CS-101 By-pass Examination
Spring 2022

The University allows currently enrolled students to obtain credit for classes .by special examination. Follow this link to see relevant portions of the University regulations. This is under section 5.2.1.2 of the Senate Rules.

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Special Examination: Any full-time or part-time student enrolled in the University. and in good academic standing, shall have the right to request a special examination for credit in any course offered in the University System, regardless of whether the student has audited the course, is currently enrolled in it, or has studied for it independently.

1. Application for a special examination must be made in writing. Undergraduates will address requests to the chair of the department in which the course is given, or to the office of the academic unit responsible; graduate students. to the Director of Graduate Studies in the department in which the course is given. Approval of requests from undergraduate students rests with the department chair; from graduate students, with the Dean of the Graduate School acting upon recommendation of the Director of Graduate Studies.

2. The request for special examination may be denied by the department chair or the office of the administrative unit responsible, or the Dean of the Graduate School acting upon the recommendation of the Director of Graduate Studies, if it is decided that the student has not furnished evidence that he/she is reasonably prepared to take the examination. or that the course is of such a nature that credit by examination is inappropriate. (The fact that a student has failed the course within the last semester may be regarded as evidence that the student is unprepared to take a special examination.)

3. The instructor may schedule the examination at his/her convenience. but must offer it within a reasonable time after the student has submitted his/her request. * The phrase "reasonable time" is not meant to convey a precise time period and should be fitted to the particular circumstances. (RC: 2/1/89)

4. The examiner shall inform the Registrar of the student's grade in the course. A student currently enrolled in the class who successfully completes a special examination shall be formally removed from the official roll by the Registrar, unless the student is dissatisfied with the results. in which case he/she may continue in the course and be graded in the usual manner. The instructor then may or may not include the results of the special examination in computing the final grade. (US: 9/20/93)

5. Credit earned by special examination may be counted as residence credit by the dean of the student's college. The limits on maximum loads are waived in cases where the excess is due to special examination credits.

6. The student, with the department or division chair's consent, may take the special examination on a Pass/Fail basis. including any course not otherwise available under the Pass/Fail bption. Credit derived in this manner shall not reduce the number of courses permitted under the Pass/Fail rules. (See Section V.. 5.1.4)
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If you decide to take the grade you earned from the bypass exam, you are automatically dropped from the class if you were enrolled. If you decide NOT to take the grade you got from the bypass exam and elect to continue in the course, the grade on the bypass exam does not affect your final grade in the class in any way.

CS 101 Topics and Material Covered

This course has two main components, which cover the theory and practice of modern computing and communications technology. In the theory component, we'll look at the basic pieces of a computing system and consider processors, input and output devices, storage devices, communications systems, systems software, computer databases and information systems, software development, and privacy and other issues raised by computers in society. The laboratory component of the course gives students a chance to solve problems with application software. The software used includes Windows, Excel, Access.

Some suggested textbooks are: Pearson's Fluency with Information Techology, Laurence Synder, and Exploring Microsoft Office 2010, also by Pearson Publishing.

Additional information can be found at the current course web site.

The CS 101 Special Examination

There are two parts to the CS 101 Examination: a Laboratory Test and a Conceptual Test. A passing grade requires 70% on each part.

The Conceptual Material will cover the material in the Powerpoint slides and notes on the web site noted above. The conceptual portion of the material is evaluated using multiple-choice and "handwork" questions having approximately 130 questions. You can expect that this will take less than 2 hours to complete. There are also questions which are fill in the blank. They cover topics such as spreadsheet formulas, database queries, HTML code, spreadsheet graphs, and Alice programming. This exam is CLOSED note, CLOSED book.

The format of the Lab text is a series of required exercises using the computer. The applications software required with be using the Windows Operating System, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Access. Past experience indicates that it will take between 1.5 and 3 hours to complete the laboratory portion of the examination. This exam is OPEN note, OPEN book. You can bring any kind of reference book you wish.

The Examination Process

The necessary steps are:

  1. Determine from your college if credit-by-examination is allowed for CS 101 in your intended program of study.
  2. Make sure that you are eligible to take a Special Examination. In order to take a Special Examination you need to be a currently enrolled student and be in good academic standing. You do NOT have to be enrolled specifically in CS 101 in order to take the Bypass Exam, just enrolled at the University.
  3. Fill out the Application for Special Examination form available at the Registrar's Office (Funkhouser Building) When selecting the grade option make sure that if you select Pass/fail that your College will allow CS 101 taken on a Pass/Fail basis to be used to satisfy College requirements.
  4. The Director of Undergraduate Studies for the CS Department will sign the form in the place of the Chair of the Department. Currently this is Dr. Jurek Jaromczyk (jurek@cs.uky.edu). His office is 315 Davis Marksbury Building. Dr. Keen (keen@cs.uky.edu) as the faculty administering the test also needs to sign the form. Her office is 207 Davis Marksbury building.
  5. You take the form back to the Registrar's office after getting it signed.
  6. The Registrar will send additional paperwork to the CS Department that is used to record your grade on the examination.
  7. Schedule the test with Dr. Keen and complete the written examination at one of the times listed below. There is a time limit of 2 hours on the written portion.

    Since a 70% is required on both parts we will schedule the written portion first before the laboratory portions of the exam. A student taking the exam and getting less that 70% on the written portion will not be allowed to take the lab portions nor will the student be allowed to retake the exam during the same semester. If the student is successful at the written exam, the lab part will be scheduled. There will be a time limit on the lab portion of 4 hours.

    This semester the written exam will be given at the following time:

    Following the completion of both parts of the examination, the department will send the grade to the Registrar. The components are weighted as: Content/written exam 60%, Lab/software exam 40%.

    Plan ahead! The process of signing up for the exam can take a few weeks! Don't expect to just 'walk in' and take it. You need to have the paperwork done first (and of course, study!).

    Here are a few frequently asked questions about the 101 bypass. Most are answered elsewhere in this page -