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Office: Hazen Hall 306
Phone: 506-648-5970
Email: dcs@unb.ca
Chair: Dr. Janet Light
Website: Department of Computer Science
Department of Computer Science
University of New Brunswick
355 Campus Ring Road
Saint John, N.B.
Canada, E2L 4L5
The Department of Computer Science offers a four year undergraduate program accredited by the Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS), leading to a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BScCS). Both honours and specializations are also offered along with the BScCS program. A set of core courses and some student selected courses (electives) comprise the requirements for the degree.
Our department also offers other related programs: Certificate programs in Computer Science and Data Analytics, as well as a CS Minor.
For general regulations on admission, please consult the appropriate section of the University calendar. Transfer into the BScCS from another UNB degree program is not permitted if the GPA for the most recent assessment period is below 2.0. For transfer from another university, a CGPA equivalent to 2.0 at UNB is required.
The basic degree curriculum consists of a set of core requirements plus elective courses. It is expected that students will take four (4) years of study at 5 term-courses per term to complete the program.
On top of courses under the Computer Science Core Requirements above, the student should take 4 extra computer science courses (worth 4 ch each) as follows:
Note: Students planning to take further courses in Statistics or take the Certificate or Specialization in Data Analytics should take STAT 1793 and STAT 2793.
HUM 1021 (Effective Writing I) or one course in English, Political Science, or History. (Writing courses from other disciplines in the Faculty of Arts may be approved at the discretion of the Department Chair).
The requirement may also be satisfied by obtaining university credit for a Grade 12 English course taken under the International Baccalaureate or Advanced Placement systems. At the discretion of the Department Chair, the Arts Writing Core Requirement may be waived for students who have otherwise demonstrated exceptional performance in Grade 12 English, for instance by winning a "top mark in Grade 12 English" award.
Students should complete at least 27 ch of approved courses (representing approx. 9 courses) from the areas of Arts, Business Administration, Engineering, and Science. CMPE, CS, DA, MATH, STAT and SWE courses are not eligible. Similarly, courses in other fields with an excessive component from these subjects are also ineligible.
Such courses include (but are not limited to) BA 3129, BA 3623, BA 3624, BA 3672, BIOL 1605, CE 2913, ECON 3613, ECON 3665, ECON 4645, ECE 2412, HEAL 2002, ME 2352, PSYC 2102, and SOCI 3104. Courses from other areas, as well as selected ECE courses (Electrical Engineering courses, not Computer Engineering courses), may be taken toward this requirement with prior approval from the Department Chair. Courses excluded below under "free electives" may not be used toward the breadth core requirement.
It is strongly recommended that in order to meet this requirement, the student takes half of these courses in Science, Engineering, and/or Business, and half of these courses in Humanities and Social Sciences. At least 6 ch of these (2 courses) must be at the 2000 level or above.
Note that Honours students have to include Science courses.
In addition to the courses taken to satisfy the core curriculum requirements, BScCS students must complete sufficient free electives to get a total of 141 ch. Students can choose combinations of electives to allow them to complete an area of specialization with the BScCS degree, to complete a Minor in another area, or simply to acquire more breadth in their studies.
Students are encouraged to take one course (or more) in a newer area of computing. Note that elective credit is not granted for a course whose content has extensive overlap with other courses for which credit will be received, and elective credit is also not granted for a course that represents pre-university content.
In particular, the following is a non-exhaustive list of courses for which elective credit will not be granted: BA 1605, BA 2606, CHEM 1813, CMPE 1003, CS 1003, CS 1023, CS 1063, IT 1703, IT 1713, IT 1803, IT 1813, IT 2773, MATH 1001, MATH 1853, MATH 1863, MATH 2633, MATH 2853, MATH 3633, clinical/practicum NURS courses, PSYC 2901, PSYC 3913, SCI 1001, SCI 1831, SCI 1862, SCI 1872, STAT 2263, STAT 2593, UNIV 1003, UNIV 1005, UNIV 2003.
Elective credit for ED courses is limited to 9 ch. SOCS 4051 requires approval of the Department Chair. Students should contact an advisor or the Department Chair for clarification or if there are exceptional circumstances regarding free electives or breadth-core courses.
The basic degree is obtained by satisfying the basic curriculum outlined above. In addition to the basic degree, three specializations or curriculum options are available: Data Analytics, Software Engineering, and Networking. For a specialized degree, students must complete all required core courses and all required courses listed in the chosen area of specialization, and they must obtain a cumulative grade point average of 2.5 or greater.
Note: The Specialization in Software Engineering is not an accredited engineering program and does not lead to registration as a Professional Engineer.
In addition, at least three (3) of the following courses must be completed.
Students in the BScCS degree program may elect, after their first or second year, an Honours degree program, with or without a specialization. Students who satisfy the requirements for an honours and/or specialized degree will have that designation on their final transcript. The honours degrees are designed to prepare students for graduate work.
The requirements for the basic BScCS degree must be met. Within the constraints of those basic requirements, the student must complete:
An honours degree with specialization requires that the student meet the requirements of both the honours degree and the specialization. It further requires:
A cumulative grade point average greater than or equal to 3.0 is required to achieve the honours degree. Students who satisfy the requirements for an Honours degree will receive "First Class Honours" if their CGPAs are greater than or equal to 3.5. If their CGPAs are greater than or equal to 3.0 and less than 3.5, they will receive "Second Class Honours".
This certificate program is designed to provide individuals, especially working adults, with an opportunity to acquire the formal background necessary to become effective participants in the Information Technology industry. Since the courses taken in the Certificate are also appropriate for the BScCS, students who later decide to pursue a BScCS will normally be able to transfer their credits into that program.
Although the scheduling of courses cannot be guaranteed, it is likely that the Certificate can be completed on a part-time basis in five terms.
The Certificate is also available to students who do not meet the entrance requirements of the BScCS program; in fact, there are no specific entrance requirements except the formal approval of the Department of Computer Science. However, students who do not have Grade 12 Math will have to pass Math 1863 before they take the required CS courses.
Electives may be chosen from any of the 2000-, 3000-, or 4000-level Computer Science courses. At least 12 ch required.
A grade of C or better is required in all courses credited toward the Certificate.
This program aims to prepare graduates from other disciplines to a career in areas of arts and business computer applications, such as in media, banking, data analyzing etc. There are potentially many rich opportunities for cooperation between the knowledge of arts and business disciplines with Computer Science for the above career. Prerequisite: Grade 12 High School Math
Additional 4 ch from upper level CS courses (CS 2998 can be used to meet this requirement).
CS credits required = 32 ch min
Note: A grade of C or better is required in all courses credited towards the minor in CS.