Advising

How can I get advising?

• There are several ways to get information regarding your academics. Several online sources exist:
  • Miami Bulletin (please make sure you have the bulletin for the correct catalog year).
  • Miami's One Stop website can assist with general issues such as making payments, ordering transcripts, and important academic dates and deadlines.
  • Computer Science and Software Engineering website
• Every CSE major is assigned a professional academic advisor within the department. That advisor is happy to answer any questions you may have about your degree requirements and classes to take. If you have more than one major, then you may be assigned a different advisor for that major.

Who is my CSE advisor?

How do I meet with my advisor?

• Email your advisor to set up a mutually agreeable time to meet.
• Prior to your meeting, you should have clearly defined questions with your best guess as to solve the problem. For example, if you are interested in getting help for selecting your courses for the next semester, you should have a prospective set of courses that you think you would like to take.
• Your advisor may ask you to schedule an appointment in Navigate as another way to set up a meeting time

When should I see my advisor?

What can my CSE advisor help with?

What is my catalog year?

• Every year, a new Miami bulletin is published that details the degree requirements for the students entering that year. You can think of the bulletin as containing the specific requirements that students must fulfill in order to graduate.
• By default, students are assigned the catalog year corresponding to the year that they entered Miami University. This means you are bound to the requirements that were in place when you first entered Miami. Students have the option to change to a later catalog year if the student wishes; this decision should be done with the help of an advisor.

What is a DAR?

DAR stands for Degree Audit Report. The DAR is a convenient way to view your progress toward graduation. The DAR shows which requirements have been fulfilled, those that are in progress, and those that are still unfulfilled. The DAR is a good document to view prior to registering for the upcoming semester.

Who are some of the CSE faculty I should be aware of?

• Department Chair - Liran Ma, Ph.D.
• Lead Departmental Advisor - Kaylynn Borror, M.S.
• Chair of CSE Graduate Program - John Femiani, Ph.D.
• Chair of CSE Undergraduate Committee - Alan Ferrenberg, Ph.D.

What extracurricular opportunities exist for CSE students?

• Miami has many student organizations, intramural sports, and club sports. To learn more about student organizations visit Miami's Hub or for more information on intramural and club sports visit Miami's Recreation website.
• CSE activities
  • Collegiate Programming Team – Mike Zmuda, Ph.D.
  • CSE programming contest – Mike Zmuda, Ph.D.
  • Student Chapter of the ACM – John Femiani, Ph.D.
  • Preparation for technical interviews – John Femiani, Ph.D.
  • And more!

What research opportunities exist for CSE students?

CSE students can participate in faculty research. Typically, this is done by establishing a relationship with a faculty member. This happens when you take their courses, visit them during their office hours, and having a mutual interest in a particular topic.

Internships and job placement

The Center for Career Exploration & Success can help students create a resume, prepare for interviews, and get in contact with prospective employers.

Scholarships

CSE has several scholarships that are awarded to annually to students. Some are for first-year students and some are for upperclassmen. A formal application is not required since all students are considered for these awards.

What is the Miami Bulletin?

Miami's Bulletin is a document that describes all aspect of Miami’s academic policies and requirements. This includes liberal arts requirements, major requirements, available thematic sequences, and course descriptions. There are many other aspects that are described in the bulletin. A new bulletin is published each year.

What is a catalog year?

Each year a new Miami Bulletin is published to define the requirements for students entering Miami in that year. Students entering Miami in August 2023 for the 2023-24 academic year will be subject to the 2024 bulletin.  These students’ requirements are said to be based on the 2024 catalog year.

How many credit hours should I take each semester?

• Full-time students must take at least 12 credit hours in a semester in order to maintain full-time status.
• Typically, full-time students take roughly 15 to 18 credit hours per semester. When first enrolling for fall and spring classes, CSE majors are limited to 18 credit hours. Closer to the start of the semester, this limit will be increased to 20 credit hours. 20 credit hours cannot be exceeded without obtaining special permission.

What is a thematic sequence?

(NOTE: Students with a catalog year of fall 2023 or later are part of the new Miami Plan, which does not have a thematic sequence requirement.)

• The Global Miami Plan applies to students with a catalog year before fall 2023. One of the Global Miami Plan requirements is that all degree-seeking Miami students must complete one of Miami's thematic sequences. A thematic sequence is a collection of classes focused in a cohesive area of study.
• There are several dozen thematic sequences currently available. CSE majors who have a second major from another department, or have a declared minor, do not have to complete a thematic sequence. The second major or minor will satisfy the thematic sequence requirements.
• Many CSE majors choose the MTH 2 Basic Mathematical Tools for Science thematic sequence or the STA 2 Applied Statistics thematic sequence because of the overlap of those thematic sequences with their mathematics and science courses. However, students are free to choose any thematic sequence that interests them (except for those offered by the CSE department).  

How do I declare a thematic sequence?

Contact the department that offers the thematic sequence and tell them that you would like to declare it.

When should I declare a thematic sequence?

You may declare your thematic sequence before completing any of the courses in that sequence, or you may declare it while those courses are in progress, or you may declare it after completing all the courses. Note that you must declare your thematic sequence before you will be able to graduate (unless you are satisfying the thematic sequence using a minor or second major).What is the specialization area in the Software Engineering major?

The specialization area is a cohesive collection of courses that focuses on an application area of software engineering or a technical area that would benefit a software engineer (NOTE: Students with a catalog year of Fall 2020 or later have a list of electives to choose from instead of a specialization area.)

How do I determine a specialization area?

There are several Software Engineering standard specialization areas. Students can work with their advisors to develop their own customized specialization area.

For the Computer Science major, what is an affiliate elective?

CS majors require a specific number of CSE elective courses (based on catalog year). The predefined set of electives is divided into three sets: 1) regular electives 2) research electives and 3) affiliate electives. Only a total of 2 courses from groups 2 and 3 can be counted toward your electives. Groups 2 and 3 contain courses that are certainly related to Computer science but are not as central as those in group 1; therefore, limits are placed on groups 2 and 3.

Do I have to take affiliate electives?

No. You are not required to take any affiliate electives. The rule is that you can take at most 2 affiliate electives.

Can I double major in CS and SE?

Yes, you can double major in both. You should visit with your advisor and discuss your academic and career goals to help determine if this is an appropriate course of action. Also, there are limits on how many courses can be double counted.

I am becoming a CSE major late in my academic career. What is the fastest I can fulfill the CSE requirements?

• Due to course prerequisites, CSE majors have a six-course sequence that must be completed in the following order, one per term: CSE 174, 271, 274, 201, 448, 449. Note that all of these courses are offered every semester. Also, CSE 174, 271, and 274 are typically offered in the summer and winter terms as well.
• Students who are trying to fulfill degree requirements quickly may attempt to take too many very demanding courses in the same semester. It is possible that such an action may actually delay graduation. Students are encouraged to talk to their advisor to determine appropriate schedules.

What is the combined Bachelors/Masters program?

I am trying to register for a course and the course is closed. What do I do now?

For CSE courses, you can submit an ROR request for a course where you cannot register for any other section due to schedule conflicts. For non-CSE courses, you should contact the department that offers the course.

I am interested in taking a course at another university. How do I get that to count as transfer credit?

• If the course you plan to take is meant to replace a CSE course, you should first submit a course syllabus to the CSE department to find out if the course will be equivalent to an existing CSE course and/or might count as CSE elective credit.
• If the course you plan to take is meant to replace a non-CSE course, you should first investigate www.transferology.com to see if the course has a Miami equivalent.
  • If transferology.com indicates that Miami will accept the other course, then all you will need to do after completing the course is to have a transcript sent from the other university to Miami's registrar.
  • If transferology.com does not list a Miami equivalent, you still might be able to transfer the course to Miami, but you will need to consult with an academic advisor from the Miami department that offers the potentially equivalent course.

Can I get CSE credit for internships and work experience?

CSE policy is to not award CSE credit for work experience.

What are the GPA requirements?

• Your overall GPA must be at least 2.0.
• Your GPA for your CSE classes (CSE 174 and above) must be at least 2.0.

Do I have to get at least a C in each of my CSE courses?

• No. In order to graduate, you are required to have at least a 2.0 GPA for your CSE classes. So, it is possible to have a grade below a C in one or more of your CSE classes, as long as your CSE GPA is at least 2.0 when it is time to graduate. The minimum passing grade in your CSE courses is D-. However, there are some exceptions you should know about…
• A grade of C- or higher is required in CSE 174 in order to take CSE 271.
• A grade of C- or higher is required in CSE 271 in order to take CSE 274.

What happens if I take a course more than once?

How do I use Miami's Course Repeat Policy?

• First, you should discuss your situation with your CSE advisor. Depending on the circumstances, it might not be worthwhile to repeat a course.
• You should also be sure you understand the details of the Course Repeat Policy. You can learn about the requirements on the OneStop Website.
• After you have repeated a course and have gotten the grade from the repeated course, you can submit a "Request to Apply the Undergraduate Course Repeat Policy" using the link on the OneStop Website.

What is a petition?

What type of things can be petitioned?

How long does it take to process a petition?

How do I submit a petition?

• Write a succinct statement of what you are requesting. Provide rationale on why your request is reasonable. Include supporting documents, if applicable. Reasons why you think your request is reasonable. These reasons could include one or more of the following:
  • A course syllabus and a description of why the course is relevant to computer science majors.
  • Personal circumstances that put your request into a more positive light.
  • Anything else that you think is relevant.
• After having your rational for the course(s) you are petitioning about, meet with your CSE advisor to talk about your petition. If your advisor agrees that the petition may be valid, they will give you a form to fill out in order to officially submit your petition for review.

Force-add requests for CSE courses must be submitted using the Registration Override Request (ROR) application. To submit a request:

1. Use the courses of instruction section of the Miami Bulletin to make sure you have met the pre/co-requisite requirements for the course. If not, see Note 1 below.
2. Make sure your request(s) will not have the potential to create a time conflict in your schedule (see Note 2 below).
3. Log in to the Miami course list
4. Once you find the CSE course, click "submit registration override request".
5. Follow the instructions and submit the request.

Note 1: If you want to take an CSE course but have not met all of the pre/co-requisite requirements, you must request permission by submitting a petition to the CSE Department. If you have questions about the petition process, see your academic advisor. Without an approved petition, you might still end up being added to the course by the ROR application, but then you may be removed from the course at a later time (possibly after the course has started) when it may be difficult or impossible to find a replacement course.

Students wishing to seek an exception to the requirements for their major course of study are required to prepare and submit a petition for review and possible approval. Exceptions include taking courses at other universities for the purpose of substitution for required CSE courses. Students are encouraged to obtain approval for substitution of transfer courses prior to enrolling in the course to be transferred. Visit www.transferology.com to verify if courses will transfer.

Students are responsible for initiating petitions. Petitions should be prepared in consultation with the academic advisor. Petitions forms are available by contacting your academic advisor after you have collected all supporting material. These are reviewed by the Petitions Committee after submission. The Petition Committee meets in a timely fashion and rules on each petition received. The student and faculty are notified of decisions in writing by email. Questions should be directed to the student’s advisor, the petition committee chair, or the department chair.

Students should be knowledgeable concerning the rules, definitions, and procedures governing academic integrity/academic dishonesty. See Miami University Student Handbook section 1.5 for information regarding Miami’s Academic Integrity policy and procedure.

The student grievance procedure is in accordance with MUPIM Section 5.5 and Section 1.7 of the Undergraduate and Graduate Student Handbooks:
The departmental grievance procedure is as follows:

• The student submits a written, dated, and signed complaint to the department chair
• The chair convenes the department academic grievance committee. This committee consists of three faculty members, one of whom is designated as the chair.
• The grievance committee will verify that full discussions among the student, instructor and department chair have been exhausted as a means of resolving the grievance, determine hearing procedures, and hold hearings to determine the facts.
• Committee recommendations will be in accordance with those discussed in Section 1.7 of the respective student handbook.
• The department chair receives recommendations from the committee and communicates them to the student and instructor.
• The department chair maintains communication with the divisional grievance committee, and retains documents of the entire incident.