How to Use the Electronic Plan of Study System

Your plan of study is due by the end of your first fall semester (Master's students) or November 15th of second year (PhD students) in Graduate School. Please contact your Graduate Coordinator with any question regarding the format of your plan of study.

Your plan of study should reflect:

  • Your minimum degree requirements. Use your plan of study worksheet as a guide.
  • An overall GPA of 3.0 or higher. The lowest grade on your Plan of Study can be a B-. However your overall GPA on your plan of study will need to remain at a 3.0 or higher to graduate.
  • Courses will be listed as Primary, Related, or Blank. It is up to you how you would like to categorize your courses but one course MUST be listed as primary. 

Your plan should NOT reflect:

  • Courses taken as Pass/No Pass or Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (these cannot be listed on your plan of study.)
    • These courses include research hours (BME 699 or 698) or courses that are for no credit (BME 690) or no letter grade.
  • Only utilize courses listed as a main competnecy area (ex: research fundamentals courses should not be included as well as your ethics course).
    • Ethics course will need to be included for IBSc students.

Step by Step Instructions:

1. Log onto MyPurdue, then:

  • Click on the Academics tab
  • Click on "Plan of Study Generator"

2. This will bring you to the Purdue University Graduate School "Plan of Study Generator" main page -- several linked options will be available once you have started the process:

  • Create a new plan of study
  • Update a saved plan of study or submitted as draft
  • Display submitted forms (both plan of study and changes to plan of study)
  • Create or update a change request for current approved plan of study
  • Modify a rejected plan of study and resubmit

3. Once you have clicked on the "create a new plan of study" link, you will be taken to two separate pages to enter some basic information:

  • Campus - comes up automatically
  • Department - use the drop down box
  • First semester of graduate study - date drop downs
  • Email address Hit the "Process and Continue" button to move on
  • Degree title drop down box -- make sure this is correct
  • Expected graduation date - more date drop downs

4. Once you hit the "process and continue" button a second time, you will be taken to the "create a new plan of study main page." This page has several major links, most of which are represented as checkboxes. Note that the first checkbox, students and degree information is already checked as complete. You can, however, go back and modify this information by click on the link. 

There are two other important links on the page:

  • Preview Plan of Study - can be used at any point in the process
  • Graduate School's Policies and Procedures Manual, Section VII

Buttons at bottom of screen:

  • Help
  • Save without Submitting - you can save at any time during the creation process using this button
  • Submit as Draft - email notices go to all committee members and the Grad-Coordinator to review the EPOS
  • Submit as Final - only submit after Grad Director has reviewed the Draft and approved for submission.
  • Delete this Plan (if POS hasn't been saved, it disappears)

It is recommended that you submit your plan as a Draft before submitting as Final. Click on the Help button for further explanation.

The following is a detailed explanation of these links, buttons and checkboxes

5. Student and Degree Information (covered in section 3, above)
 
6. Research Project and Language Requirement - Click on this link and you are taken to a page where
several boxes appear for you to fill in information.
  • In the research area box - Put your preliminary title of your research.
  • Concentration area box – Leave this BLANK.
  • Language Requirement - Leave this BLANK.
  • Method to be used to meet requirement - Again, leave this blank.
  • Hit "Process and Continue" when you are done.
 
7. You should be back to the "create a new plan of study main page." Now click on the "Coursework" checkbox link. This will take you to a courses link page, as follows:
 
Link 1: Courses currently taken or those previously completed at Purdue University as a
graduate student.
This link takes you to a page where the courses you have already completed and those you are currently
taking are displayed. On this screen, you will need to go down the listing of courses and click to do the
following:
  • Indicate use - click if you intend to use the course on your plan of study
  • Indicate primary, related, or not applicable - all POS courses are either primary or related.
  • Indicate B or better-DO NOT CHECK THIS (includes any grade of a B including a B-)
 
When done, click "Process and Continue." This takes you back to the previous screen, and you can
make you next course entry selections, as below.
 
Link 2: Transfer courses and courses taken as excess undergraduate credit
Once clicked, this link takes you to a screen that allows you to enter transfer and excess
undergraduate credit courses. NOTE: courses used for a master’s degree cannot be listed in the
“courses” section of graduate plans. Please see below instructions for this link for more
information.*
  • To add a course, indicate Primary or related, the subject abbreviation, course number, credit hours, course title, institution name and grade as listed on your official transcript.
  • Then use the drop down boxes to indicate session (semester, quarter, other), registration type (transfer or undergraduate excess), and date completed.
  • Indicate registration type by using drop down box - regular registration, non-degree registration, credit by exam, or other. In almost all instances, you will select the regular registration choice.
  • Make sure to click on the “add” button at the far right edge of the screen!
 
* Courses from a previous master’s degree to be used toward the PhD requirements must be approved
before submission of the ePOS as final. A maximum of 12 credit hours is allowed, and coursework from only one MS degree can be used on the POS. Prepare a petition as described at  https://engineering.purdue.edu/BME/Academics/Graduate/Transfer and present it to your research advisor for review and signature. Bring or send a copy of the approved/signed petition to the BME Graduate Office for review to ensure the courses are in compliance with the Purdue Graduate Schools' requirements. Indicate in the Comments section the number of MS transfer credits that have been approved. Do not list MS transfer course work in the Course section.
 
Link 3: Courses to be taken in the future at Purdue University
Once clicked, this link takes you to a screen where you enter those courses you intend to take.
  • Under "Area" indicate primary or related (do not use "not applicable")
  • Use the drop down box to indicate the subject abbreviation.
  • Type in the course number and credit hours in the appropriate column.
  • Do not check the "B or better required" box.
  • Use drop down box to indicate semester to be completed.
    • Use buttons to indicate MODIFY, DELETE, or ADD. 
  • If you need to modify a course, you will have to choose modify and then save after each line you modify. Otherwise, it will only save the last thing you modified. 

Once you have added all the courses you intend to take, click the "Process and Continue" button. If no errors are generated, you will be taken back to the page that has the course entry links.

Note: an On-line course catalog link has been provided at the top of the screen for your convenience.

8. Once you have finished entering your course information, click the "Process and Continue" button, and this will bring you back to the "create a new plan of study main page." Now click on the "Advisory Committee" checkbox link. This will take you to an advisory committee entry page, as follows:

  • This page comes down in two screens -  the top entry screen and the bottom faculty search screen
  • In the faculty advisor search, choose the correct department from the drop down box and click search to find each persons' name and 4+5 code.
  • Start with the chair and enter the department code and five digit faculty identifier for that member - the name will automatically appear in the appropriate box. Keep doing this until your entire committee has been added - then hit the "Process and Continue" button.
  • For PhD students, your committee will consist of your qualifying exam mentoring committee.  

9. The last checkbox is the "Comments and Special Notes" link. Include which of your courses will count for each of the required core competency areas. For MS students this includes BME, Quantitative, Life Science, and other graduate-level courses. For PhD students, this includes BME, Quantitative, Life Science, and other Engineering. PhD students should also indicate which 2 courses will fulfill the 600 level requirement. You may list each of these as separate comment for clarity. Again, click on the "Process and Continue" button when you are through. 

10. You should be back to the "Create a Plan of Study" main page. We strongly suggest that you preview your plan before continuing. This will allow you to view your entire plan of study, and see if there are any changes to be made. Clicking on the return button will bring you back to the main creation page with the checkbox links, and clicking on these links allows you to return to that section to make modifications.

11. Buttons at bottom of the main "create a plan of study" page, and what they mean:

  • Help - not that helpful, but better than nothing.
  • Save without Submitting - you can save at any time during the creation process using this button - this is the option to use if you have not completed the entire form.
  • Submit as Draft - use this option when you are ready for the Graduate Office to review your plan of study. The Graduate Office will be notified via e-mail and will then notify you if any corrections are needed, and when to submit as Final.
  • Submit as Final - Your plan should be submitted as final only after you have received approval from the Graduate Office. At this stage, you will not be allowed to modify your plan; it is exclusively for approval purposes. The only way to change the plan is to have a committee member (or the Graduate Office) reject it.
  • Delete this Plan - If you delete the plan in draft mode or without saving in draft mode, if cannot be recovered. The plan cannot be deleted in final mode, but it can be rejected.

NOTE: A rejected plan of study (either by Graduate Office or advisory committee member) CAN be recovered. If your plan of study is rejected at any stage in the approval process, you will have to make the required changes before you will be allowed to continue.