Graduate Degree Requirements: Civil and Environmental Engineering ____

:: MS Curriculum

These guidelines have been prepared to assist graduate students working toward the MS degree specializing in Geoengineering that is administered by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. These guidelines should aid the student in following the proper procedures and satisfying all degree requirements. Students with additional questions should seek the assistance of their advisor.

Regulations

The Graduate School at UW-Madison establishes the basic requirements for the MSCEE degree. These requirements are described in detail in the Graduate School Catalog. The faculty of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Geoengineering program have adopted certain additional requirements, which are described in these guidelines.

Each graduate student is responsible for seeing that all requirements are met prior to the dates specified by the graduate school. If special decisions or actions are needed, they should be initiated by the student through consultation with their advisor.

Program Information

1. Admission

Admission to the graduate school is granted to those students who show promise and provide sufficient evidence that they can meet the scholastic requirements of study at an advanced level. To be granted admission with full standing to the geoengineering program leading to the MS degree, an applicant would normally hold a degree that represents the equivalent of the BS in the University's undergraduate civil engineering program. However, students in other branches of engineering, physical science, or related fields may have achieved the technical background needed to pursue advanced work in geoengineering. Such students are encouraged to apply because civil engineers with interdisciplinary training can provide vital contributions to the solution of complex problems. Either admission with deficiencies or admission on probation may be granted to students not meeting these requirements. Students are referred to the graduate school BULLETIN for details concerning these types of admission. A student may be required to satisfy undergraduate course deficiencies without graduate credit.

2. Study Objectives

The goal of the MS is to prepare engineers for advanced practice in geoengineering as well as for advanced studies in a well-defined area of specialization. Each student will be expected to engage in a study program in which the level of analytic skills developed substantially exceeds that currently required by students receiving BSCEE degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

3. Advising and Supervision

Advisors are designated at the beginning of the first semester for which a graduate student is enrolled. During the first week of the semester, a meeting is held with all new graduate students and the faculty. The purpose of this meeting is to introduce the students and faculty, and to provide information about thesis topics in each professor's area of interest. Students then select three potential research topics for consideration by the faculty. The faculty then match students with advisors while trying to honor each student's top choice for a thesis topic.

4. General Requirements and Policies

Credit Hour Requirements

Program A - Thesis - A minimum of 24 credit hours is required for graduation. Usually 5-6 credits of Thesis (CEE 790) and 18-19 credits of formal coursework are used to satisfy this requirement. Under special circumstances 16 credits may be taken in formal coursework with the remaining credits in CEE 790-Thesis.

Program B - Advanced Independent Study - A minimum of thirty credit hours is required for graduation. Usually 3 credits of Research (CEE 790) and 27 credits of formal coursework are used to satisfy this requirement. Under special circumstances, 25-26 credits may be taken in formal coursework with the remaining credits in CEE 790-Research.

Required Courses

The following courses are required to satisfy the geoengineering coursework requirement:

a. Two of the following five courses: CEE 530, CEE 531, CEE 532, CEE 633, CEE 534, CEE 635, GLE 594

b. CEE 730

c. CEE 939 each Spring Semester.

Thirteen (13) credits of coursework in geoengineering must be completed with a course grade of B (3.0) or better. This requirement applies to each course and not an average of all courses. Courses generally considered to be in the geoengineering area are listed on the attached sheet.

All of the formal coursework (300 level or above) must be completed with an average grade point of 3.0 or better. This requirement is more stringent than the Graduate School requires in that the average grade point will not include the credits for CEE 790. The Graduate School does include these courses in their grade point averaging.

Final Exam

Students must pass a comprehensive examination at the conclusion of the MS program. The examination may cover both coursework and thesis or independent study activities. Students should be prepared to make an oral presentation about their thesis or advanced independent study project for approximately 30 minutes. The examining committee is recommended by the advisor and is normally composed of three professors.

Students should contact their advisor one month prior to the intended examination date to compose the committee and schedule the examination. The thesis or advanced independent study report must be preparing following the format used in the geoengineering program and the rules of the Graduate School. The thesis must be submitted to the committee at least seven days before the examination. Students should contact Ms. Lynn Maertz of the Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering to apply for an examination warrant at least three weeks prior to the examination.

The final thesis or independent study report should be bound using the method required by the Graduate School. One bound copy is to be submitted to the student's advisor and another to Memorial Library. An unbound copy of the thesis must also be submitted to the advisor. To graduate at the end of a semester, the Graduate School has additional deadlines that must be met. Information on these deadlines may be obtained from the Graduate School website at www.wisc.edu/grad. Additional time should be allowed between the examination and these deadlines for any revision of the thesis or advanced independent study report that the committee may require

Courses in Geoengineering

CEE/GLE 330 Soil Mechanics
CEE 412 Groundwater Hydraulics
CEE/GLE 431 Automated Laboratory and Field Measurements
CEE 427 Solid and Hazardous Waste Engineering
CEE 522 Hazardous Waste Management
CEE/GLE 530 Seepage and Slopes
CEE/GLE 531 Retaining Structures
CEE/GLE 532 Foundations
CEE/GLE 534 Field Methods in Geological Engineering
CEE/GLE 632 Soil Physics Laboratory
CEE/GLE 633 Waste Geotechnics
CEE/GLE 635 Remediation Geotechnics
CEE/GLE 637 Practicum in Geoengineering
CEE/GLE 730 Engineering Properties of Soils
CEE/GLE 731 Engineering Properties of Geosynthetics
CEE/GLE 732 Unsaturated Soil Geoengineering
CEE/GLE 733 Physicochemical Basis of Soil Behavior
CEE/GLE 735 Soil Dynamics
CEE 736 Uncertainty in the Geological Environment
CEE 939 Geoengineering Seminar
GLE 462 Geologic Hazards
GLE 474 Rock Mechanics
GLE 475 Rock Mechanics Applications to Environmental Problems
GLE 577 Tunneling
GLE 594 Applied Geophysics
GLE/Geol 627 Hydrogeology
GLE/Geol 629 Contaminant Hydrogeology
GLE 705 Advanced Rock Mechanics
Geol 320 Geomorphology
Geol 420 Glacial and Pleistocene Geology
Geol 590 Geophysics I
Geol 592 Geophysics II
Geol 724 Groundwater Flow Modeling
Geol 727 Advanced Hydrogeology
Geol 729 Field Applications in Hydrogeology
Geol 791 Geophysical Field and Interpretation Methods
Soil Sci 621 Soil Chemistry
Soil Sci 622 Soil Physics

:: PhD Curriculum

Admission to Program

Students wishing to be admitted to the Geo Engineering Graduate Program in Civil and Environmental Engineering must satisfy the admission requirements of the UW Graduate School and the UW College of Engineering. Geo Engineering doctoral students must also have an undergraduate-level of expertise in several, but not all of the areas of study associated with an undergraduate degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering or in Geological Engineering. In addition, all students must have mathematics through differential equations, at least one chemistry course, at least one calculus-based physics course, and a statistics course. Students who are deficient in these areas of study may be admitted with deficiencies and will be required to take one or more courses to remedy the deficiencies.

PhD Advisor and Committee

After a student enters the Geo Engineering Graduate Program, they meet with the faculty and then choose an advisor in their area of interest. The student and advisor then form a PhD Committee. The purpose of this committee is:

(i) to determine if any deficiencies exist in the student's undergraduate background that must be rectified,

(ii) to establish course requirements and to determine if these requirements have been satisfactorily met,

(iii) to ensure that the student's course of study has appropriate depth and breadth, and

(iv) to participate in qualifying, preliminary, and dissertation exams.

The Committee generally is comprised of three members during the first year of study and is augmented with at least two more members thereafter. At least one member of the committee must be from outside Civil and Environmental Engineering by the time the preliminary exam is taken.

Curriculum

There is no specific course sequence required for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Geo Engineering. Rather, specific courses that are especially pertinent to a student's area of interest may be recommended or required by the student's PhD Committee.

Specific Requirements

The following must be satisfied to obtain the PhD in Geo Engineering:

(i) All of the general regulations of the Graduate School, including the residency requirement and minor subject requirement.

(ii) The candidate must maintain a grade point average of 3.00 (on 4.00 scale) or higher in all graduate work. Credits for a course in which the student receives a grade of less than B cannot be applied towards the degree requirements unless specifically approved by the student's PhD committee.

(iii) At least 72 graduate credits beyond the Bachelor's Degree must be completed (for students who have earned a Masters Degree, credits accumulated for the MS can be applied towards this requirement). These credits will consist of formal course work (following the guidelines established by the student's PhD Committee), independent study, minor subject study, and dissertation credits.

(iv) A minor is required to give breadth to the PhD and to provide expertise in an area outside the major field of study. The minor consists of 10 units of course work outside the major, and can either be concentrated in one department (Option A), or distributed across two or more departments (Option B). In the case of Option A, the minor must be approved by the department in which the courses are taken. Option B minors are approved by the Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

(v) PhD students must enroll in the Geo Engineering Seminar (CEE 939) each spring until reaching dissertator status. In the event of extenuating circumstances, students may petition for a waiver of this requirement.

(vi) PhD students must complete and successfully defend a dissertation.

PhD Exams

All PhD students must successfully pass three exams: the qualifying exam, the preliminary exam, and the dissertation defense. The qualifying exam is taken after the first year of study, and is a one-day written exam. The preliminary exam and the dissertation defense are oral exams that are scheduled in consultation with the student's PhD committee.

Foreign Language and Liberal Studies

There is no foreign language requirement or liberal studies requirement.