CS Departmental Honors — Courses

There are a number of different types of courses that can count as honors courses. Full information can be found here. Some common options are described below. If you would like to check on a specific course, please send an email to askcshonors [at] cs [dot] umass [dot] edu (askCSHonors[at]cs[dot]umass[dot]edu).

• CS course with honors colloquium: Some regular CS majors courses are offered with an associated 1-credit honors colloquium. In fall 2015, the colloquium and primary course sections were combined into a single course. These combined courses have an HH suffix. For example, COMPSCI 589 with the honors colloquium appears as COMPSCI 589HH. In Fall 2017, the courses sections were split apart again. Students now need to register for a primary course and the associated colloquium section separately. For example, taking COMPSCI 345 and COMPSCI H345 satisfies one honors course requirement. Whether the honors colloquium section is offered in a given semester depends on the instructor. Available courses with honors colloquium sections are listed on the CS course schedule.
   
• CS course with honors independent studies add-on: Any regular CS course can also be extended with a 1-credit honors independent studies. The primary course with the honors independent studies satisfies a CS honors course requirement. Students interested in this option should check with the course instructor after registering for the primary course. Requests to add an honors independent studies to a primary course are granted at the discretion of the course instructor, who must be a CS faculty member. See CHC's Independent Studies webpage for more details including how to register for independent studies.
   
• 500-level CS courses: Some 500-level CS courses can be used as honors courses provided they feature a rigorous syllabus, have graduate students enrolled, and have no more than 25 total students enrolled. Students wishing to use a 500-level CS course for honors credit should check with the HPD (askcshonors [at] cs [dot] umass [dot] edu (askCSHonors[at]cs[dot]umass[dot]edu)) and submit a Petition for Exception via CHC Paths before starting the course.
   
• 600+ level CS courses: 600+ level CS courses can be used as honors courses provided that they include regular assignments, a project, or an exam. Reading-only seminars are not eligible for use as honors courses. Note, however, that these are PhD-level courses and their workload is often double that of an undergrad-level course.