Office: J383
Phone: 678 915 4982
Email:
Office hours: Mon & Wed 11am-noon and 4:30pm-6pm, by appointment, and open-door
CS4903 - Special Topics in Computer Science: Parallel GPU Programming
Class time: Meeting consultations between faculty and students occur on Wed
7:30pm
Lab time: None
This courses allows students to explore the use of parallel GPU, cluster, and multi-core systems to run parallel algorithms. Students will
Jon A Preston
Office: J383
Phone: 678 915 4982
Email:
Office hours: Mon & Wed 11am-noon and 4:30pm-6pm, by appointment, and open-door
| A | [90, ∞) |
| B | [80, 90) |
| C | [70, 80) |
| D | [60, 70) |
| F | (-∞, 60) |
| Projects (3-5 total) | 75% |
| Status Meetings with Faculty | 25% |
In addition to your course final grade, I record two progress grades for each student in each semester, an "early warning" grade and a midterm grade. These are recorded in the BANNER system and are available to you. The purpose of these two grade reports is to help you assess how you're doing in time to make changes or get help if it looks like you may be heading for an unsatisfactory grade. Progress grades will not appear on your official transcript. If you need help, it is available. The best place to start is with me or with an advisor. Free tutoring is available through the ATTIC. If you want to talk to me about your progress, please stop by during office hours, or email for an appointment outside office hours.
The early warning grade will be posted some time around the 3rd week of the semester. It isn't really a grade; it is an indication of whether or not you are engaged in the work required for the course. If you haven't missed a substantial number of classes or labs, you've made an honest attempt to complete assignments and labs, and you've turned in your work on time, I will record that you are engaged. Frequent absences, missing, late, or incomplete work will result in a report of "not engaged." If you receive a report of "not engaged" you will get a letter from the University administration encouraging you to make use of the resources we have to help you before you get too far off track. You will also be encouraged to take SPSU 1001 if you haven't already, and to talk to me. Conversely, a report of "engaged" means you've gotten off to a good start; keep up the good work!
Midterm grades will be reported the week before the midterm withdrawal day, the deadline to withdraw with a grade of W. Midterm grades are "S," satisfactory or "U," unsatisfactory. You will have a grade of S if your work so far in the semester, taken as a whole, would earn a grade of C or better. A grade of U means that if I had to assign a letter grade at midterm, it would be a D or F. As with the early warning grade, the purpose of the midterm grade is to warn you of problems while you still have a chance to correct them. If you have a grade of U, you should certainly talk with me about it. You may also want to consider withdrawing from the course, but talk with me before you make that decision. Withdrawing will result in a grade of W, which will not affect your grade point average, but will appear on your official transcript and may affect your qualification for financial aid. A midterm grade of S is a good sign, but it does not mean that you are guaranteed to pass the course. More than half of your final grade will be based on assignments and exams after midterm. If you slack off after midterm, it is very possible that you will earn an unsatisfactory grade for the course. A grade of S should be encouragement to keep up the good work, not an invitation to relax.
The assignments will be graded on a progressive scale, so it’s almost always possible to get most credit if you follow good programming practices, building your solution piecewise with verification testing. If the assignment is incomplete, it is still possible to receive partial credit, provided that you comment out those portions that do not compile.
Please be advised that no credit will be given for late assignments. If you have a problem that arises during the course of the semester, please contact me as soon as possible. I'm happy to work with you under legitimate circumstances (life has potholes), but I can't work with you to help you succeed if you don't let me know of a problem.
If a student must miss a test or final exam due to a documented, legitimate reason (illness with documentation, family death, etc.), then a make-up test/exam will be administered. To coordinate this, contact the instructor as soon as possible. It is the responsibility of the student to coordinate this in a timely manner.
Students must meet with the faculty advisor on a regular schedule and keep in communication via email to report progress on the projects for the course.
If you have a documented disability as described by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that may require you to need assistance attaining accessibility to instructional content to meet course requirements, we recommend that you contact the ATTIC at 678-915-7361 as soon as possible. It is then your responsibility to contact and meet with your instructor. The ATTIC can assist you and the instructor in formulating a reasonable accommodation plan and provide support in developing appropriate accommodations for your disability. Course requirements will not be waived but accommodations will be made, when appropriate, to assist you to meet the requirements.
I encourage students in promoting their spiritual health. Religiously observant students wishing to be absent on holidays that require missing class and/or exam should notify the instructor at least two weeks in advance and discuss acceptable ways of making up any work missed because of the absence. It is up to the student to be proactive and handle this early in the semester.
This page was last updated on 11/6/2009.