SCS Student Handbook
This handbook describes policies and procedures related to the various degrees and other academic programs offered by the School of Computational Sciences (SCS) at George Mason University. The research and teaching activities of SCS reflect the recognized role of computation as part of a triad with theory and experimentation, leading to a better understanding of nature, and to the solution of complex problems in science, engineering, and society. Additional information regarding curriculum and entrance requirements may be obtained through the SCS website www.scs.gmu.edu.
· Computational Sciences and Informatics, Ph.D.
· Bioinformatics, Ph.D.
· Computational Science, M.S.
· Bioinformatics, M.S.
· Earth Systems Science, M.S.
· Computational Techniques and Applications, Certificate
There are several different types of admission status used in the School of Computational Sciences, as explained below:
1. Ph.D. Degree Status - Full admission as a degree-seeking in one of the doctoral programs offered by SCS. The student may be enrolled either full-time or part-time.
2. Provisional Ph.D. Status - Provisional
admission into one of the doctoral programs offered by SCS.
3. M.S. Degree Status - Full admission into one of the masters program offered by SCS.
4. Provisional M.S. Status – Provisional admission into one of the masters program offered by SCS.
5. Certificate Status - Full admission to the Certificate in Computational Techniques and Applications program.
6. Non-Degree Status - Non-degree students
may take up to 12 credit hours of coursework which may be applied to a degree
program at a later date if approved.
Students who later choose to seek admission to a degree program must
reapply for admission using the regular graduate application.
Note: Provisional admission into one of the degree programs offered by SCS may be offered to students who have a GPA below 3.00 or who may require remedial preparation in either Science, Mathematics, or Computation. In such cases, the admissions letter will indicate courses that the student must take (usually before enrollment or during the first semester in the Ph.D. program). Upon successful completion of the indicated courses with a minimum average GPA of 3.33, the student will be notified by letter that he/she has advanced from provisional status to degree status. This change in status will also be documented in the student’s file. All credits of graduate level work earned during provisional status will be applied toward the degree program unless otherwise stated
Students are encouraged to attend an orientation session with the Dean of the School and the Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies during the first week of the Fall and Spring semesters. This meeting provides incoming students with an overview of SCS and GMU resources, including computer facilities, library facilities, offices, and staff. Staff members from SCS and other GMU units will also attend to answer questions. Topics include policies and procedures for the academic programs and for addressing student concerns. This meeting is held in room 206, S&T 1.
The student will be assigned a temporary advisor upon acceptance into the program whether the status is degree, provisional, or certificate. The name and phone number of the temporary advisor are included in the acceptance letter. It is imperative that the temporary advisor be contacted as soon as possible to discuss enrollment in classes. Several forms should be completed during the meeting with the advisor.
1.
Background Survey Form - Provides a brief overview of the student's knowledge and
experience in several areas. This assists the advisor in determining the
student's and weaknesses and helps with the selection of courses for the first
semester.
2. Access Form - Gives the student access to the SCS computer lab.
3. Account
Form - Gives the student an account to
use the SCS lab computers.
These forms must be returned to the SCS Administrative Office for processing. The office is located in S&T 1, Room 103.
The SCS Graduate Instructional Computational Facility houses Silicon Graphics workstations as well as other platforms. SCS has two massively parallel computers, the Intel Paragon and a MasPar, which are used for teaching as well as for research. Other advanced computing platforms within SCS include an SGI Origin 2000 workstation with 16 processors, an SGI Origin 200, and SGI Onyx II with infinite reality graphics engine, and an Octane visualization workstation. SCS students are issued accounts and access to the SCS instructional facilities. Other computing platforms are available for research by graduate students.
The University provides a permanent computer account to each student on the several mainframe university computers. This account allows for e‑mail, news, web access, electronic search, and electronic library access.
Students meet with the Dean of the School at 2-3 sessions scheduled at various times during the semester. The varied schedule gives all students the opportunity to attend one of the sessions. These meetings are not mandatory, but they do offer the opportunity to discuss concerns or ask questions. All meetings are held in room 206, S&T 1.
All full-time and part-time students are assigned mailboxes in the Administrative Office. Students should check their folder frequently for notices on Colloquia and Seminars that may be of interest.
Rooms 210, 212, and 216 in Science and Technology 1
are SCS student study rooms. There are
a limited number of desks. However,
students may request a desk by notifying the Administrative Office. Full-time students are given first priority,
but we do try to accommodate all students who request space. In most cases, desks are shared by two
individuals. Students may not change
desks or use a desk that has not been assigned to them. Some desks may be reserved for shared
computers which are available to all students with desks in that office.
SCS maintains a Reading Room located in room 206 of Science & Technology 1. The SCS Reading Room is intended to serve SCS faculty and students as a convenient place to browse literature and books of interest. This facility is also used by SCS and other departments as a meeting place and classroom. Materials focus on the general area of Scientific Computation, and include books and journals related to specific scientific disciplines. Most of the journals currently housed in the SCS Reading Room are associated with the Space Sciences area, but we are actively encouraging faculty in other areas to allow their professional journals to be housed in the Reading Room.
The Ph.D. programs within SCS includes several important milestones that are documented in the student's file using program forms that are available in the SCS office.
The student should meet with the temporary advisor to create a preliminary listing of anticipated coursework, which is documented on Form #1. Credits from a previous graduate program should be listed on this sheet. Credits taken in Extended Studies at GMU should also be listed.[1] These forms are usually completed during orientation or during the initial meeting with the temporary advisor.
II. Doctoral Dissertation Committee
1. Once a student has completed over half of his/her required courses, the student is to begin work with his/her temporary advisor to select a general area of scientific investigation and to identify possible dissertation directors. The student begins to communicate with those faculty members and finally selects a faculty member who is willing to become the dissertation director. The committee membership is documented on Form #2.
2. Students are
encouraged to sign up for Doctoral Reading and Research, as a means of
investigating the area of research they might wish to pursue.
3. The dissertation
director has the primary responsibility for leading the technical direction and
content of the work of the student. The
dissertation director must be a member of the SCS program faculty or a well qualified scientist external to GMU. The appointment of the dissertation director
must be approved by the SCS dean.
4. A dissertation
committee is formed by the student with the consent of the dissertation
director, the SCS graduate coordinator, and the SCS dean. The committee is to consist of a minimum of
four members including the dissertation director and committee chair (who is
usually the dissertation director).
At least three members of the committee must be SCS program
faculty members. Non-GMU members may
serve on the committee with the consent of the SCS program faculty members on
the committee. The final membership must
represent at least two disciplinary areas.
Once the committee is formed, the SCS Program Form #2 listing the committee members must be completed and
approved by all committee members, the graduate coordinator, and the SCS
dean.
5. The purpose of the
dissertation committee is to guide and direct the student to ensure that the
student has the capability to conduct first-rate research and that the
dissertation work is of publishable quality in the discipline or
interdisciplinary fields of computational sciences and informatics. A
primary role of the committee is to test the student in accordance with the
policies of the School.
6. The chair of the
committee is an SCS program faculty member who is familiar with SCS and
university policies and procedures regarding the advancement of a student
through the entire process leading to the doctorate. The chair is responsible for organizing all
meetings of the committee and ensures that the proper process is being
followed. The chair is to work closely
with the dissertation director to ensure the consistency and the quality of the
examinations and the dissertation work.
7. A faculty member
may leave the committee at any time.
The replacement member must receive the consent of the rest of the
dissertation committee members, the graduate coordinator, and the SCS dean. A new Form #2 must be completed and
submitted for approval.
The student develops a program of study to include graduate courses taken prior to admission, extended studies courses, and SCS coursework. An area of concentration, proposed date of exam, and dissertation title are included on this form. All committee members, the graduate coordinator, and the SCS dean must approve the program of study as shown on Form #3.
1. The Candidacy Examination consists of written, oral, and computational parts. All parts are mandatory.
2. It should determine mastery of fundamental knowledge and familiarity with current research in topics that contribute directly to the dissertation research area.
3. Composition is defined by a list of topics that are reasonably well understood in the scientific and technical community. Material covered may include content from courses taken by the student.
4. After agreement between student and committee, a final list of exam topics is filed on Form #4. The exam will be submitted to the graduate coordinator at least two days before being administered.
5. The written portion will be administered and taken on campus and completed without collaboration, in a room assigned by the committee chair. The student will have the option of choosing a subset of questions to answer.
6. After completion of the written portion of the exam, the computational part is assigned. The student will have about two weeks to complete the computational part.
7. The oral exam will be scheduled and administered by the committee, and can include discussion of the student's proposed dissertation research as well as the areas covered by the written portion of the exam.
8. The Candidacy Examination is graded by the committee, which informs the student of the results in a timely manner. The entire exam process should be concluded within one semester.
9. Students have two
opportunities to pass the Candidacy Examination.
With successful completion of all portions of the exam, Form #5 is completed and signed by the committee members and the graduate coordinator and forwarded with the graded exam to the Administrative Office for addition to the student file.
1. Students must prepare a Dissertation Proposal and present the proposal to the committee. This proposal should include a discussion of the current literature in the field in order to establish the state of research from which the problem is selected. An abstract of the proposal is submitted on Form #6.
2. Proposals should contain sufficient text, illustrations, tables, equations, and bibliography.
3. Proposals should discuss hardware/software issues including computational tools/techniques to be utilized in the research.
4. Proposals should include a clear set of goals, methods, and models, and a discussion of the expected results and their anticipated significance. The discussion should also include any limitations on the generality of these results.
5. Proposals must be
approved by the dissertation director and the dissertation committee and will
be reviewed by the graduate coordinator and filed in the Administrative Office.
1. After successful completion of all portions of the Candidacy Examination and the approval of the Dissertation Proposal, the student is advanced to candidacy. Advancement to candidacy is documented by Form #7.
2. After submission of Forms #5, #6, and #7, the student will now be advanced to candidacy and the SCS Administrative Office will notify GMU records office. The student’s record will then convert to doctoral candidate.
3. Once advanced to
candidacy, students must be continuously enrolled in a minimum of three credit
hours per semester (however, see item 3 below for exceptions).
1. Once a student has a fully approved dissertation committee and has completed most of the required courses or is within a semester or two of taking the Candidacy Examination, the student my begin to register for CSI 998 or BINF 998, Doctoral Dissertation Proposal, to develop a proposal to present to the dissertation committee, or to work on the dissertation.
2. Once a student has reached candidacy by passing the Candidacy Examination and having the Dissertation Proposal approved by the committee, then the student must be continuously enrolled in CSI 999 or BINF 999, Doctoral Dissertation Research, while working on and completing the dissertation.
3. The total number of credits of CSI 998-999 or BINF 998-999 must be at least 24 for graduation (only 24 can be included in program requirements). Furthermore, the number of 999 hours must be at least 12 credits. Having reached candidacy, the student must enroll in at least 3 hours of 999 each semester until the last three dissertation hours are reached. Once the student has three or fewer hours remaining, the student may register for one credit of 999 and be considered a full-time student. The student must take at least one credit of 999 during the semester of their graduation.
1. A dissertation is a written piece of original thinking and independent performance that demonstrates the doctoral candidate's mastery of the subject matter, methodologies, and conceptual foundations in their chosen field of study.
2. Content should:
a. be relevant and current in the chosen area
b. demonstrate an understanding of research and development issues
c. demonstrate a mastery of computational tools or techniques
d. make a contribution through either new results or new techniques
e. be of publishable quality
Guidelines for the content and general format of the doctoral dissertation may be found at www.gmu.edu/library/specialcollections/dtwebguide.htm. Please contact Robert Vay at (703) 993-2222, Fenwick Library, for step-by-step instructions on preparing the dissertation.
2. Students may access Graduation information on the web at MasonLink. The URL is http://registrar.gmu.edu/gradchek.html. They must complete a Graduation Intent Form. This can be done online.
2. The Application for Graduation must be completed and signed by the dissertation advisor. It is received in the Administrative Office for verification and the SCS dean's signature. A copy is made for the student's file and for verification of the program requirements. It is forwarded to the graduation section of the Registrar’s office. This form is also available on the web at the same URL as above.
Summer March 31
Fall October 31
Spring March 31
Summer July 15
Fall November 15
Please note that the above
dates are approximate and can change each semester.
1. When the doctoral dissertation thesis is completed, a candidate must arrange with his/her committee to schedule the final defense. After verifying a date with members of the committee, contact the SCS Administrative Office to schedule a room.
2. It is the responsibility of the candidate and his/her committee to correct any errors in thesis content. After review by Robert Vay, rvay@gmu.edu, Special Collections, Fenwick Library, the candidate must bring a draft to the Johnson Center Library for review by the GMU community. The SCS office staff will prepare a flyer announcing the candidate’s dissertation topic and final defense date. This will be distributed to the GMU community and must be posted at least two weeks prior to the public defense.
3. After the final defense, the candidate must obtain all required signatures (in black ink) and submits the following documents to Robert Vay, wing 2C, Fenwick Library:
a. Three original signature sheets (black ink). Please type out the members names next to their signatures on bond paper.
b. Two original copies of complete dissertation on 100% cotton bond paper.
c. One copy for microfilming with $50.00 check and completed application form to UMI Dissertation Services.
d. Completed National Research Council Survey.
e. Please submit a copy of your dissertation and your defense of thesis form (Form #8) to the SCS office.
4. The candidate is responsible for getting his/her thesis bound for SCS archives. We suggest brown or rust color with dissertation title and candidate’s name on the spine of the book. Please refer to the SCS graduates' theses available for review in the SCS office. They may not be removed from room 103.
[1] To apply previous graduate
credits to the program, the Transfer of Graduate Credit form (Ex. D) must be
completed. For Extended Studies credit, complete Transfer of GMU Extended
Studies form (Ex. E).