SPECIAL INFORMATION FOR SPRING 2020

With the approval of the Associate Deans for Undergraduate Education of the Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Engineering, the CS Department has made the following changes (highlighted in red) to its undergraduate programs due to the move to remote instruction in Spring 2020.

CS Affiliation

CS Major (includes Good Standing and CS Honors)

CS and Game Design Minors



All potential affiliates are reviewed on a case-by-case basis relative to the following criteria:

Criterion 1: a grade of C (not C-) in all completed CS and math courses, except that for courses taken in Spring 2020, either a C- or an S will satisfy this criterion.

Criterion 2: a GPA of 2.5 or better in CS 2110/2112* and 2800/2802,

​*alternatively, a GPA of 2.5 or better in ECE 2400/ENGRD 2140 and CS 2800/2802 and CS 3110.

An S in Spring 2020 for all or any subset of these courses is acceptable as long as the GPA for the remainder of these courses that are taken for a letter grade in any semester, including Spring 2020, meets the 2.5 threshold.

Criterion 3: a GPA of 2.5 or better in Math 1120/1220/1920, and CS 2800/2802. An S in Spring 2020 for all or any subset of these courses is acceptable as long as the GPA for the remainder of these courses that are taken for a letter grade in any semester, including Spring 2020, meets the 2.5 threshold.

Note that the CS department cannot know how graduate schools, employers, and so on, will evaluate S grades.

Examples for Spring 2020:

Case 1: A student has a B- in Math 1120 in Fall 2019 (and has taken no other math or CS courses). They receive an S in CS 2800 and an S in 2110 in Spring 2020 (and took no other math or CS courses).

Ruling: the student has met all the affiliation requirements.

Case 2a: An A&S student has AP credit for MATH 1110 and MATH 1120. In Spring 2020 they take MATH 2210, CS 2110 and CS 2800 and earn grades of S in all three courses.

Ruling: the student has met all the affiliation requirements.

Case 2b: An ENGR student has CASE credit for MATH 1920. In Spring 2020 they take MATH 2940, CS 2110 and CS 2800 and earn grades of S in all three courses.

Ruling: the student has met all the affiliation requirements.

Case 3: A student retakes affiliation-required courses in Spring 2020 in which they previously earned a grade of C-.

Ruling: If the student receives an S or C- in Spring 2020, they will have satisfied the first criterion; the other two criteria must also be met in order to affiliate.

Case 4: A student application is pending the outcome of Spring 2020’s grades: they need to raise their math average to a 2.5 (currently a 2.3) by earning a grade of B (not B-) or better in a critical math course.

Ruling: The student will need to take enough critical math/CS courses for a letter grade to raise their GPA to meet criteria 2 and 3.

Case 5: A student took CS 2110 last semester and earned a grade of C (2.0) and now needs a grade of B (3.0) in CS 2800 to meet the 2.5 average.

Ruling: The student will need to take CS 2800 for a letter grade to meet criterion 2 (and possibly criterion 3).

S/U Grades in Spring 2020

For Spring 2020 courses, S grades will satisfy CS Core, CS elective, CS project, technical elective, and external specialization requirements. Additionally, math requirement courses, including CS-approved probability courses, will satisfy major requirements with grade of S in Spring 2020.

Good Standing Criteria

Students must meet the following criteria for good standing at the end of each semester, except that for the Spring 2020 semester, a C- or S in all courses suffices for good standing grade requirement.

Note that the CS department does not know how graduate schools, employers, and so on, will evaluate S grades.

An overall term average of at least 2.3. If all courses in Spring 2020 receive an S, this condition is fulfilled.

A weighted term average for courses required in the major program of at least 2.5, excluding courses taken for a letter grade or S/U in Spring 2020; instead, Spring 2020 courses must meet the C-/S requirement stated above.

14 credit hours toward the degree. Note: This rule exists because a student who consistently takes 12 credits a semester and has no AP credit would not meet the NY State minimum of 120 credits to graduate. We do not send warnings to students that do not meet this criterion but meet the others and are on track to graduate.

No failing (F or U/UX) grades.

grades. No grade below C- in: (An S in a spring 2020 course satisfies this requirement)

Any required CS course

Any required Math course

Any course to be used as: a Technical Elective; or an elective in the External Specialization. *

Successful completion of at least three of the following CS courses by the end of the junior year (CS 2800, CS 3110, CS 3410/3420, CS 4410, CS 4820) and be making adequate progress toward completion of the degree.

At least one meeting with the advisor during the semester (this requirement is waived for Spring 2020).

CS Honors

The program consists of at least 9 credits beyond the minimum required for graduation, as follows:

For students who requested honors prior to 3/15/2020:

at least one CS course (at least 3 credit hours) at or above the 5000 level with a grade of A– or better (except that for courses taken in the Spring 2020 semester, a B+ (but not an S) will satisfy this requirement) ; no seminars. Note: CS 5000-level courses that co-meet with a CS 4000-level course are not eligible for honors. at least two 3-credit semesters of CS 4999 (Independent Reading and Research) with a CS faculty member, with grades of A– or better (except that for CS 4999 taken in the Spring 2020 semester, a B+ (but not an S) will satisfy this requirement) each semester.

For students who request honors after 3/15/2020 (note that honors requests need to be made at least 7 months prior to graduation), a maximum of one (1) Spring 2020 honors-eligible course may have a grade of B+ to count for CS honors:

at least one CS course (at least 3 credit hours) at or above the 5000 level with a grade of A– or better (except as noted above - for post 3/15/2020 honors requests) ; no seminars. Note: CS 5000-level courses that co-meet with a CS 4000-level course are not eligible for honors. at least two 3-credit semesters of CS 4999 (Independent Reading and Research) with a CS faculty member, with grades of A– or better (except as noted above - for post 3/15/2020 honors requests) each semester.

If the College of Engineering changes the GPA requirements for Latin Designations, then the department will award Latin Designations to both College of Arts and Sciences and College of Engineering students according to the CoE GPA requirements.



Academic Standards: A letter grade of C or better for each course in the minor, except that for courses taken in Spring 2020, either a C- or an S will satisfy this criterion.