Assistantship, Financial Aid, and Internships
And all the other important stuff ==>
Who is my academic advisor?
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- If you are a main-campus student, then, If the initial letter of your last name belongs to
- [A-G] group, then Dr. Ergun Simsek (simsek@umbc.edu) is your academic advisor,
- [H-M] group, then Dr. Masoud Soroush (masoud.soroush@umbc.edu) is your academic advisor,
- [N-Z], then your advisor is Dr. Ajinkya Borle (aborle1@umbc.edu)
- If you are a “Shady Grove” student, then Dr. M. Ali Yousuf (maliyou1@umbc.edu) is your academic advisor.
- If you are a main-campus student, then, If the initial letter of your last name belongs to
Who is the chair of the Data Science program?
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- At UMBC, the departments have chairs. Since we are a program (not a department), we don’t have a chair. Our Graduate Program Director is Dr. Ergun Simsek (simsek@umbc.edu).
I have a problem with/question on X. Whom should I contact (Y)?
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- If X == Academic Matters, then Y = OPP Student Success Team or Your Advisor (see above)
- If X == Administrative Matters (course registration, applications, etc), then Y = Program Coordinator (see below)
- If X == billing, then Y = Student Business Services
- If X == CPT or OPT or visa-related subjects, then Y = Office of International Students and Scholars
- If X == Finding a job/internship, then Y = Career Center
- If X == Health, then Y = University Health Services
COMMUNICATIONS
Communications with the core Faculty & Staff: Given the nature and size of our program, e-mail is the best way to reach our faculty and staff.
If you have administrative questions about the program (schedules, deadlines, fees, policies, paperwork, graduation, class locations, class registrations, credit transfer, etc.), please contact our program coordinators as follows.
- Main campus students should email datascience-mps@umbc.edu
- Shady Grove students should email sgprofessionalprograms@umbc.edu
Communicate with your Instructors: Professors are not mind-readers. If you have problems in your course or will be absent from a class, email your professor as soon as possible! In many cases, if they know about a situation and there’s a valid reason (such as a prolonged work deployment mid-semester) they can work with you to try and develop acceptable alternative arrangements. However, if they don’t know why you’re missing from class or haven’t turned in assignments, they will not chase after you — but grade you accordingly.
STUDENT E-MAIL LIST
The DATA Student email list serves as the official “broadcast” medium for announcements, new courses, events, relevant talks, job opportunities, etc — so be sure to monitor or appropriately manage your UMBC email address. If you need to update your address on that list, contact our program coordinators.
TRANSFER CREDIT
UMBC can accept up to 6 relevant graduate credits toward the DATA MPS provided they have not been used as part of other earned degrees and were a “B” grade or higher. You will need to submit the course description and syllabus along with the Graduate School form requesting the transfer credit. For more details
- Main campus students should email datascience-mps@umbc.edu
- Shady Grove students should email sgprofessionalprograms@umbc.edu
GRADES
- The following symbols are used for grades: A, B, C, D, F, and I.
- D and F are not passing grades.
- “I” means incomplete!
- Because graduate students must maintain an overall ‘B’ average, every credit hour of ‘C’ in coursework must be balanced by a credit hour of ‘A.’
- A course in which a grade less than ‘B’ is received may be repeated. On the transcript, ‘R’ (Repeated) denotes a repeated course. Only the grade on the repeated courses, whether it is higher or lower than the original grade, is used in the computation of the cumulative GPA; however, all grades earned remain on the transcript.
- You must have a B or higher in all certificate courses to earn the certificate and must maintain a B average to graduate with the MPS degree.
SEMESTERS/SCHEDULING
As with most universities, our ‘primary’ semesters are Fall and Spring. For the DATA program, we do not run courses over Winter Session since it is too short a timeframe for most students (and our adjunct faculty) to commit to attending class 3-4 times a week for a month. However, we do run courses over the summer — but which ones and which summer session(s) they are offered are dependent on instructor availability, so there may or may not be courses of interest, necessary for your degree progression, or that fit your schedule during summertime. It depends on what is offered and when. Of course, if courses are added to the schedule after registration opens — for any semester or session – we announce them by the DATA student email list.
TIME-TO-COMPLETE
Since international students are required to take 3 courses every Fall and Spring semester (unless it is their last semester at UMBC), they generally finish our program in 16 months (i.e. Start September 202X, Graduation: December 202X+1).
However, working professionals generally take 2 courses per semester due to their already busy schedules and they generally complete their degrees in approximately 2 years.
Most Certificate students complete their certificates in two semesters.
ADA REQUIREMENTS
Any ADA or documented special needs must be brought to your professor’s attention during the first week of the semester, and proper university/medical documentation must be provided. Retroactive accommodations may not be accepted.
RESEARCH & WRITING
As both graduate students and professionals, you will be expected to produce written deliverables that are appropriate for your classroom experience and profession or industry. Therefore, if you think you need assistance with developing and/or “brushing up” on graduate-level research and/or writing skills, UMBC offers a range of resources to help you obtain or polish those critical skills to enable you to succeed fully. If needed, I encourage you to take advantage of these campus resources — they’re here for your benefit: