ME Department Policies
Course Level
Graduate students are required to takes courses offered simultaneously at 5000/6000 levels at the 6000 level. Counting any 5000 level courses towards the degree requires approval by the supervisory committee. Upper division course work in allied fields is allowed. Allied field are typically considered those from engineering, science, and mathematics. Classes in English as a Second Language (ESL) are not considered to be from an allied field.Time Limits
By Graduate School policy, all work for the M.S. degree must be completed within four consecutive calendar years. On recommendation of the student’s supervisory committee, the Dean of the Graduate School can modify or waive this requirement in meritorious cases. All work for the ME degree must be completed within four consecutive calendar years. On recommendation of the student’s supervisory committee, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the College of Engineering can modify or waive this requirement in meritorious cases. If a leave of absence is approved for an ME student, the four-year time limit will normally be extended only by the amount of the leave of absence. By Department policy, all work for the Ph.D. degree must be completed within six consecutive calendar years for students who begin the Ph.D. program with a Masters degree. Ph.D. students beginning their program without a Masters degree must complete their degree work in eight years. Request to exceed this time limit must be recommended by the Ph.D. candidate’s supervisory committee and approved by the Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Course Grades
The grade point average for all courses taken for all graduate degrees must be 3.00 or better, and no course that was graded below “B-” can be counted as credit towards the degree.
Supervisory Committees
All graduate students must select an advisor who also serves as the chairperson for the student’s supervisory committee. The Department faculty must approve advisors from departments other than Mechanical Engineering. Students are expected to select an advisor by the end of their first semester of graduate study, especially in the case where the advisor is not from Mechanical Engineering. The supervisory committee consists of three faculty members for MS programs and five faculty members for Ph.D. programs. The majority of the supervisory committee must be regular faculty (tenure track) in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The chair of the supervisory committee must be regular University of Utah faculty (tenure or tenure-track). The Ph.D. supervisory committee must have one or more members from another department. Each student's graduate program will be reviewed and approved on a case-by-cases basis, first by the student's supervisory committee, and then by the Director of Graduate Studies.
The student's supervisory committee and ME Director of Graduate Studies must approve all proposed course work (program of study) for the respective graduate degree. The program of study must also be approved by the Dean of the Graduate School (for the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy Degrees) or the Dean of the College of Engineering (for the Master of Engineering degree). It is the student's responsibility to discuss their proposed program with their supervisory advisor.
Both M.S. and Ph.D. students initiate the appointment of their supervisory committee by filing a Request for Supervisory Committee Form with the Department of Mechanical Engineering Student Services Office. ME students should file the Request for Supervisory Committee – Master of Engineering Degree Form with the Student Services Office. The mechanism for approval of the program of study for Ph.D. students is the Program of Study Form, which lists all courses (regular courses, independent study, thesis or dissertation credit hours, etc.) proposed for the degree. The analogous form for M.S. students is the Application for Admissions to Candidacy for the Master’s Degree Form. ME students should use the Application for Admissions to Candidacy for the Master’s Degree – Masters of Engineering – Form to register their program of study. All forms are available from the Student Services Office and the forms for the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees are also available through the Graduate School web site (www.utah.edu/graduate_school/).
Modifications to the program of study are implemented by means of a memorandum submitted to the Student Services Office amending the initial program of study. Alternatively, a new Program of Study Form (Ph.D. students) or the Application for Admissions to Candidacy for the Master’s Degree Form (M.S. students) may be submitted with all required signatures. ME students may also submit an Amendment to Planned Program of Study Form to register changes in their program of study.
Degree Completion
All graduate program forms must also be submitted to the Mechanical Engineering Student Services Office no later than one semester prior to graduation.
Change of Classification
Students completing a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah, with the support of their supervisory committee, may continue their studies for the Ph.D. degree. Change in classification from a Masters to a Ph.D. student will not be granted before successful defense of the Masters thesis, or, in the case of the M.S. (non-thesis) degree, successful completion of the comprehensive exam. In some cases a student in the M.S. program may decide to forego completion of the Masters and work directly towards the Ph.D. degree. In such cases the student must petition the Graduate Committee detailing the reasons for a change of classification. The petition must also be accompanied by a letter of endorsement from the student’s advisor and supervisory committee.
Definitions
Regular course – these are graduate courses that have regular class meetings, lectures, and/or labs. These courses have permanent course numbers in the range 6000 – 6899 and 7000 – 7899. In addition, ME EN 6960 Special Topics and ME EN 7960 Special Topics are considered regular courses since they have regular class meeting and lectures. ME EN 6960 and ME EN 7960 may be counted more than once to satisfy degree requirements so long as each class represents a distinct special topics course.