We have organized
our frequently asked questions these categories.
What scholarships are available for computing majors? Entering freshmen? High school students?
Many scholarship and educational opportunities are available to majors,
entering freshmen, and even high school students! Some of these
opportunites require very good grades, but some of these opportunites
are offered to students that do not have the best grades. Just a few
of these opportunities are listed below.
- HBCU-UP is a science
enrichment program that offers tutoring, summer assistance,
and mentoring to high school students and
also computing science majors. HBCU-UP is offered to students that show potential
but need additional math help. Majors must have at least a
2.3 GPA. more...
- Many funding and educational opportunities for computing majors
are listed at
http://www.xula.edu/programs.
- Xavier's financial
aid office is willing to assist you further.
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How do I become a computing major?
If you are a high school student: continue learning as much as you
can in your high school classes, participate in appropriate Xavier
summer programs, take the ACT or SAT, apply
to Xavier, apply for financial
aid if needed, and then, once admitted to Xavier declare yourself either a
computer science major or a computer information systems
major.
If you are already a Xavier student, you merely need to complete a "Change
of Major" form. You can get this form from the Computer Science Department
office on the 5th floor of the NCF Annex.
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What can I do with a computing major? Do I have to like programming? How does computer science differ from computer information systems?
The Computer Science major studies the art and the science of computing.
The art of computer science includes web design, graphics,
multimedia, software engineering, and many other creative courses.
The science of computing includes the theory of computing, database,
artificial intelligence, robotics, digital logic design, algorithms,
operating systems, architecture, and of course programming. The
Computer Science Department is committed to preparing students
for either a career in a computing field or for graduate study.
The Computer Information Systems major studies the business and the science of computing.
The business of computer information systems includes accounting, business administration, economics, sales, marketing, and software engineering. The science of computer information systems
includes database, digital logic design, operating systems, and of course programming.
Whether a computer science major or a computer information systems major, you have many available career paths.
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How can I get copies of needed software?
As a student, you can purchase academic-versions of software at significantly reduced prices. Just type "academic software" into your favorite search engine.
Free software is also available! Many computing enthusiasts want software
to be available to all --- especially software intended for computing
majors. Begin at http://www.gnu.org and
then take a look at the plethora of free software at http://directory.fsf.org/
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What tutoring, hardware, and software resources does your department
have?
Xavier University of Louisiana has an enviable collection
of people, hardware, and software to assist you in
your studies.
Our open labs are usually open 8:00am-5:00pm on weekdays, and noon-6:00pm on the weekends.
We have a departmental tutoring center that assists students enrolled
in CSPC-1710, CPSC-1720, and CPSC-2730. The tutor is usually available
in the evenings. Xavier also has many other academic
support services.
We have
Sun workstations, PCs, Macs, and a Beowulf cluster. We have two
PC teaching labs, a Sun student lab, a PC student lab, an engineering
lab, and a research lab (that has
the cluster, mobile robots, and high-end graphics software).
We have Microsoft software (including Office, Project, SQL Server,
Visio, VisualStudio .Net, Windows), graphics software (including 3ds
Max, Illustrator, InDesign, OpenGL, Photoshop, VIZ), multimedia software
(including Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, Premiere), and digital and
analog analysis software (including XiLinx, PSPICE, Verilog, ModelSim).
What people are affiliated with your department? Faculty? Staff?
Students? Alumni?
The left side of this page lists the faculty and staff of the computer science department.
Our faculty have diverse research areas including graphics, robotics,
web design, evolutionary computing, parallel processing, theory
of computing, software engineering, women in computing, narrative
intelligence, knowledge engineering, artificial intelligence, database,
and image processing.
Xavier students can access the university address book through Bannerweb.
Take a look at our archives to see past events in the department. Alumni and computing majors who complete the "We like to hear from you" form will have their information added to the archives page.
