Graduate School Policies
Requirements
Qualifying Exam
Links
ENME-ENRE Grad Student Mentoring Guidelines
Plan of Study
Please read the following instructions carefully. Once you have completed your Plan of Study you must obtain your advisor signature and email the form to megrad@umd.edu.
M.S Students: ENME & ENRE with Thesis ONLY
1. Mechanical Engineering Students are required to complete 24 credits (8 courses), including 1 approved math course and 1 core course. At least 5 of the courses in the student’s Plan of Study must be in ENME. Additionally, students are required to register for a minimum of 6 credits of ENME799 thesis research (permission is required from the department).
Information regarding course requirements can be found here:
https://enme.umd.edu/graduate/degrees/master-science-mechanical
And here:
https://megrad.umd.edu/masters-approved-math-courses/
2. Reliability Engineering Students with Thesis are required to complete 24 credits (8 courses) plus a minimum of 6 credits of ENRE799 thesis research (permission is required from the department).
Information regarding course requirements can be found here:
https://enme.umd.edu/graduate/degrees/master-science-reliability
Using Transfer Credits on your Plan of Study
The M.S. Plan of Study can include a maximum of 6 approved transfer credits for graduate work undertaken at other accredited U.S. institutions. These transfer credits must be approved by the Graduate School. Approval is sought through the submission of a Transfer or Inclusion of Credit form available on The Graduate School website https://gradschool.umd.edu/forms You must submit an official transcript.
The student must have earned a grade of “B-” or better in the course and have a “B” or better average on all the graduate course work taken at the institution from which the transfer is requested.
The transfer course work must have been taken within seven (7) years of the award of the University of Maryland, College Park Master’s Degree for which the student is currently enrolled.
M.S Students: UMD Master of Professional Engineering (MAGE) or UMD BS/MS Mechanical Engineering Students
Courses taken as a Master of Professional Engineering student or as a UMD BS/MS in Mechanical Engineering student must be transferred to the MS program by completing the Transfer or Inclusion of Credit form available on The Graduate School website https://gradschool.umd.edu/forms
Once you have completed your Plan of Study you must obtain your advisor’s signature. Please email the form/transcripts/course descriptions to the ME Graduate Office at megrad@umd.edu.
The Plan of Study must be submitted by the end of your first semester at UMD.
If you have any questions, please email megrad@umd.edu.
PhD Students
The Plan of Study for Mechanical Engineering must contain a minimum of 36 credits (12 courses) of graduate coursework, with a minimum of 12 credits (4 courses) of coursework taken at the University of Maryland as a PhD student. Additionally, students are required to complete a minimum of 12 ENME899 Candidacy Research credits (the Office of the Registrar will automatically enroll you in 6 credits each semester after advancing to candidacy). All Mechanical Engineering students are required to complete 2 approved math courses.
A full list of requirements can be found here:
https://enme.umd.edu/graduate/degrees/doctorate-philosophy
And here:
https://megrad.umd.edu/phd-approved-math-courses/
The Plan of Study for Reliability Engineering must contain a minimum of 36 credits (12 courses) of 600 level or above courses with a minimum of 12 credits of coursework taken at the University of Maryland as PhD student. At least 6 of the courses in the student’s Plan of Study must be in ENRE. Additionally, students are required to complete a minimum of 12 ENRE899 Candidacy Research credits (the Office of the Registrar will automatically enroll you in 6 credits each semester after advancing to candidacy). All Reliability Engineering students are required to complete ENRE 600, Fundamentals of Failure Mechanisms and ENRE 602, Reliability Analysis.
Complete information on these requirements can be found here:
http://www.enme.umd.edu/grad/phd-reliability
Transfer Credit from Another Institution
Students with graduate coursework from an accredited institution may, upon student’s advisor and the Graduate Office approval, transfer in up to 24 credits (8 courses) of coursework. Please note that for the Ph.D. program, this is a departmental process, so transferred courses will not appear on a student’s UMD transcript.
For courses to be considered for transfer, you must provide an unofficial transcript, a course description and the UMD equivalent. If there is no UMD equivalent, the course cannot be transferred. Undergraduate courses are not acceptable for transfer.
Once you have completed your Plan of Study you must obtain your advisor’s signature. Please email the form/unofficial transcripts/course descriptions to the ME Graduate Office at megrad@umd.edu
The Plan of Study must be submitted by the end of your first semester at UMD.
If you have any questions, please email megrad@umd.edu.
Graduation Requirements Checklist
Proposal Presentation Guidelines
Student must formalize their committee 6 weeks prior to their final defense:
1. Fill out the Nomination of Thesis or Dissertation Form with your advisor.
2. Send the form to megrad@umd.edu and we will obtain the DGS signature and submit the form to the Registrar for you.
3. We will notify you once your committee has been approved.
Please keep in mind the below information regarding the composition of your committee:
The Committee must consist of a minimum of five members, at least three of whom must be Full Members of the University of Maryland College Park Graduate Faculty who are on tenured or tenure-track appointments. Each Dissertation Examining Committee will have a chair, who must be a Full Member of Graduate Faculty, or, by special permission, has been appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School.
Each Dissertation Examining Committee must also have appointed to it a representative of the Dean of the Graduate School. The Dean’s Representative should have some background or interest related to the student’s research; be from a department other than the students’; must have a tenure home that is different than the Chair of the Committee; and must be a tenured Member of the Graduate Faculty. Each member of the Committee must be a member of the Graduate Faculty of UMCP. Upon nomination by the Director of Graduate Studies and approval by the Dean of the Graduate School, individuals serve in addition to the three required Regular Members.
To nominate a Special or Associate Member to serve, submit the nominee’s curriculum vitae to the Graduate Office. Graduate Faculty who terminate employment at UMCP (and who do not have emeritus status) retain their status as members of the Graduate Faculty for twelve months, and during that time may serve as members and chairs of Dissertation Examining Committees, but not as the Dean’s Representative. If granted Special Member Status, however, they may serve as co-chairs. Professors Emeriti and Emeritae may serve on the Dissertation Examining Committees if they have retained their membership in the Graduate Faculty.
Once you have satisfactory defended your PROPOSAL , you will need to note and provide us with the following:
A pdf copy of your Proposal Paper send to megrad@umd.edu
A copy of the signature page of your dissertation proposal that includes the signatures of all your committee members.
Once you have satisfactorily presented your proposal and completed all of your coursework per your Plan of Study, you may move on to the next steps. A Plan of Study should have been completed before your 1st semester. If we do not have one on file for you or the one we have on file for is not accurate, you will not advance to candidacy until you submit a new Plan of Study.
- Complete the Application for Admission to Candidacy Form and include your advisors signature and the 899 section code you would like to be enrolled in. If you do not know your advisors section code, we can look it up for you upon request.
- Email the form to the ME Grad Office (megrad@umd.edu)
- We will forward the completed application to the Registrar once we submit the application to the DGS for review.
- Once the application is approved, you will be registered for 6 credits of 899 in your advisor’s designated section by Office of the Registrar each semester until you graduate. You cannot register for 899 credits yourself.
NOTE: If you are eligible for a M.S. without thesis (M.S. on the way), you will need to apply for an M.S. degree clearance. Keep in mind that you CANNOT receive two degrees in the same semester, so you need will need to reapply for your PhD degree clearance for a later semester. Additionally, you will need complete the M.S. approved program form .