Admission

Applicants possessing baccalaureate degrees and a 3.000 grade point ratio (GPR) or graduate degrees may seek admission, provided they meet or exceed academic requirements listed below. These students must be admitted to the program by the College of Engineering.

To be admitted to the Doctor of Engineering program by the College of Engineering, applicants must complete the appropriate application form, provide transcripts of all academic work taken beyond the secondary school level, prepare a 300-word essay dealing with the applicants' motivations for seeking admission to the program, be recommended by their respective departments, be interviewed by the admissions subcommittee of the Doctor of Engineering program committee, and be approved by the College of Engineering. Students seeking admission beyond the master's level are required to pass the oral and written examinations associated with the Doctor of Engineering qualifying examination described in "Examinations."

Transfer of Credit

Courses for which transfer credits are sought must have been completed with a grade of B or greater and must be approved by the student's advisory committee and the Office of Graduate Studies. These courses must not have been used previously for another degree. Except for officially approved joint degree programs with other Texas A&M University System institutions, credit for theses or dissertation research or the equivalent is not transferable. Credit for "internship" course work in any form is not transferable. Courses taken in residence at an accredited U.S. institution or approved international institution with a final grade of B or greater will be considered for transfer credit if, at the time the courses were completed, the student was in degree-seeking status at Texas A&M University or at the institution at which the courses were taken, and if the courses would be accepted for credit toward a similar degree for students in degree-seeking status at the host institution. Credit for course work taken by extension is not transferable. Course work in which no formal grades are given or in which grades other than letter grades (A, B, C, etc.) are given (for example, CR, P, S, U, H, etc.) is not accepted for transfer credit. Credit for course work submitted for transfer from any college or university must be shown in semester credit hours, or equated to semester credit hours. Courses completed at other institutions are not included in computing the GPR. An official transcript from the university at which transfer courses are taken must be sent directly to the Office of Admissions and Records.

Residence

Students who enter the DEng program with baccalaureate degrees must spend two academic years in resident study. Students who hold master's degrees when they enter the program must spend one academic year in resident study. In this context, an academic year is defined as two regular semesters, two 10-week summer semesters or a regular semester and a 10-week summer semester. To satisfy the residence requirement, the student must complete a minimum of 9 credit hours per semester or 10-week summer semester for the required period.

Student's Advisory Committee

After receiving admission to the Doctor of Engineering program, the student will consult with the head of his or her administrative department concerning appointment of the chair of the advisory committee. The student's advisory committee will consist of not fewer than four members of the graduate faculty representative of the student's several fields of study. One member of the committee must be from a department other than the student's administrative department.

The student's internship supervisor, a practicing engineer, also is a member of the advisory committee. The chair, in consultation with the student will select the remainder of the advisory committee. The chair will notify the tentative members of the advisory committee, giving the student's name and field of study, requesting that they consider serving on the advisory committee. The student will interview each prospective committee member to determine whether he or she will accept the assignment.

The student's advisory committee has the responsibility for guiding and directing the entire academic and internship programs of the student and for initiating all actions concerning the student. The chair of the advisory committee, who usually has immediate supervision of the student's program, has the responsibility for calling required meetings of the advisory committee and calling meetings at any other time considered desirable.

The duties of the advisory committee include responsibility for the proposed degree program, the Doctor of Engineering qualifying examination (written and oral), the technical adequacy of the internship program, the qualifications of the student to embark on the internship, the internship report, and the final examination. In addition, the advisory committee as a group and as individual members is responsible for counseling the student on academic matters, and, in the case of academic deficiency, initiating recommendations to the Dean of the College of Engineering and the Dean of Graduate Studies.

Degree Plan

The student's advisory committee will evaluate the student's previous education and degree objectives. The committee, in consultation with the student, will develop a proposed degree plan which will constitute the basic academic requirements for the degree. The degree plan must be filed with the Office of Graduate Studies following the deadline imposed by the student's college, and no later than 90 days prior to the preliminary examination. No exceptions are allowed. The proposed degree plan will be submitted on standard forms, with endorsements by the student's advisory committee and the head of the major department, for the approval of the Dean of the College of Engineering and the Office of Graduate Studies. At the time of approval, the Dean of the College of Engineering will appoint a representative of the College of Engineering to the student's advisory committee.

The graduate portion of the proposed degree plan will include a minimum of 96 semester credit hours. Of these, 80 semester credit hours of course work are required; the Professional Internship (see section on "Internship") will earn 4 semester credit hours per semester and per summer term.

The 80 semester credit hours of graduate course work shall include a minimum of 20 semester credit hours of required core course work, 12 semester credit hours of elective professional development courses, 32 semester credit hours of department-oriented graduate level courses, 12 semester credit hours of engineering design courses and 4 semester credit hours of professional development seminar.

Additional course work may be added by petition to the approved degree plan by the student's advisory committee if such additional course work is deemed necessary to correct deficiencies in the student's academic preparation.

Scholarship

To remain in good standing, students admitted to the Doctor of Engineering program must maintain a GPR of 3.250 during their graduate studies.

Examinations

All students admitted to the program are required to pass a comprehensive written and oral examination called the Doctor of Engineering Qualifying Examination. It will be administered when semester credit hours equivalent to the number required for a Master of Engineering degree have been accumulated. Individuals holding a master's degree when they enter the Doctor of Engineering program will be expected to take the Doctor of Engineering Qualifying Examination during their first semester of enrollment. The examination determines whether or not the student is prepared to continue study toward the Doctor of Engineering degree. A student who fails the Qualifying Examination may, with the approval of the advisory committee, retake the examination once. The second examination will be administered after a suitable period of preparation, normally not less than six months, upon the recommendation of the advisory committee.

The student's major department and advisory committee may require departmental, cumulative or other types of examinations at any time deemed desirable. These examinations are entirely at the discretion of the department and the student's advisory committee. For instance, these examinations may be used for determining the technical depth and breadth required for the internship project. The candidate for the degree of Doctor of Engineering must pass a final oral examination in the final semester of course work following the internship. This exam will include presentation of results of internship work. The student's advisory committee, as finally constituted, will conduct this examination, which will include the internship experience and closely allied topics as well as the broad field of the candidate's training. A positive vote by all members of the graduate committee with at most one dissension is required to pass a student on his or her exam. A department can have a stricter requirement provided there is consistency within all degree programs within a department. Persons other than members of the graduate faculty may, with mutual consent of the candidate and the major professor, attend final examinations for advanced degrees. Upon completion of the questioning of the candidate, all visitors must excuse themselves from the proceedings. The advisory committee will submit its recommendations through the Dean of Engineering to the Office of Graduate Studies regarding the acceptability of the candidate for the doctoral degree.

Internship

As part of the degree requirements, each student will spend a minimum of one calendar year working under the supervision of a practicing engineer in industry, business or government. The objectives of the internship are two-fold: (1) to enable the student to demonstrate the ability to apply both knowledge and technical training by making an identifiable contribution in an area of practical concern to the organization or industry in which the internship is served, and (2) to enable the student to function in a non-academic environment in a position in which he or she will become aware of the organizational approach to problems, in addition to those of traditional engineering design or analysis. During the internship phase of the program, the student must be continuously enrolled in the University.

The nature of the internship experience will be determined by mutual consent among the student, the advisory committee and the supervising organization prior to commencement of the internship period. It is expected that the internship experience will be at a level in the organization which will enable the student to deal with broadly based problems affecting more than one facet of the organization, rather than a single narrow or specific technical problem. It is the student's responsibility to identify and arrange a suitable internship. Specific arrangements for the internship will be made through the student's major department, and an internship agreement must be negotiated between the student and the advisory committee, and the internship supervisor and appropriate representatives of the industrial organization. Copies of all agreements must be approved by the College of Engineering.

Continuous Registration

Students in a program leading to a Doctor of Engineering who have completed all course work on their degree plans other than 684 (Internship) are required to be in continuous registration until all requirements for the degree have been completed. See Continuous Registration Requirements. However, colleges or departments may have additional or higher requirements.

Record of Study

A record of study, which usually is a report of the student's internship experiences, must be prepared in accordance with guidelines issued by the Doctor of Engineering program committee. By dates announced each semester, the candidate must submit to the Office of the Dean of Engineering one copy of the record of study in final form. The suggestions and corrections of the members of the advisory committee must be incorporated, and the report must bear the signature of the department head and the members of the student's advisory committee. The record of study must be the original work of the candidate. This record of study must also be approved by the Thesis Office as in the case of a PhD dissertation.

The record of study will follow the instructions in the Thesis Manual which may be purchased at one of the copy centers on campus, the MSC and the Galveston campus bookstores. An online copy of the Thesis Manual can be accessed via the website thesis.tamu.edu/thesismanual.php. Except as noted in the sections above, the requirements for the Doctor of Engineering degree are identical to those for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

After successful defense and approval by the student's advisory committee and the head of the student's major department (and chair of the intercollegiate faculty, if appropriate), students must submit their record of study to the Thesis Office. Students have the option of submitting their record of study in paper format (two blue-line copies required) or electronic format (one pdf file required). Both formats require a signed original approval page (two on blue-line paper for paper submittal, one for electronic submittal).

Deadline dates for submitting are announced each semester or summer term in the Office of Graduate Studies Calendar (see Time Limit statement). These dates also can be accessed via the website vpr.tamu.edu.

Before a student can be "cleared" by the Thesis Office, a processing fee must be paid at the Fiscal Department. This processing fee includes a charge for microfilming services through UMI. After commencement, paper records of study are bound and microfilmed; electronic records of study are microfilmed and digitally stored.

A record of study that, because of excessive corrections, is deemed unacceptable by the Thesis Office will be returned to the student's department head. The manuscript must be resubmitted as a new document, and the entire review process must begin anew. All original submittal deadlines must be met during the resubmittal process in order to graduate.