LSU CMIE: Graduate Programs

This guide is intended to assist CMIE graduate students in planning and pursuing their programs of study. Official requirements for all graduate degrees are defined in the LSU General Catalog and the Graduate School Regulations. Those requirements and the information in this guide are subject to periodic changes and each student is responsible for his/her program relative to submission of forms, adherence to schedules, and satisfying requirements. For assistance and clarification, the graduate student should contact his/her advisor, CMIE Graduate Program Coordinator (Dr. Fred Aghazadeh), Engineering Science ITE Graduate Coordinator (Dr. Gerry Knapp), CMIE Department Chairman (Dr. Tom Ray), or the Graduate School.

The Construction Management & Industrial Engineering Department offers a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering, and participates in the interdepartmental Master of Science in Engineering Science and Ph.D. programs administered by the College of Engineering. For the Engineering Science program, the CMIE Department oversees graduate students focusing in Industrial Engineering (IE), Construction Management (CM), or the Information Technology Engineering (ITE) concentration.

Students working toward the Master's degree with thesis option must complete at least 24 hours of course work and six hours of thesis. For the project option, students must complete at least 33 hours of coursework plus a 3 hour masters project independent study are required.

Students pursuing the Ph.D. degree must complete at least 54 hours of course work and a dissertation.

For some students, additional courses may be required as prerequisites or to demonstrate English proficiency. Credit hours counting toward program requirements must be in courses allowed for graduate credit as described in the LSU General Catalog as well as this Guide.

Master's degree programs must be completed within five years from entrance into the program. Requests for credits for individual courses taken at LSU more than five years before the completion of the program must be validated by the student's graduate committee, usually through an oral or written examination. The result of such an examination must be signed by members of the committee and reported to the Graduate School.

Ph.D. degree programs must be completed within seven years from entrance into the program or first classification as a doctoral student. The validation process for older coursework is the same as for Masters programs.

Students wishing to pursue studies leading to a graduate degree must first apply to the Graduate School. The LSU General Catalog provides specific information regarding the requirements and conditions of admission. In general, the student who wishes to enroll for graduate study must have earned a Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) from an accredited college or university. Although there are no restrictions regarding the major area of study pursued in the baccalaureate program, graduates of curricula outside the program area will be required to satisfy prerequisite requirements in the program area. This prerequisite work will not carry graduate credit, but is intended to satisfy deficiencies. The number of courses required will depend on the student's background and preparation. See section entitled "Prerequisites" for more details.

All applicants for admission to the IE and Engineering Science Graduate Programs are required to present satisfactory scores on the aptitude portion (quantitative + verbal sections) of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) before admission can be granted. The Graduate School can provide further information on the GRE.

Generally, only those students who have at least 2.75 (on a 4.0 scale) grade point average overall and 3.00 on the last 60 hours in their undergraduate courses and satisfactory GRE scores will be admitted to the IE Graduate Program. However, cases may be considered on an individual basis considering grades in the junior and senior years and GRE scores. In rare cases, applicants may be granted probationary admission, and they must then satisfy the Graduate School and departmental requirements for satisfactory progress or be dropped from the program. See section on "Satisfactory Progress" for more details.

Non-degree seeking students may be admitted as "Non-matriculated" students if they qualify for admission to courses.

All applicants whose native language is not English and who have not completed their degree requirements at an accredited U.S. college or university are required to submit their scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The Graduate School has minimum requirements for TOEFL scores depending on which version of the TOEFL test is taken. Additionally, international students must take the LSU Comprehensive English Language Test after arrival on campus and before registration. If the test results indicate a deficiency in English, the student will be required to register for appropriate English language courses. International graduate assistants (teaching, service, or research) must complete ENGL 1051 during their first semester unless a waiver is granted as a result of interview with the English Department . Repeated registration of such courses may be required until the student can demonstrate sufficient proficiency in English.

Some graduate assistantships are available in the CMIE Department. Questions concerning these assistantships may be directed to the IE Graduate Program Coordinator or the CMIE Department Chairman. Only student's pursuing the thesis option are considered for these assistantships. Assistantships are granted on a competitive basis; the major decision criteria are GPA, GRE score, and progress toward completion of the degree. Students interested in being considered for assistantships should normally have their applications completed and received by February 1st and October 1st for the following fall and spring semesters, respectively. Students should also be aware that the ability to communicate is a primary factor considered in the awarding of teaching assistantships.

Individual CMIE faculty also have research projects that may provide graduate assistantships; individual faculty should be contacted about these opportunities.

In addition, the IE Graduate Faculty may nominate outstanding new applicants for an assistantship enhancement through the Graduate School Scholars Program. These enhancements provide a stipend in addition to the departmental graduate assistantship.

Each Masters student who receives financial assistance from the department will have a maximum of four regular semesters of departmental financial support. Students are encouraged to choose a topic and a thesis advisor during the first semester of enrollment. Beyond the first semester, continuation of their assistantship will depend upon completion of a degree plan, and a statement from their advisor that they are progressing satisfactorily toward completion of their degree (normally completed in a maximum of two years). Students who are on academic probation and applicants admitted on probation are not eligible for appointment to graduate assistantships.

The Major Advisor assists the student in scheduling courses each semester, in structuring their graduate program, and directs a student's research thesis/dissertation or masters project.

After a student has been admitted to an IE or Engineering Science Graduate Program and arrives on campus, until such time as they select a professor as their Major Advisor, the appropriate Graduate Coordinator will serve as academic advisor. For MSIE, and MSES / PhD-ES students focusing in IE or Construction Management, see Dr. Aghazadeh; for MSES & PhD-ES ITE concentration, see Dr. Knapp.

Each graduate student must choose a professor as their Major Advisor by the end of their first semester (with exception of the summer semester). The decision to accept the student (or not) rests with the prospective Major Advisor. When the student has consulted their advisor and a tentative program has been structured, the advisory committee will be formed. The student should form a committee and submit the plan of study to the committee members and the graduate program coordinator prior to the beginning of his/her second semester. The advisory committee consists of the major advisor and at least two other members of the graduate faculty. The committee may be tentative. At least one member of the committee must be a "full member" of the graduate faculty. (See the LSU General Catalog).

Students who elect a minor should have one member of the advisory committee from the minor department. The program of study ( i.e. , the particular courses the student plans to take) must be approved by the entire advisory committee. The form is available on this website (see Forms link on the menu above) and in the CMIE office. Any changes to an approved program require written concurrence of the entire committee before the last day for adding a course in that semester.

Students must form their advisory committee and submit a signed program of study prior to registration for their second semester. A hold will be placed on student's record preventing registration until the approved program of study form is received. Students should get approval from their major advisor before enrolling in any course. Students who enroll in courses without obtaining approval from their advisors may be placed on probation. These students will be dropped at the end of the semester unless their petition for the removal of their probation is accepted by the graduate faculty.

Performance of graduate students is generally expected to surpass the minimum requirements. The objective of any serious student should be obtaining an education and not simply earning a degree.

To receive a graduate degree, students must have at least a 3.0 average on all course work applicable to the degree program and on all course work taken while registered in Graduate School, whether the course carried graduate credit or not. Research grades (8000 and 9000 courses) and "pass" grades are not considered in determining whether this minimum level of performance has been achieved.

Students whose cumulative or semester average is below 3.0 (all grades since entry into the graduate program, whether in courses for graduate credit or not) will be placed on academic probation. Students who's cumulative or semester average is below 2.75 may be dropped from the Graduate School without having a probationary period. Students already on probation whose cumulative and/or semester average is below 3.0 will be dropped from the Graduate School. For these purposes, a summer term is counted the same as a regular semester.

The CMIE Department also considers two grades of D or F to be sufficient for dismissal. This applies to prerequisite courses as well as those taken for graduate credit.

Progress of all graduate students toward their degree will be evaluated at the end of each semester. Students with inappropriate progress without a reason will be placed on probation. Students on probation will be dropped from the graduate program if they do not make appropriate progress during the semester while on probation.

Students are required to satisfy prerequisites for courses taken for graduate credit. Undergraduate leveling courses may be taken on a pass/fail basis. Additional prerequisites may be required depending on the individual's background. Prerequisites may be satisfied by:

Students whose Bachelor's degree in an area of Engineering other than IE are required to have the following courses:

A student with a non-engineering baccalaureate program must complete an Engineering Science core course group in addition to the above courses. The group includes IE 2060 (or equivalent), and any five of the engineering science courses listed below (or equivalent):

These prerequisites require some mathematics and physics background, and it is expected the student will acquire the background if he/she does not have it already. None of the leveling courses may be taken for graduate credit. International students are also required to satisfy the English proficiency prerequisites already discussed.

Students whose Bachelor's degree in an area of other than Construction Management may be required to take prerequisite coursework in Project Management, construction materials, construction methods, job planning, and estimating. Students should meet with the CMIE Graduate Coordinator (Dr. Aghazadeh) to determine required prerequisite coursework. None of the leveling courses may be taken for graduate credit.

Students pursuing the ITE concentration in Engineering Science must meet the following requirements:

Students not meeting all these requirements should meet with the Engineering Science ITE Graduate Coordinator (Dr. Knapp) to determine required prerequisite coursework. None of the leveling courses may be taken for graduate credit.

Up to six semester hours of LSU extension and/or non-matriculating credit, and up to 12 semster hours of transfer credit from other U.S. universities may, in some cases, be applied to a Master's degree program if approved by the department and the Dean of the Graduate School . To petition for acceptance for transfer credit, the student must have completed at least nine hours of graduate residence credit at LSU and have no grade lower than a "B" on graduate work at any institution. Transfer work must have been taken for a graduate residence credit, must have been a part of an otherwise satisfactory graduate program, must be judged appropriate to the student's program by the CMIE Department faculty, must be taught by a professor whose credentials are comparable to those of graduate faculty members at LSU, and must in terms of time invested be comparable to graduate courses at LSU. Note that three quarter hours are equivalent to two semester hours.

Dual Degree

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Students must get approval from their Major Advisor the appropriate graduate program coordinator before they can enroll in a dual degree program. For MSIE students pursuing the thesis option, the approval will not be given until the defense of the thesis proposal. Any MSIE student who does not follow this requirement will be dropped from the MSIE program immediately upon the notification by the Graduate School of their enrollment in the dual degree. Students on departmental assistantship are not allowed to enroll in a dual-degree program.