Graduate Degree Policies
Thesis Supervisors
- The thesis supervisor (also known as the thesis committee chair) is the primary faculty who will guide the student's thesis research, and will issue grades for the thesis courses ELEE 7300 and ELEE 7301.
- Students must get the approval of their potential thesis supervisor before enrolling in ELEE 7300 Thesis I for the first time.
- The supervisor must be a member of the UTRGV Electrical Engineering graduate faculty.
- With the approval of the Graduate Coordinator, it is possible to have co-supervisors (co-chairs), in which case one of them must be a member of the UTRGV Electrical Engineering graduate faculty, and the other co-supervisor may be from outside the department.
Thesis Committees
- The thesis committee should be formed during the first semester of thesis (ELEE 7300). The thesis committee membership requires approval by the department, college, and Graduate College.
- Thesis committees should have at least three members.
- At least half of the committee members must be UTRGV Electrical Engineering graduate faculty.
- The student and her/his supervisor are responsible for keeping the committee informed of progress, and to ensure that the committee meets with the student at least once per semester.
Written Comprehensive Exam
- The written comprehensive exam is only required for students taking the non-thesis option,
- Students should normally take the exam during their last semester in the program, except for summers. Students must be currently registered for at least one course in order to take the exam.
- The exam is normally offered once during the Fall semester and once during the Spring semester. The Graduate Coordinator will announce the dates and times.
- Each student will request three areas (courses) on which she/he wishes to be examined, and should notify the Graduate Coordinator at least one month before the exam date.
- The normal format is three hours total, one hour per subject. Test conditions (open/closed book, open/closed notes, etc) will be determined for each subject area by the examining faculty.
- The exam is graded Pass/Fail.
- Students who fail the exam must wait until the next semester and register for at least one course in order to retake the exam.
- Only one retake of the exam is allowed. A student who fails the exam a second time will not receive the degree.