Mechanical Engineering Graduate Programs
MSME Degree Policy and Procedures
Plan II (Non-Thesis)
Table of Contents
- Requirements and Procedures
- Time Limit for Completion of Degree
- Summary of Course Requirements
- Initial Advisement
- Seminar Requirement
- Committee-on-Studies
- Committee-on-Studies Chairman
- Other Members of the Committee-on-Studies.
- M.S. Program Planning and Approval
- Program of Studies
- Project Course
- Notification of the Intent to Graduate
- Submission of Project Report
Requirements and Procedures
The student should carefully study the section in the UNM Graduate Catalog under "Master’s Degrees." It is ultimately the student’s responsibility to see that these requirements are satisfied.
Time Limit for Completion of Degree
All work used to meet degree requirements for a master's degree, including transfer credit, must be completed within a seven-year period immediately preceding the granting of the degree. Course work older than seven years cannot be used to meet requirements for the master's degree.
Summary of Course Requirements
The following are the course requirements for the M.S.M.E. Degree, Plan II. Some of these requirements are dictated by the UNM Graduate Catalog and additional ones are required by the ME department.
A minimum of 34 semester hours is required.
A minimum of 24 hours of 500-level courses that may include ME 559.
A minimum of 18 hours of coursework in Mechanical Engineering, that may include ME 551, 552 and/or 559. Four courses will comprise the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Core.
Three (3) semester hours of ME 559 Design Project are required; no more than three (3) hours of ME 559 may be included in the Program of Studies.
Comments on Problems courses (ME 551 or ME552) – Since any
Incomplete (“I”) grade in ME 559 course must be converted to a regular grade
within one year of receiving it, students who are performing the initial ME 559
research work may take these “Problems” courses in lieu of registering for ME
559. When taken for this purpose, these courses may be repeated as many times as
needed, as long as they are taken as CR/NC mode of grading. However, credit
hours earned for these courses (and similar research-type courses from other UNM
graduate programs) are not counted towards the minimum 34 hours of coursework
needed for graduation (see above). Obviously, the student’s effort will
be reflected in the ME 559 credit hours that he/she eventually takes
before graduation. On the other hand, if the student is genuinely working on
some topic of mutual interest unrelated to his/her ME 559 research with their
advisor or another professor, the student may take the ME 551 or ME 552 courses that will
count toward the satisfaction of the MSME degree requirements. Examples of
activities that may justify such credits would be an independent study work,
efforts to obtain patents on inventions, etc. The student’s report of these
activities shall be filed in his/her ME academic folder and scrutinized at the
time of submitting the Program of Studies to the OGS for approval. In these
reports the student must clearly document why the corresponding activity is
separate from his/her ME 559 research.
A maximum of 12 hours of graduate level courses in non-degree status may be applied to the course requirements.
At least 24 hours must be completed in residence at the University of New Mexico.
Zero (0 ) + One (1) hour Seminar [ME 591(fall), ME 592(spring)] . See Seminar Requirement.
The student must meet with the ME Graduate Programs Director before the initial registration, and work out a program of studies for the first semester. Any courses that do not receive prior approval of an academic advisor may be disallowed. During the first semester, the student must obtain the agreement of an ME faculty member to serve as Academic Advisor, and submit an Advisor Approval Form to the ME Program Advisement Coordinator. This faculty member normally, but not always, becomes the Chair of the Committee-on-Studies.
Seminar Requirement
M.S.M.E. students must have one hour of seminar credit on their program. The student shall register for ME 591/592 for two semesters while attending the seminars. The first semester the student may register for zero credit hours. The second semester the student must register for one credit hour. The grade will be CR/NC, based upon attendance. Presenting a seminar on campus will count for attendance at two seminar sessions.
For attendance requirements, please CLICK HERE.
Committee-on-Studies (COS)
The Committee-on-Studies shall be composed of at least three members; at least two members shall be full-time, tenure-stream, UNM Mechanical Engineering faculty members. Approval of the Committee must be obtained using the Committee-on-Studies Proposal Form.
Committee-on-Studies Chairperson
The student should select a Committee-on-Studies Chairperson as early as possible, preferably during the first semester in residence. The Committee Chairperson must be a full-time, tenure-steam, UNM Mechanical Engineering faculty member. The Chairperson will also serve as the instructor of the student’s project course (ME 559).
Other Members of the Committee-on-Studies
The remainder of the Committee should be chosen by consultation between the Chairperson of the Committee-on-Studies and the student. Approval for non-UNM faculty committee members must be obtained from the ME Graduate Director and Office of Graduate Studies.
MSME Program Planning and Approval
The Chair of the Committee-on-Studies shall have the responsibility to advise the student in planning the student’s program. Approval of the MSME Program of Studies is then required by the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Programs Director.
The Program of Studies Form should be submitted before the following OGS deadlines: July 1 for a Fall graduation, October 1 for a Spring graduation, and March 1 for a Summer graduation. Failure to submit this form on time will delay your graduation. ME Department will require some time to review and approve the form; so, you must submit the form to the ME Graduate Director at least two weeks before the above OGS deadlines. Changes in an approved program must be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies by a memorandum from the student with approval by the ME Graduate Programs Director.
Project
Proposal
The student shall prepare, with the assistance and advice of the project
professor, a project proposal and present it for approval to the
Committee-on-Studies no later than the second week of the semester (or first week of the summer session) in which
the project requirement will be satisfied. The proposal outline under
Project/Thesis/Dissertation
Instructions should be followed. An oral presentation may be
requested by the Committee-on-Studies.
Project
Report
The project shall be reported in written form and in English. The
report should contain all the elements of a thorough engineering report
including: abstract, table of contents, list of figures, list of tables,
list of symbols, introduction, review of pertinent literature and of related
recent investigations, description of project, presentation and discussion
of results, conclusions, recommendations, and references.
Project Presentation and Master's Examination
The project report shall be provided to the Committee-on-Studies at least
two weeks before the scheduled project presentation, which normally serves as the Master's Examination. The Mechanical
Engineering Program Advisement Coordinator must also be notified of the time and
location of the examination at least three weeks prior to it. The Master's (Plan II) examination shall usually consist of a presentation of the
research work by the student and an oral examination by the Committee-on-Studies.
Results of the examination must be reported to the Office of Graduate
Studies, on the Report of Examination form provided, by November 15, April 15, or July 15, in order
for the student to graduate in the Fall, Spring, or Summer semester,
respectively.
Students on Probation
Students having a GPA of less than 3.0 are not permitted to take the
Master's examination. If the project course ME 559 is to be the grade which raises
the GPA to 3.0, the project presentation and Master's examination must be
separate events.
Notification of Intent to Graduate
The student must submit the Notification of Intent to Graduate Form to the Graduate Coordinator before the deadlines shown on the form. Failure to submit this form on time will delay your graduation. Students must be enrolled in a graduate course in the semester of graduation. If all other course work is completed, one (1) hour of ME 551 or 552 may be taken (as a CR/NC course). Students should not register for ME 559 (3 hours) more than once.
The project report shall be saved in the UNM Lobo Vault after it is approved by the Committee-on-Studies.
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