MS Advisory Committee & Program of Study

These procedures and additional requirements are specific to the ECE Department.

Advisory Committee

Each MS student must have an advisory committee composed of at least three Graduate faculty members. They assist the student in the development and executing his/her Program of Study and monitor the student's progress towards completion of the degree. The student is responsible for identifying a faculty member who is willing to chair his/her advisory committee. The advisor has the responsibility to guide the student's research toward degree completion within a reasonable period of time (usually two years for full-time students). New students have a temporary advisor until they choose a permanent advisor from the ECE faculty during their first semester. In consultation with his/her advisor, the student is responsible for identifying at least two other TTU graduate faculty members who are willing to serve on his/her committee. The other members are selected such that they have either taught the student in a course or have some expertise relevant to the student's research. At least two members of the MS advisory committee, including the chairperson/advisor, must be from the ECE faculty. The MS advisory committee may include more than three members. Students with a Computer Engineering focus should include at least one Computer Science faculty on their committee. A graduate student's advisory committee is selected during his/her first semester of study and each member must approve and sign the student's Program of Study form by the beginning of the student's second semester. Failure to form a committee by the end of the second semester is cause for dismissal from the MS program.

Program of Study

Each MS student is required to develop and submit a Program of Study by the beginning of the second semester of study. The student prepares this Program of Study in consultation with his/her Advisory Committee. The student's advisory committee members, the ECE Chair, the CoE Assoc. Dean for Graduate Studies, and the Assoc. VP of Graduate Studies must approve and sign the Program of Study. Any subsequent changes to courses on the approved Program of Study must be made via a Substitution (Course Addition/Deletion) form. The following is a brief description of the MS Program of Study requirements; the TTU Graduate Catalog contains the complete list of the requirements.

Program of Study Requirements

The MS Program of Study requirements are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1. Summary of MS Program of Study Requirements

Course/Category	Credit Hours
	Thesis Option	Non-thesis Option
ECE 6910 - Introduction to Graduate Research	1	1
ECE Breadth courses	9	9
ECE elective courses	6	12
Elective courses	9	9
ECE 6970 - Non-Thesis Design Project	0	3
ECE 6990 - Research and Thesis	6	0
Total	31	34

The ECE Breadth courses are:

• ECE 6040 - Signal Analysis
• ECE 6170 - High Performance Embedded System Design
• ECE 6200 - Linear Systems Analysis
• ECE 6250 - Random Signals and Systems
• ECE 6510 - Electromagnetic Field Theory I
• ECE 6600 - Computer Methods of Power System Analysis
• ECE 6710 - Communications Systems Theory

Additional Program of Study Requirements

The following restrictions apply to the MS Program of Study (in addition to those of the College and University). For the thesis option (a) no more than six hours of 5000-level courses such that 5000-level ECE course, if any, in the program of study are outside the student's area of primary research; and (b) no more than six hours of directed/independent study courses. For the non-thesis option there are no restrictions beyond those of the College and University.

A maximum of nine credits (3 courses) of approved graduate coursework may be transferred form another university to satisfy the MS requirements. Admission to Candidacy is achieved following the term in which a student completes 9 hours, usually at the beginning of the second semester, at the same time as the Program of Study is submitted. The basic requirements for candidacy are full standing, completion of nine credit hours of graduate work, and a TTU GPA of at least 3.0.