GUIDEMST C. Rev Nov. 95

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GUIDELINES

Master of Science in Engineering

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

The University of Michigan

(Prior to Fall 2018)

These guidelines have been prepared to assist graduate students in following the proper procedures and satisfying all

degree requirements for the MSE Degrees administered by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Students with questions should seek the assistance of the appropriate program advisor or graduate secretary listed

below:

Construction Engineering & Management C. Menassa

Environmental & Water Resources Engineering B. Ellis

Geotechnical Engineering R. Michalowski

Hydraulics A. Cotel

Infrastructure Systems J. Scruggs

Materials Engineering V. Li

Structural Engineering A. Jeffers

Transportation Systems N. Masoud

Admissions A. Speigle

Basic Requirements

The basic requirements for the MSE Degree are established by the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies.

For additional information on MSE degree requirements, see the Rackham Graduate School's website for current

students at: https://rackham.umich.edu/current-students/. The faculty of the Department of Civil and Environmental

Engineering has adopted certain additional requirements that are described in these guidelines.

Each MSE student must take personal responsibility for seeing that all requirements are met prior to the deadlines

specified by the Graduate School. If special decisions or actions are needed they should be initiated by the student

through consultation with the advisor and the chair of the Graduate Committee and must be approved by the

Department Chair.

II.

Program Information

Degrees Offered

Masters of Science in Engineering - MSE programs leading to each of the following degrees are currently

administered by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering:

MSE (Civil Engineering): A study program leading to this degree includes graduate work in one or more of the

following specialty areas: construction, environmental, geotechnical, hydraulics and hydrology, infrastructure

systems, materials, and structural engineering.

MSE (Construction Engineering and Management)

MSE (Environmental Engineering)

In addition, the Department offers the Masters of Engineering (Construction Engineering and Management) and

(Structural Engineering) as a graduate professional degree in engineering. This is described in a separate document.

The purpose of the specialized degrees (items 2 and 3 above) is to permit a higher level of specialization in the area

named than required for the general degree listed under item 1.

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Admission

Admission to the Graduate School is granted to those students who show promise and who provide sufficient

evidence that they can meet the scholastic requirements of study at an advanced level.

To be granted regular admission to the program leading to the MSE (Civil Engineering), an applicant would

normally hold a degree that represents the equivalent of the BSE in the University's undergraduate Civil and

Environmental 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 a special field of Civil

and Environmental Engineering. Regular admission to the MSE (Construction Engineering and Management)

program may be granted to graduates in any recognized branch of engineering. Admission to the MSE

(Environmental Engineering) program may be granted to graduates in any branch of engineering or science.

Either conditional admission or NCFD (Not Candidate for Degree) admission may be granted to students not

meeting the requirement above. Students should consult the Rackham Graduate School’s website at:

https://rackham.umich.edu/admissions/non-candidate-for-degree/ for details concerning these types of admission

status.

A student may be required to satisfy undergraduate course deficiencies without graduate credit. These conditions are

explained below for each of the MSE programs.

MSE (Civil Engineering)

A student who does not have an undergraduate degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering and who is admitted

to the MSE (Civil Engineering) program is expected to fulfill substantially all the two-year undergraduate core

program requirements in the College of Engineering Course Guide and Bulletin at:

https://bulletin.engin.umich.edu/courses/. In addition, the student is also expected to demonstrate competence by

examination or election (without graduate credit) of certain basic undergraduate civil engineering program courses

or subjects. The courses will include at least three of the following four:

CEE 312 - Structural Engineering

CEE 345 - Geotechnical Engineering

CEE 351 - Civil Engineering Materials

CEE 421 - Hydrology and Flood Plain Hydraulics

These courses may not be used for credit toward the MSE (Civil Engineering). Additional prerequisites for some of

the areas of specialization are also required.

MSE (Construction Engineering and Management)

Applicants with undergraduate degrees in fields other than engineering may be granted admission to the MSE

(Construction Engineering and Management) program if they have taken a year of calculus and a year of physics and

if they have at least a B average in their mathematics and science courses. Before or after admission, these students

must complete the following courses, or their equivalent, without credit toward their MSE degree:

CEE 312 - Structural Engineering

CEE 351 - Civil Engineering Materials

CEE 345 - Geotechnical Engineering

CEE 431 - Construction Contracting

Most students who have an undergraduate degree in architecture will have taken the equivalent of CEE 312.

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MSE (Environmental Engineering)

A student graduating with the MSE (Environmental Engineering) degree is expected to have certain background

knowledge. Core requirements for the degree include those normally taken in the University of Michigan BSE

program in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Environmental Engineering, namely:

Math 216 - Differential Equations

Chem 210 - Structure and Reactivity

CEE 325 - Fluid Mechanics

CEE 465 - Environmental Process Dynamics and Engineering

It is necessary to satisfy any deficiencies in the core requirements prior to the completion of MSE degree. Not all of

these courses may be elected for graduate credit. Refer to the separate guidelines for the Environmental Engineering

program for complete details.

General Requirements and Policies

Credit Hours and Normal Progress:

A minimum of 30 credit hours of acceptable graduate work (graduate credit) must be completed for the MSE

degrees. Twelve hours of credit per term is the usual full-time graduate load. The usual load for a half term is six

hours. It is recommended that a student distribute courses over at least two and one-half terms.

Grades:

A cumulative grade point average of “B” (3.0) is required for all courses taken for graduate credit at the University

of Michigan. A grade below C- will not be counted towards the graduate credit requirement; however, it is

considered in the computation of the grade point average. In addition, a cumulative grade point average of "B" is

required for all courses taken for graduate credit at the University of Michigan in a student's area(s) of specialization.

Individual concentration areas in the Department may enforce more stringent grading requirements.

Thesis:

A thesis is not required.

Language:

Knowledge of a foreign language is not required.

Comprehensive Examination:

Normally, a comprehensive examination covering all course work is not required.

Residence Requirements:

The Graduate School residency requirements are easily satisfied by full-time students. Students pursuing the MSE

degree on a part-time basis should become familiar with special requirements. See Rackham Graduate School’s

website at:

https://rackham.umich.edu/policy/section5/

Time Limit:

A student must complete all work within a period of five consecutive years after the first enrollment in the Graduate

School.

Transfer Credit:

Rackham rules permit transfer of up to half the minimum number of credit hours required for the MSE Degree

from inter-university and intra-university sources combined.

Graduate Credit:

A maximum of six hours of graduate credit may be transferred from another institution. These must be

approved graduate level courses taken in residence with a grade of B or better from an organized graduate

school of an accredited institution approved by the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies. Graduate

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extension courses will be considered only from The University of Michigan, Wayne State University, Michigan

State University, Western Michigan University, Central Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University,

Northern Michigan University and Oakland University. Credit will be transferred only upon written application

of the student to the Graduate School through the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The

credit will be applied after the student has established an overall graduate grade point average of B or better in

resident work. Courses cannot be transferred for credit if already applied toward a degree or if taken more than

five years before beginning graduate study at The University of Michigan.

Pre-graduate Credit:

Pre-graduate course credit with a B grade or better earned by the student as an undergraduate at The University

of Michigan College of Engineering may be included in the student's graduate study program subject to the

following regulations: (1) credit was not used to meet the bachelor's degree requirement, either required courses

or required credit hours, (2) credit was earned no more than two years before formal admission to the Graduate

School and (3) credit was earned in courses approved for graduate credit by the Graduate School. The student

may request the transfer of such credits through the Rackham Graduate School’s website at:

https://rackham.umich.edu/navigating-your-degree/transfer-of-credit-information.

Employment Load:

A graduate student who is employed in remunerative work is permitted to take course work up to the maximum

credit hours per term specified in the following table.

Maximum Credit Hours

Employment Enrolled

Full-time 6 term hours

Three-fourths 8 term hours

One-half 10 term hours

One-fourth 12 term hours

Program of Study

Objectives

The goal of master's degrees offered through the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is to prepare

engineers for advanced practice in their disciplines and for professional interaction with practitioners of related

disciplines.

It is believed that these goals can best be met by developing a specific program designed to meet the special needs of

each student. The student should study under as many of the faculty in the specialty as possible.

Program Content

In all cases the courses used in an MSE program must be approved by the advisor in the student's area of

specialization.

Distribution (hours)

The Civil and Environmental Engineering and other course credit hour requirements in the various degree

programs are as follows:

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MSE (Civil Engineering):

At least 15 hours in Civil and Environmental Engineering courses. A student should expect to take at least eight

hours in the area of specialization but will not be permitted to apply more than 21 hours in one area of

specialization toward the graduate requirement.

MSE (Construction Engineering and Management):

At least 18 hours in courses emphasizing construction of which 12 hours must be in Civil and Environmental

Engineering courses.

MSE (Environmental Engineering):

Refer to the separate guidelines for the Environmental Engineering degree program for more details on course

requirements.

Cognate Courses: The 30 hours of graduate work must include at least 4 credit hours of cognate courses

related to the field of specialization, but offered outside the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, to

increase the intellectual breadth of the graduate education. Courses cross-listed with the Civil and Environmental

Engineering Department may satisfy the cognate requirement provided that the course is in a subfield different from

the student’s own. Cognate courses must be passed with a B- or better. At least one course used to fulfill the cognate

requirement must be at minimum 2 credit hours and, at most, 1 credit hour of a seminar course offered by a different

department can be used toward meeting the cognate requirement. See Rackham Graduate School’s policy for more

information at:

https://rackham.umich.edu/policy/section5/

CEE Department Math Requirement: The student must complete at least one course (minimum of 3 credit

hours) in mathematics or math intensive studies, probability, statistics, or mathematical programming, beyond the

minimum undergraduate requirements of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department of The University of

Michigan. A course used to satisfy this math requirement also can be used toward the 4 credit hour cognate

requirement provided that it is taken outside the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department or is cross-listed

with another department and is outside the student’s subfield of study. Approved courses within the department (listed

below) can be used to satisfy the math requirement.

CEE 501 - Special Topics in CEE – Infrastructure Systems Optimization

CEE 571 - Linear System Theory

CEE 572 - Dynamic Infrastructure Systems

CEE 573 - Data Analysis in CEE

A 400 level course that is listed in the Rackham Program of Study website at:

https://rackham.umich.edu/programs-of-study may be elected for graduate credit when approved by the student's

advisor except for those 400 level courses that are required in the current undergraduate program of all Civil and

Environmental Engineering students. Of all the 400 level courses elected, no more than a total of 12 hours and no

more than 9 hours of 400 level Civil and Environmental Engineering courses will be accepted for graduate credit.

No more than six credit hours of directed study, seminar and research will be accepted for graduate credit.