School of Computer Science
Executive Director: Dr. Patricia Morreale
NAAB-233, (908) 737-6150
The School of Computer Science prepares students to think critically and creatively; to succeed in challenging careers in computing and information technology, or pursue graduate degrees; to adapt to changing technological and social environments in a global economy.
The department offers three B.S. degree programs:
- Computer Science (accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org [Union campus only])
- Computer Science (Information Systems Option)
- Information Technology
and a graduate program, an M.S. in Computer Information Systems.
These programs prepare technically oriented professionals for leadership and management positions in business, education, and government or graduate studies. Our primary purpose is to provide technology and research related undergraduate and graduate programs to support the career goals of individuals entering and advancing in technical and managerial positions at all levels in the computing and information technology fields.
Computer science faculty are actively engaged in ongoing research activities and undergraduate student researchers are included in this effort. The department recently received highly competitive National Science Foundation (NSF) grants for scholarship and equipment. Additional department research funding has been provided by Google and the Computing Research Association, as well as private industry.
An M.S. degree in Computer Information Systems is available as part of a 5-year B.S. CS/M.S. CIS program. Please see more information at the department website: www.kean.edu/~compsci
For information regarding College/program mission and student learning outcomes please see http://www.kean.edu/KU/CNAHS-Mission-and-SLOs
Computer Science Classrooms
The School of Computer Science classes have a maximum size of 20 students per class.
Hardware: Over a hundred machines are distributed across five dedicated classrooms. Each classroom is equipped with twenty-one networked computers, an overhead LCD projector, a presentation screen, printing capability, and Internet access as well as local access and whiteboard space for presentations. The primary instructional rooms each have twenty-one Dell Optiplex 790 machines with dual-boot option settings, permitting students to work in either Windows or Linux. An additional dedicated classroom has twenty-one iMac machines [2@24” (2.8 GHz) and 19@20” (2.66 GHz), running dual-boot option settings, permitting students to work in OS X or Windows] and one Dell workstation, in addition to the technology classroom teaching suite (projector/board/screen). A networked HP Laserjet 84250n printer is in each classroom.
Software: Dual boot Linux and Windows. Microsoft Office 2010, with Access, Excel, Powerpoint, Project Visio, and Word is available. Java, C, C++, and Visual Studio are available, along with other programming packages and utility programs.
Computer Science Research Laboratories
The School of Computer Science maintains a teaching environment, accessible via login from the classroom and campus laboratories on the following machine:
Dell PowerEdge R710 2 CPUs (2.4 Quad Core Xeon), 24GB RAM 3TB RAID;
Dell PowerEdge 2950: 2 CPUs (2.0GHz Quad Core Xeon), 10GB RAM and 1TB RAID;
Dell PowerEdge 2950: 2 CPUs (2.0GHz Quad Core Xeon), 4GB RAM and 3TB RAID and
The High-Performance Computing Laboratory (managed by the Computational Science Group, part of the School of Computer Science at Kean University) has one large cluster, funded by a NSF MRI grant. The cluster is available for student and faculty researchers and is composed of a 130 node (1040 core) Beowulf Cluster. Hardware: Dual 2.66 GHz Quad Core Xeon CPU, 2GB RAM per core, 3TB HD. Software: Linux, MPICH.
The Network Laboratory, utilized by student researchers for hands-on projects associated with human-computer interaction (HCI), multimedia and mobile application development, networking configurations and network programming experience, includes 6 workstations (2@2.66 GHz and 4@3GHz), and a variety of telecommunications equipment and software. A wireless testbed of 10 Oracle Java SPOTs and 6 Crossbow sensors are used for distributed data collection and data mining. Two brain-computer interface (BCI) headsets are available for student research.
The Virtual Reality Laboratory, used by student researchers to conduct projects in virtual reality, augmented reality, human-computer interactions maintains two PC workstations (2.8GHz, 4GB RAM, and 500GB HD), two Z800 3D Visor Head-mount displays, two DG5-VHand Data Gloves, one Phantom Omni Heptic Device, one 35” Multitouch Surface + software, and the CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment for 3D immersive visualization environment.
The Electronics Laboratory is used by faculty for telecommunications research, circuit design and systems investigation, and support senior research projects. The lab maintains a variety of electronics testing and fabrication equipment, and twenty-one PC workstations running Windows and development software tools.
Admission Requirements:
The School of Computer Science has formally adopted the following standards for admission to all options of the Computer Science major:
- Minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 at the time of admission to the major.
- At least 9 credits of CPS courses with a grade of “C” or better in each and these credits must have been taken at Kean University.
Transfer credit policy: Transfer credit is evaluated during admission, using university standards and www.njtransfer.org. Department evaluation of transfer credit is conducted by the Department Chair or designated representative. Coursework to be transferred to Kean is evaluated as equivalent work based on course numbering, pre-requisites, co-requisites, catalog description, and supporting materials. Any exceptions are documented.