CS 495: Senior Computer Science Seminar -- Spring 2020

Professor: Dr. Alan Garvey

Section 01: TR 8:00-8:50am (First Block)

Office Hours

• See my schedule.

Contact Information:

• Office: Violette Hall Rm 2166
• Office Phone: x7600
• Email: agarvey@truman.edu
• Webpage: http://vh216602.truman.edu/agarvey/

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

• Preparing for the Major Field Test (MFT)
• The Senior Capstone in Computer Science
• Finding a job in a technical field, preparing a technical resume, technical interviews
• Graduate School: How to choose a graduate school, when to apply, writing a personal statement, the GRE, references, financial aid for graduate students
• The Senior Portfolio: What you should have been doing for the last four years, how to assemble your portfolio
• Critical thinking in computer science — how to talk about the problem solving process used in computer science with the educated non-technical person

Course Schedule

Grading

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

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:

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.

Credit Hour Justification:

The minimum investment of time by the average Truman student necessary to achieve the learning goals in this course are not less than one hour (50 minutes) of classroom instruction and a minimum of two hours of out of class student work each week per credit hour awarded. This average time per week for an average student may have weekly variations.

Class Attendance

The General Catalog states:

The university expects students to attend all classes, yet recognizes co-curricular opportunities could lead to class absences. Faculty, students, and staff have the responsibility to support an environment that upholds the integrity of a Truman education and students' ability to experience a diversity of educational experiences. Truman adheres to Federal law regarding accommodations. Absences related to disability accommodations will be handled in coordination with the Disability Services Office. Absences related to Title IX will be handled in coordination with the Institutional Compliance Office.

Students with sanctioned absences will not be penalized for being absent, but will be expected to make up any missed work within a reasonable length of time. The professor reserves the right to deem additional absences as unsanctioned once a student has missed 6.67% of class time for sanctioned absences. A list of sanctioned absences can be found in the General Catalog (see link below). Sanctioned absences include serving as a representative of the University at intercollegiate athletic events, professional conferences, academic competitions, and field trips for courses, interviews for graduate school or careers, health-related absences (with documentation), and absences covered by Truman's non-discrimination policy. For an absence to be sanctioned, students must notify the professor of scheduled absences during the free add/drop period and as soon as possible for any other absences. Students should also provide the faculty member with written notification of the absence. Arrangements for making up prior work should be made prior to the absence. If the absence is unexpected, the student should arrange to make up the missed work as soon as possible. An appeal of a faculty member's attendance policy can be made through the University Grade Appeals process (see the General Catalog for details).

The complete Attendance Policy 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.

Disability Services:

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 Office of Student Access & Disability Services (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, (785-4354) and share the basic facts of your experience with that person. 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/.

FERPA

Education records are protected by the Family Education Right to Privacy Act (FERPA). As a result, course grades, assignments, advising records, etc. cannot be released to third parties without your permission. There are, however, several exceptions about which you should be aware. For example, education records can be disclosed to employees or offices at Truman who have an "educational need to know". These employees and offices may include your academic advisor, the Institutional Compliance Officer, the Registrar's Office, or Student Affairs depending on the type of information. For more information about FERPA, see http://www.truman.edu/registrar/ferpa/

Disruptive behavior

"Behavior that persistently or flagrantly interferes with classroom activities is considered disruptive behavior and may be subject to disciplinary action. Such behavior inhibits other students' ability to learn and an instructor's ability to teach. A student responsible for disruptive behavior may be asked to leave class pending discussion and resolution of the problem and may be reported to the Office of Student Conduct." (From Washington State University, suggested by Lou Ann Gilchrist).

Final Exam Schedule

There is no final exam for this course.