Master of Science in Electrical Engineering

Learning Objectives

• Be able to read, interpret, and critically assess literature in specialized fields of electrical engineering and to evaluate its impact on current issues on engineering and society
• Be able to write acceptable technical reports and other documentation
• Be able to give acceptable oral presentations of a technical nature
• Be able to apply basic and advanced knowledge in science, mathematics, and engineering disciplines to perform analysis and synthesis of engineering problems

Regular admission to the M.S.E.E. program requires a 3.0 undergraduate grade-point-average (GPA). Graduates from international universities or from a non-ABET-accredited undergraduate programs are required to take the verbal-reasoning and quantitative-reasoning portions of the Graduate Records Examinations (GRE) unless this requirement is waived by special petition to the Department Graduate Studies Committee. The GRE may be required by the Department Graduate Studies Committee if the applicant's undergraduate GPA falls below 3.0. If the student has an unacceptable undergraduate GPA, but has achieved a graduate GPA of 3.25 or better on a minimum of 15 semester hours of relevant graduate work (e.g., taken as an unclassified student, or at another university), then the student may be accepted into the program (note that units completed before admission may not all be transferable into a graduate degree program).

Graduates of international universities are required to take the TOEFL exam: A score of 550-600 on the paper-based exam, 78-80 on the internet-based exam or 213-250 on the computer-based exam is required score of 80 on the ILETS exam.

Students not admitted on a regular basis may be admitted on a provisional basis depending on their over-all application file, including GPA, GRE, letters of recommendation, etc. Students admitted on a provisional basis are often required to take remedial courses (these are specified in the letter of acceptance). Registration for such remedial courses must commence with the first semester of a student's program with at least three credits completed per semester until all remedial requirements are satisfied.

Applications are reviewed on a continual basis, but need to be received by April 1 (fall admission) or October 1 (spring admission) for students who are applying for assistantships. It is recommended that international students apply at least 3 months prior to the start of the semester to allow time to request a visa. Limited fellowships and assistantships are available.

For application information: How To Apply

For Information Regarding the Accelerated Masters Program in Electrical Engineering Click Here

For additional information, please contact the ECE office.

Course Requirements

Thesis option:

30 semester hours total.
24 semester hours of course work.

At least 18 semester hours must be ECE courses. The remaining 6 semester hours may
be replaced by allied department courses (e.g., computer science, mathematics, physics,
mechanical and aerospace engineering, etc.).

At most 6 semester hours may be independent study courses.

6 semester hours of thesis credit.

Non-Thesis option:

30 semester hours total.

All 30 semester hours are course work.

At least 24 semester hours must be ECE courses. The remaining 6 semester hours may
be replaced by allied department courses (e.g., computer science, mathematics, physics,
mechanical and aerospace engineering, etc.).

At most 6 semester hours may be independent study.

The student must choose an advisory committee with the same composition as a Thesis committee (see section 7.1).

The student must choose a subject for his/her Masters Report. This subject must be approved by his/her academic advisor.

The student must make an oral presentation and submit a written report to the advisory committee. Both must be approved by the committee.

In either case:

Cross-listed courses which are offered at the 400(0)/500(0) levels must be taken at the 500(0) level.

All course work must be numbered 5000 and above if ECE, or 400(0) and above if non-ECE.
Up to nine semester hours of accepted course work may be transferred from another university (including other universities of the CU system) or from course work taken as an unclassified student.

Acceptable Grades:

The student must have an overall graduate GPA of 3.0 in order to graduate.
The student must have a grade of C or better in all courses applied toward the M.S.E.E. degree.

The course requirements are outlined in the section Program Info.

Action Checklist and Typical Timeline

Once accepted the student must select an academic advisor and complete a Plan Of Study (POS). The POS must be approved by his or her academic advisor and by the ECE Graduate Program Director. This should be done by the end of the first semester of study. Then complete the coursework specified in his or her POS. Any transfer of credit must occur prior to the semester in which he or she will graduate.

If the student has elected the thesis option, he or she must

• Complete the required research and write a thesis (This process occurs in parallel to some of the items discussed below).
• Notify the ECE department of plans to graduate at the beginning of the semester during which the student plans to graduate. Completed diploma card (available in ECE office), and Application for Admission to Candidacy for an Advanced Degree must be submitted at this time as well.
• Form an M.S.E.E. Thesis Committee and select a second reader a minimum of sixty days prior to the defense.
• Notify the ECE department of the Thesis defense date (a minimum of one month prior to thesis defense). Get department thesis covers and log number from the ECE department.
• Submit final draft form of written thesis to Thesis Committee a minimum of one week prior to the thesis defense.
• Successfully defend the thesis in an oral defense. The student must be registered for the semester during which the defense occurs.
• Obtain approval from the Thesis Committee Chairman that the written thesis meets all format requirements.
• Obtain approval (and signatures) from all Thesis Committee members that the written thesis has acceptable content.
• Forward one bound copy of thesis to the ECE department, one bound copy to each Thesis Committee member, and two unbound copies to the Library by the semester deadline.

If the student has elected the non-thesis option, he or she

• Must form an M.S.E.E. Advisory Committee consisting of at least three members: the academic advisor (committee chair) and at least two other approved Graduate Faculty.
• Notify the ECE department of plans to graduate at the beginning of the semester during which the student plans to graduate. Completed diploma card (available in ECE office), and Application for Admission to Candidacy for an Advanced Degree must be submitted at this time as well.
• Must successfully complete a final examination consisting of two parts, an oral presentation and a written report on a subject chosen by the student and approved by the Advisory Committee, and a general written examination in his or her concentration area.

Commencement ceremony is held in May. Students become a graduate the semester they complete all requirements. Note: The student must meet all deadlines in the Schedule of Deadlines for Graduate Degree Candidates published annually by the UCCS Graduate School.

Duration of Program

The completion of the M.S.E.E. degree is normally accomplished in one to three years, and must be accomplished in six years commencing with the beginning of course work. A student becomes "inactive" if he or she fails to register for three consecutive semesters. An inactive student must reapply to the program in order to continue studies. An application fee will be charged only if one or more of the following apply:

• Semester of most recent registration was more than six years prior to date of reapplication
• One or more courses have been taken at another institution subsequent to most recent registration at UCCS
• Coursework completed more than six years prior to date of reapplication will be applied to the degree

Advisor and Plan of Study

The student should choose an academic advisor and complete a Plan Of Study with input from his or her advisor, by the end of the first semester of residence in the M.S.E.E. program. The POS must be approved by both the academic advisor and by the ECE Graduate Program Director. The academic advisor must be Graduate Faculty of the UCCS Graduate School, but need not be a member of the ECE faculty if approval has been obtained from the ECE Graduate Program Director.

Degree Requirements

Thesis option:

30 semester hours total. 24 semester hours of course work. 6 hours of thesis credit

At least 18 semester hours must be ECE courses. The remaining 6 semester hours may be replaced by allied department courses (e.g., computer science, mathematics, physics, mechanical and aerospace engineering, etc.)

At most 6 semester hours may be independent study courses

All course work must be numbered 5000 & above if ECE, or 400(0) & above if non-ECE

Up to nine semester hours of accepted course work may be transferred from another university or from course work taken as an unclassified student

Non-Thesis option:

30 semester hours total; all 30 semester hours are course work

At least 24 semester hours must be ECE courses

The remaining 6 semester hours may be replaced by allied department courses (e.g., computer science, mathematics, physics, mechanical and aerospace engineering, etc.)

At most 6 semester hours may be independent study courses

All course work must be numbered 5000 & above if ECE, or 400(0) & above if non-ECE. Up to nine semester hours of accepted course work may be transferred from another university or from course work taken as an unclassified student

There are no additional requirements as to which specific courses a student must take. The student's selection of courses need only meet the above requirements and be approved by the student's academic advisor and the departmental graduate studies committee

The non-thesis student must choose an Advisory Committee with the same composition as a Thesis Committee; choose a subject for his/her Masters Report that must be approved by his/her academic advisor; and make an oral presentation and submit a written report to the advisory committee. Both must be approved by the advisory committee.

Grades

The student must have an overall graduate GPA of 3.0 in order to graduate. The student must have a grade of C or better in all courses applied toward the MSEE degree.

Thesis Committee

Should the student elect to complete the thesis option, he or she will need to form a M.S.E.E. Thesis Defense Committee. This committee consists of at least three persons, with the following stipulations:

• All members of the thesis committee must be Graduate Faculty or Associate Graduate Faculty of the UCCS Graduate School, the chair of the thesis committee must be Graduate Faculty of the UCCS Graduate School, there may be at most one Associate Graduate Faculty of the UCCS Graduate School on the thesis committee, and individuals who are neither Graduate Faculty nor Associate Graduate Faculty of the UCCS Graduate School may not be voting members of an examination committee.
• The chair of the thesis committee must be in the faculty of the ECE department, although the chair need not be the student's academic advisor. (This provision allows a student who is studying in a closely-related field to EE - such as some areas of physics, mathematics or mechanical and aerospace engineering - to achieve an M.S.E.E. while having an academic advisor from his or her own specialty field. Such a student must still be admitted to the M.S.E.E. program in the normal way and meet all other requirements for the degree.)
• At least one other member of the committee must be ECE faculty.

Thesis Defense

The final oral defense of the thesis is taken at the completion of the work on the thesis after the first and second readers have approved its contents. This examination is open to anyone who wishes to attend. A successful candidate must receive the affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the thesis committee. In case of failure, the examination may be attempted once more after a period of time determined by the committee.

Written Thesis

The M.S.E.E. thesis is a written, polished document reporting the results of the student's investigation into an area of research. It must be written according to a departmentally approved format and enclosed in the department report cover. Each will be assigned a department report number EAS_ECE_xxxx_yy, where xxxx denotes the calendar year and yy denotes the report's assigned number in the series, e.g., EAS_ECE_2000_12. The number will be assigned by the department after the student's committee has approved the content of the final manuscript and the department has verified that the form of the thesis is in compliance with the department's format for reports. A bound archive copy of the thesis will be presented to the department and to each committee member by the candidate by the date on which the library is to receive its copy of the work. See the Thesis/Dissertation Manual.

The following procedures will be adopted for submitting theses to the Graduate School for graduation:

• All theses will be submitted by the student directly to the Technical Services Division of the Library after departmental approval is received.
• Students will be responsible for compliance with all instructions in the UCCS Thesis and Dissertation Manual. Use the Manual, the Gold Checklist and the Schedule of Deadlines. The thesis is to be in the manuscript style of the IEEE transactions.
• Theses will not be prechecked by the Graduate School. Questions concerning matters not discussed in the UCCS Thesis and Dissertation Manual must be directed to the ECE Department (see approval of Content and Form, below).
• Copies submitted to the committee members prior to the final defense should be prepared in final draft format. The committee chairperson will sign a statement of Approval of Format (i.e., style of referencing, quality of figures and other text materials) and acknowledge that the final copy is consistent with acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the discipline. The signature must be original. This statement will not be bound into the thesis. You must get this signed statement from the ECE office prior to submitting your final thesis to the Library. The usual approval page (page 2 of the preliminary pages of the thesis) will be required and will be bound into the thesis.
• Final copies will be judged acceptable or unacceptable based on the requirements stated in the UCCS Thesis and Dissertation Manual and the style designated by the department. If a thesis is not acceptable, corrections must be returned to the Library no later than 5:00 p.m. on the date indicated on the Schedule of Deadlines. If the deadline is missed, the student will be awarded their degree the following semester.
• Out of state students who are mailing their final copies should send them to the committee chairperson (their advisor) for final review and the necessary statement of approval for the thesis (page 2 of the preliminary pages of the thesis). This must have been previously approved by their advisor.

For additional information, please contact the ECE office.