CS Waiver Exam Information

Holy Names University offers 3 one-unit courses that introduce students to a common personal computer operating system and basic software applications:

• CSCI 10A, Computer Operations and Internet. An introduction to either the Windows operating system or the Mac operating system. In addition, it provides an introduction to the basics of the Internet.
• CSCI 10B, Word Processing. This course introduces the word processing application, Microsoft Word.
• CSCI 10C, Spreadsheets. This course introduces the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet application.

Holy Names University students who feel that they already have sufficient experience with the material covered in a given course may attempt to

a) waive that part of the HNU requirement or

b) receive credit by examination by taking a challenge exam.

The Waiver Option

• There is no fee for taking the waiver examination.
• Anyone who signs up to take the examination and does not come on the day of the examination nor cancels 24 hours in advance (by 10 a.m. on Friday), will forfeit future testing.
• Passing a waiver examination does not entitle the student to any unit credit.
• Students must show basic competency to pass the waiver examination.
• Students may NOT attempt a test more than once.

The Credit by Challenge Option

• There is a per unit fee for taking the credit by examination option. (Please contact Business Office about fees.)
• Students must pay before taking the exam. That is, they pay the fee whether or not they pass the test.
• Students receive units only if they pass the tests at "A" level.
• Students opting for Credit by Examination must pick up the "Credit by Examination" form in the Student Resource Center and bring it to the exam to show they have paid the fee.
• Students may NOT challenge a course more than once.

General Information

• The dates of the exams are listed in the Schedule of Classes as part of each calendar. All the dates are Saturdays. The exams are from 10am - 12pm in the Heafey Computer Labs. Please be prompt or you may lose your place.  
• Students must email duygud@aol.com to reserve a space at the exam on a particular date. by noon on Wednesday prior to the exam.
  
  The student should indicate:
  • His/her name, an email address, and a phone number where s/he can be reached.
  • Whether s/he wishes to take the exam on a Macintosh or a PC .
  • Which test is to be taken: 10A (G. E. requirement); 10B, and/or 10C (Business Major requirement)
• Sign-ups are taken on a first-come basis. Students will be notified if there is no space available for them.
  • Tests are available only at pre-arranged times in the Academic Calendar. Students should plan to take the tests no later than the last semester of their Junior year.
  • Students must be able to correctly perform the tasks on a test in order to pass.
  • Each of the waiver /challenge exams is given only once to each person; please prepare well.
  • Each test takes approximately one hour. Students may not have more than 1.5 hours per test.

CS 10 A - Computer Operations and Internet

• Disk care.
• File/folder manipulation, including organization , renaming, copying , deleting, and obtaining general information. Students should know how to copy without using the Save As... command .
• Creating backups of the contents of an entire disk.
• Use of the mouse (or equivalent).
• Use of menus.
• Window manipulations.
• Basic search engine commands.
• URLs.
• Links and bookmarks.

CS 10 B - Word Processing

• Creating footnotes, headers, and footers. .
• Using the automatic page numbering feature.
• Making simple corrections.
• Spell checking.
• Applying simple formatting, such as bold, italic, underlining, centering .
• Use of fonts.
• Copying, cutting, and pasting .
• Creating tables.
• Changing document and paragraph margins.
• Line spacing.
• Selection/Highlighting.
• Printing.
• Savin .

CS 10 C - Spreadsheets

• Identifying cells via cell references, such as G7.
• Writing simple formulas using the operators for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
• Writing formulas using basic functions such as sum and average . .
• Formatting cells using such options as boldface, italics, underlining, numeric formats, character formats, and borders.
• Resizing columns.
• Creating custom headers and footers, as well as using predefined headers and footers.
• Creating and labeling simple charts.
• Describing effects of changes in values and formulas to cells in the spreadsheet.
• Knowing absolute versus relative cell references.