BS in Computer Science

Brief Description

Contemporary Information Technologies change rapidly in all levels of scope from hardware to conceptual. The ACT programme on Computer Science aims at offering its students a solid foundation that both addresses the fundamentals and provides adaptability in a lifelong career with continuous learning.

The ACT Computer Science graduate receives a solid and thorough education in fields of computing that interconnect as well as provide a deep and wide background in contemporary computer science. The programme is structured in threads, with some capstone courses unifying among them and a set of Mathematics courses providing necessary background knowledge for the contemporary computer scientist.

The program aims to:

• Equip students with knowledge, skills and inspiration for a career at the forefront of innovation or further studies and research in computer science
• Provide NECHE and QAA standards level education in computer Science appropriate for either a career in industry or graduate studies. Such education shall cover a wide range of knowledge and understanding in all relevant areas of a rigorous curriculum and foster problem solving skills and information literacy
• Develop cognitive skills needed by the computer scientist: the ability to model systems, the power of abstraction, the ability to communicate technical arguments
• Provide the ability to critically evaluate computer systems, their performance and their specifications and demonstrate a highlevel of professional competence across a range of technical, legal and ethical areas.
• Instill professional and entrepreneurial attitudes in students and develop a range of transferable skills that would enable them to advance and exploit the knowledge and technical expertise in pursuing their further career
• Demonstrate the applicability of knowledge and skills in various contexts in which computer systems are developed, either when working alone or effectively participating as members of international teams

Degree Requirements

In order to receive the BS degree, the student must have fulfilled all the GER and major requirements and have completed at least 121 US credit hours with an overall G.P.A of 2.0 or better. All Computer Science students must complete the two-semester sequence of the Capstone Project I and II courses. According to NECHE Standards, students must complete at least one fourth of their undergraduate program, including advanced work in the major or concentration, at the institution awarding the degree. As a consequence, all candidates for an ACT degree must have been in residence at the College for at least during the last two semesters of full time instruction, assuming availability and equivalency of transferable courses

Open University degree structure

The program in Computer Science is currently validated by Open University: under this scheme, under this scheme, 24 out of the 40 courses required for the Bachelor’s degree are validated by the Open Unviersity. Students must necessarily take the fourth year courses at ACT. Successful students will receive a Bachelor’s degree from Open University in addition to the ACT degree for a single course of studies by meeting the following common set of requirements (in addition to meeting General Education Requirements). For more information, check the student handbook. The OU Regulations can be found here.

To read a short description of the courses mentioned below, follow this link.

Computer Science Requirements

• Computer Science 105* Introduction to Programming I
• Computer Science 106 Introduction to Programming II - Object Oriented Programming
• Computer Science 205 Business Data Management
• Computer Science 206 Web Development
• Computer Science 215 Algorithms & Data Structures
• Computer Science 230 Introductory Systems Programming
• Computer Science 300 Mobile Application Programming
• Computer Science 306 Advanced Web Development
• Computer Science 310 Hardware & Computer Architecture
• Computer Science 312 Database Management Systems
• Computer Science 321 Operating Systems
• Computer Science 340 Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Science 322 Network Operating Systems and Administration
• Computer Science 325 Distributed Applications
• Computer Science 412 Object Oriented Programming
• Computer Science 421 Systems Security
• Computer Science 443 Capstone Project I
• Computer Science 444 Capstone Project II
• Computer Science 450 System Analysis and Design

Computer Science Elective (1 of the following is required)

• Computer Science 219 Video Game Design with Unity and Blender
• Computer Science 330 Introduction to Mobile Robotics Programming
• Computer Science 333 Computer Networks II
• Computer Science 422 Advanced DBMS
• PRAC 300 - Practicum

Mathematics and other CS Requirements

• Computer Science 180 Discrete Structures
• Computer Science 190 Programming with Python
• Mathematics 120 * Calculus I
• Mathematics 220 Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science
• Statistics 210 Introduction to Statistics with R

Business Elective (1 of the following is required)

• Accounting 101 Financial Accounting
• Economics 101* Introductory Macroeconomics
• Management 101 Introduction to Management
• Marketing 101 Introduction to Marketing

Free Electives: Four (4)

Four (4) courses from any of the courses listed in the ACT Catalog.

* Any Major courses above marked with an asterisk may also be taken to meet part of the GER Suggested Program of Studies

Suggested Program of Studies

Year One (Level 4)

• Computer Science 105 (OU)
• Computer Science 106 (OU)
• Computer Science 180
• Computer Science 190
• Mathematics 120 (OU)
• English 101
• English 102
• Philosophy 101
• Politics 101
• Natural Science GER

Year Two (Level 4)

• Computer Science 205 (OU)
• Computer Science 215 (OU)
• Computer Science 230 (OU)
• Computer Science 312 (OU)
• Computer Science 340 (OU)
• Computer Science 450 (OU)
• Business Elective (ECON or MRKT or ACC or MNGT 101) (OU)
• Statistics 210 (OU)
• English 204
• Philosophy 203

Year Three (Level 5)

• Computer Science 206 (OU)
• Computer Science 300 (OU)
• Computer Science 306 (OU)
• Computer Science 310 (OU)
• Computer Science 325 (OU)
• Mathematics 220 (OU)
• Art 130
• Free Elective
• Psychology 101
• History 120

Year Four (Level 6)

• Computer Science 321 (OU)
• Computer Science 322 (OU)
• Computer Science 412 (OU)
• Computer Science 421 (OU)
• Computer Science 443 (OU)
• Computer Science 444 (OU)
• Major Elective (OU)
• Free Elective
• Free Elective
• Free Elective

NOTE: The above is a suggested program of study that fulfils the graduation requirements in Computer Science. Your actual program of study will be produced by your Academic Advisor and/or Division Chair.