"Double-Dipping" Rules

Computer Science Department Policy on “Double-Dipping” of courses for Requirements of Majors or Minors

March 2022

This document seeks to clarify policies with respect to awarding multiple majors or minors, in so far as they relate to any of the majors and minors administered by the Computer Science Department; we also touch upon interdepartmental programs that include many COMP courses. Download: Double-Dipping March 2022

For the most part, departmental policy is captured by the College of Arts & Sciences default rules (https://www.luc.edu/media/lucedu/cas/pdfs/Double%20Dipping%20Policy.pdf) that a student may not major and minor in the same discipline, any extra major requires 21 credits not being used for another major, and any minor requires at least 8 credits not being used for another major or minor.

Some further details relating to computing majors and minors follow.

The programs admistered by the Computer Science Department are the following majors:

• “Computer Science” (COMP-BS)
• “Cybersecurity” (CSEC-BS)
• “Information Technology” (ITEC-BS)
• “Software Engineering” (SWEN-BS)

and minors:

• “Computer Science” (COMP-MINR)
• “Information Technology” (ITEC-MINR)
• “Computer Crime and Forensics” (CCFR-MINR)

In addition, the following majors administered primarily through an interdepartmental program or another department incorporate heavy computing content:

• “Mathematics & Computer Science” (MCSC-BS)(administered primarily by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics)
• “Physics With Computer Science” (PCSC-BS)(administered primarily by the Department of Physics)
• “Data Science” (DSCI-BS)(interdepartmental program with its own director)
• “Bioinformatics” (BIOI-BS)(interdepartmental program with its own director)

The Department of Computer Science has established the following policies:

1. The CAS rule against obtaining a major and a minor in the same discipline is to be interpretedas generally prohibiting combinations of very closely related disciplines. In particular, a minor in “Computer Science” (COMP-MINR) or “Information Technology” (ITEC-MINR) is prohibited for any student majoring in “Computer Science” (COMP-BS), “Cybersecurity” (CSEC-BS), “Information Technology” (ITEC-BS), “Software Engineering” (SWEN-BS), “Mathematics & Computer Science” (MCSC-BS), “Physics With Computer Science” (PCSC-BS), or “Data Science” (DSCI-BS).
2. At the same time, a minor in “Computer Crime and Forensics” (CCFR-MINR) is permitted with any major, as long as it incorporates the CAS default of at least 8 distinct credits. (Note that this may restrict “Computer Crime and Forensics” (CCFR-MINR) choices for computing majors; in particular, a student with a “Cybersecurity” (CSEC-BS) major will always need to incorporate three CJC courses.)
3. In addition, a minor in “Computer Science” (COMP-MINR) or “Information Technology” (ITECMINR) is permitted with a major in “Bioinformatics” (BIOI-BS) as long as it incorporates the CAS default of at least 8 distinct credits. In consultation with the Undergraduate Program Director, students may also be able to arrange certain substitutions in the minor to avoid taking excessively similar classes.
4. A major in “Mathematics & Computer Science” (MCSC-BS) is not meaningful for a student who completes separate majors in both Mathematics and any of “Computer Science” (COMP-BS), “Cybersecurity” (CSEC-BS), “Information Technology” (ITEC-BS), or “Software Engineering” (SWEN-BS), even if extra course work is incorporated.
5. A major in “Physics With Computer Science” (PCSC-BS) is not meaningful for a student who completes separate majors in both Physics and any of “Computer Science” (COMP-BS), “Cybersecurity” (CSEC-BS), “Information Technology” (ITEC-BS), or “Software Engineering” (SWEN-BS), even if extra course work is incorporated.

The following table summarizes the number of distinct credits required for various combinations of majors and minors, where X represents a disallowed combination: