Welcome New Students

Welcome to the Computer Science Department. Formed in 1972, the department has 25 faculty, about 425 undergraduates, and 150 graduate students pursuing masters and doctoral degrees both on campus and online. We are a collegial department that supports high-quality research and encourages independent thinking and initiative. We are committed to supportive relationships between our faculty and undergraduates and invite you to become actively involved in our department community.

Nine Common First Questions:

1. How do I find out about and order textbooks?

• Individual CS course websites list required texts. The CS course listing is available here. If the information is not available on the course website, please contact the CSU Bookstore.
• Textbooks may be purchased from the CSU Bookstore. Textbooks are also available through major book sellers.
• CSU Bookstore online ordering will also show required textbooks.

2. How do I get my CS Department account?

• One is created before the first lecture of your first CS course.
• Account names are generated as described here.
• Instructors or the main office staff can help if you need it.

3. Where is my class being held?

• An up-to-date summary of class locations is available here. The building locator is also handy.

4. How do I do CS work from home?

• General guidelines for logging in from home are on the Systems FAQ.
• Specific protocols for courses will be described by instructors.

5. Where are answers to common questions about using CS Department systems?

• There is a wealth of information on the Systems page and FAQ.

6. Who is my advisor?

• James Peterson is the Key Academic Advisor. He is in the CS main office.
• Debbie Bartlett is the Assistant Director of Advising. She is in the CS main office.
• Faculty are approachable and happy to answer questions.

7. What extracurricular CS activities are available?

• Department Colloquium
• Student chapter of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM)
• HashDump Security Club
• Upsilon Pi Epsilon
• Information Science and Technology Center (ISTeC)
• CS Club
• Highly motivated students may also contact professors about being included in research projects.

8. How do I contact faculty, staff, and assistants?

• The department directory lists the office locations, phone numbers, and email addresses of our faculty, staff, and assistants.

9. Where can I find the email addresses of other CS students?

• Email addresses can be found on our departement User List.