Mar 29, 2024  
2011-2012 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2011-2012 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Computer Science Major, BS in Computer Science


Students may choose from a wide spectrum of courses covering various aspects of computer science, computer engineering, and related fields. Students must meet the design, depth, and breadth requirements in the department in their selection of these courses. Students are encouraged to discuss an appropriate program with their advisors.

Requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science


           

First Year

Hours Credit

COSC 102  or   4
  4
MATH 141 * or MATH 147 *, MATH 142 * or MATH 148 * 8
PHYS 135 * or PHYS 137 *, PHYS 136 * or PHYS 138 * 8-10
ENGL 101 * or ENGL 118 *, ENGL 102 * 6
   

Second Year

 
COSC 160 COSC 302 , COSC 311 , COSC 312  14
MATH 241  or MATH 247 , MATH 251  or MATH 257  7
BIOL 101  or BIOL 130  or CHEM 100  or CHEM 120  or PHYS 231  3-4
1Arts and Humanities  Electives* 3
   

Third Year

 
COSC 360 , COSC 361 , COSC 365  10
ECE 313  3
3Computer Science Upper Division Electives 6
1Cultures and Civilizations  Electives* 6
1Social Sciences  Elective* 3
2General Elective 3
   

Fourth Year

 
COSC 400  (OC) 5
3Computer Science Upper Division Electives 15
ENGL 355 * or ENGL 360 *(WC) 3
1Arts and Humanities  Elective* 3
1Social Sciences  Elective* 3
   
 

Total 120

   
* Meets University General Education Requirements .
1 Can be taken any time.
2Any courses not already required for the major. Must be approved by advisor.
3The following table lists the acceptable set of electives that may be taken to satisfy the upper division electives for the CS major. The electives have been grouped into 6 suggested tracks. The tracks group related electives that a student may wish to take in order to achieve a level of expertise in the indicated area. However, it is not mandatory to take any track and students are free to mix and match courses from different tracks to fit their specific interests.
   
                        Theory                  Systems
COSC 440 - Formal Foundations of Software Engineering  COSC 456 - Computer Graphics 
COSC 482 - Theory of Computation  COSC 462 - Parallel Programming 
  ECE 453 - Introduction to Computer Networks 
  ECE 454 - Computer and Network Security 
   
   
                      Software                  Hardware
COSC 340 - Software Engineering  ECE 451 - Computer Systems Architecture 
COSC 461 - Compilers  ECE 455 - Embedded Systems Design 
COSC 465 - Databases and Scripting Languages   
   
   
              Scientific Computing             Artificial Intelligence
COSC 370 - Introduction to Scientific Computing  COSC 420 - Biologically-Inspired Computation 
COSC 471 - Numerical Analysis  COSC 425 - Machine Learning 
COSC 472 - Numerical Algebra  ECE 471 - Introduction to Pattern Recognition 
MATH 231 - Differential Equations I   

 

Five-Year BS/MS Program


The department offers a 5 year BS-MS program for qualified students. The primary component of the program is that qualified students may take up to 6 hours of approved graduate courses for their senior undergraduate electives and have them count toward both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Tennessee. This program is designed for students attending the University of Tennessee for their Master of Science degree because other universities may not accept these courses for graduate credit since they were used to satisfy requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree. Significant components of the program are: 

  • Students must have an overall GPA of at least 3.4 to be admitted to the program. Conditional admission may be granted after completing 64 hours of required course work while full admission is granted after completing 96 hours of required course work with a minimum overall GPA of 3.4.
  • Students must at least have conditional admission before taking graduate courses for both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees. All courses taken for graduate credit must be approved by the departmental chair of the program. Students admitted to the program must request permission from the Graduate School to take approved courses for graduate credit. 
  • Students admitted to the program must also follow the normal procedure for admission to the Graduate School. Admission of students into this program must be approved by the department and the Graduate School.
  • Students will not be eligible for graduate assistantships until they are enrolled as graduate-level students in the Graduate School.

Computer Engineering, Computer Science, and Electrical Engineering Honors Concentrations


Students who wish to pursue the honors electrical engineering concentration, honors computer engineering concentration, and honors computer science concentration will normally be part of the Chancellor’s Honors Program.

Candidates for the honors electrical engineering concentration and honors computer engineering concentration must complete the first year courses for honors concentration in the engineering majors. Candidates for the honors computer science concentration must meet the first year requirements for the Chancellor’s Honors Program.

In addition to satisfying the requirements described above, candidates for these three honors concentrations must also satisfy the following requirements.

  • Two upper-division honors courses in computer science or electrical and computer engineering via Honors-by-Contract or Honors Independent study, or equivalent. If participating in only the Chancellor’s Honors Program, the Honors-by-Contract paperwork goes to the Chancellor’s Honors Office on campus during the first 10 days of the semester. If participating in Engineering Honors and not Chancellor’s Honors, the Honors-by-Contract paperwork is submitted the first 10 days of the semester to the engineering major department. If participating in both Chancellor’s and Engineering Honors, the Honors-by-Contract paperwork is submitted to both areas.
  • Complete a 3-credit hour senior project course. This can normally be completed as part of the capstone design course, ECE 400  for computer engineering and electrical engineering majors or COSC 400  for computer science majors.