Colloquia
The Computing Sciences Department's Colloquia is a series of six 0.5 credit courses, required as part of the curricula of each of the department’s undergraduate programs. The Colloquia was initiated for the 2019-2020 academic year, with the first regular course offerings in Fall 2020.
The program is designed to be taken during the second through fourth years of study. As such, this requirement totals 3 credits spread out over three years. These are collectively referred to as the “regularly scheduled Colloquia courses.”
Sophomore Year:
CMPS 213 (Sophomore Colloquia I) - offered each fall semester
CMPS 214 (Sophomore Colloquia II) - offered each spring semester
Junior Year:
CMPS 313 (Junior Colloquia I) - offered each fall semester
CMPS 314 (Junior Colloquia II) - offered each spring semester
Senior Year:
CMPS 413 (Senior Colloquia I) - offered each fall semester
CMPS 414 (Senior Colloquia II) - offered each spring semester.
Upcoming Events
Working with Legacy Code
Speaker: Craig Lind '18
Nov. 15, 2024
3-4:15 PM
LSC 133
ABSTRACT:
One of the most important parts of being a developer is learning the ability to work on other
peoples' code. This remains the case even well after a developer might have put the code in place.
This presentation on working with legacy code will supply information and strategies on how to
identify working patterns when it comes to others' work. By the end of the presentation, attendees
should feel more comfortable working with legacy code and be able to better identify the course of
actions upon being tasked with updates, modifications, or new features into old codebases.
BIOGRAPHY:
Craig Lind (B.S. '17, M.S. '18) earned his Bachelors and Master's degree from the University of
Scranton. After graduation, Craig moved down to DC to work for government contractors and for a
few years at Ford Motor Company. He is currently working at a government contractor, Ridgeline
International, as a backend Software Engineer where daily tasks include dealing with older code
that has existed for years.
Policies
- Every sophomore, junior and senior in one of the department's majors is expected to be enrolled in one of the regularly scheduled Colloquia courses each semester.
- First-year students are not prohibited from enrolling, and so those students with AP credit or those considering completing degree requirements in less than four years, should consider enrolling early.
- Courses must be completed in numerical order by year. Thus, 213 before 313, 214 before 314, 313 before 413, and 314 before 414.
- Note that because of fall-spring scheduling constraints, 214 may be taken before 213, 314 before 313, and 414 before 413.
- No student will be allowed to register for more than one of the regularly scheduled Colloquia courses in any semester.
Students unable to complete the Colloquia Requirement by their expected graduation date have two immediate
options:
The preferred option is to enroll in CMPS 415 – Senior Colloquia Completion or CMPS 416 – Senior Colloquia
Completion, during the student’s last semester or semesters of study and concurrent with the highest numbered regularly scheduled Colloquia course they are eligible to enroll in. CMPS 415 will only be offered during fall semesters and CMPS 416 will only be offered during spring semesters.
CMPS 415 and CMPS 416 have been established as variable-credit courses, thus allowing for the appropriate
amount of credit to be earned to complete the aggregate credit requirement of the Colloquia.
These courses are intended to be used to substitute for one or more of the regularly scheduled Colloquia courses and require both the permission of the Department of Computing Sciences and a departmental faculty member willing to serve as instructor.
- Both the Registrar and College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office recognize CMPS 415 and CMPS 416 as substituting for one or more of the regular scheduled Colloquia courses; so a separate Course Substitution Form will not be required.
- CMPS 415 and CMPS 416 are to be run as a type of individual study or research course where one or more students work closely and regularly with the departmental faculty member offering the course, investigating one or more topics of interest relevant to them and the Colloquia. Each student participating in CMPS 415 and CMPS 416 will be expected to produce some corresponding artifact (report, presentation, etc.), commensurate with the amount of credit being earned, and meant to contribute to the overall substance of the Colloquia.