Program Requirements

All rules of the Graduate School apply to students and degree candidates in the EEE program. The “Policies and Procedures Manual for Administering Graduate Programs” may be found at: https://www.purdue.edu/gradschool/faculty/publications.html and all prospective and current students should refer to this Catalog for basic rules and regulations. Other information on rules regulating graduate student employment at the university, and for preparing a graduate thesis are available at this site. The following information is provided to supplement the information provided by the Graduate School, and to detail the specific requirements of the EEE graduate program.

a. Program Requirements of all EEE Graduate Students

Plan of Study (POS) and Graduation Index:

Each graduate student admitted to a degree program must file a Graduate School Plan of Study (POS). A plan of study is an academic contract among a student, the faculty members on the advisory committee, and the Graduate School. All departmental and Graduate School policies related to the filing of a Plan of Study must be followed explicitly.

The student, in consultation with the major professor(s) and Advisory Committee, must prepare a “Plan of Study” for approval by the Graduate School, with the Plan consisting of the list of courses that the student plans to complete to satisfy the coursework requirement of their degree. The Plan of Study (POS) should be appropriate to meet the needs of the student’s area of emphasis, as determined by the Advisory Committee. With approval of the Advisory committee, the POS for master’s degree students can incorporate up to 6 credit hours of 300 or 400 level courses (unless the student is a Combined BS + MSEEE degree student), and the POS for Ph.D. degree students can incorporate up to 3 credits hours of additional 300 or 400 level coursework, beyond a maximum of 3 credit hours earned to satisfy their master’s degree course requirement.

The POS is prepared and submitted by the student electronically for approval of: EEE Graduate Staff, EEE Graduate Chair, the Advisory Committee, and the Graduate School.

All students must submit a draft POS by the end of their first full semester in residence. The non-thesis POS only needs 1 faculty member to serve as an advisor and proposed 10 courses. The faculty member serving as an advisor for the non-thesis POS will be the EEE Graduate Chair. For MS-thesis and PhD Students, even if a full research committee has not been identified, the POS can be filed.

The POS must be approved, with all departmental signatures, at the end of the semester before graduation for MSEEE students and the semester prior to preliminary exams for PhD students.

Examples:

• • If you want to graduate in Spring 2024 with your MSEEE, then your POS must be submitted and signed by EEE staff and faculty by the end of the Fall 2023 semester.
• • If you want to complete preliminary exam in Spring 2024, then your POS must be submitted and signed by all parties in EEE and the Graduate School by the end of the Fall 2023 semester.

No courses shall be included on the POS for which a grade lower than C- is earned. Courses can be flagged as B- or better on the POS, and a B- or better is required for 30000- or 40000-level courses taken.

The Graduate School’s policy on satisfactory performance is: “A graduate student is expected to always maintain a graduation index representing a B average (3.0/4.0 GPA) or better. Indices below this level are marked “under 3.0 GPA” on the grade reports. The student also is expected to earn S grades for research registration. Two consecutive sessions of U grades for research registration mandate that the department take formal action and inform the student, in writing, and the Graduate School with regard to discontinuation or conditions for continuation of the student’s graduate study. In any event, the student’s progress should be reviewed each session by the student’s department. The student’s progress also may be reviewed by the Graduate School. Should the student fail to perform in either coursework or research on a level acceptable to the advisory committee, the departmental graduate committee, or the Dean of the Graduate School, he or she may be asked to discontinue graduate study at Purdue."

How to File a Plan of Study:

Students filing their Plan of Study should complete their plan electronically.

When you have completed your Plan of Study and feel it is ready for review by your advisory committee, submit your plan as a Draft. All plans of study must first be submitted as Draft before you can submit your plan as a Final. While your plan is in Draft status:

• • Review the information with your advisory committee and your departmental graduate coordinator to ensure that it satisfies department and Graduate School policies. Use your draft as a basis to discuss your academic and research goals with your advisory committee members.
• • Once your entire committee has verbally accepted your Plan of Study, return to the POS, and submit your plan as "Final." The Plan of Study form will be electronically routed, reviewed and, if approved, signed by the departmental graduate coordinator, your advisory committee, and the Graduate School. You may check the status of your plan at any time by returning to the POSG and click on the Display Submitted Plan of Study link. Once the Graduate School has approved your Plan of Study, you should check it every semester to monitor your academic degree progress. Further information about the Plan of Study may be found at https://www.purdue.edu/gradschool/faculty/forms.html, and further questions may be directed to EEEgrad@purdue.edu.
• • You do not need to complete the entire form in one sitting; you may save your Plan of Study and return to it later.

Candidacy:

All students must be registered in the session of graduation. If registering as a candidate using:

• • CAND 99100 - the student must register for course or research credits. CAND 99100 is not a registration.
• • CAND 99200 - degree only is a stand-alone registration. Students should not register for any additional credits with this registration.
• • CAND 99300 - examination only is a stand-alone registration. Students should not register for any additional credits with this registration.

Students with outstanding incomplete grades for courses listed on the plan of study will not be eligible to graduate. Students must complete the course requirements and register for a future session to receive the degree.

Major Professor(s) and Advisory Committee

MS-nonthesis and Professional MS:

The Chair of the EEE Graduate Committee will serve as the sole advisor for MS-nonthesis and Professional Master’s Students. An oral and/or written final exam is not required, and the Graduate School will review the courses taken with respective to the alternate criteria that EEE has provided the Graduate School.

MS-thesis and PhD:

Upon admission, each MS-thesis and PhD student will be assigned a faculty member as an academic advisor.

Before the end of the first full semester of residence, all those students for whom a Graduate Committee member serves as the temporary advisor are required to select a permanent academic advisor. This selection should be mutually acceptable to both the student and the faculty member. The advisor will act as the Major Professor on the student’s Advisory Committee and must have an appointment (i.e., partial or full time) in EEE, or have a courtesy appointment in EEE.

Faculty members who do not have an appointment in EEE (full, partial, or courtesy) may serve as a co-chair of a student’s Advisory (and examining) committee, if the student, EEE advisor, and non-EEE faculty member deem it appropriate. A faculty member with an appointment in EEE must be a co-chair.

For thesis M.S. students, the advisory committee consists of three members: The Major Professor and two other faculty members (including any co-Chair) selected by the student and major professor, on a mutually acceptable basis with the other faculty members.

For all Ph.D. students, the advisory committee consists of four members: The Major Professor and three other faculty members (including any co-Chair) selected by the student and major professor, on a mutually acceptable basis with the other faculty members. All persons serving on the Advisory Committee must be regular or special graduate faculty, i.e., certified by the Graduate School to serve on the committees of graduate students. Normally, the members of the student’s advisory committee also will serve on the student’s Examining Committee, which is responsible for reading the student’s thesis or dissertation and conducting the final exam. Any MS-thesis or PhD student may have one Major Professor, or two co-Major Professors, who then act as co-Chairs of the Advisory Committee.

The purpose of the Major Professor is to:

1. Advise the student on course selection.
2. Supervise the research the student performs to fulfill any thesis or dissertation requirement, as described below.

The duties of the Advisory Committee are to assist the student in developing an acceptable Plan of Study and advise the student during the period of graduate work, including research and thesis preparation when these are required components of the student’s degree program.

The student may change Major Professors. However, if the student is funded on a research assistantship or fellowship, students must discuss their contractual obligations with the current Major Professor before initiating the process to change advisors. All changes in advisor must be coordinated through the EEE Graduate Program Office, via e-mailing eeegrad@purdue.edu, and changed on the Plan of Study.

Annual Review Requirement:

Every 12 months, each thesis-track student (M.S. and Ph.D.) in EEE is recommended to meet with their Advisory Committee to ensure that the student is performing the research activities necessary to fulfill all research requirements of their respective degree in a timely manner. For thesis M.S. students, this review is required two years from their start of the program and for PhD students, this review is required four years from the start of the program.

During all other annual meetings, the student should give an oral update of the research performed to date, what research is anticipated during the next 12 months (or until graduation), and what research (if any) is necessary to complete during additional years. Written updates may consist of: The POS and current transcripts, research papers published or submitted, research outlines, or other materials requested by the adviser before the annual meeting is held. For additional procedural details, please see the “Annual EEE Research Graduate Student Review” evaluation form available online.

Course Requirements for all EEE Graduate Students:

Because students in the EEE graduate program have a wide variety of academic, research, and career interests, there are no specified course requirement, other than (i) completion of nine credit hours of EEE graduate-level (500- and 600-level) courses and (ii) completion of EEE69500, which counts toward the nine credit hours of EEE coursework. EEE69500 must be taken the first semester it is offered after a student starts the program. Research credits cannot count toward these nine credit hours.

All MS-thesis and PhD students are required by EEE to take EEE69000 and will be auto-enrolled into this course each semester (Fall, Spring)

Below are the detailed rules for EEE690:

1. Ph.D. and thesis-based master's students enrolled in Fall 2023 or after are required to take EEE 69000 every semester until they graduate. This rule also applies to those who have passed prelims.
2. Exceptions:

1. Ph.D. and thesis-based master's students enrolled in Spring 2023 or earlier are strongly encouraged to take EEE 69000, although it’s not required. Their advisor needs to approve it and EEE graduate committee chair and EEE69000 instructors should be notified.
2. If a student is off campus for professional reasons, such as an internship, or is only taking asynchronous courses, then the student doesn’t need to take EEE 69000 in that semester.
3. If a student is on campus but needs to take a course that is important for the student’s research but has a scheduling conflict with EEE 69000, the student can be excused for that semester but needs to seek approval from their advisor and EEE graduate committee chair and also notify EEE 69000 instructors.
4. A Ph.D. student needs to attend at least 10 meetings in EEE 69000 in a semester and the rest can be replaced with alternate seminars if those seminars are more relevant to their research. However, the Ph.D. student should seek approval from EEE69000 instructors, and a reflection report needs to be finished for each alternate seminar.

b. Specific Program Requirements for Professional MS Students and Non-thesis MS Students (non-combined degree)

Students admitted to the MSEEE degree program, after completing a baccalaureate degree at a college or university of recognized standing, may choose the Professional master’s or non-thesis MS degree option, which requires completion of a minimum of 30 credit hours of coursework. The cumulative POS GPA must be 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) or greater to graduate. The list of courses that comprises these 30 credit hours constitutes the student’s Plan of Study and requires approval of the student’s advisory committee.

Within the minimum 30 credit hours, 0 to 6 credit hours of independent project coursework can be applied, as well as 0 to 6 credit hours of coursework at the 300 or 400 level. Independent project coursework generally is completed under the supervision of an EEE-affiliated faculty member under the course number EEE 59800.

c. Combined BS + MSEEE non-Thesis degree Students.

Because combined degree students are allowed to “double count” 12 credits of graduate coursework, some additional constraints are placed on the remaining 18 credits that are earned as a graduate student during the 5th year as a graduate student. Specifically:

• • During the last 2 semesters of the baccalaureate degree program, 12 credit hours of graduate courses (e.g., three 3-credit 50000 level courses) can be taken and added to both the BS and MSEEE Plans of Study. A cumulative GPA of 3.25 must be maintained during semesters 6-8 of undergraduate studies.
• • The MSEEE Plan-of-Study must not contain any undergraduate courses (i.e., all courses need to be 500 level or above), and the MSEEE POS must be filed before the end of semester 9 (first semester post-baccalaureate degree) and must be approved by the EEE Graduate Program before registration for the final semester.
• • All normal MSEEE non-thesis degree requirements must be satisfied, including (but not limited to) completion of EEE69500 and 9 credits of EEE graduate-level coursework.

d. Program Requirements of Thesis MSEEE Degree Students

After having completed a baccalaureate degree at a college or university of recognized standing, students admitted to the MSEEE degree program may choose the thesis Master’s degree option, which requires completion of a minimum of 18 credit hours of coursework and a minimum of 12 credit hours of thesis research (EEE 69800) through which a Master’s thesis is researched and composed. The 18 coursework credits (i.e., Plan of Study) may include 0 to 6 credits at the 300 or 400 level, but cannot include any independent project coursework, as this is replaced with thesis research credits.

Thesis research must be completed under the supervision of the Chair or co-Chairs of the Advisory Committee (i.e., the student’s Major Professor(s)). The Committee determines whether the student is approved (certified) for graduation, with this typically conducted through an oral final examination in which the student must defend their written thesis to all members of the examination committee.

There are typically two parts to the oral exam, which must be completed within a maximum period of two hours:

1. The first part (twenty to thirty minutes) generally is open to the public, during which time the student presents and explains their research goals, methods, and results to the committee and public, followed by a brief open question time.
2. The second part is a closed question-and-answer session conducted by the examination committee. Members of the final examination committee also have the option of requiring the student to provide written responses to questions posed to them before the final oral exam. Final approval is also required from the Graduate School.

The student must submit a Form 8: Request for Appointment of Examining Committee to request the final examination. The Form, which can be found on myPurdue, must be submitted and must receive all department signatures at least two full weeks before the requested exam date. All Committee Members must complete a Form 7: Report of Master’s Examining Committee after the defense is complete.

In addition to recommending (or not recommending) the candidate for the MSEEE degree, the major professor and other committee members also may recommend (or not recommend) whether the candidate is allowed to continue study toward the Ph.D. degree.

MS Thesis Defense Preparation Timeline:

Infinite weeks in advance:	The student should be in regular communication with advisor and committee about progress toward exam and expected timelines. If external committee members are included in the thesis or examination committee, this process should start as soon as possible. External committee members are committee members who are not affiliated with Purdue University, and students may request an external committee member be added by emailing EEEgrad@purdue.edu.
Four weeks in advance (or earlier):	The student should work with graduate program administrator and coordinate with committee members to schedule the exam and book appropriate rooms. Students should submit a title and abstract to the graduate program administrator. The request for examination must be submitted to the Purdue Graduate School.
Two weeks in advance (or earlier):	The student submits the document (prelim or thesis) to committee members for their review. If the two-week deadline is not met, the exam will be cancelled and must be rescheduled.
One week in advance:	Committee members inform the student of any additional written questions, which must be addressed.

e. Program Requirements of Ph.D. Degree Students

All students admitted to the Doctor of Philosophy program are eligible to receive the Ph.D. degree from the Graduate School upon completion of all degree requirements. All Ph.D. students must research, compose, and successfully defend a doctoral dissertation.

The Ph.D. degree requires a minimum of 30 credit hours of coursework, 42 credit hours of research, and 90 total credits of coursework and research. The balance of 18 credits may be coursework or research and is left to the discretion of the thesis committee based on the educational needs of the student.

Coursework and research credits earned in the completion of a master’s degree, earned at Purdue or at another college or university of recognized standing may be included in the 90-credit total. As an example, for students who have earned a non-thesis degree at another university, the Ph.D. Advisory Committee in EEE may allow up to 30 coursework credits, earned at another university, to be included on the Ph.D. Plan of Study, depending upon the suitability of each course in addressing the student’s academic goals within the EEE graduate program, as determined by the Ph.D. Advisory Committee.

A minimum of 18 credits of coursework applied toward graduation must be from Purdue, so a PhD student who earned an MS from another institution will still have a mix of coursework and research credits earned while a Purdue student. Any coursework credits earned during completion of a thesis master’s degree may be included on the Ph.D. Plan of Study, if approved by the Ph.D. Advisory Committee.

Similarly, up to 9 credit hours of research credits earned in completion of a thesis master’s degree may be applied toward completion of the 42 required research credits. The 30+ coursework credits (i.e., Plan of Study) may include 0 to 6 credits at the 300 or 400 level but cannot include any independent project coursework earned beyond the master’s degree.

Any additional research credits, beyond the master’s degree, are earned through registration in EEE 69900, with all work completed under EEE 69900 supervised by the student’s Major Professor. Coursework earned from one (and only one) master’s degree may be used on the Ph.D. plan of study, and only those research credits earned for this one degree may be counted towards the Ph.D. research credit requirement. An official transcript showing the completion of the master’s degree must be on file with Purdue University’s Graduate School if courses are to be transferred to the Ph.D. POS, or if any associated research credits are to be applied.

Ph.D. Preliminary Exam

After the student’s Advisory Committee has approved the student’s Plan of Study, and after completion of the course work on the initial Plan of Study (8-10 courses for direct PhD students and 4-6 courses for PhD students with MS from outside Purdue), the student must successfully pass the Ph.D. preliminary (prelim) examination. The exam is administered by a Preliminary Examination Committee, which generally consists of all Advisory Committee members. The public is not allowed to attend the Preliminary Examination. The Examination Committee should communicate Preliminary Examination expectations and format preferences no later than the first week of the semester planned for the exam.

The Preliminary Examination is an oral examination in which the student describes and defends the research plan that they intend to follow in developing their research dissertation. This research plan must be documented in a written proposal provided to the examining committee at least two weeks before the exam. The student is responsible for making sure the written proposal is in a format that is acceptable to the advisor and other committee members before finalizing it and before providing it to the committee. Generally, a 15 page, single-spaced, NSF-style written proposal (that includes an abstract, introduction and significance (broader impacts), list of hypotheses or research tasks, brief methods and/or theory section, and preliminary results) is acceptable. Other materials (including references, draft of papers or published papers, standard operating procedures, or other detailed experimental methods sections) may be attached as appendices. A long proposal, which is essentially an early draft of the dissertation, is not acceptable.

The Preliminary Examination committee has the option of requiring the student to provide written responses to questions posed by them to the student before the oral prelim exam. The objective of the Ph.D. preliminary examination is to determine if the student qualifies for admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree based on the student’s technical knowledge, reasoning skills, creativity in formulating their research plan, and ability to convey each of these in written and oral formats. If the student fails to pass the Preliminary Examination on the first attempt, they must retake the exam during the next semester. If the student fails for a second time, they will be automatically withdrawn from the Ph.D. program.

The student must submit a Form 8: Request for Appointment of Examining Committee to request the preliminary examination. The Form, which can be found on myPurdue, must be submitted and receive all department signatures at least two full weeks before the requested exam date. All Committee Members must complete a Form 10: Report of the Preliminary Examination after the defense is complete.

Upon satisfactory completion of the Ph.D. Preliminary Examination, and with final approval required from the Graduate School, the Ph.D. student holds the position of “Ph.D. Candidate”. One time each year after satisfactory completion of the Preliminary Exam, the Ph.D. candidate needs to schedule the annual review meeting with their Advisory Committee to inform the committee of the student’s academic and research progress, and to help identify any major issues or concerns regarding the student’s work prior to the Final Examination meetings.

Ph.D. Final Exam

At least two full semesters (of registration) must elapse between the Preliminary Exam and the Final Defense (described below).

The Examination Committee will be comprised of four or more members. In most cases, this Committee is composed of members of the Preliminary Examination Committee. This Committee determines whether the student is approved (certified) for graduation, with this typically conducted through an oral final examination in which the student must defend their written dissertation to all members of the examination committee.

There are typically two parts to the oral exam, which must be completed within a maximum period of two hours. The first part is open generally to the public (e.g., except in cases such as when proprietary information is discussed), during which time the student presents and explains their research goals, methods, and results to the committee and public; and the second part is a closed question-and-answer session conducted by the examination committee. Members of the final examination committee also have the option of requiring the student to provide written responses to questions posed to them before the final oral exam.

The student must submit a Form 8: Request for Appointment of Examining Committee to request the final examination. The Form, which can be found on myPurdue, must be submitted and receive all department signatures at least two full weeks before the requested exam date. All Committee Members must complete a Form 11: Report of the Final Examination after the defense is complete.

PhD Preliminary and Final Defense Preparation Timeline:

Infinite weeks in advance:	The student should be in regular communication with advisor and committee about progress toward exam and expected timelines. If external committee members are included in the thesis or examination committee, this process should start at least eight weeks before the proposed exam date.
Four weeks in advance (or earlier):	The student should work with graduate program administrator and coordinate with committee members to schedule the exam and book appropriate rooms. The student should submit a title and abstract to the graduate program administrator. The request for examination must be submitted to the Purdue Graduate School.
Two weeks in advance (or earlier):	The student submits the document to committee members for their review. If the two-week deadline is not met, the exam will be cancelled and must be rescheduled.
One week in advance:	Committee members inform the student of any additional written questions, which must be addressed.