CSE Undergrad News

CSE 490E: Ethics, Society, and Computers
Winter 2018

Restr  22323 E  1 creidt 
T      230-320    EEB  042      
Moore,Jared L              
CR/NC  grading

Chief explorer: Jared Moore
Email: jlcmoore@cs.washington.edu
Office Hours: By appointment only

CSE 490E syllabus

Note: Graded credit/no credit so will not apply to CSE senior electives, senior electives must be graded

Description:
This course will explore computing technologies as they pertain to society along ethical dimensions. In particular, it will examine what it means to be an ethical computer scientist and the societal implications of computer technology. Each week, we’ll read about a different topic or case study (e.g. privacy) and discuss the related quandaries in class. This course will afford a moment to look up from the minutia of computer science – algorithmic complexity, fitting models, appropriate use of MVC, etc. – to examine the impact of technology on society at large.

Objectives:This course will provide a space and the impetus for exploration of ethical issues in computer science. The point of this class is not for the dictation of what is ethical (or the contrary), but rather for students to play a role in critically exploring technology. At the end of this course, students will have gained a broader conception of dilemmas in current computing technologies and will have a stronger framework with which to develop their own ethical responsibilities.

First, we saw about 87 students today, with three full time advisors.  We are beyond peak capacity right now and apologize sincerely for the long waits at dropins.  Here are a few registration notes that might be of interest.  On another note, we have some advising reinforcements coming online starting next week, so hopefully we can start assisting you faster in the near future.  More on that later.

REGISTRATION NOTES

1. The data science seminar for seniors, ChemE 599 is apparently being re-named to a different course number. Once they have it posted, they will alert our advising team and we will email all the senior students coded as data science to let them know how to register.  It will be offered in winter, so you don’t need to worry.  Just be patient and wait at this point.
2. Closed courses. We understand that there are a lot of closed courses already.  Here is what you need to do.
   • Try not to panic!!!
   • Sign up on the UW Notify system so you can learn if people drop
   • Understand that asking your friends to hoard courses for you is not helpful and not fair, please don’t do that
   • We will continue to monitor closed courses and attempt to add space when possible. Sometimes it means searching for new rooms, so these things take time.
   • On November 16th we’ll open the overload request form, that is a form you can fill out if you are still trying to get into a full CSE course.  We will try to give out space at that time based on priority such as graduating students, etc
   • We are going to do the absolute best we can to get everyone into courses.  We are growing the program and still struggling to get the size of courses at the right levels, so please be patient
   • Last May when students registered for fall they panicked as well, but by the start of the quarter, check out the course totals, most have room, so we are hopeful.
3. We’ve been hearing instances (5 now total and counting) of students who were dropped from the major for no known reason.  If you can’t register for an open CSE course, please check your major, if your major is not listed as Computer Science or Computer Engineering, send an email to ugrad-advisor@cs.uw.edu with your name, student number and what your  major is, and what it should be, and we’ll investigate
4. If you have a specialized registration issue and email ugrad-advisor about it, you are more likely to have your questions answered quickly if you include all the relevant information including your student number, full name and sln’s of courses in question.  At this point however we are NOT going to be overloading courses.
5. If you want to take a 500 level course as an undergraduate, this is what you do:
   
   •  If you are part of the 5th year masters program already, you should go to this form and submit your request.
   • If you are an undergraduate CSE Major without being admitted to the 5th year masters program, please email the instructor for permission. Once permission has been granted, forward to ugrad-advisor@cs.uw.edu with your name, student number, sln’s of all lecture/sections and a copy of the approval email
   • These courses are generally 400’s on steroids, you should not pursue this option lightly on a whim.

Thank you!

~CSE Advising

Thursday Nov. 2nd: CSE Grad School Info Session

Come learn about CSE’s Combined Bachelor’s/Master’s (BSMS) Program, the Professional Masters Evening Degree Program and/or about pursuing your PhD in CSE. The first part of the session will feature information about the BSMS program, followed by a short presentation on the Evening Degree, and the second half will go over general PhD admissions nuts and bolts and will feature a panel of CSE PhD students. You are welcome to attend one, two, or three parts of the session, come and go as you wish.

Thursday November 2nd, Sieg 134

4 -5:30 PM*

*4-4:30 5th Year Masters Program

*4:30-4:45 Professional Masters Evening Degree

*4:45-5:30 PhD

CSE undergraduates (only!) who plan on engaging in technical interviews over the next few months should sign up here for the Mock Technical Interview event to be held in the CSE advising offices the evening of Monday, October 30, 2017.

At this event, technical interviewers from several of our industry affiliates will engage in abbreviated (30 minute) one-on-one mock technical interviews with students. The coaches will provide feedback to the students during and after the interviews.  All students should plan on bringing a copy of their resume to the interviews.

This event has extremely limited space. It is geared first and foremost toward CSE students who plan to earn their degree before Summer 2018, and secondly toward CSE students who plan to earn their degree before Autumn 2019.  The sign-up deadline is midnight (11:59:59 pm) on Wednesday, October 25.  Slots will be filled in order of expected graduation from the pool of students who sign up prior to the deadline.

Selected students will be given one interview and should choose from one, two or three of the session times listed on the linked form.  The 45 minute sessions begin at 6 pm, 6:45 pm, and 7:30 pm.

CSE undergraduates (only!) who have little or no technical interview experience can now sign up here for the Beginning Technical Interview Coaching event to be held in the Atrium on Tuesday, October 31.

At this event, technical interviewers from several of our industry affiliates will meet with groups of 2- 5 students. The interviewers will describe their technical interview processes, give a few sample questions and coach on what they look for in answers. The sessions will include sample programming questions, logic questions and puzzles. Our experts will also provide examples of what they ask in actual technical interviews and how to successfully answer to land the job.

This event is especially geared towards new CSE students who have little or no technical interview experience. The goal is to provide a good idea of what students will face in a technical interview and what kind of preparation is necessary to do well in one.

Students should choose one of the two hour-long sessions from the linked form. One session begins at 3 pm and the other at 4 pm.  Students will be selected in order of sign up.  Please try to sign up by end of day Thursday, October 26.

——— Forwarded message ———-
From: Ed Lazowska <lazowska@cs.washington.edu>
Date: Sun, Oct 15, 2017 at 2:04 PM
Subject: [cs-ugrads] Three recruiting days: October 23, 24, 25
To: Cs-Grads <cs-grads@cs.washington.edu>, “cs-ugrads@cs.washington.edu” <cs-ugrads@cs.washington.edu>
Cc: Hank Levy <levy@cs.washington.edu>, Kay Beck-Benton <kbeck@cs.washington.edu>

There are 3 recruiting days coming up in one week. PLEASE plan to
attend all 3, and PLEASE get your resume into the resume book.

Full information is here:
https://www.cs.washington.edu/industrial_affiliates/meetings/2017/studentinfo

The short version of the story:

– Most of our Industry Affiliate members care much more about the
ability to recruit our students than about the research we’re doing.

– Yes, jobs are plentiful right now. But it hasn’t always been that
way, and it won’t always be that way. Turning out and showing our
Industry Affiliates what great students we have is a favor to future
generations – the companies will keep coming even when positions are
tight.

– The CSE Atrium has become too small for our recruiting fairs; 2 of
the 3 will be in the HUB Ballroom this year.

– Data Science fair: Monday October 23, 1-5, HUB Ballroom.
(Campus-wide, but organized by CSE on behalf of the eScience
Institute.)

– Established Company fair: Tuesday October 24, 11-4, HUB Ballroom.
This is for CSE students only.

– Startup Company fair: Wednesday Octobrer 25, 1-5, CSE Atrium. This
is for CSE students only.

PLEASE get your resume in the resume book.

PLEASE get your Allen School nametag prior to the events.

PLEASE attend all 3 fairs – make us look good!

More info here:
https://www.cs.washington.edu/industrial_affiliates/meetings/2017/studentinfo

———- Forwarded message ———- From: Hank Levy <levy@cs.washington.edu> Date: Thu, Oct 12, 2017 at 12:19 PM Subject: Announcing the Bill & Melinda Gates Center for Computer Science & Engineering

Dear Allen School family,

I am excited to share with you that the building going up across the street, which we have affectionately been referring to as “CSE2,” officially has a name! This afternoon, the University of Washington Board of Regents approved naming our second building the Bill & Melinda Gates Center for Computer Science & Engineering. The building was named in the couple’s honor thanks to the generosity of Microsoft and a group of local business and philanthropic leaders who refer to themselves as the “Friends of Bill & Melinda.” Together, this group contributed more than $30 million toward the building to support our school’s expansion and express their gratitude and admiration to the Gateses.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Center will stand as an enduring tribute to the couple’s vision and leadership in applying innovation to the world’s most intractable problems in education, health care, and global development — problems that the Allen School community tackles every day in the labs and out in the field. From mobile apps for disease screening and management, to games that support personalized learning, to robust tools for managing data collection and analysis, our work demonstrates the potential for technology to improve lives around the world. I cannot think of a more fitting association for our second home.

Microsoft president Brad Smith, a member of the Friends of Bill & Melinda who has spearheaded our building campaign, called it “wonderful symbolism” to have the Bill & Melinda Gates Center across the street from the Paul G. Allen Center. I could not agree more. I am tremendously grateful to Brad and all of the Friends of Bill & Melinda for investing in the future of our program in the Gateses’ name.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Center is on track to be completed in December 2018. We will, of course, organize events and activities to mark that occasion and celebrate the building’s grand opening. In the meantime, you can read more about today’s Regents action and the Friends of Bill & Melinda in the UW media release here.

Warm regards,

Hank

_______________________________________________

CSE undergraduates (only!) who already have some technical interview experience can now sign up at https://goo.gl/forms/rZKkcIftlfTblH2Y2 for the Intermediate Technical Interview Coaching event to be held in the Atrium next Wednesday, October 18.

At this event, technical interviewers from several of our industry affiliates will meet with groups of 2-4 students at a time. The interviewers will describe their technical interview processes, give you a few sample questions and coach you on what they look for in answers. The sessions will include sample programming questions, logic questions and puzzles. Our experts will also provide examples of what they ask in actual technical interviews and how to successfully answer to land the job. Students will be able to meet with interviewers from multiple companies in several short sessions which will total one hour in length. Sessions will start at 3 pm and 4 pm, so students should choose just one of those two times on the sign up link.

Space is limited, so students should sign up as soon as possible this week.

Again, this event is especially geared toward CSE students who already have some technical interview experience. The goal is to give you a good idea of what you will face in a technical interview and what kind of preparation is necessary to do well in one.  If you are new to technical interviews, we will offer a separate session on October 31st (RSVP to come later).

Applying for Graduation

Graduation is not automatic. Generally, you should file for graduation two or three quarters before you plan to graduate (for example, file during autumn quarter if you plan to graduate at the end of spring quarter). If you are pursuing a double major or double degree, you will need to make an appointment with your other department, as well. If you have a minor, we will check your minor requirements at your CSE graduation appointment.

The last day to file your graduation application is the third Friday of the quarter you plan to graduate. You must see an advisor before then.

Please read the information on the graduation page thoroughly, and then book your appointments using the links on that page.

There are also instructions on how to check to see if you have filed previously, if you can’t remember whether you have or have not.

~CSE Advising