MASTER OF SCIENCE IN COMPUTER

SCIENCE ONLINE HANDBOOK

This handbook is for students enrolled in the MCSO graduate program, on the path to obtaining a
Master’s in Computer Science (MSCompSci) graduate degree.

Published for 2021-2022

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 MASTER OF COMPUTER SCIENCE ONLINE
STUDENT HANDBOOK TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section I: Overview Pages 4 – 4

Contact Information Page 4

Section II: MCSO Overview Pages 5 – 8

Program Overview Page 5
Course Listing Page 5
Faculty Page 7
Degree Requirements & Program of Work Page 7
Core Course Areas Page 7
Elective Courses Page 8
Thesis Courses Page 8
Grade Requirements Page 8
Platforms Page 8

Section III: Program Policies Pages 10 – 16

Student Responsibilities Page 10
Change Name and Address Page 10
Communications Page 10
E-mails Page 10
Registration Procedures Page 11
Late Registration Fees Page 11
Dropping a Course and Q drops Page 12
Leave of Absence Page 12
Withdrawal Page 13
Dismissal Page 13
Scholastic Dishonesty Page 13
Grades Page 14
Incompletes Page 14
Grade Reporting Page 15
Transcripts Page 15
Graduation Page 15
Auditing On-Campus Courses Page 15
Assistance & Correspondence Page 16

Section IV: Financial Information Pages 17 – 21

Program Fees Page 17
Time in the Program Page 17
Transfer Credit/Program Page 17
Bars Page 17
Billing Page 18
Student Acknowledgment Page 18
Deadlines Page 18

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 Payment Methods Page 18
Financial Assistance Page 19
Delinquent Accounts Page 20
Receipts and Itemized Receipts Page 20
Refunds Page 20
1098-T Information Page 20
Tax Information for Graduate Students Page 20
“What I Owe” and “My Tuition Bill” Page 21

Section V: General UT Policies and Information Pages 22 – 23

Student Veteran Services Page 22
Students with Disabilities Page 22
Prohibition of Sexual Harassment Page 22
Office of Graduate Studies Page 22
Academic Integrity Page 23
Code of Conduct Page 23

Section VI: Useful Resources Pages 24 – 24

Useful Websites and Phone Numbers Page 24

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 CONTACT INFORMATION

Title Name Phone E-mail

Program Coordinator MCSOGradCoordinator@austin.utex
Accounting Manager Kathryn Murphy 512.471.9515 as.edu
Invoicing and Billing
MCSOGradCoordinator@austin.utex
Graduate Advisor Adam Klivans as.edu

UT Financial Aid 512.475.6282 Ask@finaid.utexas.edu

Mailing Address:
University of Texas at Austin
Attn: Master of Computer Science Online
2317 Speedway, D9500
Austin, TX 78712

Physical Address:
GDC
2317Speedway, Stop D9500
Austin, Texas 78712

Fax Number:
Attn: UTCS Online Master’s Program, 512.471.8885

Program Coordinator Office Hours:

Set up an appointment for office hours.

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 MASTER OF SCIENCE COMPUTER SCIENCE OVERVIEW

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

This 100% online, asynchronous, master’s degree program is built to expand a student’s expertise in
advanced systems design, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Lectures are prerecorded and
released weekly to allow students the flexibility to review course material on their time. Students will
receive regular feedback and communication from instructors, teaching assistants and classmates
within the course. After a series of lessons have been completed throughout the semester, students'
progress is measured using traditional quizzes, exams, project-based assessments and or other
measures.

COURSE LISTING

Machine Learning – CS 391L (3 SCH)

Computing systems that automatically improve their performance with experience, including various
approaches to inductive classification such as version space, decision tree, rule-based, neural network,
Bayesian, and instance-based methods; as well as computational learning theory, explanation-based
learning, and knowledge refinement.

Advanced Operating Systems – CS 380L (3 SCH)

Study of the formal structure, design principles, organization, implementation, and performance
analysis of multiprogramming and/or multiprocessor computer systems.

Parallel Systems – CS 380P (3 SCH)

The objective of this course is to provide students with a strong background on concurrency
fundamentals along with experience with a diversity of both classical and modern approaches to
managing and exploiting concurrency, including shared memory synchronization, parallel architectures
such as GPUs, as well as distributed parallel frameworks such as MPI and map-reduce. Material will be
presented through readings and discussion of background material as well as occasional recent
research papers when appropriate. The course requires a number of programming and project
assignments to provide direct experience with design, programming, and measurement methodologies
for concurrent systems.

Optimization – CS 395T (3 SCH)

This class covers Linear Programming and Convex Optimization. These are fundamental conceptual and
algorithmic building blocks for applications across science and engineering. Indeed any time a problem
can be cast as one of maximizing / minimizing and objective subject to constraints, the next step is to
use a method from linear or convex optimization. Covered topics include formulation and geometry of
LPs, duality and min-max, primal and dual algorithms for solving LPs, Second-order cone programming
(SOCP) and semidefinite programming (SDP), unconstrained convex optimization and its algorithms:
gradient descent and the newton method, constrained convex optimization, duality, variants of
gradient descent (stochastic, subgradient etc.) and their rates of convergence, momentum methods.

Deep Learning – CS 394D (3 SCH)

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This class covers advanced topics in deep learning, ranging from optimization to computer vision,
computer graphics and unsupervised feature learning, and touches on deep language models, as well
as deep learning for games.

Advanced Linear Algebra for Computation – CS 383C (3 SCH)

Known as Numerical Analysis: Linear Algebra in UT System
Linear algebra invariably lies at the core of techniques that are of critical importance to computational
and data scientists. In this course, you learn advanced concepts in linear algebra, practical algorithms
for matrix computations, and how floating point arithmetic as performed by computers affects
correctness.

Algorithms: Techniques and Theory – CS 388G (3 SCH)

This course focuses on sorting and searching algorithms, graph algorithms, algorithm design
techniques, lower bound theory, fast Fourier transforms, and NP-completeness.

Reinforcement Learning: Theory and Practice - CS 394R (3 SCH)

Introduces the theory and practice of modern reinforcement learning. Reinforcement learning
problems involve learning what to do—how to map situations to actions—so as to maximize a
numerical reward signal. The course will cover model-free and model-based reinforcement learning
methods, especially those based on temporal difference learning and policy gradient algorithms.

Online Learning and Optimization – CS 395T (3 SCH)

This class has two major themes: algorithms for convex optimization and algorithms for online
learning. The first part of the course will focus on algorithms for large scale convex optimization. A
particular focus of this development will be for problems in Machine Learning, and this will be
emphasized in the lectures, as well as in the problem sets. The second half of the course will then turn
to applications of these ideas to online learning.

Android Programming – CS 395T (3 SCH)

Students will study Android APIs and learn to build significant Android applications. While the course
focuses on Android, we will learn general principles of software engineering and mobile app
development.

Natural Language Processing – CS 388 (3 SCH)

This course provides an introduction to modern natural language processing using machine learning
and deep learning approaches. Natural language processing encompasses a wide range of real-world
applications centered around the question of how we can build systems that deal with human
language as either input or output. Building successful systems requires understanding not just data-
driven machine learning techniques but also the complexities of human language. Content includes
linguistics fundamentals (syntax, lexical and distributional semantics, compositional semantics),
machine learning models (classifiers, sequence taggers, deep learning models), key algorithms for
inference, and applications to a range of problems. Students will get hands-on experience building
systems to do tasks including text classification, syntactic analysis, language modeling, semantic
parsing, and question answering. Additionally, students get hands-on experience with Pytorch and
deep understanding of the techniques underlying real-world NLP toolkits.

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This course is appropriate for students who want to be prepared to do more fundamental research in
the area as well as those who want to understand industry applications and existing toolkits.

FACULTY

Adam Klivans, PhD. Greg Plaxton, PhD. Sanjay Shakkottai, PhD.

Calvin Lin, PhD.
Chris Rossbach, PhD.
Constantine Caramanis, PhD.
Emmett Witchel, PhD.
Greg Durrett, PhD.
Maggie Myers, PhD. Scott Niekum, PhD.
Peter Stone, PhD. Sujay Sanghavi, PhD.
Philipp Krähenbühl, PhD. Vijay Chidambaram, PhD.
Qiang Liu, PhD. Vijaya Ramachandran, PhD.
Robert van de Geijn, PhD.

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS & PROGRAM OF WORK

COURSEWORK OPTION
This is a 30-hour program (10 courses = 30 SCH). The MSCO degree requires completion
of 3 core courses (9 credit hours) and 7 elective courses (21 credit hours). All students must complete
one course in each of the following core areas: Theory (3 credit hours), Systems (3 credit hours), and
Applications (3 credit hours). In addition, each student must complete 7 elective courses (21 credit
hours). Students are automatically enrolled in this option.

THESIS OPTION
This is a 30-hour program (10 courses = 30 SCH) with 3 core courses (9 credit hours), 5 elective courses
(15 credit hours) and 2 thesis courses (6 credit hours). Students must complete one course in each of
the following core areas: Theory (3 credit hours), Systems (3 credit hours), and Applications (3 credit
hours). If a student is interested in this option, we recommend after completing a few MCSO courses,
they reach out to professors in their area of interest to see if a professor would be willing to supervise
their research for a master’s thesis. If a professor agrees to work with them, then the student can
reach out to their Program Coordinator for further details.

CORE COURSE AREAS

There are three main areas of study within the core requirement: Applications, Systems and Theory.
Courses listed in the Core Course Area that are not used to satisfy the core-course requirement can be
used to satisfy the elective-course requirement after the core courses have been completed. Below is a
list of the courses and which area they fall into.
Applications
Machine Learning CS 391L (3 SCH)
Reinforcement Learning: Theory and Practice CS 394 R (3 SCH)
Deep Learning CS 394R (3 SCH)
Systems

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 Advanced Operating Systems CS 380L (3 SCH)
Parallel Systems CS 380P (3 SCH)
Theory
Algorithms: Techniques and Theory CS 388G (3 SCH)
Optimization CS 395T (3 SCH)
Online Learning and Optimization CS 395T (3 SCH)
Linear Algebra CS 383C (3 SCH)

ELECTIVE COURSES
The elective coursework is designed to provide students with opportunities to specialize in areas such
as advanced systems design, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Below is a list of the current
elective courses:

• Android Programming – CS 395T (3 SCH)

• Virtualization – CS 395T (3 SCH) (fall 2021)
• Introduction to Quantum Information Science – CS 395T (3 SCH) (spring 2022)
• Structure & Implementation of Modern Programming Languages – CS 395T (3 SCH) (fall 2021)
• Formal Methods / Automated Reasoning – CS 389L (3 SCH) (spring 2022)

THESIS COURSES

Thesis courses are taken in separate semesters. Before enrolling in thesis, a student must have a
faculty member who has agreed to supervise their master’s thesis work.

• CS 698A (3 SCH)
• CS 698B (3 SCH)
o Students must enroll in this course the semester they plan to graduate
o A student may enroll in this course more than once but it will only apply to the program
of work once

GRADE REQUIREMENTS

To satisfy the grade requirement for core courses, a student must make a grade of B- or higher. To
satisfy the grade requirement for elective courses, a student must make a grade of C or higher. No core
or elective course may be applied to a student’s program of work as Credit / No Credit*, all core and
elective courses must be taken for a letter grade. Thesis course are offered only for CR/NC. In order to
be eligible to apply to graduate, all students must have a GPA of 3.0 or above.

*This does not apply to Spring 2020 where due to the pandemic, the Graduate School allowed courses
to be Credit / No Credit.

PLATFORMS

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Students will utilize several online platforms throughout their time in the program. Courses are hosted
on the edX platform through a student portal. Students will be prompted to set up an account or to
link their current account, close to the beginning of classes. All course specific platforms will be listed in
the course syllabi which can be found in the student portal. A student may also find old course syllabi
here. A list of potential platforms a student may use is provided below:
• edX
• Canvas
• Piazza
• Slack

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 MASTER OF SCIENCE COMPUTER SCIENCE PROGRAM POLICIES

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES

While University faculty and staff members give students’ academic advice and assistance, each
student is expected to take responsibility for meeting all University requirements and deadlines.
Students must abide by the academic and disciplinary policies given in the Graduate Catalog and in the
General Information Catalog. These policies include rules governing quantity of work, the standard of
work required to continue at The University, warning status and scholastic dismissal, and enforced
withdrawal. Students must meet the program degree requirements; must enroll in courses
appropriate to the program; must meet prerequisites and take courses to ensure orderly and timely
progress; must seek advice about degree requirements and adhere to University policies when
necessary.

CHANGING YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS

It is the student’s responsibility to give correct local and permanent addresses, telephone numbers and
e-mail address to both the MCSO staff and to The University’s Office of the Registrar. A student may
update his or her local and permanent addresses and telephone numbers as well as e-mail address
listings at https://utdirect.utexas.edu/apps/utd/ using their UT EID. Follow the instructions given in
order to activate your UT EID.

COMMUNICATIONS

Students are required to monitor all program communication channels (e-mail, list servs, etc) on a
regular basis to be aware of all current issues and events pertaining to individual courses and to the
program in general. You may wish to set up a MCSO correspondence email folder to easily follow
correspondence throughout the semester.

The UT EID is a unique identifier for each student. Almost any question that you will need answered
will require that you supply this ID, so we ask that you supply it along with your full name on all
correspondence.

E-MAILS

The University’s e-mail policy may be found at: http://www.utexas.edu/cio/policies/university-

electronic-mail-student-notification-policy. Essentially, it states The University of Texas at Austin views
e-mail to be “a mechanism for official University communications to students.” It is the student’s
responsibility to keep his/her e-mail address up to date with both MCSO staff and The University. Note
that “e-mail returned to the University with ‘User Unknown’ is not an acceptable excuse for missed
communication.” Students are responsible for checking their e-mail on a regular (and frequent) basis
to ensure that they are receiving all important messages. Additionally, “undeliverable messages
returned because of either a full inbox or use of a ‘spam’ filter will be considered delivered without
further action required of The University.”

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It is the Master of Computer Science Online Program policy to send all student correspondence
(invoices, receipts, notifications, reminders, etc.) to one primary e-mail address.

REGISTRATION PROCEDURES

Each semester students will be sent a survey regarding course selection for the upcoming semester.
Please note that priority will be given to students nearing the end of their program of study. It is
important that you respond to the registration e-mails and select your course offerings in the given
time frame so that you will be enrolled in the courses by the University’s deadline. MCSO staff
completes the registration process for students.

Students may self-cancel their registration if:

• They have registered for classes and have not yet paid their tuition bill or confirmed their
attendance.
• They can cancel registration at http://registrar.utexas.edu/students/registration-cancel after
tuition bills are created but before their first payment deadline.
• They do not pay their tuition bill or confirm attendance by the date provided by the Office of the
Registrar. Their classes will be dropped programmatically.
Please be certain to inform your program coordinator of any changes so that your edX student portal
can be updated.

Few things to remember:

• Students are responsible for clearing bars that prevent registration.
• Students will be prompted to verify registration in UT System and the edX Student Portal.
• If a course is added after the 4th class day and assignments have already been due in the course
(for a grade), then a student will receive a 0 for those assignments. Be certain to check in with
the TA’s of the course for any further inquiries.
• Students are not required to take summer courses

LATE REGISTRATION FEES

In the event that the Graduate Coordinator is unable to register a student during the normal
registration period due to a registration bar, not indicating registration preferences, or for any other
reason not due to staff error, the student will be charged a late registration fee in addition to normal
tuition as follows:
● $25.00 through the fourth class day (second class day of a summer term)
● $50.00 from the fifth through twelfth class day (third and fourth class days of a summer term)
● $200.00 after the twelfth class day (after the fourth class day of a summer term)
● $200.00 if a student does not “Confirm Attendance” and has to be reregistered
These class days are determined by The University’s traditional semester calendar.

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A fee of 5% of the total outstanding tuition will automatically be assessed on delinquent payments on
the third business day following the payment deadline. An e-mail will be sent to your primary e-mail
address notifying you of the late fee.

Upon being late registered by MCSO staff, it is the student’s responsibility to confirm registration by
5p.m. the same day. Failure to do so will result in registration being cancelled by the university. A
student can Confirm Attendance on the My Tuition Bill page.

DROPPING A COURSE AND Q-DROPS

The Master of Science Computer Science Online program follows the University’s registration schedule.
Throughout the semester there are designated drop periods.

Delete Drop Period

Occurs through the 12th class day of a long semester or the 4th day of a summer semester. A class may
be dropped with no academic penalty and a full refund.

Q-Drop Period
Occurs from the 13th to 20th class day of a semester or the 5th class day of a summer semester.
Approval from the Graduate Advisor and the Graduate Dean must be obtained. A student will receive a
Q and there will be no refund.

Q/F Drop Period

Occurs after the 20th class day of a long-session semester, and after the tenth-class day of a summer
term up until the day of class. Approvals will need to be obtained from the Instructor, Graduate
Adviser and the Graduate Dean. The instructor will be asked to record either a “Q” or “F” symbol on
the drop form. Typically, a “Q” is recorded if the student is passing the course or a grade of “F” is
recorded if the student is failing at the time the course is dropped and if the request is submitted after
the first exam in the class. Please keep in mind this is at the discretion of the Instructor. A student may
drop a course with the required approvals through the last class day of a semester or summer term as
long as they are in good standing.

Students must contact the Graduate Coordinator to drop a course. Any course that is dropped after the
first exam or during the Q/F period cannot be retaken until two long semesters have passed.

If the student is in a warning status because of failure to maintain a grade point average (GPA) of at
least 3.0, he or she may not drop a course without the recommendation of the graduate adviser and
the approval of the graduate dean.

Specific deadlines for dropping a course are given in the academic calendar. Contact the program
coordinator for information regarding these dates.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE

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A request for leave must be made in advance of the semester for which the leave is granted and not
within the student’s first semester of enrollment. Contact the Program Coordinator for assistance in
completing the leave of absence form. This form permits the student to return to The University within
two long semesters. Please note that the student must complete an “Application for Readmission” in
order to be readmitted to UT and to resume courses. While on leave, a student may not use any
University facilities nor is the student entitled to receive advice from any member of the faculty. For
more information, go to this link: https://gradschool.utexas.edu/academics/policies/leaves-of-absence

WITHDRAWAL

Dropping an entire course load constitutes withdrawal from The University for that semester. Please
contact the Graduate Coordinator for assistance in completing the withdrawal form. The refund
schedule for withdrawal from classes is determined by the University; your Program Coordinator can
provide those details. Students cancelling or withdrawing will be able to register the next semester.

DISMISSAL

A student who fails to meet their admission conditions may be subject to dismissal. The standard
Office of Graduate Studies admission conditions may be found at:
http://catalog.utexas.edu/graduate/degree-requirements/warning-status-academic-dismissal-
termination/ and are:
• the student must make satisfactory progress in fulfilling any conditional admission
conditions that were imposed
• meet any requirements made in writing by your Graduate Studies Committee (GSC),
• maintain a grade point average of at least 3.0, and
• have approval of the Graduate Studies Committee
Circumstances likely to be considered failure to make satisfactory progress and could be grounds to
request termination of the student’s program should the program wish to do so are as follows:
• Accumulating more than two withdrawals
• Accumulating more than two Q-drops
• Accumulating a large number of X, I, or NC grades

A student must be making satisfactory progress toward a degree as determined by his/her Graduate
Studies Committee. If the GSC determines that a student is not making satisfactory progress, it may
recommend that the student’s program be terminated. Please note that a student with a grade point
average below 3.0 at the end of any semester will receive a warning letter from the Graduate School
and must bring his/her cumulative graduate grade point average up to at least 3.0 by the end of the
following semester in which the student is enrolled. Students under Office of Graduate Studies
warning must have approval of the graduate dean to drop any courses in the warning semester.

SCHOLASTIC DISHONESTY

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Plagiarism and other forms of scholastic dishonesty are serious academic violations that will not be
tolerated. Scholastic dishonesty encompasses, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, collusion, and
any act designed to give an unfair academic advantage to the student.

“Cheating” includes, but is not limited to:

● copying from another student’s work
● using materials not authorized by a testing proctor or instructor
● possessing materials that are not authorized by a testing proctor or instructor, such as lessons,
books, or notes
● knowingly using or soliciting, in whole or part, the contents of an unadministered test
● collaborating with or seeking aid from another student without authorization during the test
● substituting for another person, or permitting another person to substitute for oneself, in
taking a course test or completing any course-related assignment
● using, buying, stealing, or transporting some or all of the contents of an unadministered test,
test rubric, homework answer, or computer program

“Plagiarism” includes, but is not limited to, the appropriation, buying, receiving as a gift, or obtaining
by any means someone else’s work and then submitting that work for credit as if it were one’s own.

“Collusion” includes, but is not limited to, unauthorized collaboration with another person in the
preparation of an academic assignment offered for credit.

The penalties for scholastic dishonesty in graded assignments include the possibility of failure in the
course. Scholastic dishonesty in examinations will result in a grade of “F” on the examination and an
“F” in the course.

GRADES

A student receiving a grade of C or higher satisfies the elective course requirement and a B- or higher
for the required course requirements. To remain in good academic standing and to graduate from the
program, a student must maintain a 3.0 GPA or “B” average. Please note that graduate courses use a
+/- grade system. Letter grades with their decimal equivalents are as follows:

A 4.00 A- 3.67 B+ 3.33

B 3.00 B- 2.67 C+ 2.33
C 2.00 C- 1.67 D+ 1.33
D 1.00 D- 0.67 F 0.00

INCOMPLETES

If a student does not complete all assignments in a course before the end of the course, the instructor
may report the symbol “X” (temporary incomplete) to the registrar in place of a grade. The student
must then complete the course requirements by the last class day in his or her next long semester of

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enrollment and the instructor must report a final grade by the end of the grade reporting period in that
semester. If these deadlines are not met, the symbol “X” is converted to the symbol “I” (permanent
incomplete). If the student is not enrolled during a long semester for twenty-four months following
the end of the semester in which the “X” is reported, and the instructor does not report a final grade,
then the symbol “X” is converted to the symbol “I”. The symbol “I” cannot be converted to a grade.
When the symbol “I” is recorded, the student must register and pay for the course again in order to
receive credit.

GRADE REPORTING

Grades are reported at the end of each semester and are viewable online at
http://registrar.utexas.edu/students/grades/. Students may view and print an unofficial grade report
at this site. If you require an official grade report, for example for company tuition reimbursement, you
must order an official transcript each semester at a cost of $20.

TRANSCRIPTS

A student can order a copy of their transcript online or by using the telephone, ordering in person, or
by a third-party order. Please go to http://registrar.utexas.edu/transcripts for transcript ordering
options and instructions.

GRADUATION

Apply to Graduate
A student will need to apply to graduate in their last semester. Each student will need to complete the
Master’s Graduation Application form online which will need to be completed and submitted during
the appropriate time. Please go to https://gradschool.utexas.edu/academics/graduation/deadlines-and-
submission-instructions for specific time periods and further instructions.

Ceremony
The University of Texas Office of the Vice President and Dean of Graduate Studies coordinate
commencement ceremonies for The University’s graduating class. Information from the Office of
Graduate Studies will be sent directly to you upon your certification of graduation. Diplomas are
mailed to your permanent address (address of record) 4-6 weeks after graduation.

Students are eligible to attend the following graduation events:

● University-wide Commencement: held each May

● Graduate School Convocation: held each May

*For international students wishing to graduate at an on-campus ceremony please contact the
Program Coordinator for more information.

AUDITING ON-CAMPUS COURSES

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The Master of Science in Computer Science Online Program does not allow its students to audit on-
campus courses.

ASSISTANCE & CORRESPONDENCE

All interactions, assistance, and correspondence with faculty, TAs, or staff should be scheduled and
conducted through online channels (email, piazza, zoom, etc). Please refer to syllabi for the preferred
communication method for individual courses. Due to the large volume of students participating in the
program, in-person and/or walk-in advising is not available. The time zone for this program is Central
Standard Time, the same time for Austin, TX.

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 MASTER OF SCIENCE COMPUTER SCIENCE FINANCIAL INFORMATION

PROGRAM FEES

The fee for the Master Science of Computer Science Online Program covers the following items:
tuition and fees, graduation and a supplemental online learning environment.

A non-refundable tuition deposit of $500 is due upon admission into the program in order to secure
placement. This initial fee is applied to the total program fees for the first semester’s bill.

Total Program Tuition and fees

Program
Tuition Per Class
Master of Computer Science Online $10,000 $1,000

TIME IN THE PROGRAM

The University of Texas Graduate School policy states that a student must complete their program of
study within six years beginning at the first semester enrolled in the program. MCSO anticipates that it
will take students on average 1.5 to 3 years to complete the program.

TRANSFER CREDIT/PROGRAMS

After a student starts their first semester, they may initiate this process. No more than six credits can
be transferred from another institution and applied toward the master’s degree. Petition forms will
only be accepted the first two semesters of a student’s program. Contact the Program Coordinator for
further information at MCSOGradCoordinator@austin.utexas.edu.

If a student wishes to transfer from the online Option III program into the on-campus Option I program
or the online Option III MSDS program, a student must complete the Change of Major form. This will be
included in the on-campus application pool to be reviewed amongst other applicants. If the student is
selected to be part of either program, 6 credit hours may be transferred and counted as core or
elective credit. If the student has more than 6 credits hours, they will need to discuss this with the
Graduate Advisor.
BARS

A bar is a code placed on the records of students who have not met financial or non-financial
obligations to the University. A financial bar is a delinquent debt, such as non-payment of tuition,
library books or parking tickets. A non-financial bar may be caused by failure to turn in transcripts or
visa information (international students). A bar on your record will prevent the department from
registering, adding classes, graduating and obtaining transcripts. It is the responsibility of the student to
make sure that all bars are cleared before each registration period begins, including payment of the full

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tuition amount for the current semester. Plan to check your bars at the RIS page prior to registration
each semester: https://utdirect.utexas.edu/registrar/ris.WBX

A student can pay for their financial bar online on the “What I Owe” page using their UT EID and
password: https://utdirect.utexas.edu/acct/rec/wio/wio_home.WBX

BILLING

A billing statement is generated for each student, each semester and is based off of the registration
information completed in the current semester’s registration link. The statement is sent as a .pdf
attachment to the student’s primary e-mail address.

STUDENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Each semester, upon receipt of the invoice, it is the student’s responsibility to do two things:
1) Verify that the course offering(s) listed on the invoice are correct
2) Notify MCSO Accounting plans for payment – in particular if any funds will be disbursed
through the Office of Financial Aid, through a company sponsorship program (vouchering or
reimbursement) or if the student will be receiving VA benefits.

DEADLINES

Payment must be received on or before the due date indicated on the invoice.

Please contact Master of Computer Science Online Accounting if you have any questions regarding
these policies at MCSOGradCoordinator@austin.utexas.edu.

PAYMENT METHODS

Payments may be submitted by a number of methods:

1) Office of Financial Aid – these are typically Federal loans, and the student must coordinate
with Office of Financial Aid to ensure that proper procedures are completed in order to
have funds disbursed.

2) Company Vouchering – this method typically proceeds as outlined:

a. The student pays all tuition and is reimbursed personally by the company
b. The student coordinates communications between the company and MCSO accounting
if personal reimbursement is not allowed.

3) Self-payment:

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 a. Most forms of electronic payment are submitted through the “What I Owe” feature of
UT Direct found at: https://utdirect.utexas.edu/acct/rec/wio/wio_home.WBX.

In each situation stated above, it is the student’s responsibility to meet all agreed upon deadlines and
to provide all necessary information and documentation regarding financial arrangements. Failure to
pay by the agreed upon deadline may result in:

• Placement of a bar on your record until full payment is received

• Disqualification of waivers for subsequent semesters
• A late payment fee on the unpaid balance
• Dismissal for the remainder of the semester and a bar on future registration until the
amount is paid in full.

There are no exceptions to this policy.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

The Master of Computer Science Online office is unable to provide direct financial assistance to
students. However, students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are enrolled in the
program are eligible for Federal Loans through the Office of Financial Aid (OFA). Please contact OFA at
512.475.6282 for more information regarding these loans. Students are also encouraged to check with
a lending institution of their choice for other possible student loans.

In order to apply for a federally-backed educational loan, you will need to complete the Free
Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/. Once this form has
been submitted, you may also sign up to receive your Financial Aid Notification (FAN) electronically at
http://finaid.utexas.edu/. You will need to complete the FAFSA each fiscal year (October 1st) if you
wish to receive aid.

It is important to note that your application is completed based on your income tax filing for the
previous year and your award will be for the Summer and Fall of the application year and the Spring in
the following year. The 20/21 FAFSA form asks for 2018 tax information. If you're filling out the 19/20
FAFSA form, you'll need your 2017 tax information.

The 20/21 FAFSA will cover fall 2020, spring 2021 and summer 2021. Then the 21/22 FAFSA will cover
fall 2021, spring 2022 and summer 2022. If you plan to take summer classes you must have both the
19/20 and 20/21 FAFSA applications on file in order to qualify for financial aid.

It is important to pay attention to all communications received in regards to your financial aid in order
to avoid delaying your payment. We also encourage students to check their CASH pages weekly to
ensure no new items are pending.

DELINQUENT ACCOUNTS

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Students with delinquent accounts will be referred to an outside collections agency to collect payment.

RECEIPTS & ITEMIZED RECEIPTS

Receipts can be generated for any portion of the invoiced tuition being paid. They will be e-mailed to
the student’s primary e-mail address with any outstanding balance reflected at the bottom. Itemized
receipts are not generated except under special circumstances, and must be requested a minimum of
two weeks prior to the date they are needed in the semester. Waiting until the end of or after the
semester has ended will result in delays.

REFUNDS

The Master of Science Computer Science Online Program uses The University's refund policy. A student
should contact the Program Coordinator about refunds policies.

1098-INFORMATION

The University releases 1098-T information on behalf of each student to the Internal Revenue Service
each year by January 31st. You may download your 1098-T for the previous year from UT Direct
beginning in the first week of February. Please note that the Master of Science Computer Science
Online Program reports all tuition as invoiced each semester minus the mandatory fees (the “Less
Third-Party Billing” amount reflected on your “My Tuition Bill” page) as tuition. Any payments received
on your behalf through company sponsorship are reflected as scholarship funds.

Please note that the 1098-T information is not automatically released for International Students since
many are exempt from filing US income tax. If you are considered an international student and do file
US income tax you must request to have your 1098-T information sent to you in UT Direct.

TAX INFORMATION FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS

Please visit the following website: http://www.irs.gov/uac/Tax-Benefits-for-Education:-Information-

Center for information regarding tax issues for graduate students. Changes were made to improve the
tax situation for graduate students when the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 came into effect. Please
contact a tax practitioner about your personal income tax situations if you have questions.

“WHAT I OWE” & “MY TUITION BILL”

A student will be able to see their tuition balance as well as make tuition payments on the What I Owe
page.

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A student will be able to see all of the university mandatory and optional fees assessed each semester
on the My Tuition Bill page. The types of fees the university assesses vary by student and semester, as
well as by program and course load. The program will be covering the student fees so do not make
any payments from this screen.

Use the My Tuition Bill screen for the following:

1) Pay optional fees: It you selected any optional fees such as a sports package, the program does
not pay these and you will be financially responsible for any of the optional fees you select.
2) Confirm Attendance even if it shows a $0.00 balance close the first day of class or you will be
dropped from classes.

On the first class day, a student should see the following line about a third of the way down the
page:
* * Your registration is complete * *

As well, both of the lines: “Total Tuition and Fees Billed” and “Current Balance”, are $0.00
(excluding optional fees). If the student does not see this, contact your Program Coordinator.

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 MASTER OF SCIENCE COMPUTER SCIENCE GENERAL UT POLICIES & INFORMATION

STUDENT VETERANS SERVICES

Student Veteran Services at the Office of the Deans of Students helps all students using federal and
state veterans’ education benefits. They walk current and prospective students through the benefits
application and certification process, provide veteran-centered academic support, career services,
health care and wellness resources and support the ongoing success of veterans on campus.

Please note that the Hinson-Hazelwood benefits are not available for students enrolled in the Master
of Computer Science Online program because the program is self-supporting and does not receive
State funding.

General information regarding Veterans Administration benefits is available at the Veterans

Administration web site: http://registrar.utexas.edu/students/cert/vetn.

Call 512.475.7540 for more information or email them at UTVeterans@austin.utexas.edu.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

The University of Texas at Austin has a written policy, which states that students with disabilities will
be provided academic accommodations. The purpose of academic accommodations is to assure that
there is equal access to and the opportunity to benefit from all educational programs at UT. It is the
student’s responsibility to identify themselves to Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) and to
provide documentation of a disability.

Strict documentation guidelines exist for different types of disabilities. Information on documentation
guidelines for cognitive disabilities can be found here: http://diversity.utexas.edu/disability/. If you
require additional information about SSD, please contact The Office of the Dean of Students directly by
calling 512.471.6259 or emailing ssd@austin.utexas.edu. The program does adhere to policies
associated with students with disabilities.

PROHIBITION OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT

The University of Texas at Austin strictly prohibits discrimination or harassment of students based on
gender, race and sexual orientation. The University publishes guidelines and policies that prohibit
discrimination in these three areas. The Office of the Dean of Students has primary responsibility for
responding to questions about and receiving complaints of discrimination or harassment of students.
If you experience problems associated with harassment, please call 512.471.1201.

THE OFFICE OF GRADUATE STUDIES

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The University of Texas at Austin’s Office of Graduate Studies is located in the Main Building, Room
101. Their phone number is 512.471.7213 ext. 2. The Graduate Studies office oversees the policies,
rules and regulations that govern graduate studies at UT. The Option III Master of Science in Computer
Science program reports to the College of Natural Sciences as well as to the Dean of Graduate Studies.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

A fundamental principle for any educational institution, academic integrity is highly valued and
seriously regarded at The University of Texas at Austin. More specifically, you and other students are
expected to maintain absolute integrity and a high standard of individual honor in scholastic work
undertaken at the University. This is a very basic expectation that is further reinforced by the
University's Honor Code. At a minimum, you should complete any assignments, exams, and other
scholastic endeavors with the utmost honesty, which requires you to:
• acknowledge the contributions of other sources to your scholastic efforts;
• complete your assignments independently unless expressly authorized to seek or obtain
assistance in preparing them;
• follow instructions for assignments and exams, and observe the standards of your academic
discipline; and
• avoid engaging in any form of academic dishonesty on behalf of yourself or another
student.

CODE OF CONDUCT

As stated by the Office of the Dean of Students:

The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership,
individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the University is expected to uphold these
values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community.

More information may be found at their website:

https://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/conduct/standardsofconduct.php

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 USEFUL WEBSITES AND PHONE NUMBERS

Campus Computer Center, http://www.computerstore.utexas.edu/new/ 512.471.6550

Class Listing, https://utdirect.utexas.edu/registration/classlist.WBX
Dean of Students, http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/ 512.471.1201
edX Student Portal: https://masters.edx.org/utexas/computer-science
General Information Catalog, https://registrar.utexas.edu/catalogs/general-information
Grades, http://registrar.utexas.edu/students/grades/
Graduate Admissions (GIAC), http://www.utexas.edu/student/admissions/ 512.475.7399
Graduate Catalog, https://registrar.utexas.edu/catalogs/graduate
My Tuition Bill, https://utdirect.utexas.edu/acct/fb/my_tuition/my_tuition_home.WBX
International Students Office, http://world.utexas.edu/ 512.471.1211
IRS Educational Tax Credits and Deductions, https://financials.utexas.edu/sar/irs-educational-tax-
credits-and-deductions
Office of Graduate Studies, http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/ 512.471.4511
Previous Syllabi, https://utdirect.utexas.edu/apps/student/coursedocs/nlogon/
Student Financial Services, http://finaid.utexas.edu/ 512.475.6200
Student Veteran Services, http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/veterans/contact.php 512.232.2835
Texas Performing Art, https://texasperformingarts.org/ 512.471.2787
Transcript Services, http://registrar.utexas.edu/transcripts 512.475.7575
UT Direct, https://utdirect.utexas.edu/utdirect/index.WBX
UT General Libraries, http://www.lib.utexas.edu/ 512.495.4348
UT Library Reference & Information Services 512.495.4250
Veterans and Certification Services 512.475.7575
What I Owe, https://utdirect.utexas.edu/acct/rec/wio/wio_home.WBX

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