MSISPM Curriculum Discussion Fall 2006 Sumitha Rao, Program Director

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MSISPM Curriculum DiscussionFall 2006Sumitha
Rao, Program Director
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Agenda

• Curriculum Overview
• A Word about Units
• Academic Policies
• Curriculum Details
• Whats in a Course Number
• Security Project vs. Thesis
• Required Courses
• Internships
• Who to See for What
• Some Advice on How to Succeed

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MSISPM Curriculum Overview (Thesis Route)
Core Courses (84 units)
Security Electives (36 units)
General Electives (36 units)



Thesis (36 units)
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MSISPM Curriculum Overview (Security Project
Route)
Core Courses (84 units)
Security Electives (36 units)
General Electives (48 units)



Project (24 units)
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A word about units

• Carnegie Mellon uses units not credits
• Generally, graduate, semester long courses are 12
  units.
• Some courses are offered as minis ½ semester in
  length and are 6 units.
• A 12 unit course on average requires 12 hours of
  work per week, including lecture.
• A 6 unit course on average requires 12 hours of
  work per week, including lecture.

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Academic Policies

• It is your responsibility to know the policies
  and procedures covered in the MSISPM Handbook.

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Graduation Requirements

• To graduate, you must
• - complete 192 units of coursework,
• - achieve at least a 3.0 Grade Point Average,
• - successfully complete 36 units of security
  electives, and
• - successfully complete or exempt all core
  courses
• Minimum passing grade is C.

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Academic PoliciesCourse Load

• Minimum units 48 Maximum units 66
• To increase maximum units beyond 66
• - complete a general petition form and
  submit for approval from your faculty advisor by
  the deadline (see forms and deadlines on web).
• - you will most likely be asked to take 12
  units as pass fail or audit.
• To decrease units must seek approval from
  Program Director.
• If you are in your first semester of study,
  you will not be permitted to take more than 66
  units

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Curriculum Semester Course Numbers

• Example 95-710, Section A1
• 95 department 95, which is MISM (45 Tepper,
  90 91 Heinz)
• 710 course number. Anything above 700
  graduate level. 900 above PhD
• A2 section. Numeral indicates this is a mini
  course offered in the 2nd mini fall semester.
  1,2 Fall 3,4 Spring 5,6 Summer
• If no numeral, it is a semester-long course.
• F04 Fall 2004 S05 Spring 05
• M05 Summer 05 F05 Fall 05

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Curriculum Project Vs Thesis

• A MSISPM Project will consist of a group of 3 or
  more people working on a security related
  problem. You can work with
• A faculty member (from CMU) on his/her research
  interests related to security
• A vendor of security related products
  sponsored/advised by a faculty member
• Or, an outside firm be it consulting, government
  or any other organization working on a security
  related problem sponsored/advised by a faculty
  member
• A MSISPM Thesis will consist of a student working
  by himself/herself on research related topics
  with sponsorship from a faculty member at CMU.

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Required Courses First Semester (Sample)

• You are required to take or have exempted the
  following 42 units of core courses
• First Semester
• 95-715 Financial Accounting 6 units
• 95-716 Principles of Finance 6 units
• 95-752 Introduction to Information Security
  Management 12 units
• 95-705 Telecommunications Management 12
  units
• 95-796 Statistics for IT Managers 6 units
• xx-xxx Security Electives 6 units
• xx-xxx General Electives 6 units

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Required Courses Second Semester (Sample)

• You are required to take or have exempted the
  following 24 units of core courses
• Second Semester
• 95-770 Policy Requirement 12 units
• 95-710 Economic Analysis 6 units
• 95-760 Decision Making Under Uncertainty 6 units
• xx-xxx Security Electives 18 units
• xx-xxx General Electives 12 units

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Required Courses Third Semester(Sample)

• You are required to take or have exempted the
  following 36 units of coursework
• Third Semester
• 95-765 Information Security Thesis 36 units
• or
• 95-720 Information Security Project 24 units
• or
• Summer Internship

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Required Courses Fourth Semester(Sample)

• You are required to take or have exempted the
  following 6 units of core coursework
• Fourth Semester
• 95-700 Organizational Management 6 units
• 95-830 Introduction to Computer and Comm.
  Security 12 units
• xx-xxx Security Electives 12 units
• xx-xxx General Electives 18 units

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Academic PoliciesExempting a Required Course

To receive an exemption from a required course,
you must Take the qualifying exam during
orientation If there is no qualifying exam -
Petition the instructor of the relevant
course, and submit the signed petition by the
deadline which is the end of the 4th week of
your first semester. See Exemption Process
handout in your orientation packet.

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Academic PoliciesConditional Exemption

If you wish to substitute another course for a
required course, you must submit a course
exemption form for approval by the program
director before registering for the course.
See Exemption Process handout in your
orientation packet.

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Academic PoliciesCourse Approval for non-MSISPM
Courses (95 or 90-xxx)

You may take courses elsewhere on campus as
general electives. You should receive approval
from the program director prior to registering
for the course by having them sign a general
petition. Most but not all graduate courses
will be approved. Language/Phys. Ed. courses
are generally not approved.
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Academic PoliciesAdding/Dropping Courses

Adding or dropping courses online - receive
faculty advisors approval. - complete before
official Add/Drop deadline for the
semester/mini (10th day of classes). Drops and
Adds after this deadline must be approved by the
Program Director and are generally not allowed
except under extenuating circumstances.

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Academic PoliciesIndependent Study

Maximum allowed toward 192 is 12 units
Requires a faculty member who has agreed to
supervise your independent study. Submit the
signed form by the deadline in order to receive
credit (see forms and deadlines on the Heinz
School website). More must be approved by
Assistant Dean

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Academic PoliciesPass/Fail
Maximum of 24 units count toward 192 with a
maximum of 12 units per semester - Trial. QPA
not affected. Only elective courses
eligible. Requires approval of program
director. Submit signed Request for Pass/Fail
form prior to the deadline otherwise you will
receive a grade. ? Strongly suggest taking
pass/fail during your busiest semester. All
non-required courses over 192 should be taken as
pass/fail or audit.

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Academic PoliciesAudits

Any non-required/general elective course is
eligible. Does not count toward 192 units
required. Counts toward semester maximum
units. Requires approval of instructor. Submit
a signed course audit approval form by the
deadline otherwise you will receive a
grade. QPA not affected (can receive failed
audit). ? Great idea for any courses beyond 192
opportunity to explore challenging topics.

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Academic PoliciesReceiving an Incomplete

If extenuating circumstances beyond your control
prevent you from completing all requirements for
a course by the end of the semester, you may ask
the instructor for permission to take an
incomplete and to make up the work. You must
submit a signed contract before the end of the
semester, and you must complete the work by the
end of the following semester or receive the
default grade.

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Curriculum Internships

• Internships will be optional except for students
  on SFS
• International Students need to obtain Curricular
  Practical Training (CPT) approval before starting
  an internship

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Who to See for What

• Academic Advising Alessandro Acquisti
• Course Registration Danielle Medvan
• Career Services Ron Delfine
• Program Administration Andrew Wasser,
  Sumitha Rao
• Immigration Issues - OIE

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Some Advice on How to Succeed

• Treat your job search as another course.
• Take advantage of pass/fails and audits.
• Take advantage of independent study.
• Look at courses offered in other schools at CMU
  (SCS, ECE).
• Take advantage of what you can learn from each
  other.
• Dont wait to ask for help.