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Policies

About this Document

This document outlines curricular policies in the Computer Science Department. These policies are intended to be fair, serve our students well, and maintain the department's academic standards. A student who feels that there are extenuating circumstances that merit special dispensation may petition the department for an exception to a policy. Petitions should be first discussed with the student's computer science advisor and then submitted in writing to the advisor for consideration by the CS faculty.

Core Curriculum Policies

• A student must complete one of CS 5 (Gold, Black, or Green) or CS 42 to complete the CS core.
• A student who fails CS 42 may request to take the CS 5 Gold final exam. Passing this exam results in maintaining the "NC" for CS 42 on the transcript and the additional note that CS 5 was passed by exam. On the transcript, this shows up as "CS 5" with the grade of "EX" (for "EXam") in the grade column and the student receives 3 units of credit for CS 5. The 3 units count towards graduation but not towards the students GPA computation. This fulfills the CS core requirement. If they wish to pursue a major that requires CS 60 (e.g. CS or Joint Major) then they must take CS 60 - but that does not change the original "NC" grade in CS 42.

Grades

With the exception of first-semester Core Courses and Colloquium (which are taken Pass/High Pass/No Credit), courses taken towards a Computer Science or CS/Math Joint Major or for the CS minor must be taken for a letter grade.

Electives

• As indicated above, elective courses used to fulfill Computer Science major, CS/Math major, Mathematical and Computational Biology, or the CS minor program requirements must be taken for a letter grade.
• A number of courses in other departments may be taken as CS electives. These courses can be used in lieu of CS electives for the Computer Science, CS/Math, and Mathematical and Computational Biology majors.

Performance in Non-Claremont College transfer courses

• As indicated in the HMC Catalog students, with permission of the department, may transfer credit from other colleges and universities (e.g., study abroad or summer).
• Students interested in studying abroad must receive permission of their advisor and the department chair prior to registering for courses.
• While HMC requires transfer course grades of at least a C, the CS Department requires a grade of B or better for courses taken outside of Claremont.

Colloquium Policies

• Colloquium counts for 0.5 units per semester. CS Majors are required to take four semesters of colloquium and CS/Math Joint Majors are required to take two semesters of CS colloquium. While students are encouraged to take colloquium during their junior and senior years, colloquium may be taken at any time. Only 2 units of colloquium are counted towards the CS major and only 1 unit for CS/Math Joint Majors.
• A CS major, CS/Math Joint major, or MCB major who is studying abroad in the junior or senior year is excused from one semester of CS colloquium. The objective of this policy is to facilitate study abroad.
• A student who has a conflict with CS colloquium may register for CS colloquium but attend any HMC departmental colloquia.
• A student exercising this option must:
  1. Register for CS Colloquium.
  2. Send email to the CS Colloquium Director and cc to the CS Department Administrative Assistant noting the conflict (the Administrative Assistant will adjust the Colloquium sign-in sheets) and indicating which department's colloquium series they will attend instead. The student may not exercise this option and also get academic credit for another department's colloquium. A student exercising this option must submit a signed sheet to the CS Department Office before the end of the semester indicating that they attended all of the colloquia for the department that they indicated.

Independent Study and Research Credit

• The department permits up to 3 units of independent study to count as a CS elective. This independent study credit can be accrued over several semesters in any quanta (as low as 0.5 units per semester, although we encourage students to take research in quanta of 1, 1.5, 2, or 3 units)

Practicum

• Up to three units of Practicum may be used to satisfy 3 units of CS elective credit.

Thesis and Clinic

• The department does not waive the clinic requirement for students wanting to do a thesis.
• In some special cases, CS majors may petition to replace CS clinic with a clinic project in another department. This requires a petition to the department and approval of the cognizant clinic directors. The petition must include evidence that the requested clinic project has a significant computer science component and is determined to meet the pedagogical objectives of the CS clinic program.

Double Majors

• No computer science degree requirements will be waived for a double major.

Pass by Exam

• As indicated in the HMC Catalog, a student may satisfy a course by 'excellence' on an exam (where 'exam' could mean an actual test or project or a combination of both). While completing major requirements by exam is not encouraged and is quite rare, it is possible under special circumstances. There are two possible positive results for such an action.
  1. The student may both fulfill the requirement for that course and receive corresponding unit credit. This shows up on the transcript as "EX" in the grade column. The student gets the units towards graduation, but there is no grade filed and the units are therefore not factored into the student's GPA.
  2. The student may only fulfill the course requirement. In this case, no unit credit is received but the requirement for this course is waived (e.g. if the course is required for the major). This is listed as a "WV" on the student's unofficial transcript, but does not appear on the student's official transcript.
• A student who wishes to pass a course by exam should consult with the department chair. The department chair will work with the student to determine if passing by exam is appropriate and, if so, whether the student will receive credit for the course or waiver of the course requirement.