September 2001; last updated July 2011

1. The rules for declaring a CS major are on our web page. Basically, they are that a 2.6 average is required in CS302, 367, and 240. More precisely, such an average is required in two, three, or at most four CS courses taken at Madison. It must include the grades for 302, 367, and 240 if obtained at Madison. It cannot include CS 298, 310, 368, 371, or 550 (but it can include 252). If courses other than 240, 302, and 367 are included, they must be included in the order taken. If more than one course is taken in the same semester, the student can choose which one(s) to include.

A student must have completed 302, 367, and 240 here or via transfer or AP credit. A higher-level course that requires programming (including 367) counts as having satisfied 302. 

2. If a student comes to declare a CS major, the proper procedure is:

(a) Make sure the student has brought along an up-to-date transcript (we accept any kind). If not, they should be able to access and print one via your office computer. The student should also have a Course Plan and an L&S Major Declaration Form . Print a copy if the student didn't bring one.

(b) Use the Course Plan and/or the transcript to make sure that the student meets the acceptance requirements (when computing the GPA, be sure to weight the GPA for each course depending on the number of credits).

(c) If the Course Plan hasn't been filled in, work with the student to do that. If it is filled in, go over it to make sure it satisfies the CS Major requirements and is reasonable (e.g., pre-reqs are satisfied and not too many courses are taken in any one semester).

(d) Fill out the L&S Major Declaration form (see item 7 below for more details).

(e) If the student is declaring a double major, see item 8.

(f) If the student wants a copy of their Course Plan, make a copy for them. Give Angela Thorp the three documents: Major Declaration form, Course Plan, and transcript.

3. The student's Course Plan should be filled out based on the Major Requirements as given in the Guidebook and here. Be sure to specify for each course the semester during which it is to be taken, in order to make certain that the plan is workable.

4. On the Course Plan, not all the lines need to be filled in. There are extra lines for changes, mistakes, and variations between plans. However a total of 15 distinct courses should be listed. If anything about the Course Plan leaves you puzzled, email the UGAC chair about it.

5. If a non-standard course is to be used, a DARS exception form must be filled out. In particular, you will need to fill out an exception form to allow a student to use a Senior Thesis (692) or an Directed Study (699) as an elective (for those courses, the student must provide a course plan and a letter of support from the instructor). Note that the Senior Honors Thesis (681 and 682) does not require an exception form. Also note that a senior thesis (with or without honors) only counts as one elective, but the student must take two courses (either 681 and 682, or 691 and 692).

6. As of fall 03, the Course Plan is for departmental use only. The form does not need to be changed to be consistent with actual courses taken.

7. Fill in the bottom part of the Major Declaration/Cancellation form as follows:

• Major/Certificate Code Number: 229
• Option Code: -- leave blank--
• Advisor's Name, Phone Number, E-mail Address: You can put yourself, or you can choose someone else. If the student has a preference, use that name. If the student has an area of interest, you can choose someone from that area. Otherwise, choose someone at random. Tell the student that if they have questions about the major they can see their advisor or any member of UGAC.
• Department and Office: -- leave blank --
• Note if Second or Third Major: -- name(s) of previously declared majors --

Sign as Department Representative. Be aware that the Major Declaration/Cancellation form is used for BOTH declaration or cancellation, and therefore the appropriate box must be checked. 
Also make sure that the Program field is filled in (BA or BS). The choice is up to the student: CS requirements are the same, but L&S requirements differ for the two degrees.

Also make sure that the choice is consistent with the way the student was admitted to L&S. In particular, if they were admitted as a BA and they want to get a BS they must fill out the form here.

8. Students from schools other than L&S seeking a second major must, as a rule, take a copy of the Major Declaration/Cancellation form to the office of the Dean of their school and tell the person there that they need to get online permission for the CS major. The students must take this form to the appropriate dean themselves.That dean will send the appropriate documents to the L&S Registrar. The following may or may not still be valid:

• For ENGINEERING, the appropriate Dean is Steve Cramer, Room 2620 Engineering Hall (as of spring 09).
• For BUSINESS, the appropriate room is Room 2265 Grainger Hall (as of nov99), Dean James Johannes (as of Dec'01).
• For AGRICULTURAL and LIFE SCIENCE (CALS), it's a bit different: First, the students pick up a certain blue form at Room 116 Ag Hall (Dean Richard Barrows, as of Dec'01), and this form needs to be signed by the CS advisor and then taken back to Room 116 Ag Hall by the student; no copy of the Major Declaration form needs to be taken along.

Note that students from other schools wanting a second major in CS do not need to satisfy all of L&S's requirements (according to Christopher Lee 1/29/2010). Also, students can use the same classes towards two different majors.

9. Once you have finished with a student, keep the three documents and give them to Angela. (Make them a copy of the Course Plan if they want it, and make them a copy of the Major Declaration form if it's for an additional major and their first major is not in L&S.)

Advice About Courses 

* A non-Honors student may use a 700-level class as an elective without special permission.

* Registering for 699 involves looking up the professor's number in the online timetable under CS 699.

* See here for information about taking courses pass/fail. Note that a course taken pass/fail cannot count toward the major.

* Retaking a course usually does not help. If the original grade was a failing grade, it will be averaged with the new grade. Otherwise, the new grade will not count toward the degree or the quality-of-work requirements.

* Students should be warned that it is difficult to take more than one of the following courses in one semester: CS536, 537, 540, and 564. They should plan ahead to take one per semester.

* The theory course CS520 is recommended for students planning on going to graduate school. The reason is that the GRE in CS emphasizes automata theory which is covered in CS520. CS577, analysis of algorithms, is probably more useful to other students. Note that, these days, CS240 is an essential prereq for both these courses.

* (spring 2011) Alex Schwartz (schwartz4@wisc.edu) is a CS Major who is happy to offer advice to other students. 

Other Advice 

To switch from Engineering to L&S : If the student has no more than 54 credits they must attend a transfer workshop in Bascom Hall. Students can sign up on line:https://www.ohrd.wisc.edu/OHRDCatalogPortal/Default.aspx?tabid=29&CourseGroupKey=23760 They must attend the workshop before the major declaration can be filed.

If they have more than 54 credits, they must fill out an online transfer form to transfer to L&S (before filing the major declaration). The form is here: http://uas.ls.wisc.edu/forms/request_transfer_actual_form.html

To verify that the transfer to L&S has been processed, just check the DARS report. For someone in Engineering, it should say something like "EGR 000", while for someone in L&S it should say "BA 000" or "BS 000".

To switch from a BA to a BS or vice versa: requires filling out the form here.

Here are some extra notes for students who do not meet the requirements.

1. Students who do not make the current GPA standards have several related majors available to them. One is a major in Statistics with emphasis on Computer Sciences courses. Another option is a major in Mathematics with a concentration in Computer Sciences.

2. Students should be encouraged to use the Faculty Advising Service to get advice on other possible majors. Foreign students may go to the Office of International Students.

3. Advisors should realize that admitting a poor student to the CS major is not necessarily doing the student a favor. Students need a 2.0 GPA on both all advanced CS courses and all CS courses in order to graduate, and there are students who fail to graduate because of these requirements. It is very difficult for students to raise their GPA significantly after they are seniors with many courses figuring into the GPA.

Advice About the CS Certificate 

If a student is interested in the CS Certificate, here are some things to keep in mind:

• First, you might want to find out what level of material the student is interested in. For those wanting a more rigorous program, 3 lower-level and 3 upper-level courses might be best. For those who want the easiest path, 4 lower-level and 2 upper-level is probably better.
• Some students (e.g., those majoring in Mechanical Engineering or Math) might prefer our mathematically oriented courses. 302 and 367 provide the basis of programming, then our mathematical computing courses give them the background to solve problems in their major.
• For many students, 252 and 354 are good choices, because they count as 2 of the required 6, and 354 is a prereq for many 500-level courses.
• Students who start the certificate late in their academic careers often hope to take as many courses at the same time as practical. In this case it is important to advise against courses with heavy project requirements such as 536, 537, 559, and 564. Heavy project courses can also be problematic for certificate students who typically do not have deep programming skills.
• A student can receive a Certificate ONLY if they have (or get at the same time) a Bachelors degree. So a Special Student can only get a Certificate if they already have a BA/BS.

Advice About Job Hunting 

Many students ask about finding jobs after graduation. They should be referred to our webpage and to L&S Career Services (262-3921). Career Services has a great many services for students who are looking for employment.

Students should read the messages (msgs) when they login to their course accounts. They should also be encouraged to go to the receptions given by many companies. They should go to some of these well before they actually are looking for a job.

Our majors generally have no problems finding jobs and all indications are that they get very good jobs. There are many employers looking for our CS graduates.