ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

 

GRADUATE STUDENT HANDBOOK

 

 

 

 

 

 

Electrical and Computer Engineering Department

University of Minnesota

Room 4-174C

200 Union Street S.E.

Minneapolis, MN 55455

www.ece.umn.edu

(612) 625-3564

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Printed:  October 20, 2004

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HUMAN RIGHTS STATEMENT

 

 

The University of Minnesota is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.

 

Inquiries regarding compliance may be directed to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, University of Minnesota, 419 Morrill Hall, 100 Church Street S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455, 612-624-9547.

 


TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

SECTION 1.      INTRODUCTION.. 1

SECTION 2.      INFORMATION WHICH APPLIES TO ALL GRADUATE PROGRAMS.. 2

A. keep us informed! 2

B. electrical engineering e-mail account—get one! (also part-time students) 2

C. meeting administrative deadlines.. 2

D. graduate students should contact their advisor every semester.. 2

1. UNITE students. 2

E. courses applying toward degree requirements must be taken a/f…. 2

F. termination—not meeting departmental performance standards.. 3

G. grievance procedures—steps to follow... 3

H. petitions—to request variances from rules and regulations.. 3

I. oral examination arrangements—who you need to contact.. 3

SECTION 3.      REGISTRATION.. 4

A. information which applies to all students.. 4

1. Register every fall and spring term to maintain active status in the graduate school 4

2. Confer with your adviser to determine what you should register for each term. 4

3. Why can't I register?. 4

4. Adding a class after the registration period is closed.. 5

5. Deadlines for dropping or adding a course or changes in registration are printed in the class schedule book http://onestop.umn.edu/onestop/Calendars/Refund_and_DropAdd_Deadlines.html 5

6. Late enrollment—To avoid late enrollment fees. 5

7. Grading option may not be changed after the second week of classes. 5

8. Cancel/Add in one action. 5

9. Enrollment requirement to defer loans (Advanced Masters) 5

B. graduate assistants/fellows.. 5

1. Department Seminar requirement for those holding assistantships/fellowships. 5

2. Registration requirements. 5

3. Graduate School procedures for full-time equivalent with one credit for advanced graduate students. 6

4. Failure to register 7

5. 6 credit enrollment requirement 7

6. Exemption to the 6 credit enrollment requirement—Advanced masters and doctoral candidates. 7

7. Cancel/add in one action or your benefits may be affected.. 7

8. What happens if you withdraw from all courses during a term... 7

SECTION 4.      TEACHING/RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIP OPPORTUNITES.. 8

A. research assistants.. 8

B. teaching assistants.. 8

1. International Teaching Assistants. 8

a) Eligibility. 8

b) Registration. 8

c) Test description. 8

d) Practice SPEAK test 8

e) Test procedures. 9

f) Scores. 9

SECTION 5.      fellowship/scholarship OPPORTUNITIES.. 9

A. Department Tuition Scholarship.. 9

1. Eligible after one year of full-time study in electrical engineering.. 9

2. tuition scholarship requests should be submitted online at http://www.ece.umn.edu/forms/ece/. 9

B. Department Travel Scholarship.. 9

1. Only PhD track students who have passed the written preliminary oral examination are eligible.. 9

2. A student can only be supported once during their graduate career 9

3. Only one student per faculty member per year will be supported.. 9

4. Applications are reviewed throughout the academic year. 9

5. Travel requests should be submitted online at http://www.ece.umn.edu/forms/ece/ 10

C. Graduate School Doctorial Dissertation Fellowship (DDF) 10

1. In order to apply you must have... 10

2. What needs to be included in the Dissertation Fellowship Application. 10

D. National Science Foundation.. 11

1. Eligibility. 11

2. Citizenship.. 11

3. Applications are available sometime early in September, with a closing date in early November, and an award date in mid-March the following year. 11

4. For more information see the National Science Foundation Home Page (URL: http://www.nsf.gov/). 11

E. Fellowships—Industry, Government, NSF, DOD…. 11

SECTION 6.      BENEFITS FOR GRADUATE ASSISTANTS.. 12

A. tuition benefits.. 12

1. Tuition benefits for graduate assistants are available at http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/gao/policy/index.htm    12

2. Resident tuition rate.. 12

3. Tuition benefits/Billing statement 12

4. Prorated Tuition Benefits. 12

5. Appointments Ending Due to Graduation. 12

B. graduate assistant medical plan.. 12

C. unemployment compensation.. 13

D. workers compensation.. 13

E. holidays.. 13

F. parental leave.. 13

G. vacation.. 13

SECTION 7.      limitations pertaining to graduate assistantships.. 13

A. Time limits on teaching assistantships.. 13

B. Outside employment.. 13

SECTION 8.      RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS.. 14

A. graduate assistant employment office.. 14

1. The Graduate Assistant Grapevine.. 14

B. center for teaching and learning services.. 14

C. the council of graduate students at the university of minnesota (cogs) 14

D. writing a thesis or dissertation.. 15

E. web addresses.. 15

SECTION 9.      THE GRADUATION PROCESS.. 15

A. graduate school degrees are awarded monthly.. 15

B. the graduation packet.. 15

C. commencement.. 15

1. Commencement Ceremonies are Held in Late Spring and Late Fall 15

2. Department Approval is Necessary to Attend Commencement—What you Need to Know.. 16

a) MEE (Coursework Only Track) 16

b) MSEE (Plan B) 16

c) MSEE (Plan A) 16

d) PHD.. 16

D. the application for degree.. 16

SECTION 10.        THE MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM—(PLAN A) AND (PLAN B) 17

A. the master’s degree must be completed within 7 years.. 17

B. advisor.. 17

C. academic performance.. 17

D. courses applying toward degree requirements must be taken a/f…. 17

E. double counting—students may have a maximum of 8 credits in common between two master's degrees. 17

F. obtain permission before taking non-institute of technology courses.. 17

G. minimum course requirements.. 17

H. 4000-Level Courses Acceptable for Program Requirements. 18

1. EE 4000 Level Courses acceptable for major field credit 18

2. Non-EE 4000 level courses acceptable for supporting/related field credit 18

a) Statistics courses acceptable for 4000 Level Credit 18

b) Mathematics Courses Acceptable for 4000 level credit 18

c) All Physics Courses are Acceptable for 4000 level credit 18

d) No Computer Science courses are acceptable for 4000 level credit 18

e) No Mechanical Engineering courses are acceptable for 4000 level credit 18

f) No Industrial Engineering courses are acceptable for 4000 level credit 18

I. the degree program form... 19

1. Colloquium courses from any department do not count toward degree requirements. 19

2. Cross-Listed courses must be registered using the Electrical Engineering course number and may only be counted toward major field credit 19

3. Practical training does not count toward degree requirements. 19

4. Transfer credits. 19

5. Petition any changes to the Degree Program Form... 20

6. Examination committee additions/deletions must be approved by the advisor and DGS.. 20

J. final examination.. 20

1. The Final Examination Committee.. 20

DEPARTMENT DEADLINE  FOR PASSING THE PHD PRELIMINARY WRITTEN EXAMINATION.. 20

SECTION 11.        MSEE (PLAN A) REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE. 21

A. chart detailing MSEE (Plan A) credit requirements.. 21

B. what the department and graduate school monitor.. 21

1. Degree Program Form... 21

2. Thesis Reviewer's Report Form... 21

3. Final Examination Report Form... 21

4. Submit two unbound copies of the thesis to the Graduate School, signed by the advisor 21

5. Submit one bound copy of your thesis to the department 22

6. As a courtesy, ask your advisor if he/she would like a bound copy of your thesis. 22

C. Students wishing to continue on to the PhD.. 22

1. PhD Written Preliminary Examination. 22

D. non-ee courses acceptable for major field credit (plan a only) 22

E. the ms thesis.. 22

1. Thesis research off-campus requires permission from the graduate committee.. 22

2. Thesis credit requirement 22

3. Thesis Title.. 22

4. The Thesis Reviewers Report Form... 23

5. The Graduation Packet 23

6. Thesis reviewers. 23

7. Preparation and submission of the thesis. 23

SECTION 12.        MSEE (Plan B) REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE. 24

A. chart detailing msee (plan b) credit requirements.. 24

B. what the department and the graduate school monitor.. 25

1. Degree Program Form... 25

2. Final Examination Report Form... 25

C. students wishing to continue on to the phd.. 25

1. Department Deadline for Passing the PhD Preliminary Written Examination. 25

D. plan b project requirements (ee 8961) 25

1. Project work may be carried out off-campus without approval of the graduate committee.. 25

2. The Graduation Packet 25

SECTION 13.        MEE (COURSEWORK ONLY TRACK) REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE. 26

A. chart detailing mee (coursework only track) credit requirements.. 26

B. what the graduate school monitors.. 26

1. Degree Program Form... 26

2. Final Examination Report Form... 26

C. the master’s degree must be completed within 7 years.. 27

D. advisor.. 27

E. academic performance.. 27

F. courses applying toward degree requirements must be taken a/f…. 27

G. double counting—students may have a maximum of 8 credits in common between two master's degrees. 27

H. obtain permission before taking non-institute of technology courses.. 27

I. minimum course requirements.. 27

1. EE 4000 Level Courses acceptable for major field credit 28

2. Non-EE 4000 level courses acceptable for supporting/related field credit 28

a) Statistics courses acceptable for 4000 Level Credit 28

b) Mathematics Courses Acceptable for 4000 level credit 28

c) All Physics Courses are Acceptable for 4000 level credit 28

d) No Computer Science courses are acceptable for 4000 level credit 28

e) No Mechanical Engineering courses are acceptable for 4000 level credit 28

f) No Industrial Engineering courses are acceptable for 4000 level credit 28

J. the degree program form... 29

1. Colloquium courses from any department do not count toward degree requirements. 29

2. Cross-listed courses must be registered using the Electrical Engineering course number and count toward major field credit only. 29

3. Practical Training does not count toward degree requirements. 29

4. Transfer credits. 29

5. Changes to the degree program form... 30

K. the graduation packet.. 30

L. final oral examination.. 30

M. changing degree objective--continuing on to the phd requires…. 30

SECTION 14.        MASTER OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING (DESIGN PROJECT TRACK) 30

SECTION 15.        PHD REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE. 31

A. chart detailing phd credit requirements.. 31

B. transfer credits.. 32

C. what the department and the graduate school monitor.. 32

1. Written Preliminary Examination. 32

2. Degree Program Form... 32

3. Preliminary Oral Examination. 33

4. PhD Oral Presentation Class. 33

5. Thesis Proposal Form... 33

6. Thesis REVIEWERS REPORT FORM... 33

7. Application for Degree.. 33

8. Thesis Reviewers Report Form... 33

9. Final Examination Report Form... 33

10. Survey of Earned Doctorates (completion optional) 33

11. Microfilm Agreement Forms. 33

12. Submit one unbound copy of the thesis to the graduate school, signed by the advisor 33

13. Submit one bound copy of your thesis to the department 34

14. As a courtesy, ask your advisor if he/she would like a bound copy of your thesis. 34

D. Who to contact if you have specific questions about graduate school requirements   34

E. The PhD advisor must be a full member of the Graduate Faculty in Electrical Engineering   34

F. courses applying toward degree requirements must be taken a/f…. 34

G. course requirements.. 34

1. EE 4000 Level Courses acceptable for major field credit 35

2. Non-EE 4000 level courses acceptable for supporting/related field credit 35

a) Statistics courses acceptable for 4000 Level Credit 35

b) Mathematics Courses Acceptable for 4000 level credit 35

c) All Physics Courses are Acceptable for 4000 level credit 35

d) No Computer Science courses are acceptable for 4000 level credit 35

e) No Mechanical Engineering courses are acceptable for 4000 level credit 35

f) No Industrial Engineering courses are acceptable for 4000 level credit 35

H. the degree program form... 36

1. The Preliminary Oral Examination Committee.. 36

2. Colloquium courses from any department do not count toward degree requirements. 36

3. Cross-listed courses must be registered using the Electrical Engineering course number and count toward major field credit only. 36

4. Practical training does not count toward degree requirements. 36

5. Program changes/Additions—Graduate School Petition Form... 36

6. what you need to do if it becomes necessary to change your examination committee.. 37

I. academic performance—Maintain an Evaluation GPA of at least 3.3. 37

J. the preliminary written examination.. 37

1. Department deadline for passing the PhD preliminary written examination. 37

K. the preliminary oral examination.. 37

1. Department deadline for passing the phd preliminary oral examination. 37

2. Scheduling the exam... 37

3. The examination covers. 37

4. The Preliminary Oral is a closed examination. 37

5. How the Preliminary Oral Examination is conducted.. 37

6. Recording the outcome of the examination. 38

7. Pass With reservations. 38

8. Failure of the Preliminary Oral Examination. 38

9. Recess of a Preliminary Oral Examination. 38

10. Official doctoral candidacy is established when…. 38

L. phd oral presentation requirement.. 38

M. the phd thesis.. 38

1. Thesis Research off-campus requires permission from the graduate committee.. 39

2. Thesis Credit Requirement 39

3. Thesis Title Form... 39

4. The Final Oral Examination Committee.. 39

5. The Readers of the thesis are defined.. 39

6. The chair of the Final Exam is also defined.. 39

7. Thesis Reviewer's Report Form... 40

8. THE GRADUATION PACKET.. 40

9. Register your Thesis. 40

10. Schedule the Final Oral Exam... 40