General Guidelines for Master of Science Degree (Thesis Option)
The minimum requirement for graduation is 30 hours, of which six hours relate to thesis. At least six hours but no more than twelve hours must be taken outside the major area of study. All courses in your major area must be taken for grade. No more than 50% of your minor courses may be taken on a credit/no credit basis. (Please note for Spring 2020, students were allowed additional credit/ no credit courses toward the degree.)
Only graduate and upper division undergraduate courses will apply towards the MS degree. A maximum of nine hours of upper division undergraduate work is allowed with no more than six hours in either the major or supporting area.
During the first semester of your MS program you should select a supervising professor. By the end of the semester you and your supervising professor should have a detailed objective and scope outlined for the thesis. To do this some literature review is required. It is essential that you personally invite at least one and preferably two faculty members in addition to your supervising professor to serve on your thesis supervising committee. The members of the supervising committee should be kept informed of the progress of your research. It is your obligation to submit an acceptable thesis to the Graduate School. Therefore, every effort should be made to complete your thesis before you leave campus and take employment elsewhere.
When you begin actual work on your thesis research, you need to begin registering for thesis (698A). You must then be continuously registered for 698B each succeeding semester until graduation. Civil Engineering and Environmental and Water Resources Engineering majors (code 621700 and 640100 respectively) register for CE 698A/B. Thesis is taken on a CR/NC basis.
Early in the semester you plan to graduate you should read about graduation guidelines and deadlines on the Graduate School website: https://gradschool.utexas.edu/academics/graduation/deadlines-and-submission-instructions. Included in this material is a list of deadlines you must meet during the semester in order to graduate. The following steps constitute the usual procedure for preparing to graduate:
a) Register for CE or ARE 698B in your final semester.
b) Submit your MS_Program of Work form to your advisor. After your advisor, the form routes to the Graduate Coordinator, who will set up your electronic routing. Once approved, you must complete the Master's Graduation Application Form online before the posted deadline in the semester of graduation. Students will be required to have a GPA of at least 3.0 for courses included on the POW.
c) Upload a pdf of your thesis to the Texas Digital Library (TDL) and submit the required pages to the Graduate School by the posted deadline. A format check of your thesis is recommended before turning in your work. No extensions to the deadline will be granted. The Thesis will be due by 3:00 pm CST on the posted deadline date.
If, after filing for graduation, you find that you will not complete the degree requirements that semester, you should notify the Graduate School and the Graduate Coordinator. A new Master's Graduation Application Form must be submitted at the beginning of the next semester you intend to graduate.
The official degree awarded under this program is the Master of Science in Engineering degree.