The basic requirements for the Master of Science (Thesis Option) degree are:

• completion of 24 credit hours of acceptable course work, including the core;
• completion of 12 credit hours of research under the direct supervision of the student's faculty advisor (CSCI/MATH 705);
• at least 15 credit hours of coursework taken at CSM;
• a thesis written while the student is enrolled at CSM;
• a successful oral defense of the thesis.

The courses comprising the core depend on the area of study (Computational & Applied Mathematics, Applied Statistics, and Computer Science). Unspecified elective courses may be selected from any other MATH/CSCI courses offered.

At most nine (9) credit hours of undergraduate (400 level) courses can be counted towards a Master's degree. At most nine (9) graduate credit hours from another institution may be accepted for transfer towards a Master's degree in MCS. Six (6) credits, with advisor approval, can be taken outside MCS. More than six (6) credits outside MCS requires Graduate Committee approval.

A student with no deficiencies upon admission typically completes the Master's program in two years.

Thesis Advisor

A thesis advisor should be chosen as soon as possible (preferably no later than the beginning of the second year). The advisor's research specialty should be related to the area of the student's interest. This advisor also takes on the responsibilities of the initial temporary academic advisor and, in consultation with the student, chooses the remaining two members of the Thesis Committee. The committee membership must be approved by the department head and the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. At about this time, the student should file a Graduation Application form and an Admission to Candidacy form with the Graduate School. The second of these forms will list all the courses to be counted towards the degree; subsequent changes must be approved by the Thesis Committee, the department head, and the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research.

Thesis Submission and Defense

Initial drafts of the thesis should be submitted to the thesis advisor to ensure appropriate accuracy, completeness, organization, style, grammar, etc. Other members of the committee can be involved as needed, except that the final draft should be available to every member of the committee at least one week prior to the defense. The defense is scheduled via the Thesis Defense Request form; all members of the Thesis Committee must sign this form which is then submitted to the Graduate School no later than two weeks prior to the date of the defense. The final oral defense consists of a presentation by the student of the results of the thesis, followed by (or accompanied by) questions from the committee members. These questions need not be restricted to the thesis material itself.

Any revisions requested by the committee must be incorporated into the final copy of the thesis submitted to the Graduate School. The student should consult the Graduate School's "Thesis Writer's Guide" regarding rules for the format required for this final version, how many copies must be submitted, copyright releases, etc. CSM also has a Writing Center, where help with writing is freely available. There are also some good books on mathematical writing, one by Higham published by SIAM and one by Krantz published by the AMS.

The general guidelines and policies for thesis submission and defense are found in the Graduate Bulletin. The student should schedule and appear at an "exit interview" with the department head.

The CSM Graduate School Office website has forms and other information for current students.

If you are interested in our programs, we'd like to learn more about you. Please complete our Online Request Form and we'll send you additional information about our program.