Note: the following changes affect returning students only. All new students admitted for Fall 2021 should follow the 2021-22 Undergraduate Calendar and also refer to the First Year Course Selection Guide.
Email sent to all continuing BCS students on June 11, 2021:
Dear Computer Science students,
The BCS curriculum has seen some changes in the 2021-22 Undergraduate Calendar: https://calendar.carleton.ca/. This email is intended to summarize the main changes, inform you of how your program may be impacted, and remind you of other important academic related rules and issues. Please consult the 2021-22 Undergraduate Calendar for all changes, including changes to course preclusion and prerequisite statements. Though this email may seem lengthy, it contains important information. If at any time you need advising, please contact your Undergraduate Advisors.
Although the goal of this email is to make you aware of the main calendar changes and to inform you of other matters, please note that it is still the student’s responsibility to be aware of all University rules and regulations as well as those pertaining to their program, as per the Undergraduate Calendar: 1.1 Student Responsibility.
IMPORTANT INFO AND REMINDERS
NEW–SCS Laptop Requirement: https://carleton.ca/scs/scs-laptop-requirement/.
Fall 2021 Course Delivery Information: Fall 2021- Course Delivery Information – School of Computer Science (carleton.ca).
We are not able to confirm the delivery method of Winter 2022 courses at this time. The hope is that courses will be on campus but should things change, there will be a public announcement sent by the University.
Your Audit, Program and Calendar Year:
- Run and monitor your academic audit on Carleton Central regularly, especially after any registration activity, to make sure it’s correct and there are no “courses set aside” that should not be. If you are uncertain of something, see any discrepancies or have questions, please contact your Undergraduate Advisors. *Please read the “Important Notice” paragraph at the very bottom of your audit.
- Your audit shows the “Catalog Year” your program is under (e.g. 202030 = 2020/2021 academic year). Refer to the appropriate calendar for your program under Calendar Archives. Your audit should reflect what is in the calendar.
- For prerequisites and preclusions, regardless of your Catalog Year, always refer to the most recent Undergraduate Calendar.
- Students whose program is under an older Catalog Year and who change their program elements (i.e. add/drop a stream, move from Major to Honours or vice versa), will have their new program under the most recent Catalog Year.
Electives, Prohibited Courses, 1000-level Courses, Prerequisites and Preclusions:
- Be aware of the electives and prohibited courses for BCS. Also refer to the Computer Science program section of the Undergraduate Calendar for the most up-to-date list. New: CGSC 1005 has been added to the Prohibited Courses list.
- The maximum number of credits at the zero and 1000-level that can be used for your entire program is 7.0 credits, as outlined in the calendar section 2.1 Maximum Credits Below the 2000 Level.
- For prerequisites and preclusions, as stated above, always refer to the most recent Undergraduate Calendar.
- The School enforces all calendar prerequisites. Any exceptions for 2021-22 (due to calendar changes) are outlined below and are noted on the Public Class Schedule.
- The School, after notifying students, will de-register any students who fail to meet the prerequisites of a course.
- When a course “precludes additional credit” for another course, this means you cannot get credit for both courses. It does not mean that the two courses are equivalent, though in some cases they may be. If two courses that preclude each other are taken, only the most recent attempt can count towards your program and for credit; the other course will be forfeited on your audit under “courses set aside”. Please refer to 1.9 Credit for Closely-related Courses.
The following is a summary of the calendar changes you need to be aware of, effective Fall 2021. For full details, please refer to the 2021-22 Undergraduate Calendar and the notes–including registration priority–under each course on the Public Class Schedule.
Minimum grade of C –
COMP 2401 will require a grade of C- or above in order to take any subsequent course that requires COMP 2401 as a prerequisite. If COMP 2401 was taken and passed prior to Fall 2021, any passing grade (i.e. minimum D-) will be accepted. This course is offered in Fall 2021 (4 sections) and in Winter 2022 (1 section), however please note that the Winter 2022 section is reserved for students who do not meet the minimum C- grade requirement in Fall 2021 and/or who failed the course in Summer 2021. Students needing COMP 2401 should take this course in Fall 2021.
COMP 2404 will require a grade of C- or above as a prerequisite for COMP 3004. If COMP 2404 was taken and passed prior to Fall 2021, any passing grade (i.e. minimum D-) will be accepted.
New and renumbered courses
COMP 1008 Math for Game Programmers: available to all students as a free elective. See Fall 2021 Public Class Schedule notes for course delivery information.
COMP 3106 Intro to Artificial Intelligence: formerly COMP 4106 (no longer offered). COMP 3106 and COMP 4106 preclude each other for additional credit. This course is offered in Fall 2021 and Winter 2022.
COMP 3109** Applied Cryptograph and Authentication: formerly COMP 4109 (no longer offered). COMP 3109 and COMP 4109 preclude each other for additional credit. This course is offered in Fall 2021 and Winter 2022.
**requirement in the Computer and Internet Security stream and an option in the Network Computing stream. Please see below for details.
COMP 4105 Machine Learning: Prerequisites: COMP 3106* and (MATH 1104 or MATH 1107). *We will accept COMP 4106 in place of COMP 3106 as a prerequisite for the 2021-22 academic year. Students who took Machine Learning in past terms/years under the Special Topics course code COMP 4900 will not be able to take this course as they preclude each other. See notes on Public Class Schedule. This course is offered in Fall 2021 only.
Courses with new prerequisites—and what we will accept this year
COMP 4107 Neural Networks: New calendar prerequisites are COMP 3106* and (MATH 1104 or MATH 1107). *We will accept COMP 4106 in place of COMP 3106 as a prerequisite for the 2021-22 academic year. Students who do not have COMP 4106 should take COMP 3106 in Fall 2021. Old prerequisites will not be accepted. This course is offered in Winter 2022 only.
COMP 4108** Computer Systems Security: New calendar prerequisites are (COMP 3000 or SYSC 4001) and COMP 3109*. *We will accept COMP 4109 in place of COMP 3109 for Winter 2022 only. See below for details. This course is offered in Fall 2021 and Winter 2022.
**requirement in the Computer and Internet Security stream and an option in the Network Computing stream.
*We will accept the following prerequisites, by term, for COMP 4108:
Fall 2021: for students who do not have COMP 4109, we will allow them to take COMP 4108 with COMP 3000 as the only prerequisite.
Winter 2022: all students must have calendar prerequisites (COMP 3000 or SYSC 4001) and (COMP 3109 or COMP 4109). This means that if you do not have COMP 4109 already, please take COMP 3109 in Fall 2021.
For Computer and Internet Security stream students (pre 2021-22 Catalog Years):
Your audit will say that you need the following courses for your stream: COMP 3008, 3203, 4108 and 4109.
- If you have not yet taken COMP 4109, you will need to take COMP 3109. When you register in COMP 3109, this course will slot into your audit where COMP 4109 is sitting right now.
- If you are planning to take COMP 4108 in Winter 2022 and do not have COMP 4109, please make sure you take COMP 3109 in Fall 2021.
Mobile Computing and Network Computing streams: these streams are no longer available to move into. If you are currently in one of these streams, please follow your Catalog Year calendar and your academic audit to complete your program. All the courses required for these streams are still available.
If you have 4th year standing and the new calendar changes have negatively impacted your plans for graduation please reach out to the School Administrator at Mylienreid@carleton.ca. Please provide a detailed explanation and include your student number.
Please reach out to scs.ug.advisor@carleton.ca if you have any questions or need advising.
Wishing you all good health and much success in your studies!
Edina Storfer & Emily Hersey
Undergraduate Advisors
School of Computer Science
scs.carleton.ca