groups. When you do hand in group work, you must always indicate that it is group work and who was involved in it. You are welcome to discuss assignments with anyone, but all work you hand in must be your own. Corrolary: If you provide work you produce to others, you are aiding and abetting their dishonesty and thus being dishonest yourself. Providing your work to others or giving answers to others is not acceptable.

ADA Statement

If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and the Disability Services office (x4478) as soon as possible. More information is available at the Disability Services website.

Emergency Procedures

In each classroom on campus, there is a poster of emergency procedures explaining best practices in the event of an active shooter/hostile intruder, fire, severe weather, bomb threat, power outage, and medical emergency. This poster is also available as a PDF at this link: http://police.truman.edu/files/2015/12/Emergency-Procedures.pdf . Students should be aware of the classroom environment and note the exits for the room and building. For more detailed information about emergency procedures, please consult the Emergency Guide for Academic Buildings: http://police.truman.edu/emergency-procedures/academic-buildings/

This six-minute video provides some basic information on how to react in the event there is an active shooter in your location: http://police.truman.edu/emergency-procedures/active-shooter/active-shooter-preparedness-video/

Truman students, faculty, and staff can sign up for the TruAlert emergency text messaging service via TruView. TruAlert sends a text message to all enrolled cell phones in the event of an emergency at the University. To register, sign in to TruView and click on the "Truman" tab. Click on the registration link in the lower right of the page under the "Update and View My Personal Information" channel on the "Emergency Text Messaging" or "Update Emergency Text Messaging Information" link. During a campus emergency, information will also be posted on the TruAlert website http://trualert.truman.edu/.

Title IX:

Truman State University and its faculty are committed to supporting our students and fostering an environment that is free from bias, discrimination, and harassment. If you have encountered any form of sexual misconduct (e.g., sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, domestic or dating violence), we encourage you report this to the University. If you speak with a faculty member about an incident of misconduct, that faculty member is a "mandated reporter" and must notify Truman State University's Title IX Coordinator, Jamie Ball (Violette Hall 1308, jball@truman.edu, 785-4354) and share the basic facts of your experience with her. The Title IX Coordinator will then be available to assist you in understanding all of your options and in connecting you with resources both on and off campus. If you would prefer to have a confidential conversation about an experience, the counselors at University Counseling Services are NOT mandated reporters and they can be reached at 660-785-4014. For after-hours crisis counseling, call 660-665-5621. For more information regarding Truman's policies and procedures relating to any form of gender discrimination, please see http://eoaa.truman.edu/university-non-discrimination-policy/ and http://eoaa.truman.edu/complaint-reporting-resolution-procedure/.

Final Exam Schedule

There is no final exam for this course.