Course Requirement: (105 units)

In the Ph.D. program in Computation, Organizations and Society (COS), each student must complete 105 University units of graduate courses and maintain at least a B average. Course requirements are intended to ensure that all program graduates have sufficient breadth in COS fundamentals as well as depth in one or more relevant areas of their choice. Students must demonstrate breadth in COS fundamentals by completing 48 units in 4 star areas plus a minimum of minimum of 21 units of COS Ph.D. Practicum after year 1, 12 units of the Practicum in year 1 satisfies the breadth requirement. Depth is provided through the remaining 36 units of coursework, which can be fulfilled from a broad selection of relevant electives - as well as research and project work. More information about star courses and electives appear below. It is recommended that a majority of the star courses be completed before electives are taken.

COS Ph.D. Practicum (21 units)

COS Ph.D. Practicum 08-998 (12 units in first semester and a minimum of 9 units thereafter). First year students sign up for 08-999, "COS Practicum Intro" for 12 units for their first semester, and for each semester thereafter sign up for 08-998, "COS Practicum Advanced" for 3 units. The COS Ph.D. Practicum provides students with insight into the nature of research in COS and practical information on being a researcher, feedback on research, and an opportunity to collaborate with fellow graduate students and faculty. COS Students are expected to sign up for, attend, and present in the COS Ph.D. seminar series, for a minimum of two years, and each semester while in residence.  Students can and should sign up for this seminar multiple times.  Students receive 12 units their first semester and 3 units each following semester they are in this seminar. Further, students are to present a paper each spring semester they are enrolled in this seminar.

The Fall practicum reviews the research in COS with 2 weeks per each of the core faculty.  A short 2 week assignment for each of the two week modules is required.  Senior graduate students provide support and feedback to first year students.  Students in their first year in COS receive 12 units, and students in later years receive 3 units.

The Spring practicum focuses on the practical side of science.  Students gain experience presenting talks, writing and reviewing proposals, reviewing journal papers, writing white papers and so on.  Topics vary each year. All students receive 3 units each year they take this practium.

Star Courses (48 units)

The 4 star courses (48 units) provide students with a basic grounding in core skills needed for research in COS: computational thinking, statistics, and management/policy.  Students are to take a minimum of one 12 unit course (or two 6 unit courses) from each of the required areas.  No course may satisfy more than one requirement.  Exactly which courses are taken should be discussed by the student and his/her advisor. 

Computation, Organizations and Society
An 08- Ph.D. level (or masters with permission of instructor) course taught by Core COS faculty

• 08-801 Dynamic Network Analysis
• 08-800 Technology Dialectics
• 08-810 Computer Simulation of Complex Socio-Technical Systems
• 08-996 COS Independent Study with a core COS faculty not your advisor
• 08-780 Web Commerce, Security and Privacy (must have permission to take as a PhD course)
• 08-781 Mobile & Pervasive Computing Services (must have permission to take as a PhD course)
• 08-734 Usable Privacy and Security
• 08-733 Privacy, Policy, Law and Technology

Computational Thinking Skills
Address issues of how to reason computationally.  These courses involve the design and development of core algorithms and not just the application of canned programs.

• 15-780 Advanced AI Concepts
• 15-750 Algorithms
• 15-853 Algorithms in the Real World
• 10-701/15-781 Machine Learning
• 08-810 Computer Simulation of Complex Socio-Technical Systems

Policy and Management
Address issues of management and policy.  Methods courses are not allowed in this area.

• 08-733 Privacy Policy, Law, and Technology
• 08-732 Law of Computer Technology
• 90-840 Legislative Policy Making
• 19-701 Theory and Practice of Policy Analysis  (6 units)
• 19-712/18-842 Telecommunications Technology, Policy and Management
• 15-892 Foundations of Electronic Market Places
• 47-891 Seminar in Organizational Theory (6 units)
• 47-899 Seminar in Social Networks (6 units)
• 90-903 Social network theory (6 units)

Statistics
Address issues of statistical data analysis.  These are meant to provide methodological skill in statistics.

• 10-702 Statistical Machine Learning
• 10-705/36-705 Intermediate Statistics
• 36-727 Probability and Mathematical Statistics II
• 36-749 Experimental Design for Behavioral & Social Sciences
• 90-770 Applied Econometrics

Electives (36 units)

All students are required to take a minimum of 36 units of Ph.D. level electives.  These electives provide depth in an area of relevance to the student.  This requirement can be filled by a combination of mini’s (6 unit) and full (12 unit) courses.  These electives can be drawn from a variety of sources:

• A specialized independent study on a topic for which there is not a regularly offered course.  At most 12 units of independent study can count toward the COS elective requirement.
• Additional courses in COS
• Additional courses in SCS
• Additional Ph.D. level courses at CMU or University of Pittsburgh.  At most one can be a course at the University of Pittsburgh.

Teaching Requirement

To fulfill the teaching requirement for the Ph.D. degree the student must do one of the following:

• Serve as a full TA two full length COS Courses
• Serve as a full TA for one full length COS Course and one full length SCS course – with the permission of the student’s advisor
• Serve as a full TA for one full length COS Course and teach the equivalent amount in the CASOS summer institute (requires substantial teaching over multiple years)

Computational Thinking and Programming Requirement

To fulfill the computational thinking and programming requirement for the Ph.D. degree the student must:

• Achieve a high level of competency designing, implementing and testing algorithms
• Developed a substantial body of code in association with a research project
• Work collaborative on a computational thinking project

Typically this is achieved through research and development by the student as part of a research team under their Ph.D. advisor.  Key requirements include computational thinking, acceptable code development, code development as part of a team, and good documentation practices.

Writing Requirement

To fulfill the writing requirement for the Ph.D. degree the student must:

• Demonstrate a high level of competency in organization, clarity of writing in English, cohesive argument, and accurate utilization of references by writing a paper that is accepted for publication by a high-quality peer-reviewed conference or journal (or equivalent, as approved by the COS faculty)

Typically this is not granted until the student has finished writing at least the thesis proposal.

Speaking Requirement

To fulfill the speaking requirement for the Ph.D. degree the student must:

• Attend and present in the COS PhD Practicum, at least four times.
• Present at, at least once, at national or international conference (in a paper, not a poster session or round table).
• Achieve a high level of competency in talk organization, slide development, presentation style, eye contact, and question answering skills.

General Enrollment

All Ph.D. full time students must be enrolled for a minimum of 48 units per semester.  When not enrolled in specific classes the student should be enrolled in 08-997 Graduate Reading and Research.

Master’s Degree in Computation, Organizations and Society (COS) for students enrolled as Ph.D. students.

Rational
In COS, we are getting an increasing interest by current Ph.D. students in getting a master’s degree.  Having such a degree:

1. Meets the emotion and often familial need of showing that they have achieved a milestone.
2. Enables them to get higher salaries if they take an internship for a turn.
3. And, for foreign students, their pay level is often set (in other countries) on the number of degrees, not just the highest degree.
4. Provides, for those students who change life directions, or realize that they are not cut out to get a Ph.D., or fail out of the program, a possible degree providing they have met the requirements.

This is not a new Master’s program.  This is simply the option to give students in the current Ph.D. program either a terminal or continuing master’s degree.  Students are still admitted only to the Ph.D. program.

Precedence
This is similar to continuing master’s degrees in other departments at CMU.

Degree title:  Master of Science in Computation, Organizations and Society

Requirements

High level: 

Meet the COS Ph.D. course requirements, and the master’s level speaking requirement.

Details:

To obtain a master’s degree in Computation, Organizations and Society (COS), the student must meet three criteria:

• Course requirement,
• Master’s level speaking requirement, and
• Residency requirement.

Course Requirement:

The master’s applicant must complete 102 university units of graduate courses.  This includes a minimum of 18 units of COS Ph.D. Practicum, the 48 units for the Star courses, and 36 units of electives. 

COS Ph.D. Practicum (12 units)

COS Ph.D. Practicum 08-998 (12 units in first semester and a minimum of 9 units thereafter). The COS Ph.D. Practicum provides students with insight into the nature of research in COS and practical information on being a researcher, feedback on research, and an opportunity to collaborate with fellow graduate students and faculty. COS Students are expected to sign up for, attend, and present in the COS Ph.D. seminar series, for a minimum of two years, and each semester while in residence.  Students can and should sign up for this seminar multiple times.  Students receive 12 units their first semester and 3 units each following semester they are in this seminar. Further, students are to present a paper each spring semester they are enrolled in this seminar.
The Fall practicum reviews the research in COS with 2 weeks per each of the core faculty.  A short 2 week assignment for each of the two week modules is required.  Senior graduate students provide support and feedback to first year students.  Students in their first year in COS receive 12 units, and students in later years receive 3 units.
The Spring practicum focuses on the practical side of science.  Students gain experience presenting talks, writing and reviewing proposals, reviewing journal papers, writing white papers and so on.  Topics vary each year. All students receive 3 units each year they take this practium.

Star Courses (48 units)

The 4 star courses (48 units) provide students with a basic grounding in core skills needed for research in COS: computational thinking, statistics, and management/policy.  Students are to take a minimum of one 12 unit course (or two 6 unit courses) from each of the required areas.  No course may satisfy more than one requirement.  Exactly which courses are taken should be discussed by the student and his/her advisor. 

Computation, Organizations and Society
An 08- Ph.D. level (or masters with permission of instructor) course taught by Core COS faculty

• 08-801 Dynamic Network Analysis
• 08-800 Technology Dialectics
• 08-810 Computer Simulation of Complex Socio-Technical Systems
• 08-996 COS Independent Study with a core COS faculty not your advisor
• 08-780 Web Commerce, Security and Privacy (must have permission to take as a PhD course)
• 08-781 Mobile & Pervasive Computing Services (must have permission to take as a PhD course)
• 08-734 Usable Privacy and Security
• 08-733 Privacy, Policy, Law and Technology

Computational Thinking Skills
Address issues of how to reason computationally.  These courses involve the design and development of core algorithms and not just the application of canned programs.

• 15-780 Advanced AI Concepts
• 15-750 Algorithms
• 15-853 Algorithms in the Real World
• 10-701/15-781 Machine Learning
• 08-810 Computer Simulation of Complex Socio-Technical Systems

Policy and Management
Address issues of management and policy.  Methods courses are not allowed in this area.

• 08-733 Privacy Policy, Law, and Technology
• 08-732 Law of Computer Technology
• 90-840 Legislative Policy Making
• 19-701 Theory and Practice of Policy Analysis  (6 units)
• 19-712/18-842 Telecommunications Technology, Policy and Management
• 15-892 Foundations of Electronic Market Places
• 47-891 Seminar in Organizational Theory (6 units)
• 47-899 Seminar in Social Networks (6 units)
• 90-903 Social network theory (6 units)

Statistics
Address issues of statistical data analysis.  These are meant to provide methodological skill in statistics.

• 10-702 Statistical Machine Learning
• 10-705/36-705 Intermediate Statistics
• 36-727 Probability and Mathematical Statistics II
• 36-749 Experimental Design for Behavioral & Social Sciences
• 90-770 Applied Econometrics

Master’s Level Speaking requirement

To fulfill the speaking requirement for the master’s degree the student must attend the COS PhD Practicum for at least three semesters and give at least two presentations in the practicum.

Master’s Level Residency Requirement

To attain a master’s degree the student is expected to be in residence on CMU’s Pittsburgh campus for a minimum of 1.5 years.

COS Ph.D. Practicum

• 08-998 COS Ph.D. Practicum

Each student in COS is required to register and give a presentation once a semester.

Ph.D. Proposal and Thesis

A good thesis will be an original and significant work in COS research. While methodologies will likely vary from one dissertation to another, they will typically combine analytical and empirical work and include development of a computational prototype, used as a basis to demonstrate and evaluate concepts introduced in the dissertation. Typically evaluation will not be limited to a computational assessment but will also include proofs of fitness and an analysis and evaluation of relevant human, social, organizational, economic and/or policy ramifications of the proposed solution.

The program is planned to allow a typical student to complete all the required coursework by the end of the third year. By the start of the fourth year a Ph.D. candidate will present a thesis proposal to the COS community. The proposal should include:

• a clear statement of the proposed research problem, including an argument for the significance of the proposed research
• a review of relevant literature relating to the problem
• a review of the candidate’s work leading up to the thesis
• a tentative schedule for completing the work.

Advising on the thesis proposal, and guiding in the formation of the dissertation committee, is the thesis advisor’s responsibility. Normally, the thesis advisor is one of the COS faculty, but this is not mandatory. The thesis committee must be composed of at least four members, one of whom is an external member and at least one of whom is a COS faculty member. The external member may be from another school at Carnegie Mellon, or from outside the University. All thesis committees are subject to approval by the program committee.

The dissertation will typically be completed during the student’s fifth year. The final defense is a public presentation, in accord with the College and University requirements for the Ph.D. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure that the College and University’s guidelines are followed for publicity of the defense and the availability of the thesis at least one week prior to the defense.

Proposal Format Style Guide (.pdf)

Sample Thesis Title Page (.doc) (.pdf) (.ps) (Latex .sty)

Proposal Defense

Timing and Attendance

• Faculty should allow 2 hours for the proposal defense and students 1 hour.
• Order
• Presentation, 40 minutes
• Q&A, 20 minutes
• Closed faculty discussion, 1 hour
• Attendance
• The presentation and Q&A is open to the community.
• The committee and the proposing student are required to attend. Remote faculty can join by teleconference if arranged in advance. Faculty discussion is open to only research and tenure track faculty and outside committee members. Ultimate decision is made only by the committe.

Thesis Defense

Timing and Attendance

• Faculty should allow 3 hours for the proposal defense and students 2 hours.
• Order
• Presentation, 50 minutes
• Q&A (Part I): open, 20 minutes
• Q&A (Part 2): faculty directed questions by committee, 20 minutes
• Closed faculty discussion, 1 hour 10 minutes
• Attendance
• The presentation and Q&A is open to the community.
• The committee and the proposing student are required to attend. Remote faculty can join by teleconference if arranged in advance. Faculty discussion is open to only research and tenure track faculty and outside committee members. Ultimate decision is made only by the committee.

Sample Students Final Oral Defense (.pdf) (.doc)

Students-- Steps for Final Oral Defense

Time: Allow 2-2.5 hours for defense:
     30 minutes beforehand for set-up
     45 minutes for the presentation
     45 minutes for Q&A
     30 minutes for deliberation by the committee
     30 minutes for final debriefing

1. At least 5 weeks in advance:
   
   
1. Confirm the date w/committee. Be sure to check with Connie before finalizing the date, to make sure there are no other orals scheduled at the chosen time. Thesis orals or proposals will not be scheduled to overlap. Once you have settled on a date/time Connie will help you to reserve a room.
2. The room scheduled must be available to the public and must accommodate a reasonably large number of people.
3. Let Connie know whether or not the outside reader will be attending in person or will need to tele-conference in for the defense.
4. Once the date has been confirmed your status in AGOL will be changed to "In Progress". This notifies HUB when you will be graduating.
5. Turn in 4 hard copies of your thesis- one for each committee member and outside reader for final review, changes, etc...
6. Turn in an electronic copy of your thesis. This is used in case any other faculty member wants to read the thesis before the defense.
   
   
2. 1 week before your Defense:

Chair confirms with student and Connie that it is ok to defend-final APPROVAL.

ONLY once the final approval is received from Chair, please send to Connie:

• Information Needed for Posting Notice
• Date
• Time
• Place
• Title
• Current list of the thesis committee members, including external member/affiliation.
  
  
• Thesis Abstract - Abstract- 2copies (350 words or less)-1 gets sent to the Hunt Library; 1 Copy goes to Student's File. The library wants a single sided, loose version of the thesis, since they will actually bind the version you give them themselves (they have a special system in the library).
  
  
• Thesis Summary - Approximately 15 printed pages in length describing the main results of the thesis. Send a location where this may be viewed on the web (html or pdf). The site will be announced on the web and on physical postings. The summary posting must include:
1. Your name
2. Thesis Title
3. Date/Location of Oral Presentation
4. Thesis Committee Members
5. Thesis summary



• Reconfirm Attendance - reconfirm with Connie whether or not teleconferencing facilities will be needed.
  
  
• Poster - 1 color copy goes to Connie and 4 around SCS (4th floor)


3. Day of Oral Examination:
   
   Pick up your Folder with signature forms from Connie before going to the examination.



• Graduation Record Card - to be signed by all members of the thesis committee, once the thesis is considered finished. The thesis advisor should return this form to Connie.
• Thesis Cover Page Form -Four copies to be signed by the thesis advisor and committee members, once the final copy of the thesis has been approved by all committee members. The thesis advisor should return these forms to Connie.
  
• Teleconference - Confirm that needed teleconference facilities have been set up. Send any committee member or reader who cannot physically attend a copy of the overhead slides.



4. Submitting your thesis:
   
   Final 3 hard copies of thesis need to be submitted to Connie for binding and final certification. A final electronic copy of the thesis, including all supporting data and software, needs to be submitted to Connie for archiving.
   
   
• Before you print the final copy:
• Get a TR number from Catherine Copetas
• Check for proper title page format (COS web site)
  


• When the FINAL copy is ready:
• Give Connie 3 one-sided hard copies of the thesis ( 1 copy will be microfiche, bound, and placed in the E&S Library; 1 will remain in the lab and 1 will be send to you). Copies will be bound one-sided. - Note - if there is data or software involved that should be provided on a cd or dvd.
• Give Connie an electronic copy of the thesis.
• Talk with Catherine about making your thesis into a CS Technical Report by putting it on-line. If you are able to do this successfully, she will not need a hard copy. If not, you will need to provide an extra copy to her for the Tech Report. This copy should be formatted for two-sided copying.
• Print/or pick up from Connie the "Survey of Earned Doctorates". Fill out and turn survey in to Connie. This is requested by NSF and is a requirement of the university for a student to graduate.
• Fill out the University Microfilms Form pages A4 and A5 (you may also pick this up from Connie) return to Connie with thesis (see COS web site: Login: dissertations; password: publish. This form is also required by the university in order for you to graduate. If you wish to register your copyright you must attach a check. If you do not wish to register for a copyright, do not fill out this portion of the form.
  
  
5. Before you leave CMU:
• Leave your forwarding address with Connie.
• See Connie/Helen Higgins to fill out exit forms.
• Turn in office key, laptop and any software/books you have that belong to any Lab or faculty member.
  
  
6. Final Step: Only after the above requirements are met, your status will be changed to "Certified". Please make arrangements with Connie to have your thesis forwarded to your new address.
   

Important Dates 2007:

In order to walk in Commencement ceremony on May 20th :

• Student needs to be certified in CMU system by May 12th
• Student needs to finalize the date & send it to Connie at least 4-5 weeks before the defense.
• Student orders cap & gown by April 1st

Common Questions:

• Who should come to a thesis defense?
  The thesis defense is a public event open to all members of the CMU community. The student's committee (including any readers) should attend in person or, if circumstances prevent that, by phone.
  
  
• What are the outcomes of a defense?
  Common outcomes from a thesis defense are:
  • Pass - Thesis is considered complete as is.
  • Conditional Pass Level 1 - Changes required and subject only to advisor approval.
  • Conditional Pass Level 2 - Changes required and subject to committee approval.
  • Required second defense.
  • Failure.
    
    
• When do I need to defend in order to walk through the graduation ceremony and hooding ceremony?
  You will need to have all the documentation in place in the first week of March for us to request a diploma.

Sample Study Plan

The COS curriculum ensures all students have a solid foundation in computational methods, formal methods, society and organizations, and policy. At the same time, it retains enough flexibility to enable students to further specialize in areas that are more closely relevant to their research interests. The following is an illustration of the courses three different sets of students could take:

Sample Schedule

---

Fall 1	Spring 1
COS Lab	15-780 Advanced Concepts in AI
10-701 Machine Learning	10-751 Prob & Statistics for Computer Science
COS Research	COS Research
Fall 2	Spring 2
Dynamic Network Analysis	Elective
Elective	TA-ing
COS Research	COS Research
Fall 3	Spring 3
TA-ing	COS Research
Elective
COS Research

Sample Schedule

---

Fall 1	Spring 1
COS Lab	15-780 Advanced Concepts in AI
Dynamic Network Analysis	15-750 Algorithms
COS Research	COS Research
Fall 2	Spring 2
10-705 Intermediate Statistics	Elective
Elective	TA-ing
COS Research	COS Research
Fall 3	Spring 3
TA-ing	COS Research
Elective
COS Research

Sample Schedule

---

Fall 1	Spring 1
COS Lab	15-780 Advanced Concepts in AI
Dynamic Network Analysis	Privacy Algorithms
COS Research	COS Research
Fall 2	Spring 2
10-705 Intermediate Statistics	Elective
Elective	TA-ing
COS Research	COS Research
Fall 3	Spring 3
TA-ing	COS Research
Elective
COS Research

---

 

COS PhD Seminar
Fall 2008
Monday- 9:30-11:20
WEAN 5328

Date	Speaker #1	Speaker #2
August 25	Ian McCulloh (15 min)
September 8	Terrill Frantz (45 min)
September 15
September 22
September 29
October 6	Patrick Wagsrom (30 min)
October 13
October 20	Patrick Kelley (30 min)	Laurie Jones
October 27	Peter Landwehr (30 min)	Jesse St. Charles
November 3	Jamie Olson (30 min)	Brian Hirshman
November 10	Serge Egelman (45 min)
November 17	Ponnurangam Kumaragru (45 min)
November 24	Michael Benisch
December 1	Jana Diesner
December 8	Patrick Wagstrom (30 Min)

 

Ph.D. Program in Computation, Organizations and Society
School of Computer Science
Carnegie Mellon University
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
(412)268-3163
cos-phd@cs.cmu.edu