Guide to the 2008-09 Oasis Advising Assistance System
- Summary of Curricular Changes
- Summary of Changes to OASIS (For Experienced OASIS Users)
- Overview
- Using OASIS
- Academic Plan File Format
- Saving and Printing OASIS Output
- Versions of OASIS and Curriculum Year Rule
- Transfer, Advanced Placement (AP), and Petitioned Courses
- Miscellaneous
Summary of Curricular Changes
Oasis reflects changes in curricula, courses, and catalog. (See the section on "Versions of Oasis and Curriculum Year Rule" to determine which curriculum/Oasis version you should be using.) Among those changes:
Changes affecting both CS and CSE:
- The MAT 22A (Linear Algebra) requirement can also be satisified by
- MAT 67 (Advanced Linear Algebra).
- ECS 60 (formerly ECS 110) is now listed as a lower-divisioncore requirement.
- ECS 156 (Discrete-Event Simulation) is now listed as a computer elective.
- ECS 188 (Ethics in Age of Technology) will change from 3 to 4 units in Spring 2009. (Oasis will count this course as 3 units.)
- Recall that substantial changes to Mathematics courses became effective Fall 2006.
- See http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/undergrad/matchanges.html for course renumbering of mathematics courses and the impact on CS/CSE majors.
Changes affecting CS:
- In one of the science series, BIS 2A replaces BIS 1A.
- MAT 22B (Differential Equations) and ECS 154B (Computer Architecture) are no longer required.
- ECS 154B may be taken as a computer elective.
- By "auto petition" (you do not have to submit a petition), the following is allowed (and Oasis will automatically recognize):
- ECS 132 (Probability and Statistical Modeling for Computer Science) as a computer elective.
- The former "Computer Science Electives" and "Mathematics Electives" have been replaced by "Computer Science and Mathematics Electives", of which a minimum of seven courses including at least one mathematics or statistics course must be taken. For details, see http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/undergrad/csmajor/cs-req.html
Changes affecting CSE:
- ECI 114 (Probabilistic Systems Analysis for Civil Engineers) is now allowed as an alternative to MAT 135A or STA 131A.
- By "auto petition" (you do not have to submit a petition), the following is allowed (and Oasis will automatically recognize):
- ECS 132 (Probability and Statistical Modeling for Computer Science) for MAT 135A or STA 131A or ECI 114.
- Engineering 190 is no longer allowed as an alternative to ECS 188.
- The number of units of computer electives has increased from 13 to 15. (This increase reflects the minimum units possible in 4 courses taken from the revised electives list.)
Summary of Changes to OASIS (For Experienced OASIS Users)
If you've never used Oasis before, then skip to the next section.
For those who have used Oasis in previous years, the main changes between this version of Oasis and earlier versions are:
No significant changes, just a few small improvements.
Overview
Oasis is a tool that is aimed to to relieve you and advisors from some of the mundane tasks of making an academic plan and performing a degree check. It is *not* intended to replace in-person advising with faculty or staff advisors. Instead, it should make those sessions more productive.
Oasis takes as input an academic plan consisting of classes taken in previous quarters and classes planned to be taken in future quarters. Based on classes taken in previous quarters, it checks prerequisites for each planned class. Oasis also checks whether each planned class is scheduled to be offered in the indicated quarter, according to the published catalog; Oasis reports any discrepancies, but you should consult http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/courses for the up-to-date list of actual offerings (which sometimes differ from the published catalog).
Oasis then reports on how the entire academic plan meets the requirements of the CS or CSE curriculum.
Although Oasis is quite a useful tool, it has its limitations. See its output for a list of some of its limitations and your responsibilities in using its "advice."
Using Oasis
The description below assumes the user has an account on the CSIF (Computer Science Instructional Facility) and is familiar with basic UNIX commands and its filesystem structure. Those users without UNIX experience should seek help from other students or the department's student programmers in the basement of Kemper Hall. Oasis is available on all CSIF machines (PCs running Linux).
To run Oasis, give the command:
~olsson/oasis/bin/oasis2008-09 xxxx
In the above, xxxx represents the name of a file containing the user's academic plan. This text file, the format of which is described below, can be created with the user's customary text editor. To save typing, the user might find it convenient to start with a copy of one of the sample academic plans and edit it to reflect the user's academic plan. Sample academic plans are in the directory:
~olsson/oasis/samples/2008-09
(Note well: the above is a *directory* that contains several files, each of which represents one academic plan; the above is not a command. If you don't understand this important distinction between a directory and a command, then seek help with UNIX as noted below).
The user is encouraged to run Oasis on one of the sample academic plans to see a concrete example of what Oasis does.
Academic Plan File Format
Readers will find the following description easier to follow if they follow one of the sample academic plan files (see above) as they read the description.
The first line of the file must indicate the user's major ("CS" or "CSE"), student identification number, full name, and email address.
The rest of the file is the academic plan proper. It consists of classes taken in previous quarters and classes planned to be taken in future quarters. Each quarter is represented by a "quarter header" and a list of classes, e.g.,
----- Fall 2007
ecs20
ecs50
ger1
The quarter header consists of any positive number of "-" followed by the term and year. Each class is given by its entire official course number; the prefix code must match those used in the catalog and class schedules. Within a course number, do not use spaces; any case letters can be used. (Note that Oasis recognizes only those courses required for the major; it will just generate warnings for other courses, such as German 1 above).
Within the academic plan file, a "taken/planned separator" is placed between previous quarters and those that are planned. This separator consists of any positive number of "=". Placing the "taken/planned separator" at the very beginning of the file indicates no classes have been completed (i.e., for a new student); placing it at the end indicates no classes are planned to be taken (i.e., for a student who has finished).
Within the academic plan file, the user can place newlines and spaces to aid readability. However, do not place newlines or spaces within a course number. Commas can be used too; a comma has the same effect as a space. Also, a "#" introduces a comment -- the "#" and the rest of the line are ignored.
Saving and Printing Oasis Output
You must bring the output from Oasis, run on your academic plan file, to your meeting with an advisor to clear your advising hold.
Oasis is just like any other UNIX command with respect to redirecting or piping its output. For example, output from Oasis can be saved for later use by, e.g.,
~olsson/oasis/bin/oasis2008-09 xxxx >& zz
As in the earlier example, xxxx represents the name of a file containing the user's academic plan. The file zz (which is assumed not to exist before running Oasis above) can then be viewed with an editor or printed, e.g.,
lpr zz
Of course, piping can be used to print Oasis's output more directly, e.g.,
~olsson/oasis/bin/oasis2008-09 xxxx |& lpr
Versions of Oasis and Curriculum Year Rule
A separate version of Oasis exists for each catalog year beginning with 1996-97. Which curriculum year applies varies by major:
Each student in the CSE major is required to fulfill the degree requirements stated in the UC Davis catalog (including any amendments listed in the catalog supplement or Engineering Bulletin) for the year the student completes degree work or for the year immediately preceding the year the student completes degree work. In general CSE students, except possibly for graduating seniors, should use the latest version of Oasis.
Each student in the CS major may choose to fulfill the university and College of Letters and Science requirements as stated in any UC Davis catalog (including any amendments listed in the catalog supplement) in effect any time the student was registered in a postsecondary institution of higher education. CS students should run the version of Oasis that was in effect the year they declared the CS major or were admitted to UC Davis as a CS major.
Transfer, Advanced Placement (AP) and Petitioned Courses
Oasis can be "convinced" to handle major courses taken at other colleges, by AP exam, or for which subject credit petitions were approved. Simply specify in academic plan file the UC Davos equivalent course number; it is useful to include a comment for each such course. For example,
----- Spring 2007
ecs30 # AP credit for "Computer Science AB"
test, score of 4 or 5.
mat21a # AP credit for "Mathematics BC" test, score of 5.
mat21b # AP credit for "Mathematics BC" test, score of 5.
----- Spring 2008
ecs50 # CIS 290 taken at San Mateo Community College
Online information on course equivalency between a California community college and UC Davis may be obtained at http://www.assist.org/.
Miscellaneous
The user should list in the classes taken section of the academic plan file all classes that s/he has taken, even courses that have been repeated. Oasis will warn about repeating courses that aren't repeatable for credit.
Courses ecs192 and ecs199 require CSUGA (the Department of Computer Science's Committee on Undergraduate Affairs) approval. These courses also vary in units, although at least 3 units is needed for approval. Oasis handles such courses using special notation. For example, use ecs199/3 to indicate an approved (or one you hope CSUGA will approve) 3 unit ecs199.
Quarters during which the user is taking no classes (e.g., during "PELP-ing") can be represented by specifying the quarter header and no classes; an appropriate comment should be given.
An online copy of this guide is available in the directory:
~olsson/oasis/guides
For help with basic UNIX system commands, users should ask other students or the department's student programmers in the basement of Kemper Hall.