Computer science is an exciting and dynamic technical discipline. From its inception just 50 years ago, computer science has become the basis for much of the growth in today’s global economy. New computing technologies are being introduced in the marketplace at an astonishing rate, making the curriculum for computer science education fresh, dynamic and evolving. Even though certain aspects of computer science education tend to change relatively quickly, core conceptual foundations for computer science are stable, well-defined and solidly rooted in areas of mathematics as logic and discrete structures.

COMPUTER SCIENCE BS DEGREE PROGRAM AT OU

Because the development and integration of computer-based solutions for various application domains is, by definition, a multidisciplinary endeavor, the educational experience for our students is correspondingly broad and flexible. In addition to taking 12 core CS courses, students take three additional advanced CS elective courses in topical areas that interest them, such as computer graphics, intelligent robotic systems, data networks and database management. As part of their required CS coursework, students complete a major design project during a two-course capstone sequence in software engineering. Students also take general university requirements in humanities and sciences, three engineering courses and six mathematics courses.

COMPUTER SCIENCE BS/MS DEGREE PROGRAM AT OU

A combined BS/MS degree program in CS was introduced in fall 2001. Students may qualify to enter this dual-degree program as early as the completion of their sophomore year. This program enables outstanding students to complete the requirements of both the BS, and MS,degrees within five years.

OPPORTUNITIES BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

Students have opportunities to pursue their education and training beyond the classroom environment. The CS programming teams represent OU in regional and worldwide programming competitions sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery. At the regional level, our teams compete against approximately 70 other teams from universities in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico. The top two teams from the regional contest are invited to compete in the ACM World Finals Programming Contest. OU teams have performed very well in the regional competitions and often make it to the World Finals, as they did in 2000.

There also are opportunities for students to work with faculty and other students on a variety of projects. In 2000, the School of Computer Science had more than $1 million in expenditures for externally funded projects, much of which supports student assistant stipends. These projects range in scope from software design and implementation of production systems to research on next-generation computer systems. Technical topics associated with these projects range from database systems to wireless and mobile networking to high performance computing.

WHO HIRES COMPUTER SCIENTISTS?

Because computer systems are becoming ubiquitous in today’s industry, so too are our computer science graduates; they are everywhere! In addition to our students being hired by industries that provide software/hardware systems or services, there are opportunities in virtually all other industry sectors as well. Examples of companies that have hired our graduates recently include:

• Accenture (previously Andersen Consulting)
• Alcatel
• AT&T
• Dell Computers
• DuPont
• IBM
• Intel
• Lockheed Martin
• Microsoft
• National Instruments
• Phillips Petroleum
• RiskMetrics
• Seagate
• Sprint
• Williams

Starting annual salaries for our CS graduates average about $55,000.

WHY SHOULD I STUDY COMPUTER SCIENCE AT OU?

• OU’s School of Computer Science degree programs are well-known and respected at the regional and national levels.

• OU’s CS faculty are leaders in their respective research areas and are consistently rated among the best teachers in the College of Engineering.

• Undergraduate students have the opportunity to gain valuable experience by being a member of a project team.

• Students gain professional experience through teamwork, communication and presentation skills, which are emphasized throughout the curriculum.

• Our alumni hold positions at a variety of levels in major corporations, small businesses, start-up software companies, universities and government agencies.