Students who elect to do senior projects (instead of an intership) should register for CS 396 during the fall semester of their senior year, and for CS 398 during the spring semester of that year. In the spring of their junior year, these students should find a mentor when they register for the course. The fall semester should typically focus on any necessary library research, design and prototyping; implementation and writing should normally be done in the spring term.
| Class | Date | Task |
|---|---|---|
| Junior year | Spring registration | Select a mentor, and register for CS 396 for the upcoming fall semester. |
| Senior year | September 15 | Submit a project proposal and cover sheet to your mentor. The proposal will be reviewed by the department's curriculum committee and returned to the student (via the mentor) with any comments, or requests for clarification or revision. |
| September 25 | Resubmit the project proposal (if necessary) by student to mentor for further review by curriculum committee. | |
| October 15 | Proposal is approved by curriculum committee. | |
| December 15 | Submit a preliminary report on project status to mentor for the curriculum committee. | |
| November | Register for CS 398 for the upcoming spring semester. | |
| April 1 | Deliver an end-to-end, working prototype (if applicable) to mentor and Curriculum Committee; include a status update of progress; prepare for talk. | |
| May 1 | Submit a final draft of the project report and working system (if applicable) to mentor for the curriculum committee; present talk. |
Students may be required to make a presentation of their projects, and this should be done at the end of April or beginning of May.
Completing an honors senior project is just one step (allbeit a very important step) in graduating with honors in Computer Science. Indicate clearly on the cover sheet that the project is being done for honors.
A senior project done for honors must be significantly more challenging than a non-honors senior project (as judged by the student's mentor and the curriculum committe). A student completing a senior project for honors must present the results of the project in a public forum (e.g., a department colloquium).