CS Undergraduate Advising – Department of Computer Science

Undergraduate Advisors

	Image URL	First Name	Last Name	Suffix	Display Name	Title	Email	Phone	Office	Profile URL	Alt Text
Heather Stark, M.A. Undergraduate Advisor hstark@sdsu.edu 619-594-7253 GMCS 566	https://cs.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/profiles/heather-stark-300.jpg	Heather	Stark	M.A.	Heather Stark, M.A.	Undergraduate Advisor	hstark@sdsu.edu	619-594-7253	GMCS 566	https://cs.sdsu.edu/people/heather-stark	Closeup of Heather Stark
John Caroll, Ph.D. Undergraduate Advisor Professor of Computer Science carroll@edoras.sdsu.edu 619-594-7242 GMCS 537	https://cs.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/profiles/john-carroll-300.jpg	John	Carroll	Ph.D.	John Carroll, Ph.D.	Undergraduate Advisor Professor of Computer Science	carroll@edoras.sdsu.edu	619-594-7242	GMCS 537	https://cs.sdsu.edu/people/john-carroll	Closeup of John Carroll
Ben Shen, M.S. Undergraduate Advisor Lecturer of Computer Science bshen2@sdsu.edu GMCS		Ben	Shen	Ph.D.	Ben Shen, Ph.D.	Undergraduate Advisor Lecturer of Computer Science	bshen2@sdsu.edu		GMCS	https://cs.sdsu.edu/people/ben-shen	Closeup of Ben Shen

Virtual Meeting Appointments Go to sdsu.campus.eab.com

(Use the same log in you use for WebPortal.)

Once in, select: Get Assistance.
Choose an Advising Appointment. (For academic advising: choose from the dropdown menu the reasoning for your appointment.)
For location, choose: CoS: Computer Science.
Select an open appointment (request one if none are available).
Be sure to add your Name and Red ID in the open comment section!
Save Zoom link so you can log in at the appointment time.

Resources

CS Course Requirements https://cs.sdsu.edu/degree-requirements

Catalog Description https://curriculum.sdsu.edu/curriculum-services/general-catalog/20-21-gc-2/057-computer-science.pdf

SDSU General Catalog http://arweb.sdsu.edu/es/catalog

Office of Advising and Evaluations http://arweb.sdsu.edu/es/advising/

Office of the Registrar http://arweb.sdsu.edu/es/registrar/

Student Affairs https://studentaffairs.sdsu.edu/staar/Current-Students.html

Office of Admissions http://arweb.sdsu.edu/es/admissions/

Forms

RAAR (Request for Adjustment of Academic Requirement) http://advising.sdsu.edu/_resources/pdf/raar-2021.pdf

Late Schedule Adjustment https://registrar.sdsu.edu/students/academic_status/withdrawal-late-schedule-adjustment

Change of Major/Minor https://registrar.sdsu.edu/students/academic_resources/change_declare_major

Fall 2021: CS Major Degree New Curriculum Requirements

Fall 2021 Computer Science Curriculum

A new curriculum has been designed and will go into effect as of Fall 2021. The changes start with the lower division courses in the coming Fall and over the next several semesters other changes will be implemented. The purpose of this document is to provide information about the new curriculum, and explain how the changes will affect current and new students. Please note that this announcement is intended to generally inform students of the changes. We will provide updates on special cases as they become available.

What was the need for a New Curriculum?

The computer science discipline has gone through major changes in the past two decades. Computer science has vastly expanded with a number of specialization areas. A few subjects such as artificial intelligence that were previously considered highly specialized have now become mainstream CS topics. Several of the courses that were previously upper division courses are now taught at lower division due to the maturing of the subjects. Our existing computer science syllabus has not kept up with these changes.

Furthermore, we are now attracting more talented students to our program and they have the capacity to handle more challenging curriculum. The proposed program, designed by the CS department curriculum committee, has taken these trends into consideration. These changes are not only important from the academic viewpoint, but also will help to satisfy industry needs, and to prepare students for a competitive employment opportunities, as well as keeping the program accredited.

What are the Differences Between the Existing and New Curriculua?

Preparation for Major courses have undergone substantial changes as follows:
1. CS107-Introductory Programming and CS108-Intermediate Programming have been updated as CS150 and CS160 to include more material with the addition of lab components CS150L (1 unit) and CS160L (1 unit).
2. CS237- Machine Organization and Assembly Language has been updated into CS240-Computer Organization to teach interconnection between software and hardware.
3. A new course, CS250 Introduction to Software Systems, has been added that introduces principles and practices for software engineering early on.
4. CS310-Data Structures has been updated and its number has been changed to CS210 as many CS 300, 400, and 500 level courses have this fundamental CS course as prerequisite.
Required Science Courses: Required mathematics courses have not changed, they remain as Math 150, 151, 245, 254 and STAT 250. The free choice of one year sequence in science courses – physics, chemistry and biology – has been restricted to physics courses as they are more relevant to CS, and also help in complying with the CSU’s rules. The required science courses units have been reduced from 12 units to 8 units.
Upper Division Required Courses have also gone through several changes as follows:
1. A new course CS450 – Artificial Intelligence, has been added. This course introduces a subject that in recent years has matured and has become a main stream computer science topic with substantial growth in applications and job opportunities.
2. CS560-Algorithm and their Analysis, as well as CS570-Operating Systems have now been somewhat redesigned as CS460 and CS480. Renumbering these courses would allow students to take subsequent courses in a timely manner. In addition, CS560 and CS570 were not available for graduate credit, and being 500 level courses required checking and also confusion among graduate students. By demoting their numbers this problem is resolved.
3. CS 440-Social, Legal and Ethical Issue in Computer Science has been removed from requirement and its contents have been spread among several CS courses. CS 530 Systems Programming has become an elective course.
Elective Courses: The elective courses have been restructured, and three areas of computer science that are in much needed in industry and their relevant courses have been identified. The areas are identified as (i) Computer Systems, (ii) Intelligent Systems and (iii) Data Science. While students can take their electives from courses under any of the three areas, the division of courses into these areas provides a guidance for students if they choose to specialize in one or two areas. In addition several new courses have been introduced to keep up with the trends and applications. These courses are CS549-Machine Learning, CS561-Natural Language Processing and CS577- Principles of Techniques of Data Science.

How Does the New Curriculum Affect CS Majors?

Students who are already CS majors, CS pre-majors or those who can declare a CS major before the Fall 2021 semester begins have the following two choices:

Use the catalog in effect when the student declared their major. In this case these students will be minimally affected by the changes in the curriculum. In some instances they may need to take a substitute course if the old required course is no longer offered when they want to take it. Substitute courses are listed in Table 1.
Use the catalog in effect at the semester in which the student graduates. In this case the students must follow the new curriculum.

NOTE: A similar rule is in effect for General Education (GE) requirements; i.e. students can follow the GE catalog for the year they started at a California university or a community college, or they may instead comply with the GE requirements in the year in which they graduate assuming continuous enrollment.

Students still working on becoming a CS major when Fall 2021 semester starts must follow the new CS curriculum.

What are Equivalent and Substitute Courses?

As mentioned above, the new curriculum will be gradually phased in, and old courses will be removed or substituted with the new courses. If a student who entered the CS before Fall of 2021, wishes to take a required course that is no longer offered, they can take an equivalent or a substitute course given in the following table.

Current Courses	New Required Courses	Comment
CS 107	CS 150 + CS 150L	Equivalent
CS 108	CS 160 + CS 160L	Equivalent
CS 237	CS 240	Equivalent
———	CS 250	Added
CS 310	CS 210	Equivalent
CS 320	CS 520	Substitute
CS 370	CS 370	Equivalent
CS 440	CS 450	Substitute
CS 490	———	Not Required
CS 530	———	Elective
CS 560	CS 460	Equivalent
CS 570	CS 480	Equivalent

Table 1

How Does the New Curriculum Affect CS Minors?

Students who are already CS minors or those who can declare a CS minor before the Fall 2021 semester begins have the following two choices:

Use the catalog in effect when the student declared their minor. In this case these students will be minimally affected by the changes in the curriculum. In some instances they may need to take the substitute courses (Table 1) if the old required course is no longer offered when they want to take it.
Use the catalog in effect at the semester in which the student graduates. In this case the students must follow the new curriculum.

NOTE: A similar rule is true for General Education (GE) requirements; i.e. students must follow the GE catalog for the year they started at a California university or a community college, or they may instead comply with the GE requirements in the year in which they graduate assuming continuous enrollment.

Students still working on becoming a CS minor when Fall 2021 semester starts thus will be required to follow the new CS curriculum.Current students attempting to declare a Computer Science major must first complete ALL the lower-division CS/Math/Science requirements with acceptable grades. CS496- Data Structures will meet any CS 210 prerequisite requirement. Minors should review upper division courses for prerequisites which may include CS 240 or CS 250.