Academic Orientation
Computer Science Majors
Friday, August 24, 2007
Advising Team
- Mrs. Catherine Helwig (MSC 292A)
- Dr. Vijay Gehlot (MSC 165B)
Jobs of the Advisor
- Plan the choice of courses for the next several semesters
- Help build the schedule for the next semester
- Approve registration for Villanova and for courses taken elsewhere
- Help modify schedules
- Consult for
- Internship ideas
- Study abroad
- Career planning
- Summer opportunities
Schedule Information
- Current semester: no advanced placement
- Algorithms and Data Structures I (Java)
- Calculus I
- Core Humanities Seminar
- Foreign Language
- Humanities or Social Science
Schedule Changes
- One time instructions; good only through Friday August 31.
- Done online thereafter.
- Contact one of your advisors
- Fill out a drop/add slip
- Take the slip to the Registrar?s Office, Tolentine 202
- Advisors will be available after this meeting, or on Monday.
Important Dates
- Drop/Add deadline: F, Aug 31
- Labor Day: M, Sep 3 -- no class
- Midterm grades: W, Oct 24
- Fall break: M, Oct 15 ? F, Oct 19
- WX deadline: W, Nov 8
- Spring registration: F, Oct 26
- Thanksgiving break: no classes W-F, Nov 21 - 23
- Final exams: Sa, Dec 15 ? F, Dec 21
Universal Information Source
The fantastic, all-powerful, information rich CS Department web site:
csc.villanova.edu
Degree Requirements
- Computer science
- Required courses
- Elective courses
- Mathematics
- Science
- 17 humanities and social science courses
- Free electives
Value Added Courses
- Cognitive science
- Bioinformatics, computational molecular biology
- Summer Business Institute
- Minors such as mathematics, communication, English, business
- Study Abroad
- Internship for academic credit
- BS/MS 5-year program
Opportunities
- ViCS Program
- Scholarships
- Programming contests
- Problem solving contests
- Paper or poster presentations at technical meetings
- Study abroad with internship: Rome and the Vatican Web Office
Computing Community
- ACM Student Chapter
- Monthly meetings
- Workshops
- Social events (lose to faculty in volleyball)
- Upsilon Pi Epsilon
- Computing honor society
- National past president, Villanova alumna
- Philly Java Users Group
- Villanova Mac Users Group
- ISACA (Information Systems Audit and Control Association)
- Philly CHI (Computer Human Interaction)
- Service Projects - Computer recycling: TeamChildren
- Spaces
- Department library (MSC 159)
- Halls
- Projects lab (MSC 158)
- Intelligent Systems lab (MSC 156)
Working for the Department
- Work-study and regular
- Application form: given to Angie
- Hiring documents to complete I-9 form
- Passport
- Driver?s license AND social security card
Department Jobs
- Lab support
- Office support: individual faculty members and department office
- Research assistance
- ARCES Project
- CEET
- LIKES
- ViCS
- Digital Library
- Computational geometry
- ACT Lab
- And eventually
- Web site maintenance and development
- Research associate
Research Questions
- Programming languages and systems control for Mindstorm robots
- Contexts for optimum web search strategies
- Algorithm taxonomy: examples from traditional games
- Web site taxonomy and focused design principles
- Packing spheres into an ellipsoid: heuristic search strategies
- Code optimization: 20Kb vs 20Mb program space
- Non-visual interfaces
- Virtual reality in interdisciplinary projects
- Web services: development, description, deployment
Will Rogers says
?I believe in college since it gets young people out of the house just at the time when they start asking difficult questions.?
Keys to Success
- Talk to your instructors, once a week at least
- Talk to your advisors
- Study with your peers
- Become involved in the computing community? ACM student chapter
- Exhibit responsibility
- Manage time wisely: at least 40 hours study time per week
- Come to class every time
- Read before class
- Endorse student-centered learning and active class participation
- Start assignments early
Exercises
- By next Thursday (August 30) visit each member of your advising team
- Introduce yourself
- Describe your high school
- Relate your summer activities
- By next Friday (August 31) check that your Wildcard opens MSC 156 and MSC 158
Things to Remember
- The 7 fastest growing occupations are in the field of Computing
- Computer Scientists are needed as leaders in virtually all other fields
- Computer game design is a driving force in the growth of computing
- Knowledge and skills gained by studying Computer Science can lead anywhere
