Five Year BEE/MSEE Degree

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ECE Graduate Handbook 2007-2008

Five Year BEE/MSEE Degree Program

Introduction

The Graduate School of the University of Minnesota and the University Regents have recently granted the Electrical Engineering Graduate Program permission to offer selected students the opportunity to complete both a BEE and an MSEE in five years. Both degrees will be granted, the BEE will precede the MSEE. Students may elect to take either a Plan A or Plan C MSEE degree program

Chart Outlining Degree Requirements

Standard BEE		Standard MSEE Plan A		Standard MSEE Plan C		Combined BEE & MSEE (Plan A)		Combined BEE & MSEE (Plan C)
	Credits		Credits		Credits		Credits		Credits
Year 1-3	95					Year 1-3	95	Year 1-3	95
Year 4	31					Year 4 Undergrad Courses	31	Year 4	31
						Year 4 + Summer EE Grad Courses	6	Year 4 + Summer EE Grad Courses	6
		EE Grad Courses	14	EE Grad Courses	14	EE Grad Courses	8	EE Grad Courses	8
		Minor Courses	6	Minor Courses	6	Minor Courses	6	Minor Courses	6
				Minor or EE Grad Courses	7			Minor or EE Grad Courses	7
		Thesis	10	Plan C Project	3	Thesis	10	Plan C Project	3

Total	126	Total	30	Total	30	Total	156	Total	156

Degree Requirements

The credit hours will comply with the minimum requirements for the BEE degree and the MS degree as established under the semester system.

Double-Counting Credits

Students may not double count credits toward both degrees.

Required Courses

The required courses for the BEE degree remain the same as for students pursuing a traditional 4-year degree. No specific required courses are given for the MS degree. However, students must meet the criteria listed in the MSEE Plan A and Plan C charts.

Plan A Chart

Plan A Requirements	Credits
EE graduate courses	14 semester credits
non EE courses for the related field or minor requirement	6 semester credits
Plan A Thesis	10 semester credits

Plan C Chart

Plan C Requirements	Credits
EE graduate courses	14 semester credits
non EE courses for the related field or minor requirement	6 semester credits
either EE courses or non EE courses	10 semester credits
Plan C paper/project/oral requirement must be satisfied either in coursework listed from the approved list or by registering for the Plan C project.

Completion of the BEE relative to the MSEE

Most students will complete their BEE degree at the end of the fourth year of study, well ahead of completing the MSEE. However, for some students in this program it may be advantageous to have them stretch out the completion of the BEE during the summer and into the fifth year. In all such cases the student would be required to complete the BEE course requirements prior to or simultaneous with the date at which they apply for the MSEE graduation. In all cases, award of the BEE degree will precede award of the MSEE degree.

Sample student program for the first graduate year

The first three years of the student’s program are identical to the approved Electrical Engineering undergraduate curriculum for the semester system for the freshman, sophomore and junior years. Samples of the fourth year (first year as a graduate student) and fifth year (second year as a graduate student) under this proposed dual degree program are shown below:

Year 4 (first year of graduate program)

	Fall	Credits	Spring	Credits
Undergraduate Level	EE 4981	2	EE 4982V	2
	EE 4301	4	EE 4111	4
	EE 4341	3	EE 4341	4
	EE 4721	4	EE 4951	2
	EE 5741	3	EE 5721	3
Total Undergraduate		16		15
Graduate Level			EE 5235	3
Total Graduate				3

Summer between fourth and fifth year.

	Summer	Crs.
Graduate Level	EE 5940	3
Total		3

Year 5 (second graduate year) Plan A all graduate level courses

	Fall	Credits	Spring	Credits
Minor	CSCI 5302	3	CSCI 5304	3
Electrical Engineering	EE 8741	3	EE 8230	2
	EE 5725	3
Thesis	EE 8777	5	EE 8777	5
Total		14		10

Plan A Master's Degree

Filing the Degree Program Form. Must be filed by the end of fall semester in the 4th year (first graduate year)
Filing the thesis proposal. This would typically occur during the fall semester of the 5th year (second graduate year).
Taking final oral examination
The final oral examination will be conducted in a manner similar to the present oral examination procedure. A three-person committee (two graduate faculty members from EE and one graduate faculty member from the minor or related field) will attend the student’s oral presentation of the work which will be conducted as a public forum. Following this, a closed door examination will occur with the student and committee. The anticipated scheduling of these examinations is late in spring semester of the 5th year.

Year 5 (second graduate year) Plan C all graduate level courses

	Fall	Credits	Spring	Credits
Minor	CSCI 5302	3	CSCI 5304	3
			CSCI 5321	4
Electrical Engineering	EE 8741	3	EE 8230	2
	EE 5725	3	EE 5705	3
Plan C Project*			EE 8961	3
Totals		9		15

Plan C Master's Degree

The Degree Program form must filed by the end of fall semester in the 4th year (first graduate year)
Plan C students will be required to work on a project, either alone or jointly with other students, present the results of their project in the form of a written report and give an in-class oral presentation of the work. See MS Plan C Form. The project must be an EE graduate course. This requirement can be met in three ways:

Taking an EE course with project requirements: Students can take classes that have a combination of lectures, labs, homework, and exams as well as projects and presentations that are done singly or in groups. Students wishing to take such a course for project credit must prepare a written report, have it signed by the course instructor and submitted to the DGS. The course instructor’s signature on the report will signify that the student’s report received a passing grade. Students should indicate on their Degree Program form which course they intend to count as the project course.
Taking one, two, or three different courses with project, written report, or oral presentation requirements: Students may opt to fulfill the project, written report and oral presentation requirements in different courses. Students must submit the written report with course instructor signature to the DGS. Students should indicate on their Degree Program form which course(s) meets the project/written/oral Plan C requirement.
Taking an EE Project Course: The student registers for Plan C project, works on the project directly with their advisor and presents the results to the advisor.

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