Matthew Merzbacher, ICS Director, for the MCS Department
January 19, 1999

Introduction

Historically, the Masters of Art in Interdisciplinary Computer Science (MA ICS) has attracted students who completed their undergraduate degree in another department at Mills. Jennifer Ball and Karen Inman are two recent ICS students who were Mills undergraduates. Such students tend to succeed in the ICS program because they are familiar with the Mills environment and they are "known quantities" to us when they apply. In fact, they are amongst our best students. Thus, we would like to attract more of them.

We propose a rigorous five-year BA/MA program. Students will complete the requirements for a BA (in a field other than computer science) in four years and an MA in ICS in their fifth year. Currently, undergraduates who major in Computer Science, even if they complete a second major in another field, are not eligible for the ICS program. The proposed program would let students with multiple academic interests connect these interests in depth.

The opportunity to attend Mills for five years and leave with a BA and an MA will attract strong high-school students who would have gone elsewhere for part (or all) of their education. Thus, such a program is meant to increase both undergraduate and graduate enrollment, attracting strong liberal arts students.

Further, our commitment to women's education provides a unique opportunity for women who are interested in computer science (a male-dominated field), while allowing them to pursue a second academic interest.

A common stumbling block for ICS students is their interdisciplinary thesis, which must combine computer science with their second area of expertise. Spending only two years at Mills, and studying computer science intensively, the students do not have the chance to establish long-term working relationships with faculty outside of computer science. In contrast, students in the proposed program will have taken courses from potential outside advisors for several years, and can start research projects that span multiple years. An early start to a thesis is a better assurance of success. We believe that faculty outside our program will be happy to see our students in their classes, as it can lead to significant research, even in departments without a graduate program.

Lastly, students will leave the program with expertise in two areas and the ability to "bridge" the communications gap between those areas. This will make our graduates particularly attractive in a constantly changing computer science job market.

The proposed degrees pursued separately would take a minimum of six years. By managing some course requirements for the ICS degree while still an undergraduate, students can compress the time down to five years total. Specifically, the ICS program normally requires one interdisciplinary course and allows a second as an elective. By selecting appropriate interdisciplinary courses in consultation with an advisor, this requirement will be fulfilled concurrently as part of the outside major, reducing the total number of credits for graduation from 45 (34 for undergraduate, 11 for graduate) to 43 (34 for undergraduate, 9 for graduate). We anticipate some students needing an extra semester to complete the coursework for the degree, but it is still attractive at five and a half years.

Even after the two course reduction, this program will be accelerated over the normal six-year ICS degree program. Admissions will be limited to to high-caliber students who are focussed on their interdisciplinary goals. As with the existing ICS program, students applying to the program will submit an essay outlining how they intend to combine computer science and their outside field. Students may apply only after taking the intermediate computer science courses (MCS 111 \& MCS 124). Those not accepted into the program can still major in their outside field or computer science and may choose to major or minor in their non-major field.

Details

The remainder of this document provides the specific requirements and details of the program, as well as program costs (both for students, and to Mills).

Requirements

• 43 course credits (34 for undergraduate + 9 for graduate), including:
  • fulfilling the requirements for an undergraduate major other than computer science,
  • fulfilling all other undergraduate graduation requirements, including interdisciplinary and distribution requirements,
  • six computer science required courses:
    • MCS 111 (Introduction to Computer Architecture)
    • MCS 124 (Data Structures and Algorithms)
    • MCS 214 (Programming Languages)
    • MCS 222 (Operating Systems)
    • MCS 232 (Technical Communication)
    • MCS 250 (Thesis)
  • three computer science electives, selected from:
    • MCS 112/212 (Digital Logic and Machine Organization)
    • MCS 113 (Compiler Construction)
    • MCS 125/225 (Theory of Algorithms)
    • MCS 128/228 (Theory of Computation)
    • MCS 163/263 (Computer Graphics)
    • MCS 165/265 (Artificial Intelligence)
    • MCS 180C/280C (Topics in Computer Science)
    • MCS 282 (Design and Human Interface Issues...)
    • MCS 187/287 (Database Management Systems)
  • at least six MCS courses must be taken at the 200-level, counting the four listed in the requirements.
• An interdisciplinary Masters thesis combining the outside major with computer science.
• Residence requirement of at least 3 years.

Graduation

Students will graduate twice -- first, with a BA after completing undergraduate requirements and again, with an MA, upon completion of graduate requirements. If a student decides to leave Mills without finishing the graduate portion of her degree, she can still complete her undergraduate degree. Other students may choose to major solely in computer science, foregoing their Masters.

Fees

Students will pay undergraduate tuition until they complete the undergraduate degree. At that point, they will switch graduate tuition. In general, this will result in four years of undergraduate tuition and one year of graduate tuition.

Application

Students can apply for the program after completing MCS 111 and MCS 124.

Sample student

	Fall	Spring
Second Year	MCS 63	MCS 4 MCS 64
Third Year	MCS 6 MCS 124	MCS Elective
Fourth Year	MCS 111	MCS 232
Fifth Year (Graduate)	MCS 214 MCS Elective MCS Elective	MCS Elective MCS 222 MCS 250 (Thesis)

Administrative detail

This example illustrates a potential problem when a student wants to start taking graduate courses (e.g., MCS 232 -- Technical Communication) while still officially an undergraduate. Currently, the software at the M Center does not allow this, but we expect that it can be fixed. If not, we will manage such cases by hand, as is currently done when undergraduates petition to take 200-level classes.

Cost to Mills

This program requires no additional FTE, as it is built on top of existing programs. It will require some additional advertising, namely the development of a brochure for use by the office of admissions. It is a low-cost program that will enhance the quality and quantity of our student body.

Evaluation

The program will be evaluated on a yearly basis, with summary reports for the first three years and a full evaluation after the third complete year of existence.