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GETTING STARTED | GRADUATE PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS | Master's Degrees | From the Master's to the Pd.D. | Doctoral Degrees | FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE | MISCELLANEOUS POLICIES
Graduate Study Policies, Procedures and Requirements
Industrial and Systems Engineering Department
Texas A&M University
This manual provides information about the graduate programs in the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department at Texas A&M University to new and continuing graduate students in the department. Policies concerning many facets of graduate studies, including degree programs, q-drops, examinations, and financial assistance are covered. Additional information is available in publications from the University Office of Graduate Studies.
Registering for Classes
The Director for Graduate Programs, located in Room 237G Zachry, assists new graduate students with initial course selection and with identifying potential faculty advisors. The Administrative Coordinator for Graduate Programs, located in Room 238D Zachry, can help with any of the procedural details that may become necessary during your education at Texas A&M University . The Schedule of Classes for each semester can be obtained through the Howdy portal at https://howdy.tamu.edu. Registration is also accomplished through the Howdy portal. To be forced into an ISEN class that is filled, permission must be obtained from the course instructor. Registration for courses requiring an advisor (a directed studies course, an internship course, or a research course) must be through the Administrative Coordinator for Graduate Programs. Furthermore, departmental approval is necessary if an industrial and systems engineering graduate student wishes to register in any freshman or sophomore level course.
Temporary Advisors
A temporary advisor is a faculty member who gives direction to a student during the time in which the student has no degree plan. When new students come to the department, they may or may not know the faculty. If they come to the department thinking that they might want to work under the direction of a particular faculty member, then that faculty member can become the temporary advisor to the student. Or, if a new student already has a specific research interest, then the student should ask a faculty member in that specialty to act as a temporary advisor. As a default, the Department's Director for Graduate Programs will act as the temporary advisor.
The basic function of the temporary advisor is to help students as they adjust to the realities of the department. This initial period is a time in which students validate, change, or establish their direction for graduate studies. Therefore, students should not feel obligated to choose the temporary advisor as chair of their advisory committee. (The advisory committee is discussed in the "Graduate Program Requirements" section.)
Graduate Offices and Desk Space
Limited office space is available for graduate students. Offices are assigned according to departmental teaching and research needs. Assignments are usually completed by the second week of each semester. Requests for office space should be made to the Director of Graduate Programs by a student's research advisor.
Computers Facilities
The department maintains computers and facilities for industrial and systems engineering faculty, staff, and students. Microcomputers for student use are located in Rooms 228 and 225 of Zachry. New students should check at the help window (Room 224A) for instructions on setting up an industrial and systems engineering computer account. All computer users are asked to avoid waste (e.g., unnecessary printouts, use of laser printer for draft documents, etc.) and to be considerate of others using the facilities. The department uses a “card swipe” system to control entry into the computer rooms, so students will need their university identification for access to the departmental computers. Also each person entering the computer room after hours must use their own identification to gain access.
The university has several computer centers available to all students. Some of the centers with easy access to students from Zachry are the ones located in Room 021 WERC, Room 133 in Blocker, and in the Student Computing Center next to Evans library. (The computer center in Teague is also a graphics lab for students needing support with graphics output, color slides, etc.)
Travel and Leave Requests
At times, students are requested to travel on university business (usually because of a research project). Before traveling on university business, a travel and leave request must be submitted and approved. Reimbursement for travel expenses requires an account number which can be obtained from either the research supervisor or the advisory committee chair. The amount of expenses that can be paid by the university depends on the type of research contract and the destination of the trip. Check with the staff in Room 238E or 241C or Zachry regarding allowable expenses and procedures for approval of travel. Travel and leave must be approved before leaving or expenses cannot be reimbursed and insurance coverage is jeopardized. After the trip, a travel voucher must be filed to justify the trip expenses.
Mailboxes
Each graduate student is assigned a mailbox. Mailboxes for teaching assistants and some research assistants are in Room 238C Zachry. Mailboxes for other graduate students are in the hallway outside Room 304 Zachry. The address for receiving off-campus mail is:
Industrial and Systems Engineering Department
Texas A&M University
3131 TAMU
College Station TX 77843-3131
For on-campus mail, the address for the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department is Mail Stop 3131. Boxes for outgoing mail (off-campus and on-campus) are in Room 238C Zachry.
Payment of Fees
Fees can be paid by mail, through the Howdy portal or in person at the General Services Complex, Suite 2801. The waiver of out-of-state fees is automatically made for fellowship and eligible scholarship students.
Emergency Loans
Short-term loan funds at Texas A&M University have been established to provide assistance to students who experience temporary financial difficulty in connection with educational or educationally related expenses. Additional information can be found at the Student Financial Aid website https://financialaid.tamu.edu.
The Texas A&M University Graduate Catalog is located online at http://www.tamu.edu/admissions/catalog , and the Texas A&M University Thesis Manual is on-line at http://thesis.tamu.edu. In addition, the Doctor of Engineering brochure is located at http://essap.tamu.edu/engr .
The university has designated certain course numbers to be reserved for specific purposes. ISEN 691 refers to thesis or dissertation research; ISEN 692 refers to research for non-thesis degrees; ISEN 685 refers to a directed studies reading course; ISEN 681 refers to a seminar, in which faculty and students present their research results; and ISEN 684 refers to an industrial internship. The courses ISEN 681, 684, 691 and 692 are taken on a pass/fail (S/U) basis. The course ISEN 685 must be given a letter grade; therefore, at the start of the semester, it is important to know what is expected for the semester's work (see page 19). A grade of I in ISEN 685 is appropriate only for sickness or other similar extenuating circumstances.
ISEN 689 refers to "Special Topics" courses and usually covers developing research areas. Each time a new 689 course is taught, it has a different title that begins with "Special Topics in ...". When making out degree plans, it is important to use the exact title of the course as it is taught; otherwise, the Office of Graduate Studies will assume you never took the course.
Departmental Prerequisites
The prerequisites listed below are intended to ensure an adequate background in mathematics, computing, and engineering prior to pursuing graduate studies in industrial and systems engineering. In addition to departmental prerequisites, there may be prerequisites required by individual graduate advisory committees and by course instructors.
1. Two courses of engineering calculus: (MATH 151 and 152)
2. Two additional mathematics courses that require differential equations and linear algebra: (MATH 308 and 304)
3. A course of mechanics or calculus-based physics: (PHYS 218)
4. A course in calculus based probability and statistics: (STAT 601)
5. Proficiency in scientific computing programming: (CPSC 206)
6. A course in engineering economy: (ISEN 302 or 303)
7. Two semesters of operations research are required that include both optimization and stochastic processes: (ISEN 420 and 421)
No prerequisite course may be taken on a pass/fail basis, and students must average B or better over their prerequisites with no grade being less than a C. Students with a cumulative grade point ratio over their prerequisites of less than a 3.0 will be placed on probation. If a student makes less than a 3.0 over prerequisite work while on probation, the department will ask the Office of Graduate Studies to remove him/her from the department's graduate program. Although graduate courses may be taken before all prerequisite requirements have been satisfied, students must make significant progress each semester towards satisfying their prerequisites.
Required prerequisite courses are identified at the time of admission. The assignment of such courses is made on the basis of transcripts and other evidence presented with the application. Because transcripts and records often do not clearly indicate course content, some prerequisite course assignments may be inappropriate. If an entering student feels this is the case and has proper documentation of course content, then the Departmental Director of Graduate Programs can waive the course requirement. If a student claims to know the subject matter in a given prerequisite, but a transcript does not support that claim, then the student may request a waiver of the prerequisite course and take an appropriate graduate level course. If the student successfully passes the graduate level course, the prerequisite will be waived and the graduate course may be used on the degree plan if it is acceptable to the student's advisory committee.
English Language Proficiency
The College of Engineering requires either a TOEFL score of 550 (213 computer-based or 80 internet-based) or a GRE verbal test score of 400 for admission for non-U.S. citizens whose native language is not English. The university also requires that all non-U.S. students be verified for English language proficiency. Verification is accomplished by meeting the admissions standards of the TOEFL or GRE-verbal tests; thus, if an applicant is admitted below the university requirements, the student must either retake the TOEFL or GRE and receive the required test scores after being admitted, or pass English language certification (described next). Texas A&M also requires that students be certified for English language proficiency before they can be a teaching assistant, and the department requires that all Ph.D. students (non-US citizens) whose native language is not English to be certified for English language proficiency. The university administers an English Language Placement Exam (ELPE) to students approximately one and one half weeks before the first day of classes each semester. Certification for English language proficiency is achieved by passing the Reading, Listening, Composition, and Oral portions of the ELPE or receiving an A or B in the associated ELI course(s). Students register for the ELPE online at
http://www.tamu.edu/mars
Not making suitable progress towards required English proficiency is grounds for being placed on academic probation and possible removal from the department's graduate program.
Degree Plans and the Advisory Committee
The degree plan is the official document that establishes a student's advisory committee and the specific courses that are to be used towards the degree. In addition, it is the only document that officially establishes transfer courses from other universities that will count toward the student's degree. The specific guidelines for degree plans are given under the "Master's Degree" and "Doctoral Degree" sections. An overview of the steps a student goes through in establishing a degree plan is as follows:
1. During the first semester, choose a direction for your emphasis within the department (i.e., decide on the specific degree in which you are interested and which aspect of industrial and systems engineering you want to emphasize). To help you in choosing a specific research direction, the Industrial and Systems Engineering web page ( http://ise.tamu.edu ) contains a listing of the faculty, their research and teaching interests, and a description of the major research initiatives within the department.
2. Discuss with one or more faculty members within the department your career objectives and what his/her degree plan and research requirements are. The process of establishing a degree plan is, in part, a search for compatibility between your career goals and the faculty member's research philosophy.
3. When you have determined whom you would like as your advisor, ask that faculty member if he/she will serve as chair of your advisory committee. Once an advisor is established, discuss with the advisor other individuals who could potentially serve as members of the committee.
4. Data for the degree plan are entered on-line ( https://ogsdpss.tamu.edu ) . Care must be taken in filling out the forms properly ( especially with respect to the names of 689 courses ) to insure that the Office of Graduate Studies has proper records. General course requirements, other than your committee's, are listed in the following sections of this document under the particular degree of interest. It is important to remember that committee members may have requirements in addition to the departmental requirements.
Petitions
After the degree plan has been approved, it is still possible to change course selections. A petition to the Office of Graduate Studies accomplishes any variation to the degree plan. (Petitions may be obtained from the web site http://ogs.tamu.edu . ) Petitions must be typed and then signed by all committee members (the chair should sign first). After the student, advisor, and committee members sign the petition, it should be brought to the ISEN Graduate Programs Office (Room 238D) for Department Head approval and further processing. OGS petitions, once approved by the students' advisory committee, are routinely approved by the Department Head as long as university and departmental guidelines are followed and the change does not appear to be an attempt to improve the degree plan grade point ratio.
Petitions are also used to change departments and restructure committees. Once a committee is formed, petitions must be signed by all committee members (both old and new members, if the committee itself is changing) as well as the Department Head. Both Department Heads must sign if the petition includes changing departments.
Committee Responsibilities
The student's graduate advisory committee has the responsibility for assessing the appropriateness of the proposed degree program, research proposal, thesis or dissertation, and the final examination. In addition, the committee is expected to provide periodic advice and assistance to the graduate student. At the doctoral level, the committee also has responsibility for the Ph.D. preliminary examination and the Doctor of Engineering qualifying examination.
The Master's Degree Plan
The department offers two Master's degrees: The Master of Science degree (M.S.) and the Master of Engineering Degree (M.Eng.). The M.S. degree requires at least 32 hours when the thesis option is selected and at least 36 hours when the non-thesis option is selected. The M.S. degree is principally for students interested in continuing to a Ph.D. program. The M.Eng. Degree is a non-thesis degree requiring at least 30 hours. (Students may continue to the Ph.D. from the M.Eng. Degree with good grades, an appropriate selection of courses, and positive
recommendations from the student's advisory committee members; however, the M.Eng. student will likely have more course work required for the Ph.D. than will the M.S. student.)
The university allows a maximum of 12 hours of transfer credit. However, graduate courses taken at other universities are not automatically transferable. The departmental graduate advisor in conjunction with the student's graduate advisory committee will determine that the courses being considered for transfer were taught at an appropriate level and are complementary to the other courses on the degree plan. It is also important to recognize that individual faculty members will have degree requirements beyond those listed below; therefore, you cannot select courses for your degree plan without consulting your graduate advisory committee.
The chair of the advisory committee must be a member of the ISEN graduate faculty. The student's advisory committee for the Master of Science degree must have at least two additional members; one member being from outside the ISEN graduate faculty. The advisory committee for the Master of Engineering degree does not require additional members; however, if desired by the student and committee chair, the committee is then structured the same as the Master of Science committee.
Master's students should submit their degree plans at the beginning of their second semester. Since degree plans are easily changed through petitions, students should not be too concerned about some uncertainty regarding specific courses. The Office of Graduate Studies will block students from registering early in their second semester if they have not filed a degree plan .
Master of Science Degree
1. At least 24 hours must be from Industrial and Systems Engineering.
2. Either ISEN 620 or both ISEN 622 and ISEN 623.
3. Either ISEN 609 or ISEN 602.
4. Two hours of seminar, ISEN 681 (the university allows no more that 2 hours of 681 on a degree plan).
5. The Master's of Science Degree - Thesis Option must have at least 32 hours including at most four hours of combined ISEN 691 and ISEN 684. (ISEN 684 is not required. ISEN 691 is required.) A thesis proposal is also required.
6. The Master's of Science Degree - Nonthesis Option must have at least 36 hours and may not include ISEN 691. (ISEN 684 and ISEN 692 are optional with their combined total being at most 4 hours. One hour of ISEN 684 may be used per semester of internship with at most two semesters total.)
7. The Systems Engineering Option (thesis or non-thesis) requires ISEN 640 and ISEN 627 or ISEN 669.
8. If ISEN 684 is used, then one credit hour is earned per semester of internship and a project or thesis must also be taken so that the 684 serves as the initiation of the project. Normally, at most one hour of 684 is used; however, if additional hours of 684 are desired, the total hours on the degree plan should be increased by the corresponding amount.
9. If the independent study course ISEN 685 is used, a course syllabus of the material to be covered for the semester should be developed and given to the Administrative Coordinator for Graduate Programs before registering for the class. A letter grade (not an incomplete) will be assigned at the end of the semester.
10. STAT 610 plus at least one other out-of-department course.
11. At most two non-departmental undergraduate courses at the 300 and 400 levels may be on the degree plan. Such courses must be approved by the departmental graduate advisor and the student's advisory committee.
12. Courses (or their equivalent) that are required for admission or ISEN undergraduate courses may not be included on the degree plan. Other courses that are considered as prerequisite material and therefore not allowed on the degree plan are MATH 304, CPSC 601, STAT 601 and STAT 651.
In addition to the departmental requirements listed above, the advisory committee may require additional courses.
Master of Engineering Degree
1. At least 18 hours must be from Industrial and Systems Engineering.
2. At least 9 hours must be from departments other than Industrial and Systems Engineering.
3. The total number of hours on the degree plan must be at least 30.
4. The Systems Engineering Option requires ISEN 609, ISEN 627 or ISEN 669, ISEN 640, and ISEN 620. (It is acceptable to substitute both ISEN 622 and ISEN 623 for ISEN 620.)
5. If ISEN 620 is on the degree plan, then ISEN 622 and ISEN 623 may not be on the degree plan.
6. The courses ISEN 684 and 692 may count for no more than 3 hours towards the minimum hours required for a degree plan. One hour of ISEN 684 may be used per semester of internship with at most two semesters total. If more than a total of 3 hours are desired for the combined courses, the total hours on the degree plan should be increased by the corresponding amount. If the independent study course ISEN 685 is used, an outline of the material to be covered for the semester should be developed and given to the Administrative Coordinator for Graduate Programs before registering for the class. A letter grade (not an incomplete) will be assigned at the end of the semester. Note: Seminar (681) hours may not be used on M.Eng. degree plans.
7. One or two written reports from either an internship, project course, or a special assignment within an area of Industrial and Systems Engineering.
8. At most two non-departmental undergraduate courses at the 300 and 400 levels may be on the degree plan. Such courses must be approved by the departmental graduate advisor and the student's advisory committee.
9. Courses (or their equivalent) that are required for admission or ISEN undergraduate courses may not be included on the degree plan. Other courses that are considered as prerequisite material and therefore not allowed on the degree plan are MATH 304, CPSC 601, STAT 601, and STAT 651.
10. Students must submit a petition to the OGS for an exemption from the final exam with chair and departmental approval.
In addition to the departmental requirements listed above, the advisory committee may require additional courses.
Final Exam - Master's Students
The final exam must be scheduled at least 10 working days ahead of time. It is the student's responsibility to find an acceptable time for the exam. After a time has been agreed upon by the committee members and a meeting place determined, the student should contact the Administrative Coordinator for Graduate Programs for preparation of the required OGS form. The OGS will send the chair notification that the exam is permissible, as well as the form to report the results of the exam. It is also helpful, as a follow-up, for the student to personally remind each committee member of the exam the day before it is scheduled.
Questions during the exam may be over courses on the degree plan (including ISEN 684, 685 or 692) or over material considered prerequisite and basic for all industrial engineers. It is also acceptable for a committee to require the student to give a short presentation over his/her specific area of emphasis, in which case, the committee members should have a report of the presentation before the day of the exam. With the approval of the student's graduate advisory committee, a student may petition the OGS for a waiver of the Master of Engineering Final Exam via an Office of Graduate Studies Petition.
For the thesis option, a copy of the thesis approved by the chair in essentially final form, should be available to the committee members two weeks prior to the examination date. (It is also suggested that the student take the copy given to the committee members to the thesis office clerk and have a "rough draft" conference with the thesis clerk. The thesis clerk encourages such conferences, and it is helpful in avoiding later problems.) The examination for the thesis option includes a formal presentation of the research and a thesis defense, as well as an examination over the course work. By committee agreement, the Final Exam for the thesis option may be waived if the student has an overall grade point ratio (GPR) of at least 3.5. The waiver of the final is requested via an Office of Graduate Studies Petition. If the exam is waived, a formal presentation of the thesis research is still required; however, the presentation is then in the context of a report of research results instead of an exam. A student must have a GPR of at least 3.0 over all courses (including 300 and 400 level courses) taken during his/her graduate program as well as a 3.0 over the courses on the degree plan in order to take the exam. All courses on the degree plan have to have been taken within seven years of the final exam. If the student does not pass the exam, the committee may permit the student to try one more time. If the committee so recommends, the student must take the exam before the end of the next regular semester.
If circumstances arise such that a committee member cannot attend the exam, the committee member should find another graduate faculty member willing to serve as a substitute. Substitutes are almost always permitted if the substitute is a member of the Graduate Faculty and there will be only one committee member absent and the member absent is not the chair.
Timetable
Master's Students:
Before first semester registration
- Meet with your temporary graduate advisor to plan a course of study for your first semester.
During first semester
- Begin the process of identifying faculty research interests compatible with your career goals.
Beginning second semester
- Establish an advisory committee and submit a degree plan.
- Prepare thesis proposal.
During final semester
- Apply for the degree and pay the diploma fee.
- Obtain thesis manual ( http://thesis.tamu.edu ) and follow instructions.
- Schedule the final oral examination. (an approved thesis proposal (maximum of ten pages) is required before the final can be scheduled.)
- Give copy of thesis to all committee members at least two weeks before final.
- Schedule the final oral examination.
- After the committee chair approves any corrections required during the final exam and the committee has signed the thesis title page or approval form, give a copy of the thesis and approval form to the department head. Allow at least one week to obtain department head's signature.
- Arrange for cap and gown at MSC bookstore.
Students in a Master's program at Texas A&M University who wish to enter the Ph.D. program must submit a Letter of Intent which can be downloaded from the OGS web site located at http://ogs.tamu.edu . In addition to the Letter of Intent, the student should also submit a Statement of Purpose and ask his/her advisory committee members to write letters of recommendations. Students transferring from another department, should also ask their department to send a copy of their academic file to the Industrial Engineering Graduate Programs Office. To be accepted into the Ph.D. program, the department requires students to have at least a 3.5 graduate GPR as well as positive letters of recommendation, reasonable GRE scores, and previous academic work consistent with the desire for a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering.
The Ph.D. Degree
The Ph.D. degree is a research oriented degree for students interested in a career in the academic community, in a consulting field, or in an industrial or service organization interested in advanced training. The research interests of the industrial and systems engineering faculty are diverse and span the typical areas of manufacturing and production systems, operations research and applied probability, systems engineering, as well as transportation systems and applied statistics.
Qualifying Exam
Industrial and Systems Engineering Ph.D. students are required to qualify for Ph.D. study before filing a degree plan. The purpose of the qualifying exam is to assist both the department and the student in determining whether a student can be expected to perform at a sufficiently high level in advanced course work and research to complete the requirements for the degree. Students will take three two-hour exams over the following material:
(1) Stochastic Processes and Statistics (coverage of ISEN 602 and STAT 610)
(2) Optimization (ISEN 622 and ISEN 623)
(3) Choice of one of (coverage of two designated courses in each area)
a. Decision, Risk and Engineering Management (ISEN 627, ISEN 663)
b. Information Systems, Simulation, and Visualization (ISEN 625, ISEN 655 or ISEN 656)
c. Production, Logistics and Supply Chain Management (ISEN 601, ISEN 615)
d. Quality and Reliability Engineering (ISEN 612, ISEN 614 or ISEN 616)
Students must pass all portions of the exam within one and a half years of the beginning of their program. At the discretion of the Graduate Committee, individual exams may be retaken once. Those not passing the qualifying exam may not continue in the Ph.D. Degree Program. In addition, the College of Engineering will not allow students who have taken but not passed the qualifying exam to transfer to the Doctor of Engineering program.
Students who perform exceptionally well on the qualifying exam will be considered for a high pass recognition provided that (1) all three of the exam committees (Optimization, Applied Probability, and Area) recommend the student for this recognition, and (2) the student's average on the three exams is at least 90.
Course Work Requirements Beyond the Qualifying Exam
Course work requirements for the Ph.D. are closely tied to the student's research direction; therefore, course selection for a Ph.D. student who has passed the qualifying exam is possible only in consultation with the student's advisor. The only departmental course requirements for the Ph.D. degree plan are STAT 611 and three hours of ISEN 681. Approximately 24 hours of research credit are used on most degree plans; however, no more than 30 hours of ISEN 691 can be used. Students must maintain a GPR of at least 3.50 (instead of a 3.0 required for the Master's degree). In addition to successfully completing the degree plan course work, students are expected to present their dissertation research in a ISEN 681 seminar, INFORMS seminar, or a national conference, and submit a research manuscript to a refereed journal before graduating. The student's seminar must be scheduled before the final defense is scheduled.
Degree Plan
The student's degree plan must be submitted by the first regular semester after the qualifying procedure has been satisfied. The chair of the advisory committee must be a member of the ISEN graduate faculty. A co-chair, if desired, may be from another department. The Ph.D. committee has a minimum of four graduate faculty members on the original degree plan with at least three being from within the department and one from outside the department. In addition, at least one of the ISEN members must have tenure at the time the committee is established.
A Ph.D. degree for a student with a Master's degree requires at least 64 hours, and no courses counted for credit toward the Master's degree can be included in the 64 hours. At most three junior and senior level courses (examples: MATH 409, 446, and 447) may appear on the degree plan although undergraduate ISEN courses may not be used. Certain courses, including MATH 304, STAT 601, and STAT 651, are considered remedial and thus may not be used for graduate credit on Industrial and Systems Engineering degree plans. Transfer courses are acceptable on the degree plan if the advisory committee feels they aid in the academic objectives of the degree; no fixed maximum number of transfer courses has been set by the Office of Graduate Studies.
Students who take similar courses at another university and retake those courses here cannot use both courses for degree plan credit. A maximum of 30 research hours are allowed and then only when an appropriate balance of breadth and depth, as determined by the student's advisory committee, the graduate program director and the department head, have been achieved through the student's formal education (B.S., M.S/M.Eng. and Ph.D.).
The University's Office of Graduate Studies will place a registration block on Ph.D. students early in their fourth semester if no degree plan has been filed.
Preliminary Exam - Ph.D. Students
The preliminary exam may be scheduled when there are no more than six hours of course work remaining on the degree plan (excluding 681, 684, 691 courses), and it should be scheduled no later than the end of the first semester after completion of all the course work on the degree plan. The exam consists of a written portion given by each member of the advisory committee (members may waive the written portion) and an oral portion. The student should contact the Administrative Coordinator for Graduate Programs (Room 238D Zachry) to process the necessary paperwork for the exam. A form needs to be signed by the committee chair and the Director of Graduate Programs when fixing the schedule, and a memo will be prepared formally notifying the committee of the dates and times for the exam. Between the time that the first written exam is scheduled and the time of the oral exam should not exceed 15 working days. It is also helpful, as a follow-up, for the student to remind each committee member about the exam the day before it is scheduled.
Questions during the exam may be over courses on the degree plan or over material considered prerequisite and basic for all industrial engineers. A student must have a GPR of at least 3.25 over all courses (including 300 and 400 level courses) taken during his/her graduate program as well as a 3.25 over the courses on the degree plan in order to take the exam. All requirements for the Ph.D. must be completed within four years of the exam, or the preliminary exam will have to be retaken. (This four-year limit is measured from the time when the preliminary exam is passed to the time when the thesis clerk in the library approves the dissertation.)
There are three possible outcomes: (1) the student passes, (2) the student passes but some additional requirements are added to the student's program to overcome a weakness uncovered during the exam, or (3) the student fails. If the exam is failed, it can be repeated one time, with the recommendation by the committee.
If circumstances arise such that a committee member cannot attend the exam, the committee member should find another graduate faculty member willing to serve as a substitute. Substitutes are almost always permitted as long as there will be only one committee member absent and the member absent is not the chair.
The Proposal Presentation - Ph.D. Students
The Industrial and Systems Engineering Department requires a formal presentation of the proposal even though the university does not require it. Usually, the presentation occurs within a few months of successfully passing the preliminary exam. The proposal presentation serves three functions: (1) it helps to educate the student in the art of making professional presentations; (2) it provides an opportunity for the committee to determine if the student has enough knowledge to pursue research in the proposed subject area; and (3) it allows the committee to pass judgment on the suitability of the proposed research as a dissertation topic. Questions over material or courses not associated with the proposed research are not appropriate.
Although non-departmental members of the committee are not required to attend the presentation, they should be invited, and they must sign the proposal before it goes to the Office of Graduate Studies. The proposal that is submitted to the OGS should contain a maximum of ten pages. The cover sheet and guidelines for the proposal may be obtained from the web site at http://ogs.tamu.edu .
Publication of Research
Work leading to the Ph.D. is designed to give the candidate a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the chosen professional field and training in methods of research. With the help of the student's advisory committee, the student must prepare a paper for submission to a professional journal before being considered to have finished the degree requirements. If the manuscript is sent to a journal before the final exam, the student must notify the Office of Graduate Studies at the time of submission. The student should send a memo through the committee chair to OGS giving the complete title, the names of authors as they appear on the paper, and the name of the journal.
Final Exam - Ph.D. Students
The final exam for a Ph.D. student includes an open (public) presentation of research results and a closed examination of the dissertation. The final exam needs to be scheduled, and copies of the dissertation, approved by the chair, must be provided to the committee at least two weeks ahead of time. The copies of the dissertation given to the committee should be in essentially final form. It is also a good idea to keep the committee informed of your research progress so that guidance can be obtained continually instead of as a surprise during the final exam. (It is also suggested that the student take a copy of the dissertation given to the committee to the thesis office in the library and have a "rough draft conference" with the thesis clerk. The thesis clerk encourages such conferences, and it is usually very helpful in avoiding later problems.) It is the student's responsibility to find an acceptable time for the committee to meet. After a time has been agreed upon by the committee members and a meeting place determined, the student should contact the ISEN Graduate Programs Office for preparation of the final examination paperwork. The Administrative Coordinator for Graduate Programs will also prepare an announcement for the public presentation. The Office of Graduate Studies will send the chair notification that the exam is permissible and will include the form that must be returned after the exam. Since the final includes the formal public presentation of the dissertation research, it must be publicized throughout the department. It is also helpful, as a follow-up, for the student to remind each committee member about the exam the day before it is scheduled.
The public presentation lasts, at most, an hour. It is the chair's responsibility to encourage questions and insure that the presentation is conducted in a professional manner. A common practice is for the chair to introduce the topic and the student in the same manner as would be done at a professional conference. It is also a good practice for the student to prepare a presentation that lasts no more than thirty or forty minutes so there will be time for questions. After the presentation, the committee meets in private with the student for the dissertation defense.
A student must have a GPR of at least 3.50 over all courses (including 300 and 400 level courses) taken during his/her graduate program as well as a 3.50 over the courses on the degree plan in order to take the exam. All courses on the degree plan must have been taken within 10 years of the final exam. Also, the dissertation must be accepted by the thesis clerk in the library within one year of passing the final exam.
If circumstances arise such that a committee member cannot attend the exam, the committee member should find another graduate faculty member willing to serve as a substitute. Such requests are almost always permitted as long as there will be only one committee member absent and the member absent is not the chair.
Timetable
Ph.D. Students:
Before first semester registration
- Meet with your temporary graduate advisor to plan course of study for first semester.
Before fourth semester registration
- Take the qualifying exam.
- Submit a degree plan.
No later than one semester after all course work is completed, and no earlier than a date when the student is within six credit hours of completing formal course work
- Schedule and take preliminary examinations (written and oral).
Immediately after the prelim exam
- Develop a draft of research proposal in conjunction with the advisory committee.
- There must be an advisory committee meeting where the research proposal is presented and research questions resolved. Submit the final research proposal to the Office of Graduate Studies.
During final semester
- Apply for the degree and pay the diploma fee.
- Obtain thesis manual ( http://thesis.tamu.edu ) and follow instructions.
- Present research result at a 681 or INFORMS Seminar or at a national conference.
- Give copy of dissertation to all committee members at least two weeks before final.
- Schedule and take the final oral examination which includes a departmental seminar on the dissertation research.
- After the committee chair approves any corrections required during the final exam and the committee has signed the dissertation title page or approval form, give a copy of the dissertation and approval form to the department head. Allow at least one week to obtain department head's signature.
- Arrange for the cap, gown, and hood at MSC.
Doctor of Engineering Program
Students who prefer an industry-oriented doctoral degree, instead of a research oriented degree, should consider the D.Eng. program which is administered through the Office of the College of Engineering . Students interested in the D.Eng. degree must be admitted first into a Ph.D. program and find a faculty member who will direct their committee. However, students who fail the departmental qualifying exam are not eligible to transfer into the D.Eng. Program. Information describing the Doctor of Engineering Degree can be obtained from the Engineering Academic Programs Office in Room 204 Zachry.
There are four types of financial aid available to graduate students in industrial and systems engineering: fellowships, departmental assistantships, faculty research assistantships, and scholarships. Students receiving financial aid must be enrolled as full-time students. Faculty research assistantships are under the control of faculty members who have obtained research grants. The other three forms of financial aid initiate with the department and are highly competitive, being based primarily on the student's academic credentials. Departmental assistantships are only available to industrial and systems engineering graduate students.
The primary indicators for financial aid consideration of prospective students are the selection of previous courses taken and their associated grades, the reputation of the school, previous research work, ability to help the department with their academic responsibilities, and letters of recommendation with strong preference given to students in the Ph.D. program. The GRE-verbal and TOEFL scores are also used as primary indicators of English language proficiency for a student who is a graduate of a foreign institution of higher education. Other scores from the GRE tests may be used as secondary indicators. Nominations for college and university fellowships are also made based on the above measures.
Fellowships
The university and college offer several types of fellowships, and nominations of all qualified students are made automatically by the department. Fellowships are the most prestigious of the various forms of financial aid since they do not require work by the student apart from attending classes and doing well in school. Fellowships are primarily designed as a recruiting tool and are usually available only to new students.
Scholarships
The department has a limited number of $1000 per year scholarships given to qualified students. (These scholarships also include a waiver of out-of-state fees for the academic year so the recipients pay only in-state tuition and fees.) As with other forms of financial aid, they are awarded on a competitive basis according to the academic credentials of the students. The scholarships are given for one academic year only and are extended based on the same competitive basis as the original award.
Assistantships
Graduate assistantship positions require an average of 20 hours of work per week. Since most departmental assistantships are given to new students, the actual assignments are not made until the first day of classes and are made based on the academic needs of the department. Thus, when a student receives an offer of a departmental assistantship, it is usually not known whether it is for teaching, non-teaching, or research until the beginning of the semester. When the assignment for the semester is made, the student will be assigned to work under the supervision of a faculty member. During the first week after assignments have been made, the student should make an appointment with his/her faculty supervisor to determine the semester's work schedule. Since the assistantship is provided to the student for work to be performed, in some instances, the project work may not relate to the student's research topic; thus, a graduate assistant must fully understand his/her dual role, that of student and that of an employee.
The university has a policy that a student with teaching responsibilities must attend an all-day teaching workshop conducted by the University Center for Teaching Excellence. Students may be asked to attend this workshop in preparation for future assignment possibilities. In addition, state law requires that a student whose native language is not English must be certified in English proficiency before being assigned any teaching function (certification is discussed in the “English Language Proficiency” section.)
Evaluation of Graduate Assistants
At the end of each semester, the performance of all graduate students supported by departmental funds (both research and teaching assistants) will be evaluated.
For teaching assistants, this evaluation will consist of:
1. Student evaluation forms, if appropriate (e.g. for TAs with lab sections).
2. An assessment of work performance by the student's supervisor.
3. An assessment of the student's academic progress by the chair of the student's degree committee (if applicable) or by the Graduate Program Director
(if the student has not yet filed a degree plan).
For research assistants, the evaluation will consist of:
1. the research tasks by the research supervisor.
2. An assessment of academic progress by the student's academic supervisor.
If the student's academic progress or the performance on his/her assigned tasks is deemed inadequate, the Graduate Program Director may recommend that departmental funding be discontinued.
Hospitalization
Students with a departmental assistantship or a faculty research assistantship which requires 20 hours per week are considered half-time employees. As such, they are entitled to medical insurance benefits, and the university contributes towards the insurance after the first 90 days has elapsed. Students should contact the departmental business administrator (Room 241 Zachry) to enroll in the insurance program.
Policy Regarding ISEN 681
ISEN 681 is a one-hour seminar course in which guests give presentations about topics of professional interest to industrial engineers. There are usually two to four distinguished guests from outside the university making presentations each semester as well as many of the department faculty. Ph.D. students also present their research, usually during their final semester; thus, the seminar is an excellent means for other students to keep abreast of the research activities with Industrial Engineering. The seminar series is meant to be used by M.S. and Ph.D. students as an avenue to familiarize them with research; therefore, Ph.D. students are required to register for the seminar for at least three semesters, and Master of Science students are required to register for two semesters. The M.Eng. program is not intended as a research degree and, therefore, seminars will not be counted for that degree. Thus, students that are admitted to the M.S. program and subsequently file a M.Eng. degree plan will not be allowed to use the 681 hours that they have accrued. (Note that B.S. to Ph.D. students that file a M.Eng. degree plan to receive a Master's degree during the extended Ph.D. process will apply their seminar credits to the Ph.D. degree and not use them during the M.Eng. process.)
Policy Regarding ISEN 684
ISEN 684 is an industrial internship used for graduate students to apply their course work to an industrial problem. When students are on an internship, there must be an academic component to their work assignment that has been discussed with their advisor before registering for the course. At the end of the course, the student will deliver a written final report describing the student's experience, activities, and findings. The report should be similar in style and content to an internal company project report, and a grade of S or U will be given. A student may combine ISEN 684 and ISEN 692 or ISEN 691 hours at the discretion of the student's committee and use the 692 or 691 hours to finish on campus a project started in industry. At the discretion of the advisor, an incomplete grade (I) may be given for the 684 until after the 692 project or 691 research is complete. The continuous registration requirement applies to ISEN 684 as well as for ISEN 691 and 692. Petitions to add 684 to a degree plan will not normally be accepted.
Policy Regarding ISEN 685
ISEN 685 is a directed-study course designed to cover special topics not within the scope and format of thesis research or covered by another formal course currently offered in the curriculum. Therefore, the student must submit to the Graduate Advisor a syllabus approved by the directing faculty member before enrolling in ISEN 685. The syllabus should provide a detailed description of the topic, list the resource material(s) to be used, identify the course deliverables, outline the method of evaluation, and list the number of credit hours assigned. At the end of the semester, a letter grade (i.e., other than S) should be assigned. A grade of I is appropriate only for medical reasons or for similar unforeseen circumstances. Depending on the topic chosen, it may not be appropriate for a student to take all planned credits in the same semester. In such cases, the total number of planned credits can be staged over more than one semester.
Policy Regarding ISEN 691
ISEN 691 is used for faculty-directed research leading to a thesis or dissertation and may not be used by students in the Master's of Science Non-thesis or Master of Engineering degree programs. The number of hours taken each semester should be proportional to the level of faculty and institutional support. Thus, if a student registers for less than full-time during a semester that includes ISEN 691, then the student must register for a minimum of 3 hours of ISEN 691. Exceptions to this policy are (1) the student registers in absentia (i.e., the student is living outside of the College Station/Bryan area and will not be using university facilities), and (2) the student's final exam has already been scheduled for the first month of the semester. Note that grades of I may be carried over until the final exam, and the final grade is either an S or U. Also, the university's continuous registration policy requires that if the course work on the degree plan is complete except for ISEN 691, the student must be registered each regular semester until graduation.
Policy Regarding ISEN 692
ISEN 692 is used for faculty-directed research and/or project work for a non-thesis degree. At the end of the course, the student will submit a written report covering the research and project work. The report should be similar in style (but not necessarily content) to a thesis. The number of hours taken each semester should be proportional to the level of faculty and institutional support. Thus, if a student registers for less than full-time during a semester that includes ISEN 692, then the student must register for a minimum of 3 hours of ISEN 692. Exceptions to this policy are (1) the student registers in absentia (i.e., the student is living outside of the College Station/Bryan area and will not be using university facilities), and (2) the student's final exam has already been scheduled for the first month of the semester. Note that grades of I may be carried over until the final exam, and the final grade is either an S or U. Also, the university's continuous registration policy requires that if the course work on the degree plan is complete except for ISEN 692, the student must be registered each regular semester until graduation.
Q-Drop Policy
At most one Q-drop is allowed for students in the Master's program, and at most one Q-drop is allowed for students in the Ph.D. program, with the following exceptions:
a. Q-drops before the 12th class day of a regular semester or 4th class day for the summer are not considered as part of the limit. (This is 12 days into the semester, not 12 days of the course.)
b. If a degree plan has been filed before the semester starts, Q-drops for courses not on the degree plan will not count against the limit if the advisory committee chair requests the exception.
c. Q-drops for other extenuating circumstances will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Probation For Graduate Students
Master's student whose cumulative grade point ratio (GPR) or degree plan GPR falls below 3.0 is considered to be on scholastic probation. A Ph.D. student whose cumulative GPR or degree plan GPR degree plan falls below 3.50 is considered to be on scholastic probation. A student on probation is not allowed to preregister and must make progress towards obtaining the minimum GPR. Also a student who receives less than 3.0 (3.50 for Ph.D. students) during a semester that he/she is on departmental probation will be dropped from the graduate program.
