Offices & Services / Office of Academic Programs / Graduate Policies, Procedures and Forms / SM and ME Degrees

SM and ME Program Plans

[Part of the Policies of the CHD, August 2019]

Any student seeking an S.M. or M.E. degree from SEAS must submit an S.M. Program Plan or M.E. Program Plan form to the SEAS Committee on Higher Degrees (CHD).  Terminal S.M. and M.E. students must submit program plans before study card day in the Fall term of their first year.  AB/SM students must submit plans by early April of junior year, and should note that the final opportunity to submit a revised plan is for the first CHD meeting of their senior spring term, usually in January.

Exception: A SEAS Ph.D. student seeking an S.M. degree whose Ph.D. program plan in the same area has been approved by the CHD can receive an S.M. in that area en route to the Ph.D. with no further approval required, provided that the courses selected to apply towards the degree satisfy both the SEAS-wide and area-specific S.M. course requirements. Note that transfer credit is not accepted toward the S.M. degree, even if it has been approved toward the Ph.D.

S.M. Program Plan

The S.M. Program Plan should be comparable to that customary for the first year of a Ph.D. program, with special attention to attaining some breadth and depth of preparation. An approved program plan ordinarily is a condition for registration for a second semester. The Program Plan must submitted before course-enrollment day in the fall semester of G1 year for terminal S.M. students, and by April of junior year for AB/SM. students.  For non-AB/SM. students, the program ordinarily should allow completion of all degree requirements in one academic year, but may propose continuation for a third, final semester.  Subsequent changes must be approved in advance by the advisor and the CHD.

M.E. Program Plan

The M.E. degree requires the successful completion of one year of course work and one year of research, including a final oral presentation of the thesis.

The sixteen four-unit courses, including research courses, taken for this degree must form a coherent program plan approved by the CHD.  The M.E. Program Plan should be submitted before the end of the first semester of graduate study.  Subsequent changes must be approved in advance both by the student's advisor and by the CHD.  Students are expected to complete the requirements for the M.E. degree within four consecutive terms.  Continuation beyond the fourth semester will be granted only if there is reasonable assurance that the requirements can be completed by the end of the fifth semester.