Professional Science Master’s (PSM) Concentration

The Professional Science Master’s (PSM) is an innovative concentration that allows students to develop workplace skills, which are highly valued by employers, while they are pursuing their studies in computer networking. In addition to receiving a master’s degree in Computer Networking, students will also receive a Professional Science Master’s designation on their transcripts. The PSM program is nationally recognized, and more information can be found in the website of the NC State’s Graduate School: http://www.ncsu.edu/grad/psm-ncsu/ and links within.

The objectives of this concentration are to teach students PSM work-related topics, such as, team work, project feasibility analysis, technical writing, project management, communication and presentation skills as well as familiarize them with the work environment. This concentration isoptional for both CNC and CNE students. If you plan to take a Business course and also do a summer internship, then you can satisfy the requirements for this concentration with a minimum effort.

Concentration requirements:

• Select one course from the list of Elective Business courses given in the Courses.
• COP 500: Internship. The normal duration is three months during the summer, but it can be extended over the academic year.
• Students are required to attend at minimum of 6 lectures from the Leadership and Entrepreneurship series of lectures sponsored annually by the Computer Science Department.

For further information regarding this concentration contact Dr. Dutta, Computer Science Department (rdutta@ncsu.edu).

In order for this concentration to appear in your transcripts you have to switch degrees from the MSCN degree to the “MSCN with PSM” degree. For this you have to fill out the degree change form that you can find in MyPack portal (Student Self Service > Academic records > Grad Curriculum Change Form). In addition, you have to fill out a change of curriculum form for OIS, which can be downloaded from https://mgt.ncsu.edu/documents/OISchangeindegreecurr.pdf. These two forms have to be signed by Dr. Dutta, if you are in the CSC department. If you are in the ECE department, bring the two forms to the ECE graduate office.

Distance Education students: Some Distance Education students are part-time students who have a full time job in a networking or IT-related area. If this is the case for you, please contact Dr. Dutta to discuss how the internship requirement can be satisfied.