FAQs

Before registering for the course, get approval from the Graduate Program Co-Director (Dr. Adnan El-Nasan) by emailing the following information: your name and ID, the course number and title, and a statement of “I have not taken this class or any similar classes in my undergraduate and graduate studies.” Ensure you attach a copy of your transcripts (undergraduate and graduate).

Email the following information to the Graduate Program Co-Director (Dr. Adnan El-Nasan): your name, ID, current transcript, and a request from your MS project/thesis adviser if your adviser recommended the course for you.

• Email the Graduate Program Co-Director (Dr. Adnan El-Nasan) to get approval with the following information: your name, ID, the course number and title, a list of all online courses (with course number and title) that you have taken or are currently enrolled in, a statement of “I have not taken / currently enrolled in more than 2 online course,” and your graduate transcripts.
• With the pre-approval, you can enroll in the course by 1) contacting the University Enrollment Center (UEC) on the first floor of the Foster Administration building, or 2) requesting a permission number from the course instructor and then using it for enrollment in COIN.
• Be aware: Students in the on-site MS program may take at most three UMass Dartmouth CIS graduate-level (500 and above) online courses during the entire MS program, with additional provisions and constrained by the Course Combination Policy. It is solely your responsibility to ensure all the specified policies are observed in order to count the online course towards your CIS-MS degree.

If you are admitted into the MS program with some pre-requisite courses required and you believe that you have taken such courses before, you need to email the following information to the Graduate Program Co-Director (Dr. Adnan El-Nasan) for verification:

• your name, ID, the syllabus of the course you took and consider equivalent to the pre-requisite course required, your transcript with this course, and its grade.

If you plan to transfer graduate course(s) from another accredited institution of higher learning (maximum of 6 credits, grade B- or better), you need to email the following information to the Graduate Program Co-Director (Dr. Adnan El-Nasan) for verification:

• the course number, title, description, syllabus, and your transcript with such course and its grade.

• • To complete your MS project, you will need the review and approval of your project from your project advisor and two project readers. You can contact two CIS faculty members with the title and abstract of your MS project and ask them to serve as readers for your MS project. You are recommended to have your reader identified early. Last-minute requests may result in not having enough readers to review your project.

   

  • After you complete your MS project and have your project report ready, you need to:
    1. List your two confirmed readers’ names on your Department of Computer and Information Science Project Acceptance Form and send the form to your project advisor. You can put N/A in the field “Date of Presentation” if the presentation is not required by your project advisor.
       • If you need to change your project reader, you must have your current reader email your project advisor for confirmation.
    2. After your advisor approves your project report and signs the acceptance form, you can email the project readers with your project report and other related deliverables.
    3. You will need to address concerns and comments from your project readers.
    4. After your project readers approve your report, send the project acceptance form signed by your advisor to your readers for their signatures.
    5. Return the completed form as an attached PDF to your project advisor and the CIS department office (sears@umassd.edu).

• Adnan El-Nasan or Dr. Jiawei Yuan: Reduced course load form, CPT/OPT applications, MS project continuation, Graduate student-program transition request form, Directed study form, Master’s Thesis signature page.
• CIS department office (sears@umassd.edu): EGR 500 request

• Who should I contact when I need a signature from the advisor?
  • CIS 600 Project or CIS 690 Thesis Advisor: your OPT form, CIS 600 project continuation form, and I-20 Program Extension Request Form.
  • Academic advisor listed in COIN: reduced course load form.

CIS MS Checklist (PDF)

If you are admitted into the MS program with some pre-requisite courses required, but have not completed these courses yet, an Advising hold will be placed automatically. You will need to contact the Graduate Program Co-Directors for this hold.

• CIS 600 Project or CIS 690 Thesis Advisor: your OPT form, CIS 600 project continuation form, and I-20 Program Extension Request Form.
• Academic advisor listed in COIN: reduced course load form.