Department of Computer Science and Engineering
546 Engineering Center (map)
(248) 370-2200 • Fax (248) 370-4625
http://www.cse.secs.oakland.edu/

Coordinator:
Lanyu Xu
546 Engineering Center
(248) 370-4079
lxu@oakland.edu

Program Description

The Master of Science in Software Engineering and Information Technology degree program is designed to prepare students for significant computer-related careers in business and industry and, simultaneously, for further graduate study. This program consists of two concentrations: 1) Software Engineering and 2) Information Technology. The program offers a natural continuation of studies for students who have received a baccalaureate in software engineering, computer science, or information technology and are interested in furthering their technical knowledge. Under each concentration, the program offers two tracks: a research track and a professional track.

Admission Terms and Application Deadlines

Before an applicant’s file can be reviewed for full program admission, all application documents must be received in Oakland University Graduate School by the semester deadlines listed below. Incomplete applications will not be sent to departments for admission review.

February 15 (early) April 15 (regular) and July 15 (late) for fall semester
October 1 (early) and November 15 (regular) for winter semester
March 1 (regular) for summer semester
International applicants

Application Requirements

To be considered for graduate admission, applicants must submit all Graduate Application Requirements and additional department requirements by the published application deadlines:

Graduate application requirements
Additional department application requirements

Recommendation for Graduate Admission form:
Two recommendation forms must be from faculty members of the undergraduate major department or professionals in the field who can evaluate the scholarly achievement and potential of the applicant. These recommendations form an important part of the admission credentials.
Applicants must submit official scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) if they graduated from an institution not accredited by a regional accrediting agency of the USA. The department may choose to waive the GRE requirement if at least one of the following special circumstances is met:
- Applicant has a degree from a U.S. institution accredited by a regional accrediting agency.
- Applicant's overall GPA from last degree is at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
- Applicant has worked in the USA for at least two years in the engineering profession.
- To request a waiver, applicants must submit a Request to Waive GRE form to the Graduate School as part of the application packet. The request for waiver is subject to the approval of the Graduate Admissions Committee.
Bachelor of Science in computer science, information technology, software engineering, computer engineering, or equivalent. Applicants from other disciplines would be considered after successfully completing appropriate prerequisite courses.
Admission to master's program is selective; applicants should have an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale or better for regular admission.
If the applicant's undergraduate GPA is between 2.7 and 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, admission with limited standing may be offered. For applicants graduated from an institution not accredited by a regional accrediting agency of the USA, a 70% or better percentile score of the GRE Quantitative Reasoning section is required.
Applicants from institutions with which Oakland University has an articulation agreement containing alternative admission criteria will be admitted according to the criteria in that agreement.

Admission Review and Assessment

Admission to graduate school at Oakland University is selective. In making admission recommendations to Oakland University Graduate School, each department assesses the potential of applicants for success in the program by examining their undergraduate records, goal statement, letters of recommendation, prerequisite courses, and any other admission requirements established by the academic department.

Degree Requirements

The Master of Science in Software Engineering and Information Technology degree is awarded upon satisfactory completion of 32 credits in an approved program of study.

Course Requirements (32 credits)

1. Research Track (32 credits)

The research track requires 32 credits including 8 credits of thesis to graduate. The structure of credits are as follows:

a. Core Requirements (16 credits)

Core requirements are divided into two: program core requirements and concentration core requirements. Student must complete 16 credits from the Core Group courses. A core course may be substituted by another CSE course with prior departmental approval provided the student has already taken an equivalent course. A course taken for program core requirement can not be counted for concentration core.

a. 1. Program Core Requirements (4 credits)

Choose one course from the following:

course Object Oriented Analysis and Design (4 credits)
course Cloud Computing (4 credits)
course IT Project Management (4 credits)
course Database Systems I (4 credits)

a. 2. Concentration Core Requirements (12 credits)

SE Concentration

course IT Project Management (4 credits)

IT Concentration

course Mobile and Smart Phone Application Development (4 credits)
course Cloud Computing (4 credits)
course Database Systems I (4 credits)
course Wireless and Industrial Networks (4 credits)
course Adv Web Design Application (4 credits)
course Information Retrieval and Knowledge Discovery (4 credits)

b. Depth Requirement (8 credits)

Students on a research track must complete a thesis for 8 credits.

course Master’s Thesis Research (2 to 8 credits)

c. Electives (8 credits)

Eight credits of electives should be completed. Electives may be selected from any specialty group.

A complete list of 5000- to 7000-level courses offered by the department is listed below.

Note: Courses listed under Miscellaneous do not form a specialty group. However, Special Topic courses (course, course) and maximum of four credits of Independent Study (course, course) can be taken as electives.

2. Professional Track (32 credits)

The professional track requires 32 credits to graduate. The structure of credits is as follows:

a. Core Requirements (16 credits)

Core requirements are divided into two: program core requirements and concentration core requirements. Students must complete 16 credits from the Core Group courses. A core course may be substituted by another CSE course with prior departmental approval provided the student has already taken an equivalent course. A course taken for program core requirement can not be counted for concentration core.

a. 1. Program Core Requirements (4 credits)

Choose one course from the following:

course Object Oriented Analysis and Design (4 credits)
course Cloud Computing (4 credits)
course IT Project Management (4 credits)
course Database Systems I (4 credits)

a. 2. Concentration Core Requirements (12 credits)

SE Concentration

course AI for IT Operations (4 credits)
course Fundamentals of Software Modeling (4 credits)
course Object Oriented Analysis and Design (4 credits)
course Programming Languages and Compilers (4 credits)
course Software Verification and Testing (4 credits)
course Software Engineering (4 credits)
course Software Project Planning, Management and Maintenance (4 credits)
course Software Security (4 credits)

IT Concentration

course Mobile and Smart Phone Application Development (4 credits)
course Cloud Computing (4 credits)
course Database Systems I (4 credits)
course Wireless and Industrial Networks (4 credits)
course Adv Web Design Application (4 credits)
course Information Retrieval and Knowledge Discovery (4 credits)
course AI for IT Operations (4 credits)

b. Depth Requirement (8 credits)

Students on the professional track must complete two courses (8 credits) from SE or IT specialty group.

c. Electives (8 credits)

Eight credits of electives should be completed. Electives may be selected from any specialty group.

A complete list of 5000- to 7000-level courses offered by the department is listed below.

Note: Courses listed under Miscellaneous do not form a specialty group. However, Special Topic courses (course, course) and maximum of four credits of Independent Study (course, course) can be taken as electives.

Complete list of 5000- to 7000-level courses offered by the department

Specialty Group Courses

1. Networking and Systems Group

course Cloud Computing (4 credits)
course Concurrent and Multi-Core Programming (4 credits)
course Information Security (4 credits)
course Wireless and Industrial Networks (4 credits)
course Computer Networks (4 credits)
course Operating Systems I (4 credits)
course Operating Systems II (4 credits)
course Parallel Computer Architecture (4 credits)

2. Embedded Systems Group

course Embedded Systems Design Using FPGAs (4 credits)

3. Information Technology Group

course Mobile and Smart Phone Application Development (4 credits)
course Cloud Computing (4 credits)
course Information Security (4 credits)
course Information Security Practices (4 credits)
course Adv Web Design Application (4 credits)
course Bioinformatics (4 credits)
course Information Retrieval and Knowledge Discovery (4 credits)
course E-Commerce and ERP (4 credits)
course Database Systems II (4 credits)

4. Software Engineering Group

course Fundamentals of Software Modeling (4 credits)
course Software Prototyping and Validation (4 credits)
course Software Verification and Testing (4 credits)
course Software Engineering (4 credits)
course IT Project Management (4 credits)
course Rapid Prototyping and Component Software (4 credits)
course Software Security (4 credits)

5. Intelligent Computing Group

course Artificial Intelligence (4 credits)
course IT Project Management (4 credits)
course Visual Computing (4 credits)
course Information Retrieval and Knowledge Discovery (4 credits)
course Machine Learning (4 credits)
course Advanced Visual Computing (4 credits)
course Deep Learning and Applications (4 credits)
course Foundations of Edge AI (4 credits)
course ST: AI-Human Interaction (4 credits)
course Natural Language Processing (4 credits)
courseCSI 5150 - AI for IT Operations (4 credits)

Miscellaneous

course Independent Study (1 TO 4 credits)
course Special Topics (1 TO 4 credits)
course Professional Practice ( 2 TO 4 credits)
course Master’s Thesis Research (2 to 8 credits)
course Independent Study (1 to 4 credits)
course Special Topics (2 TO 4 credits)

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) is the term used to denote a student’s successful completion of coursework toward a certificate or degree. Federal regulations require the Office of Financial Aid to monitor Satisfactory Academic Progress for all financial aid recipients each semester.

Students who fall behind in their coursework, or fail to achieve minimum standards for grade point average and completion of classes, may lose their eligibility for all types of federal, state and university aid. Contact the Office of Financial Aid for additional details.

Good Academic Standing

All graduate students are expected to remain in Good Academic Standing throughout the entire course of their graduate program. To be in good academic standing, a graduate student must make satisfactory progress toward fulfilling degree requirements, including the completion of critical degree milestones as set forth by the academic program. The student must also maintain a minimum semester and overall GPA of 3.0.

Good academic standing is a requirement for:

Holding a Graduate Assistantship
Receiving a fellowship or scholarship
Advancing to candidacy for a graduate degree
Going on a leave of absence
Obtaining a graduate certificate or degree from Oakland University.

Additionally, graduate students must meet all department academic standards which may be more stringent than the minimum set forth by the University.

Department requirements: The minimum satisfactory grade for graduate work is B. Credit for completion of a course in the Master of Science program will be given for grades of B- or above but no more than two grades may be B-. Graduate credit will not be awarded for grades below B-. To repeat a course, a student must have the permission of the graduate committee of the school.

All grades received as a graduate student are used in computing the GPA except that, if a course has been repeated, the most recent grade is used in the calculation of the GPA. A graduate student is placed on academic probation if the student’s overall GPA drops below 3.0 or if the student receives more than one grade below B, including the original grade(s) of any repeated course(s). A graduate student receiving a grade less than B while on probation is subject to dismissal. A graduate student receiving more than two grades below B is subject to dismissal whether or not the student was put on probation previously.

In all programs the minimum grade point requirement is an average of at least 3.0. If a student’s GPA is less than 3.0 after having attempted 16 credits, the student will be recommended for dismissal from the program.

Graduate students who are not in good academic standing for any reason are subject to probation and/or dismissal from further graduate study.

Related Program Information

Plan of Study

All accepted applicants, in consultation with their assigned faculty program adviser, must develop a plan of study that details specific courses the students will use to satisfy their degree requirements. The plan of study must be approved by the faculty program adviser and submitted by the student to Oakland University Graduate School.

Master’s and graduate certificate students must submit a department-approved plan of study by the end of their first semester of graduate coursework. Doctoral students must submit an approved plan of study prior to completion of the first year of coursework. (See the Graduate Student Responsibility section of this catalog.)

Note: Credit granted for successful completion of a course toward an undergraduate degree program may not be repeated for a graduate degree. If a substitution is approved, the minimum number of program-approved graduate credits will be required. A Petition of Exception - OU Course Waiver/ Substitution requesting the substitution must be approved.

Course Approval

Approval by the master’s degree adviser and the department chair is required for independent study, engineering projects, a master’s thesis or special topics courses that are used toward the degree. In addition, approval of the faculty administering the independent study, advising the thesis or project or teaching the special topics course must be obtained before registering for these credits.

Course Credit

Graduate credit is awarded only for courses numbered 5000 or higher. Course credit will not be awarded for work applied toward another degree. Students who have received credit for the 4000-level version of an OU slash course (4000/5000 course) cannot receive credit toward a graduate degree for the 5000-level version of that course.

No more than 8 thesis or project credits may be used toward the degree requirements.

Workload and Scheduling

Full-time students must register for 8 to 12 credits per semester. Graduate assistants must be full-time students and commit 20 hours per week toward their research or teaching assistantship assignment. Graduate assistants normally register for only 8 credits per semester; however, a 12-credit load can be taken with the approval of the chair of their department.

For the convenience of part-time students employed in industry, most courses are arranged in late afternoon and early evening. However, these students should be aware of the very real demands of graduate studies and should keep outside work commitments and their academic load in balance.

Master’s Adviser

The progress of each regular student toward the Master of Science degree is directed by the student’s adviser, a faculty member of the School of Engineering and Computer Science who is assigned at the time of admission. Incoming students seeking the degree are urged to discuss their proposed concentration area with their adviser or other faculty members in that area. Students who wish to change their adviser can do so with the approval of the chair of their department.

Master’s Project or Thesis

Although the master’s degree requirements may be satisfied by taking only coursework, either a graduate engineering project (course) or a directed master’s thesis research (course) may be included as part of the program in place of elective courses.

Students electing a thesis option must accumulate a minimum of 8 credits of CSI 6998. Successful completion and defense of a thesis is a prerequisite for earning thesis credits. Students choosing the thesis option must select an advisory committee, which is composed of at least three faculty members from the School of Engineering and Computer Science. The selection of the committee and the Plan of Study must be approved by the department chair. The chair (major professor) of the advisory committee will direct and guide the research. The student must propose a research topic to the committee for approval at least one semester before graduation. The completed thesis must conform to university standards (see Thesis and Dissertation). At the completion of the research and its documentation, the content of the thesis must be publicly presented and defended. Successful defense of the thesis is a prerequisite for earning the research credits.

Software Engineering and Information Technology

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Major Dependent Concentration(s)

Major Dependent Concentration Declaration

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