The Graduate Catalog describes Interdisciplinary master's and doctoral degrees. These are especially appropriate for consideration by Computer Science Department students who are involved in interdisciplinary projects in other departments( Biology, Chemistry, and Mathematics).
Note that the Interdisciplinary MASTER's involves study in two or more departments, a majority of which must be approved by the University to grant the master's degree. Also, the CS department policy to encourage you to do a Thesis or Project (preferably the former) applies just as much in the interdisciplinary case as in the standard case. However, the nature of the Thesis or Project may differ considerably from the standard case, because of special features of the non-CS fields involved.
The Interdisciplinary DOCTORATE involves study and research in two or more fields, two of which (at least) must be fields covered by departments with doctoral programs. One procedural difficulty with the Interdisciplinary doctorate is that it becomes unclear what the PhD Qualifying Examination should cover. The procedure which has been followed recently is as follows:
* The student presents an ``interdisciplinary degree concept'' and proposes an interdisciplinary doctoral committee Graduate Catalog.
* The student, when deemed to be ready by this committee, takes an interdisciplinary Qualifying Examination, whose form is specified by the committee. To the extent reasonable, any area of Computer Science addressed by the Qualifying Examination should be examined with a breadth and depth comparable to that employed in the department's Qualifying Examination for non-Interdisciplinary doctoral students.
* The student takes an interdisciplinary Comprehensive Examination, whose form is specified by the doctoral committee.
Note that according to this procedure the committee is formed before the Qualifying Examination, and this Examination is largely under the control of your committee, whereas for the ordinary doctoral student the committee is only formed after the Examination, which is under the control of the department as a whole. Also, your committee is to be thought of as being responsible to the Graduate School rather than any specific department. (Your committee must include the Dean of the Graduate School, who will perform the functions of a department head.)
If you are attracted to the idea of an Interdisciplinary master's or doctorate, you should think carefully about whether it will properly serve your future career goals. It may be a good preparation for future interdisciplinary research, and it might make you peculiarly appropriate for some position in industry, government or academia. On the other hand you have to be aware that the reduced coverage of Computer Science may make you less attractive in the eyes of, say, a Computer Science department which needs someone with fairly broad abilities in the field.