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6.0 Degree Requirements The university confers graduate degrees upon candidates who meet the requirements designated by the appropriate graduate committees, the Graduate Council, and the faculty of the university. Credit toward graduate degrees is recognized only for those courses for which the student is registered or those credits that are transferred with the Department's approval. Return to Top
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6.1 Requirements for All Degrees 6.1.1 Prerequisites As a prerequisite to acceptance in the graduate program, students normally have completed all courses required for the award of the degree of B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering as detailed in The University of Utah General Catalog, or equivalent courses at other universities. In cases where the student has not completed these courses, s/he includes in her/his course of study for a higher degree those courses required to satisfy the requirement. Exceptions must be approved by the Supervisory Committee. Courses completed for undergraduate credit do not normally qualify for graduate credit. Return to Top
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6.1.2 Graduate Seminar Presentation Students are required to present at least one seminar during their graduate residency. See section 5.6.2. Return to Top
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6.1.3 Maximum Registration No candidate for a graduate degree may register for more than sixteen (16) credit hours in any one semester. This includes evening resident credit and daytime classes. Teaching fellows and others employed approximately halftime are limited to a maximum registration of twelve (12) credit hours. Return to Top
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6.1.4 Nonmatriculated or Correspondence Work A student may count no more than six (6) credit hours of nonmatriculated work toward a graduate degree, unless the student's registration for additional credit is specifically approved in advance by the department Chairperson. Courses taken by correspondence or home study are not eligible for graduate credit. Return to Top
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6.1.5 Research Topic and Faculty Advisor The graduate student should discuss possible research projects with all faculty members in the student's area of graduate studies, and select a topic and a faculty advisor. Return to Top
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6.1.6 Semester Research Report All graduate students who are registered for Thesis Research -- Masters (Met.E. 6970) or for Thesis Research -- Ph.D. (Met.E. 7970) must complete and turn into the department office a semester research report. The report, typewritten, complete, and concise, should be given to the Office Support Coordinator by the last day of classes. No research grade is given without a report. Return to Top
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6.1.7 Additional Graduation Requirements The following tasks (where applicable) must be fulfilled prior to graduation.
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| Required for | | 1. | Provide copy of research proposal for department file | MS | ME | PhD | | 2. | Complete and defend thesis or dissertation | MS | - | PhD | | 3. | Complete and present written report of project completed | - | ME | - | | 4. | Do exit interview | optional | optional | optional | | 5. | Return books to departmental library | MS | ME | PhD | | 6. | Check in laboratory notebooks | MS | ME | PhD | | 7. | Check in equipment and supply items | MS | ME | PhD | | 8. | Properly dispose of chemicals and samples | MS | ME | PhD | | 9. | Return keys | MS | ME | PhD | | 10. | Provide forwarding address and current employment | MS | ME | PhD |
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6.2 Master of Science 6.2.1 General Coursework and Study Requirements for the M.S. Candidates for the Master of Science degree must earn a minimum of thirty (30) semester hours in graduate courses and thesis research. A minimum of twenty (20) semester hours must be in course work, with the balance (10 semester hours) in thesis research. At least twenty-four (24) semester hours must be in resident study at the university. The candidate is required to maintain at least a "B" grade point average. Course numbers 6980 and 7980 do not count toward fulfillment of Master's degree requirements. For specific coursework requirements, see "Core Courses for M.S. and Ph.D. Programs." Return to Top
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6.2.2 Transfer Credit Graduate credit may be transferred from other institutions. Up to six (6) hours of transfer credit may be applied toward fulfillment of master's degree requirements: a) if of high grade, b) if recommended by the student's Supervisory Committee, c) if taken within four (4) years, and d) if not previously counted toward and needed to complete an undergraduate degree. Return to Top
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6.2.4 Supervisory Committee By the end of the second semester of a student's graduate work, the graduate student, in consultation with his/her thesis advisor, requests a Supervisory Committee, which is approved by the Department. The Supervisory Committee normally consists of three faculty members, regular, adjunct, and/or research, two from the major field and one from outside the major field, and is responsible for the student's academic program, approval of the thesis, and the Final Oral Examination. The faculty member who directs the thesis work usually serves as the Chairperson of the Supervisory Committee. Appointments to Graduate Supervisory Committees of persons who do not have a regular, research, lecture, adjunct, clinical, or other instructional appointment in the university, must be approved by action of the Graduate Council on recommendation of the department Chairperson and the Dean of the Graduate School. The student is responsible to prepare the form "Request for Supervisory Committee." This and other forms are available from the Graduate School website. The Committee consults with the student in planning her/his degree program and thesis research. If a Supervisory Committee finds a graduate student's preliminary work deficient, the student may be required to take supplementary undergraduate courses, for which graduate credit will not be allowed. Return to Top
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6.2.5 Research Proposal Presentation The student outlines the course of research to be pursued in collaboration with his/her faculty advisor and presents the proposed research plan to the Supervisory Committee for approval. In her/his proposal the student should clearly state his/her objectives, her/his plan of attack and what s/he hopes to accomplish. The student should provide a copy of this proposal to the department office for his/her student file. Return to Top
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6.2.6 Application for Candidacy/Filing for Graduation Once the student's Committee has been appointed, the student should file an "Application for Admission to Candidacy for the Master's Degree" form (available from the Graduate School website). This application is generally presented to the student's Committee for approval at the same time that the student presents his/her research topic. Admission to Candidacy must also be approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. Subsequent changes must be approved by the student's Committee and reported to the Graduate Records Office. By means of this form, the student files for graduation in the semester stated on the form. Return to Top
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6.2.7 Time Limits All work offered for the Master's Degree must be completed within four (4) consecutive calendar years from matriculation. The department may modify or waive this requirement in meritorious cases on recommendation from the student's Supervisory Committee. Return to Top
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6.2.9 Thesis Requirements Upon completion of his/her research, the graduate student must submit a typed draft of the thesis work to her/his Committee Chairperson and final versions to his/her Committee. Formatting instructions are given in Handbook for Theses and Dissertations. The primary style guide for theses produced in our department is the Handbook for Authors from American Chemical Society Publications, American Chemical Society. Alternative standards are suggested in the Handbook for Theses and Dissertations. On acceptance of her/his thesis by the Supervisory Committee Chairperson, the student is required to orally defend his/her thesis before the Supervisory Committee. The student submits three (3) unbound copies of the approved thesis to the Thesis Editor. After being processed and bound, two (2) copies of the thesis are distributed to the University Libraries and one (1) copy to the department. Additional copies of the thesis required by the department are at the expense of the department. Committee members, therefore, cannot require a bound copy of the student's thesis at the student's expense. Return to Top
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6.3 Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) The Ph.D. degree represents high scholarly achievement demonstrated by independent research and is not awarded simply for the fulfillment of resident or credit requirements. Return to Top
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6.3.1 General Coursework and Study Requirements for the Ph.D. The student must do three (3) or more years of approved graduate study. One of the years must be spent in continuous residence at the University of Utah. A minimum of sixty-seven (67) semester hours of credit is required for the degree, of which thirty-three (33) credit hours are course credits and thirty-four (34) are dissertation research credits. Courses taken for a master's degree may be counted towards the total credit hours required for the doctoral degree. The student is strongly encouraged to take the Ph.D. core courses described on page 16. Also, a student is encouraged to take core courses from areas other than her/his own main area. For instance, mineral processing students may take physical metallurgy and extractive metallurgy classes and vice versa. The student may take up to sixteen (16) credit hours of selected-topic classes. This class is listed as Met.E. 7910 with section number in the course catalog. The student may register for up to five (5) hours of selected topics per semester. Time spent on research preparation, bibliographic work, acquiring new mathematical or computer skills, or developing new instrumentation are to be counted toward fulfilling a selected-topic class requirement. The student may register for this class with his/her own faculty advisor or with any other faculty member in the metallurgical engineering department. Each faculty member is identified by a section number in the selected-topic class offering. Topics or parts of topics covered in the regular schedule of classes offered in metallurgical engineering are not accepted for selected topics study. Note that in the Ph.D. course requirements no distinction is made between allied field and metallurgical engineering. Depending on the student's research needs and interests, s/he may take classes in other departments, or s/he may take all the classes within the metallurgical engineering department. Return to Top
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6.3.2 Transfer Credit Graduate credit may be transferred from other institutions without limit as long as the registration requirements are met. Transfer credit may be applied toward fulfillment of graduate degree requirements: a) if of high grade; b) if recommended by the student's Supervisory Committee; and c) if not previously counted toward or needed to complete an undergraduate degree. Course credits used for a Master's degree may be used to fulfill the course credit requirement for the Ph.D. degree. Return to Top
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6.3.3 Admission to Candidacy for the Ph.D. Program -- Qualifying Examination All students desiring to study for the Ph.D. degree must take a Qualifying Examination. This is given by the faculty in April of each year and is an oral exam followed if necessary by a written exam. Students are not normally allowed to take the exam a second time. The student should take the exam the first April s/he is on campus, unless s/he arrives during the Spring semester. The exception to this is a student without a degree in this field but who desires to obtain the Ph.D. in this discipline. As s/he has to take undergraduate courses to achieve competency in this field, s/he should take the exam the second April s/he is on campus. The Qualifying Examination is on the field of Metallurgical Engineering and is based on undergraduate work. Those students completing the master's degree or coming from another institution with a master's degree who have not passed the Qualifying Exam must prepare to take it at the appropriate time (the next April). If the student's degree in the second case is in another discipline, s/he may request additional time to obtain the necessary background. A Departmental Committee considers the student's scholastic record (GPA, master's thesis, performance in coursework after the master's degree, etc.) together with performance in the examination, in order to reach a decision on whether or not to admit him/her to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree. The student must still pass the Research Proposal Examination within twelve (12) months after the Qualifying Examination. If a student is not granted admission to the Ph.D. program and s/he feels that the decision should be reconsidered, s/he may submit a written justification to the faculty containing all pertinent information which could affect the decision. The quality of the application is reviewed by the faculty, and a final decision rendered. To file for graduation, the student submits the form "Report of the Qualifying Examination for the PhD ... and Recommendation for Admission to Candidacy" to Graduate Records. Return to Top
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6.3.5 Supervisory Committee Following his/her passing of the Qualifying Examination, each graduate student, in consultation with his/her thesis advisor, requests the formation of a Supervisory Committee, which is approved by the department Chairperson. The Supervisory Committee normally consists of five faculty members, regular, adjunct, and/or research, and is responsible for the student's academic program, approval of the dissertation, and the Final Oral Examination. The faculty member who directs the dissertation work usually serves as the Chairperson of the Supervisory Committee. Each Committee consists of five (5) members with at least three (3) departmental faculty members and at least one (1) faculty member or researcher outside the department. An exception may be made, allowing the appointment of three or four (3-4) persons to the Ph.D. Supervisory Committee when in the opinion of the department Chairperson and the Director of Graduate Studies the work of the Committee will be strengthened by a departure from the five-person rule. Appointments to a Graduate Supervisory Committee of persons who are not on the regular faculty, or who do not have lecture, adjunct, clinical or other instructional or research appointments in the university, must be approved by action of the Graduate Council on recommendation of the department Chairperson and the Dean of the Graduate School. The student prepares the form "Request for Supervisory Committee." This and other forms are available from the Graduate School website. The Supervisory Committee examines the student's Research Proposal, as described below. Return to Top
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6.3.5 Program of Study It is suggested that the student find a faculty advisor as soon as possible, because the burden of convincing the Supervisory Committee of the course hours falls upon the student otherwise. Each semester the student must get the advisor's approval of the classes for which s/he is planning to register. Finally, the Supervisory Committee must also approve the student's coursework. Before the end of a student's second year of graduate work, the student should file with the Chairperson of his/her Supervisory Committee the form "Program of Study for Ph.D. Degree" (available from the Graduate School website). This must be approved by the Supervisory Committee and then sent to the Graduate School for approval by the Dean of the Graduate School. Changes must be approved by the Supervisory Committee and reported to the Graduate Records Office. Return to Top
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6.3.8 Research Proposal Examination The Research Proposal Examination is given by the student's Ph.D. Supervisory Committee. The examination consists of an oral defense of a written research proposal on a subject either on or not on the student's research topic, at the discretion of the Committee. The student outlines the course of research to be pursued in collaboration with his/her faculty advisor. The proposed research plan is then presented to the Supervisory Committee for approval. In the proposal the student should clearly state research objectives, the plan of attack and what s/he hopes to accomplish. The research proposal should be organized as follows: 1. Abstract. 2. Introduction. 3. Literature Survey. 4. Proposed Research Program. 5. Conclusions. 6. Nomenclature. 7. References The proposal should be between fifteen and twenty (15-20) doublespaced typewritten pages of text plus tables, figures, and appendices. The proposal should be submitted to the Committee at least two (2) weeks in advance of the oral presentation to the Committee. The student then defends the proposal and answers all questions of the Committee. The Committee determines whether 1) the student has passed, 2) after proper revision of the proposal as directed by the Committee, if successful, the student is passed, or 3) the proposal and defense are inadequate and the student should repeat the entire process with a new research proposal. A maximum of two attempts is permitted. The student should provide a copy of the proposal to the department office to be placed in her/his student file. The defense of the Research Proposal should be made within six to twelve (6-12) months of passing the Qualifying Exam. Return to Top
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6.3.10 Dissertation Requirements A written dissertation must be submitted to the Supervisory Committee at least two weeks before the Final Oral Examination. Formatting instructions are given in Handbook for Theses and Dissertations, available from the Thesis Office for a small deposit. The primary style guide for theses produced in our department is the Handbook for Authors from American Chemical Society Publications, American Chemical Society. Alternative standards are suggested in the Handbook for Theses and Dissertations. The dissertation must embody the result of independent research and constitute a contribution of knowledge in the student's field. The intellectual and creative matter presented in the dissertation must meet the standards of the particular college, department, and the student's Supervisory Committee. The dissertation may take the form of a manuscript or manuscripts to be submitted for publication in a scholarly journal, with the graduate student as senior author. See The University of Utah General Catalog for further details. Upon acceptance of his/her dissertation by the Supervisory Committee Chairperson, the student is required to orally defend his/her dissertation before the Supervisory Committee. The student submits three (3) unbound copies of the approved dissertation to the Thesis Editor. After being processed and bound, two (2) copies of the dissertation are distributed to the university Libraries and one (1) copy to the department. Additional copies of the dissertation required by the department are at the expense of the department. Committee members, therefore, cannot require a bound copy of the student's dissertation at the student's expense. Return to Top
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6.3.11 Final Oral Examination (Dissertation Defense) The Final Oral Examination must be passed at least six (6) weeks before graduation, following submission of the dissertation. The examination is given by the candidate's Supervisory Committee. The Committee Chairperson normally chairs the examination. The candidate must be regularly enrolled for three (3) or more credit hours at the university or for three (3) credit hours of Faculty Consultation (7980) during the semester or term in which the Final Oral Examination is taken. Return to Top
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6.4 Master of Engineering (M.E.) This degree is not based solely on the accumulation of a given number of hours of course work but should be built around providing specialized training for the student. All requirements for the M.S. degree with the exception of the thesis apply to the M.E. degree. In place of a thesis defense the candidate must take a comprehensive oral and/or written examination conducted by his/her Supervisory Committee. Return to Top
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6.4.1 Admission to Candidacy The qualifications for admission to the Master of Engineering Program are the same as those of the Graduate School. Return to Top
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6.4.2 Supervisory Committee By the end of the second semester of a student's graduate work, the graduate student, in consultation with his/her advisor, requests a Supervisory Committee, which is approved by the Department. The Supervisory Committee normally consists of three faculty members, regular, adjunct, and/or research, two from the major field and one from outside the major field, and is responsible for the student's academic program, approval of the final research report, and the Final Oral Examination. The faculty member who directs the research work usually serves as the Chairperson of the Supervisory Committee. Appointments to Graduate Supervisory Committees of persons who do not have a regular, research, lecture, adjunct, clinical, or other instructional appointment in the university, must be approved by action of the Graduate Council on recommendation of the department Chairperson. The student is responsible to prepare the form "Application of Admission to Candidacy for the Master of Engineering Degree." This and other forms are available from the department office. Return to Top
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6.4.3 Course Requirements Information of the specific requirements for the degree may be obtained from the department or The University of Utah General Catalog. The Master of Engineering degree requires completion of a minimum of thirty (30) credit hours of graduate, professionally oriented course work. The thirty credit hours may include both graduate courses and approved undergraduate courses of which twenty (20) credit hours are in the major area and include special topics courses involving four to six (4-6) credit hours. Special topics are individual work in some aspect of engineering design and must result in a final report. The program of study for each Master of Engineering degree candidate is carefully planned by the student and her/his Supervisory Committee of three (3) faculty members, who may request the assistance of additional faculty members. If changing status from an M.S. to an M.E., be aware that thesis research hours do not apply towards the total hours required. Thus the actual coursework requirements are greater than for an M.S. Return to Top
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6.4.4 Time Limits All work offered for the Master of Engineering Degree must be completed within four (4) consecutive calendar years unless an extension is granted by the dean of the college. Return to Top
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6.4.5 Final Examination In place of the Master's Thesis the student must write a paper involving some aspect of engineering design which represents an equivalent effort of four to six (4-6) semester credit hours. The paper may include process design, field studies or other appropriate topics. The candidate must take a comprehensive oral and/or written examination conducted by his/her Supervisory Committee. The candidate must be regularly enrolled for three (3) or more credit hours at the university during the semester or term in which the final report is submitted and the examination conducted. Return to Top
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