IV. OTHER REGULATIONS FOR MASTER DEGREES

1. STUDENT STATUS

Set by ECE Department upon student's admission to a Graduate Program.

Regular Status:

Students who apply for a degree or certificate program and who are adequately prepared for graduate work are assigned to regular status.

Conditional Status:

Students who are asked to fulfill additional conditions before they are accepted as regular status students are accepted with conditional status. The required conditions may include introductory level graduate courses or undergraduate courses to be taken before the usual graduate program can begin, or the attainment of a specific average or specific grades in specified first semester graduate courses. After satisfying the conditions specified at admission and submitting a change of status form to the Office of Academic Affairs, a student will be admitted to regular status.

Special Status:

Applicants requesting admission for study only in a particular course or group of courses are given this status, which permits registration, generally for a limited duration, in those courses indicated on the approval of admission. This status is also given to applicants with advanced degrees who are entering a new professional area and desire extended education but not for degree purposes. Registration is limited to two courses per semester. If additional courses are desired after the end of the specified period, a new admission request must be filed through the admissions office. Special status students who later apply for and receive regular status may transfer with full credit up to three courses taken while special status students. Although special status students must hold a bachelor's degree from an approved institution, some admission requirements, such as letters of recommendation, will usually be waived.

Probation:

The Office of Academic Affairs is authorized to place any student whose grade point average has fallen below 3.0 (B) on probation.

A graduate student on probation may register for further courses only with the written permission of his/her graduate adviser. The adviser will provide such a student with a written statement of the academic performance required for the next academic semester or year. This performance statement will remain on file in the department office, but no indication of academic probation will appear on the student's transcript. If this performance is not achieved, further registration permission will be denied. Registration for non-class room courses, including thesis, readings or project courses, will not be permitted for graduate students on probation.

2. FULL-TIME STUDY FOR MS DEGREES

Full-time status is defined as 9 or more credits per semester (Fall and Spring). Students need not register in the summer or intersession. Status is determined by the preceding semester. Students may however choose to register for some credits during these sessions; status is still determined by the preceding semester (Fall or Spring). International students must maintain a valid I-20. If the first semester of study is also the student's first semester in an English-speaking country, then a 6 credit load is allowed as full-time status for that semester only, but if and only if the student is enrolled in a Polytechnic-approved English language course during the semester. This course need not be at Polytechnic, but must be approved by the international student adviser. Further, the course need not be for credit.

3. TIME LIMIT FOR MS DEGREES

Full-time students are allowed no more than two calendar years to complete the degree. It is recognized that some students switch from part-time to full-time status and vice versa. The two-year limit applies only to the time in full-time status. The catalog may specify a longer time for part-time study. Part-time MS program must be completed within 5 years. In exceptional and rare cases, the duration of study for full-time MS students can be extended. This requires the approval of the department head, dean, and international student adviser (if applicable).

4. LEAVE OF ABSENCE

All students, part-time or full-time, must be registered each semester (Fall, Spring) or must seek prior approval for a leave of absence. In emergency situations, permission can be requested after the fact, for no more than one semester.

Any student who is not registered for two consecutive semesters and who did not have prior approval for leave of absence is automatically terminated at the university. Such students may re-apply at a future date. However, as is present practice, such students are governed by the catalog and rules in effect at the time of re-admission (if granted).

Leave of absence can be approved for such reasons as medical conditions (all students) or work obligations (not international students) or purely personal reasons (one semester, not international students).

Final approval of leaves of absence is done by the Office of Student Affairs. The recommendation of the adviser is given considerable weight. Documentation is sometimes required.

5. COURSES ON THE INTERNET

The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department has developed an expanding program of web-based course offerings. Students enrolled in one or more of our growing number of courses that have an Internet option may elect to actually attend class...or access the class lectures over the Internet at their convenience, or both.

The same standards of admission and prerequisites that apply to classroom courses also apply to Internet offerings.

6. GRADE POINT REQUIREMENTS

For any MS degree, the University requires a B average in all graduate courses taken at the Polytechnic as well as those courses used to satisfy the MS requirements. In addition, the ECE Department requires an overall B average in the combination of five to seven courses offered to satisfy the required core-course and course-sequence requirements.

Students who are notified that they are on graduate probation must make orderly progress toward having a suitable GPA by the time they complete 36 credits. The progress requirements are shown in Table 1.

Notes:

1. Students with GPA below the entries in the above table are terminated and cannot be re-admitted;
2. Students with GPA equal to or above the entries in the above table, but less than 3.00, are notified that they are on "Graduate Probation" and informed that they will be terminated if they fall below the entries in the above table;
3. There is a special condition at the end of this section for students admitted and taking courses prior to the Fall 1999 semester;
4. The entries are credits taken, not credits earned. Courses with "W" grades are excluded from the computation, as are project/thesis grades when assigned an "S" or "U".

Students who fall into the disqualify region are automatically notified of the decision, subject to the following:

1. if they have fewer than 12 credits, there are no exceptions;
2. if they have 12 credits or more, they will be allowed one semester to correct the problem, preferably by retaking courses in which poor grades were received if this approach is feasible.

As an accommodation to the students who had not been duly notified in the past (i.e. those admitted and studying prior to the Fall 1999 semester), all students who would be disqualified by the Fall of 1999 will instead receive a warning. However, if such students do not

1. Meet the schedule shown in Table 1

or

2. Attain a GPA >= 3.00 in all courses taken in the Fall of 1999 and each semester thereafter

they will be disqualified by the end of the semester in which a 3.00 or better is not attained.

7. REPETITION OF COURSES

A student may register no more than three times for the same course -- including registration for which a W was earned. A course will not be allowed for degree credit if it was taken in violation of this rule. When a course is repeated, all grades except for one lowest grade are used in computation of the Grade Point Average (gpa). Note: the Registrar follows the University rules on grade point averages strictly. For courses repeated more than once, all subsequent grades will be counted in the graduate gpa. Only for the first-time repeat will the lower grade not be counted.

8. READING COURSE LIMITATION

A maximum of 3 credits of reading courses (EL 993, 994) may be offered for an MS degree. Reading courses may not be used to satisfy core courses or one-year course sequence requirements (items A and B of Course Requirements).

9. OPTIONAL (EXCEPT FOR RESEARCH FELLOWS) MASTER'S THESIS

Regular and non-probationary status is a prerequisite for Thesis registration.

Note

Each MS student holding a Research Fellowship administered by the Polytechnic is required to complete a Master's Thesis as part of his MS degree requirements. For all other students, a thesis is optional. For EE, COMPE, EP, and SE, a thesis must be 9 units.

10. TRANSFER CREDIT

Students who have completed graduate work at other schools before enrollment at Polytechnic may transfer up to 9 units towards the MS degree under certain restrictions listed in the catalog. Application for such transfer should be made in writing to the Secretary of the ECE Graduate Office no earlier than July of the year prior to intended graduation. Credit will be allowed only for courses in which honor grades were received, and only when the student's record at the Polytechnic is a B average (or better) in all graduate courses. Note that the grades associated with transferred courses are not included in calculating the GPA needed to earn an MS degree. Transferred courses may not be used to satisfy the core-course (item A) MS requirements for EE, COMPE, TN, EP or SE. However, with adviser approval, a student who has taken a core course at another university may use the grade in an appropriate follow on course taken at Polytechnic in order to satisfy the core/sequence GPA requirement. This exception is limited to one core course.

11. CARRY-OVER CREDIT

Graduate courses completed by Polytechnic undergraduates students applied toward the MS degree are not considered "transferred" (as from another school), but rather "carried over" from the student's undergraduate transcript. Such courses may be carried over to the graduate transcript when the course credits were in excess of the number required for the BS degree and may then be used to satisfy core-course and course-sequence requirements for the MS degree. The Carry-Over credit procedure is subject to the following regulations:

1. Graduate credits earned by Polytechnic undergraduates in excess of BS requirements may be moved to their graduate transcript by a procedure called Carry Over, which is distinct from the procedure termed Transfer.
2. The Carry-Over procedure shall be executed only after the student has been admitted to graduate studies.
3. The Carry-Over procedure shall allow Carry Over of graduate credits only for graduate courses in which honor grades (A and B) are earned.
4. The Carry-Over procedure shall not limit the number of credits, other than requiring that they be only those in excess of BS requirements.
5. The Department, for the purposes of evaluating internal departmental degree requirements for graduate degrees, will use Carry-Over credits and grades.

12. VALIDATION CREDIT

Validation credit will be given on the basis of an examination when it is not clear whether a course taken outside the Polytechnic is suitable for transfer credit. Application for the validation examination is made through the Graduate Affairs Office to the ECE Graduate Committee.

13. ENGLISH COURSE FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS

Foreign students who have not taken the TOEFL examination, or who have scored less than 550 in one or more areas of the TOEFL exam are required to take some remedial courses in English. This requirement may be waived if the student can demonstrate a sufficient command of English at an interview with a Graduate Adviser.

14. INCOMPLETE GRADES

The grade of I is used only when a student misses some course work or the final exam due to illness or a sudden emergency; NOT because the student has been too busy, or unmotivated, or overwhelmed with work in other courses, or working at a part-time or full-time job. In most cases, the student will complete the necessary work within a few days after the end of the semester, and the instructor will enter a regular grade. In all other cases, the student must give a written explanation for his incomplete work to the instructor, and the instructor must give the student written instructions about how and when the work must be completed. (A copy of the instructor's letter should go on file with the course grade roster in the ECE Graduate Office.) The I grade automatically becomes an F if the work is not completed before the end of the next year.

15. GRADE CHANGES

A teacher has the right to change a grade, subject to the approval of the Department Head (or designee) for the course in question. In the case of courses (except for Ph.D. thesis, EL 999) such changes must be made within one year of the end of the semester in which the course was taken. In rare instances the Department Head will approve a change in a grade more than one year old; the teacher proposing such a grade change must submit a letter explaining the circumstances and justifying the lateness of the change.

16. WAIVERS AND MODIFICATIONS

The ECE Graduate Committee must approve any waiver or modification of the requirements as stated in this manual.