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Software Engineering Program
Entry Requirements & Curriculum
Entrance Requirements Credit Earned Before Acceptance Foundation Courses Required for Entrance Candidate Plan of Study (CPS) Software Engineering - Core Requirements Capstone Option Thesis Option Sub Areas of Specialty Course Prerequisites Entrance Requirements
To enter the Software Engineering plan as either a local student or distance student, a candidate must hold a bachelor's degree in computer science, computer engineering, software engineering or closely related field, must submit GRE scores of at least 1000 (verbal + quantitative), with a verbal score of 400 or higher and a GPA of 3.00 or higher. The faculty graduate admissions committee will decide acceptance into the program based upon program need, the guidelines stated herein and university admission requirements. Once admitted, the student must file a candidate plan of study (CPS) in the first semester of enrollment. Foundation courses, and other courses, that are found to be needed are added to the CPS and must be completed in or before the first year of enrollment.
Credit Earned Before Acceptance
No more than 9 hours of graduate level Software Engineering classes may be applied to the SWEN degree if taken without admission into the program. No more than 6 hours graduate credit may be transferred to the Software Engineering degree.
Foundation courses and their prerequisites are required for entry and must be completed before enrolling in graduate SWEN courses.
Candidate Plan of Study (CPS)
Students accepted in the Software Engineering program must file a candidate plan of study with their assigned faculty advisor by the end of the first semester of study. The candidate plan of study details all courses the student must take to fulfill the degree requirements.
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Foundation Courses Required for Entrance
These courses must appear on your transcript or they will be added to your curriculum requirements with the exception of those courses marked with an asterisk which are required based on your GRE Verbal and Quantitative score.
Rubric Foundation Course Name Credit hours CSCI 3333 Data Structures (3 hours)
MATH 3331 Discrete Mathematics (3 hours)
MATH 3334 Probability and Statistics for Scientists and Engineers** (3 hours)
WRIT 3035 Intermediate Writing* (3 hours)
WRIT 3135 Technical Writing* (3 hours)
* Required if verbal GRE is less than 400, **Required if quantitative GRE is less than 500.
Data Structures has a prerequisite of Programming in C.
Please note that foundation courses are not part of the Software Engineering Curriculum but are courses you need to take, if you have not had them already, in order to be admitted to the Software Engineering program. You can take these courses at any accredited University, they just need to appear on your transcript submitted to UHCL when you apply to Software Engineering.
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You must take 7 core courses ( 21 hours) plus 4 electives (12 hours) and a capstone project (3 hours) for a total of 36 hours to complete the Software Engineering Degree, capstone option. For the thesis option you must complete the same 7 core ( 21 hours) courses, 3 electives (9 hours) and 6 hours of thesis for a total of 36 hours .
Rubric Name of course Core
Elective Credit
Hours Online
Face-to-Face Instructor Semester Offered* SWEN 5130 Requirements Engineering Core 3 Online J. Helm Fall
SWEN 5232 Software Construction Core 3 Online and Face to Face L. Wu Spring
SWEN 5233 Software Architecture Core 3 Online S. White Spring
SWEN 5234 Software Engineering Processes Core 3 Online and Face to Face L. Wu Fall
SWEN 5432 Software Engineering Life Cycle Core 3 Online S. White Fall
SWEN 5532 Software Safety Core 3 Online J. Helm Fall
SWEN 5534 Reuse and Reengineering Core 3 Online S. White Summer
If you are a Distance Student needing to take strictly online courses you must pick your electives from those courses offered online. You will need 4 of the below electives if you are a capstone student, 3 if you are a thesis student.
Rubric Name of course
Elective Credit
Hours Online
Face-to-Face Professor Semester Offered CSCI 5333 Database Management Systems Elective 3 Online and Face to Face Boetticher Fall & Spring
SENG 5330 Risk Management Elective 3 Online J. Helm Fall & Summer
*
SWEN 5132 Software Design Patterns Elective 3 Online L. Wu Spring
*
SWEN 5133 Aspect Oriented Development Elective 3 Online L. Wu Spring
*
SWEN 5134 Service Oriented Architecture Elective 3 Online L. Wu Fall
SWEN 5230 Software Project Management Elective 3 Online J. Dabney Fall
SWEN 5430 Software Metrics Elective 3 Online and Face to Face Boetticher Spring
SWEN 5431 Testing Validation and Verification Elective 3 Online J. Helm Spring
SWEN 5435 Personal Software Process Elective 3 Online S. White Fall
SWEN 4435 Intro. to Personal Software Process Elective 3 Online S. White Fall
If you are not a distance student, other electives can be chosen from UHCL's Software Engineering, Computer Science, System Engineering and Computer Engineering courses that are offered strictly on campus and require attendance in the classroom. Electives may be chosen as shown in the thesis and capstone options show below. * The semester offered reflects the semester we plan to offer the course in. However, the actual schedule may change due to enrollment changes, faculty changes, and other factors.
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Capstone Option (3 hours of capstone + 12 hours of electives)
Students choosing the capstone option will take the 7 required core courses, the capstone project, plus 12 hours of electives which may be chosen from Software Engineering, Computer Science, Systems Engineering or Computer Engineering course offerings at the level shown in the table below.
Rubric/Name of Course Level Credit Hours Online
Face-to-Face SWEN 6837 Software Engineering Capstone Project** 6000 level 3 hours Online
SWEN *technical elective 4000-6000 level 6 hours of electives
EMGT/SENG/CENG/CSCI/SWEN *technical elective 5100-6000 level 6 hours of electives
** Capstone enrollment is limited to students who have completed all 21 hours of the SWEN CORE and their prerequisites. Students enrolled and taking strictly online courses may take the capstone as a online course. *Courses taken as electives require permission of the faculty advisor. Capstone is a controlled course and you must fill out the control course form and email it to Kim Edwards to obtain permission to enroll. You will be given permission if you are in your last semester of enrollment (your graduating semester) or if you have completed all 7 core courses.
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Thesis Option (6 hours of thesis + 9 hours of electives)
Students choosing the thesis option will take the 7 required core courses, the thesis, plus 9 hours of electives which may be chosen from Software Engineering, Computer Science, Systems Engineering or Computer Engineering course offerings at the level shown in the table below.
Rubric/Name of Course Level Credit Hours Online
Face-to-Face SWEN 6939 Master’s Thesis Research 6000 level 6 hours Face-to-Face
EMGT/SENG/CENG/CSCI/SWEN *technical elective 4000-6000 level 3 hours of electives Face-to-Face
SWEN *technical elective 5100-6000 level 6 hours of electives Face-to-Face
Students must form a thesis committee, have a SWEN faculty member agree to serve as the thesis committee chair and must prepare a thesis proposal in conjunction with your thesis committee chair in the semester prior to enrollment into thesis. Contact the School of SCE advising office for instructions. Thesis is not offered as a strictly distance offering at this time. Travel to the university during work on the thesis will be necessary if the thesis option is chosen. *Courses taken as electives require permission of the faculty advisor.
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Sub Areas of Specialty
Students interested in concentrating their study in a specific sub-area of software engineering such as System Design, Software Safety or Software Project Management may choose as electives those courses listed under the respective sub-plans listed below.
System Design Sub-plan
Rubric Name of course Credit Hours Online
Face-to-Face SWEN 5132 Software Design Patterns 3 hours Face to Face
SWEN 5133 Aspect Oriented Development 3 hours Online and Face to Face
SWEN 5134 Service Oriented Architecture 3 hours Face to Face
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Software Safety Sub-plan
Rubric Name of course Credit Hours Online
Face-to-Face SENG 5330 Risk Management 3 hours Online
SENG 5334 Human Factors Engineering 3 hours Face to Face
SWEN 5431 Testing Validation and Verification 3 hours Face to Face
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Software Project Management Sub-plan
Rubric Name of course Credit Hours Online
Face-to-Face SWEN 5435 or
SWEN4435 Personal Software Process 3 hours Online
SWEN 5230 Software Project Management 3 hours Face to Face
SENG 5330 Risk Management 3 hours Face to Face
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Course Prerequisites
All courses have a dependency structure and students should consult the Software Engineering
Course Roster in this catalog for prerequisites, co-requisites and sequencing of courses. Request information about the
Software Engineering Masters program at University of Houston-Clear Lake.
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