Located on the first floor of the AV Williams building (Room 1119), the Undergraduate Office in the Department of Computer Science is here to assist you with your academic and professional development. If you have any questions about the major or if you need any assistance with university or departmental policies, please come to the office and we will be sure to assist you.

While you are asked to come in for mandatory advising appointments once a semester, that should never preclude you from coming into speak with an advisor whenever you have a question or a concern. If you are having academic difficulties, it is better for you to come into the office as soon as possible. It is the mission of the Undergraduate Office to help you during the course of your education; we are your advocates. If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at undergrad@cs.umd.edu or you may telephone us at 301.405.2672

Letter from the Undergraduate Chairman

Dear CS Majors,

The goal of your CS Department is to help you acquire the knowledge, skills and attitude to succeed as a scientist in the field of computation, whether by launching a career in an industry built on computing technology or by joining a graduate program on your way to research in our field. The CS Undergraduate Education Office is charged with making this happen. We advise, schedule courses, explain campus policies, provide support and perform a hundred other tasks in the business of producing the world’s top students of Computer Science.

I run this office, and the buck stops here.

Brandi Adams and Melissa Affolter coordinate undergraduate policies and programs, and run our advising program (you get counsel from one of us each semester). All of our instructors serve as domain- knowledgeable representatives of our operation. I hope you come to rely on them, just as I do.

However, at the end of the day, policy decisions are mine, and you can always get a definitive answer about any question by coming to me. I won’t guarantee that you will always get the answer you want, but you will certainly get an answer from the boss. Got a question? Ask. Concerned about an issue? Express that concern. Send me a note at undergrad@cs.umd.edu or visit AV Williams 1119. You are welcome to stop by and tell me what’s on your mind. I want you to get the most you can out of your experience here at College Park. Let’s make that happen.

Cordially,

Jim Purtilo, PhD
Undergraduate Chairman