Policies and Procedures
CAMPUS POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Please note these links below are to be used in conjunction with your department-specific graduate student handbook (if applicable) and guidelines listed on your program website.
Doctoral students will be required to complete the Engineering Individual Development Plan (E-IDP) on an annual basis in consultation with their faculty advisor. This will help graduate students to structure their goals, identify skills and competencies that need to be developed, maintain a record of their achievements, and start conversations with their advisor about career goals.
Normative and Maximum Time to Degree
| Samueli School of Engineering | PhD Advancement | PhD Degree Completion | PhD Maximum | MS Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biomedical Engineering | 3(3) | 5(4) | 7 | 3 |
| Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering | 3(2) | 5(4) | 7 | NA |
| Civil and Environmental Engineering | 3(2) | 5(4) | 7 | NA |
| Electrical and Computer Engineering | 3(2) | 5(4) | 7 | 4 |
| Material Science and Engineering | 3(2) | 5(4) | 7 | N/A |
| Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering | 3(2) | 5(4) | 7 | N/A |
| Advanced Manufactoring | 3(2) | 5(4) | 7 | N/A |
Parentheses represent reduced time to advancement and degree completion for those students who entered the PhD program with a previous MS degree.
Enrolling in Undergraduate Courses
Graduate students are restricted from enrolling in undergraduate courses using WebReg. As such, if you would like to enroll in an Engineering undergraduate course, please follow these directions:
- Contact the professor of the Engineering course, stating that you are a graduate student wishing to enroll in their undergraduate course and asking whether or not they approve of this request.
- If the professor approves, forward the email to the Curriculum Office at casa@eng.uci.edu. In the email, please also include your full name, your student ID number, the course number, and the 5-digit course code for your request. If there is a lab or discussion, then be sure to include the 5-digit course code for the preferred day and time.
- You will be notified over email when you are able to enroll in the course using WebReg (typically 3-5 business days after the request is submitted).
As a reminder, only upper division undergraduate courses (100-189) have the potential to count toward your MS degree requirements so students should check with the appropriate Graduate Advisor for approval. Lower division courses (1-89) cannot be applied to your graduate degree.
Please note that we can authorize students to enroll in courses offered within the Samueli School of Engineering ONLY. Students interested in taking non-Engineering courses must contact the faculty of that course and must abide by that School’s course enrollment policies.
Please review the following policies and procedures related to your degree program. Unless otherwise directed, please contact your program’s Student Services Advisor to initiate the necessary forms.
Prior to submitting final degree paperwork, students must complete the following steps:
- Must be your final quarter, completing degree requirements or on a filing fee. Please refer to your program’s website for degree requirements.
- Advanced to candidacy one quarter prior to submitting final degree paperwork.
- You must be enrolled full-time, part-time (approved status), or on a filing fee (approved status).
Please contact your program's Student Services Advisor for internal deadlines to submit this request.
Ph.D. students advance to candidacy by taking and passing the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam. The qualifying exam is an oral presentation to a committee of Senate faculty. Each committee member must agree on the research you would like to complete for your doctoral dissertation.
Qualifying exam committees consist of a combination of a chair, general members, and an outside member. For committee members who may have a financial interest in the student’s work, an additional Oversight member from the student’s department is also required to protect against any potential conflict of interest. The Oversight member must be appointed by the Graduate Dean. Committee requirements vary per program, please contact your program’s Student Services Advisor to confirm
Programs may have academic requirements that must be met to be eligible for Ph.D. Advancement, please contact your program’s Student Services Advisor to confirm.
The Ph.D. final defense committee consists of at least three senate faculty drawn from your advancement committee. The majority of the committee MUST be from your department/degree program. Committees containing faculty members who are immediate family members, married couples, or domestic partnerships will require an additional committee member to the below committee membership to protect against any potential conflict of interest.
*Please note, when completing advancement to candidacy paperwork, students must list their final defense committee. If there is a change to the final defense committee, then the student must submit a request to change their committee by contacting their program’s Student Services Advisor. All committee changes must be approved prior to your defense announcement.
All courses must be passed with a grade of B or higher to count towards graduate course requirements.
Incomplete (I) An Incomplete (I) grade may be given when coursework is passing but not finished due to valid reasons; students must work with their instructor to complete it within 12 months or before their degree is awarded—whichever comes first. Do not re-enroll in the course to finish an Incomplete; unauthorized repeats will not earn credit—see Registrar’s Grading Policy for full policy details.
No Report (NR)
A No Report (NR) grade will be assigned when a final grade is not submitted by the
instructor. NRs may be removed within one quarter or changed to a grade by the instructor
provided a clerical or procedural error has occurred. The student’s NR becomes a final
grade of F, NP, or U (depending on which grade option the student enrolled under)
after one quarter of subsequent attendance.
Graduate students are eligible for one filing fee quarter during their graduate career.
The Filing Fee option applies only to students who have completed ALL requirements for a M.S. or Ph.D. degree except for official submission of a thesis or dissertation to the University Archives, or completion of the final formal examination (e.g., the comprehensive examination).This means that prior to the beginning of the “filing fee” quarter ALL other requirements for the degree must have been met by the student, including advancement to candidacy and the resolution of any NR or I grades. Consult your program's Student Services Advisor for other policies and limitations related to the filing fee.
International visa restrictions may preclude filing fee status for students who are not citizens or permanent residents of the United States. International students should verify their eligibility for filing fee status via the International Center well in advance of need.
Students should note that there is a separate form when submitting a summer filing fee petition. If you are interested in pursuing a filing fee please consult program's Student Services Advisor. The deadline to apply for filing fee is the Friday of the third week of each quarter. Please note the filing fee cost is $215.
Previously taken graduate-level courses may count toward ICS degree requirements. Please read through the following information.
Transfer: Transfers of credit toward master’s degree requirements
- Must have been passed with a grade of B or better.
- Must not have been applied toward a bachelor’s degree or a graduate degree from another university.
- Cannot have been taken while the student was on a leave of absence from the ICS program.
- Must be approved by the ICS Graduate Associate Dean for Student Affairs and the Dean of Graduate Division.
For additional information, please refer to the Senate policy.
Waive: Graduate courses taken at another institution may not be transferred to Ph.D. requirements. However, a course requirement may be waived if a similar course was taken at another institution.
Note: For students earning a master’s degree en route to a Ph.D., please see the Transfer of Credit policy for details. Students earning a master’s degree en route can only transfer and not waive courses that overlap with the master’s degree.
For additional information, please refer to the Senate policy.
Substitution: A student who has taken relevant graduate courses at UCI may petition to have a specific course certified as equivalent to one that satisfies UCI requirements. The petition should describe the two courses and the student’s prior course work.
In absentia status is a form of registration available to academic and professional graduate students undertaking coursework or research related to their degree programs outside the designated local campus region. UCI’s local campus region consists of the following: Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, or San Bernardino County.
Eligibility Criteria: The student must be enrolled full-time in regular UC units.
Research or coursework
- Must be of a nature that makes it necessary to be completed outside of Southern California for at least one full academic term.
- Must be directly related to the student’s degree program as evidenced by faculty approval.
- Must involve only one indirect supervision appropriate to evaluating the student’s academic progress and performance from UC faculty during the in-absentia period.
- Must involve no significant studying or in-person collaboration with UC faculty during the in-absentia period.
Doctoral students
- Must advance to candidacy by the time in absentia begins.
- May only use in absentia registration for a maximum of six quarters.
Masters’ only and graduate professional students
- Must have completed at least one year of coursework by the time in absentia begins.
- May only use in absentia for a maximum of three quarters.
Students in self-supporting programs or exchange programs are not eligible for in absentia registration.
Graduate students may petition for a leave of absence from the program for a period of up to, but no more than, three quarters total at their time as a graduate student at UC Irvine.
A leave may be granted to be away from their studies for any of the following reasons:
- Serious illness or other temporary disability
- Concentration on an occupation not directly related to the student’s academic program.
- Responsibilities related to family obligations.
- Temporary interruption of the student’s academic program for other appropriate reasons.
Leaves of absence cannot be granted: 1) for a quarter(s) prior to the current quarter; 2) if a student has not completed at least one complete quarter of academic work at UCI; or 3) if a student has not demonstrated satisfactory academic progress.
International Students: In accordance with visa restrictions, a student who is not a permanent resident or citizen of the U.S. is not permitted to take an academic leave of absence. Any exception to this policy requires written approval by UCI’s International Center, as indicated on the LOA form, which must then be submitted to the Graduate Division.
More information regarding a leave of absence can be found here.
Prior approval from UCI PI and Department Graduate advisor is required. If you are interested in taking a Leave of absence please contact your department student service advisor.
International students may be eligible for OPT after graduation. OPT provides the opportunity to gain employment experience in the student’s major/field of study.
Consult the International Center for OPT policies and application requirements. Please contact your program’s Student Services Advisor to review your Graduation Confirmation/OPT Recommendation Form that is required as part of the OPT application package.
Part-time enrollment status may be granted for reasons of occupation, family responsibilities, or health issues.
Eligibility for part-time study also depends on other factors, such as citizenship or residency, and fellowships. Information for international students wanting to pursue part-time study can be found on the UCI International Center website.
PhD students are not eligible to apply to part-time study, unless exceptional approval has been granted.
The part-time study form can be found by logging into your student access, going to applications and selecting part-time study. The campus deadline to submit a part-time study petition is noon on Wednesday of the third week of classes.
A minimum of six quarters for PhD students or three quarters for MS students in academic residence are required prior to the award of the degree. Typically, a longer period of study (two to six years) is required for completion of all degree requirements.
Please use the following link to review the normative time to advancement and degree completion for your respective programs. Students who exceed the normative time to degree may be subject to academic conditional status and/or academic dismissal.