Master's Thesis/Non-Thesis Courses, Advisory Committee and Plan of Study (POS)

Registration for the first semester of graduate study

New graduate students complete their registration for the first semester with the Graduate Advisor in the School of Industrial Engineering. The first semester’s schedule should include the necessary prerequisite courses and those courses leading to advanced study in the specific area of interest to the student. In addition, all students must register every semester for the Graduate Seminar (IE 697). This course consists of a series of seminars on the current practice of industrial engineering and relevant research topics. Registration for subsequent semesters will be done in consultation with the student’s major professor.

Advisory Committee

By the middle of the first semester of study (9 to 15 credit-hours of regular graduate course work), a major professor and an Advisory Committee (at least two faculty members) should be selected by the student. The major professor and at least one other member of the committee must be from the School of Industrial Engineering. For thesis students, the remaining member should be a representative of the related area in the plan of study and normally not an industrial engineering faculty member. 

The major professor/graduate student relationship must be a mutually acceptable one. The major professor will be the individual supervising the thesis research or the engineering design project. To facilitate the selection of an Advisory Committee, students should discuss their educational objectives with several members of the faculty within the first six weeks on campus.

Plan of Study

After selection of the Advisory Committee, the student should file a plan of study with the Graduate School by the end of their first semester. The plan of study should be worked out under the supervision of the major professor and members of the Advisory Committee. Changes in the plan of study can be made at a later date with the approval of the Advisory Committee, the School Head (or his/her designee), and the Graduate School.

The purpose of the plan of study is to design an appropriate program to meet the specific needs of a given student in their chosen field of specialty as determined by the Advisory Committee. Minor changes in the formal plan of study can be made easily in case of course offering deletions or schedule conflicts. These changes must be filed one week prior to the start of the final session of graduate study.

The coursework must be selected to form a unified program of study. At least one related field of study outside the area of industrial engineering is required. Typical related areas are other branches of engineering, mathematics, statistics, computer sciences, psychology, sociology, biology, economics, or management.

Transfer Courses

Up to six credit-hours of transfer courses are allowed if the courses have been completed within the last seven years, fit into a cohesive plan of study, and are approved by the members of the Advisory Committee.

Graduation Requirements

An overall GPA of 3.0 is required for completion of the master’s degree program.