CSC 600
Graduate Orientation

F 12:50-1:40  1021/1025 EB-II

Contact Information

• Christopher G. Healey
  healey@ncsu.edu
  https://healey.csc.ncsu.edu

Introduction

CSC 600 is a required course designed to introduce new graduate students to three important topic areas:

1. Information about the graduate program, department, and university relevant to all incoming graduate students.
2. A description of research projects being conducted by faculty in the Computer Science department.
3. An introduction to industrial partners, their companies, and their interactions with graduate students in our department.

During the first four CSC 600 lectures, students will learn useful information about the graduate program in computer science, the department, and the department's IT infrastructure. Students will also meet the people responsible for managing these resources.

Following these introductory topics, the remaining lectures will be split into two types, depending on volunteer presenters' availability.

1. Research lectures, made up of presentations by department faculty. Each faculty member will introduce themselves, discuss their research interests, and describe one or more research projects they are conducting. This is an excellent opportunity for students to learn about ongoing research in the department in preparation for choosing thesis topics, supervisors, or graduate courses.
2. Industrial Partners lectures, made up of presentations by representatives from companies that partner with the department. Each company representative will introduce themselves and then discuss their company and its vision, goals, and ongoing projects that overlap with topics of interest for graduate Computer Science students. This is an excellent opportunity for students to learn about companies the department collaborates with in preparation for choosing courses related to these projects. It also offers an opportunity to learn about internships and full-time employment opportunities after graduation.

Attendance

Although there will be no assignments or tests, a specific level of attendance in CSC 600 is MANDATORY. Any student who does not meet this minimum level of attendance will not receive credit for the course and will be required to re-register during the next fall semester. You cannot graduate without successfully completing CSC 600.

On-campus students cannot miss more than one in-person and two virtual lectures during the semester. DE students cannot miss more than three virtual lectures. These absences are provided to allow students to manage other responsibilities while maintaining appropriate attendance in CSC 600. Here are some examples of situations where students might need an allowed absence from CSC 600:

• attending a course-related group meeting during a CSC 600 lecture
• attending a conference or workshop during a CSC 600 lecture
• attending a work-related or research-related meeting during a CSC 600 lecture
• attending a personal function during a CSC 600 lecture

Note:  In none of these cases would we provide an exception to the attendance rule. Therefore, if you anticipate these situations arising during the semester, DO NOT "use up" your allowed absences and expect us to allow additional absences because you "have to do X," but you don't have any allowed absences left. Your only recourse in this situation will be droping CSC 600 and re-enrolling the following academic year.

Attendance will be taken through an online summary sheet, where students are asked to fill in short, simple answers to questions about each week's presentation. Summary sheets for both virtual and in-person lectures are available on the course Moodle web page. For in-person lectures, summary sheets must be submitted by 3pm on the day of the lecture. For virtual lectures, summary sheets are available from 3pm on the day of the lecture until 12:45pm on the day of next week's lecture. Receipt of a summary sheet with acceptable answers will be used to confirm a student's attendance for the given class. Note that one common example of unacceptable answers is an answer sheet where some questions are left blank or include a single-word answer that has no relationship to the lecture that was given. We don't expect (or want) long answers, but we will not mark you as having attended for summary sheets that are answered in an incomplete or irrelevant manner.

Virtual Versus In-Person Attendance

Every student will be responsible for attending four lectures in-person. The one exception is for DE students, who are only required to attend lectures virtually. DE students DO NOT have an in-person requirement.

1. The August 23rd lecture that welcomes students to the graduate program is a mandatory in-person lecture for all students.
2. The September 13th lecture that discusses the graduate program is a mandatory in-person lecture for all students.
3. Based on the first letter(s) of your last name, two additional lectures will also be mandatory in-person lectures. The schedule for which students are required to attend which lectures in-person is listed below.
4. For all other lectures, students are allowed to attend either virtually or in-person, depending on their preference.

Because we have not covered how attendance in the class is marked, the first lecture on Aug. 23rd will not be graded.

The table below divides students by the first letter(s) of their last name. It defines which two lectures you are required to attend in-person, in addition to the Aug. 23 and the Introduction to the Graduate Program lecture on Sept. 13. Note: the first letter(s) of your last name is the last name you registered with the university, NOT necessarily the last name you use. Make sure you attend the correct lecture based on what the university lists as your last name.

In-Person Lectures

If you are scheduled for an in-person lecture, you must attend in-person during the scheduled lecture time, Friday, 12:50pm–1:40pm.

• The semester's first (Introduction) and fourth (Introduction to Graduate Studies) lectures will be presented in-person or via synchronous Zoom in your assigned classroom.
• Students will attend all other in-person lectures in 1025 EB-II.
• The Moodle course page has sections for Virtual and In-Person lectures. MAKE SURE you fill out the form for the In-Person lecture section if you are attending in-person for the given lecture.
• You will have until 3:00pm on the day of the lecture to complete the lecture's In-Person summary sheet.

Apart from university-allowed extenuating circumstances, we will not allow you to upload a lecture's summary sheet for late submission.

Virtual Lectures

If you are not scheduled for an in-person lecture, you may attend "virtually."

• Although students are strongly encouraged to attend the lecture in person, the lecture will be recorded on Panopto, and its summary sheet will be available on the Moodle web site until 12:45pm on the Friday following the lecture.
• Faculty lectures after the fourth lecture will be presented in person by the faculty member.

Students will view lectures either in-person or online, with access to a particular lecture made available through the CSC 600 Moodle web page as follows:

• A lecture's recording and summary sheet (see below) will open on Friday at 3:00pm.
• The Moodle course page has sections for Virtual and In-Person lectures. MAKE SURE you fill out the form for the Virtual lecture section.
• The lecture's summary sheet will remain open until the following Friday at 12:45pm. At that point, access to the summary sheet will close, and access to the following lecture's summary sheet will open at 12:50pm.

This allows you the week of the lecture to view it and complete your summary sheet. Apart from university-allowed extenuating circumstances, we will not re-open a lecture's summary sheet for late viewing or submission.

Remember, the first (Introduction) and fourth (Introduction to Graduate Studies) lectures of the semester will be presented in-person in your assigned classroom.

Updating Your EMail Address

For all students, your Unity email address is your official university address. You are responsible for monitoring email sent to this address. In particular, course-related email messages are automatically sent to your Unity email account.

It is possible to have Unity email forwarded to a different account. See this page for a link describing how to do this and other important information about your university email account.

Computer Science Graduate Student Association

If you'd like to participate or learn more about the department's Graduate Student Association, they maintain a web page about current and future graduate student events.

Academic Integrity

All students at the university are expected to understand and agree to the university's code of student conduct. This document explains the various types of behaviour that are not allowed, including cheating, plagiarism, aiding and abetting, disorderly conduct, and so on.

For CSC 600, common examples of academic integrity violations include (but are not limited to):

• claiming attendance for a lecture you did not fully attend or view online,
• knowingly assisting another student to claim attendance for a lecture they did not fully attend or view online,
• being disruptive during an in-person lecture in a way that impacts the presenter's ability to present material, or that impacts other students' ability to follow the lecture, and/or
• willfully disregarding instructions from the presenter or professor during an in-person lecture (e.g., being told to stop talking in class but continuing to talk; this would also fall within the class disruption academic integrity violation above).

For suspected cases of academic integrity violation, the university requires faculty to report the case to the Office of Student Conduct (OSC). OSC has the experience, expertise, and resources to fully investigate suspected academic integrity violation case. Understand that OSC is a resource and advocate for a student, ensuring that you are aware of and provided all rights and opportunities available to you. The purpose of OSC is to work with a student to accurately determine the circumstances of the suspected violation and recommend appropriate consequences, if any. I have no leeway in reporting suspected cases to OSC, and we will implement any recommendations they return to us.

For cases of academic integrity violations confirmed by OSC, in addition to any university-mandated sanctions, students will receive a grade of unsatisfactory (U) in CSC 600.

Potential Consequences of Academic Integrity Violations

Below, I list some of the potential consequences of confirmed academic integrity violations, with a specific focus on consequences for International students. Please understand this is information I provide to the best of my current knowledge. If you have any questions, contact the Office of International Services (OIS) and/or the Office of Student Conduct (OSC) for official university rules and guidelines. I do my best to keep up-to-date and provide this information as a source of potentially useful information, but it is in no way meant to be taken as official university policy.

All confirmed cases of academic integrity violation are private. These cases will not be revealed without explicit permission of a student, or in rare cases where such information is required for certain types of academic employment positions. Please talk with OSC for specific details on when these rare circumstances might occur.

Effects of Academic Integrity Violations on GPA

CSC 600 is marked using S/U (satisfactory/unsatisfactory) grades. Information on how NCSU calculates grades and GPAs is available online in the NC State Student Handbook. Because CSC 600 is marked using S/U grades, the following points in the Student Handbook are specifically relevant.

• S/U grades are not used in computing a student's GPA.
• A course in which a student earns below a C- or a U will not be included in the minimum hours required for a given degree.

CSC 600 is a required course for graduation. If you receive a grade of U, you must re-take and successfully complete CSC 600 in the next Fall semester. CSC 600 is only offered in the Fall semester.

Effects of Academic Integrity Violations on Internships

According to OIS, as long as students maintain "good academic standing," they are eligible to apply for summer internships through Curricular Practical Training (CPT). Because a grade of U in CSC 600 does not impact your GPA, as long as you continue to achieve satisfactory performance in your other classes, an academic integrity violation in CSC 600 should not impact your ability to intern in the summer.

Effects of Academic Integrity Violations on International Student Visas

Generally, a first academic offence with no additional mitigating circumstances results in a student being placed on academic probation and any penalties applied by the course in question. For CSC 600, the penalty is no credit for the course and a final grade of U. This should not negatively affect on your visa status.

For a second academic offence, the normal penalty recommended by OSC is a one semester suspension. For international students, this will violate your requirement of continuous enrolment, meaning your Visa status will be terminated. This means that: (1) you should avoid "using up" your first academic offence at all costs, especially in an attendance-based course like CSC 600; and (2) if you ignore this advice and commit a confirmed case of academic integrity violation, take great care not to commit a second offence, since this will most like result in an inability to meet your Visa requirements.

Tentative Schedule

Below is the tentative schedule for topics and presenters, split into the introductory lectures (which all students attend as a single group) and the research/industrial partner tracks (where students choose which track to attend each week).

Introductory Lectures

Research and Industrial Partners Lectures