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DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

Graduate Degree Requirements: Geological Engineering

Graduate Degree Requirements: Civil and Environmental
Engineering

Graduate Degree Requirements: Civil and Environmental

Engineering ____

:: MS Curriculum

These guidelines have been prepared to assist graduate students

working toward the MS degree specializing in Geoengineering that
is administered by the Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering. These guidelines should aid the student in following
the proper procedures and satisfying all degree requirements.
Students with additional questions should seek the assistance of
their advisor.

Regulations

The Graduate School at UW-Madison establishes the basic

requirements for the MSCEE degree. These requirements are
described in detail in the Graduate School Catalog. The faculty of
the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the
Geoengineering program have adopted certain additional
requirements, which are described in these guidelines.

Each graduate student is responsible for seeing that all

requirements are met prior to the dates specified by the graduate
school. If special decisions or actions are needed, they should be
initiated by the student through consultation with their advisor.

Program Information

1. Admission

Admission to the graduate school is granted to those students

who show promise and provide sufficient evidence that they can
meet the scholastic requirements of study at an advanced level.
To be granted admission with full standing to the geoengineering
program leading to the MS degree, an applicant would normally
hold a degree that represents the equivalent of the BS in the
University's undergraduate civil engineering program. However,
students in other branches of engineering, physical science, or

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related fields may have achieved the technical background needed

to pursue advanced work in geoengineering. Such students are
encouraged to apply because civil engineers with interdisciplinary
training can provide vital contributions to the solution of complex
problems. Either admission with deficiencies or admission on
probation may be granted to students not meeting these
requirements. Students are referred to the graduate school
BULLETIN for details concerning these types of admission. A
student may be required to satisfy undergraduate course
deficiencies without graduate credit.

2. Study Objectives

The goal of the MS is to prepare engineers for advanced practice

in geoengineering as well as for advanced studies in a well-
defined area of specialization. Each student will be expected to
engage in a study program in which the level of analytic skills
developed substantially exceeds that currently required by
students receiving BSCEE degrees from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison.

3. Advising and Supervision

Advisors are designated at the beginning of the first semester for

which a graduate student is enrolled. During the first week of the
semester, a meeting is held with all new graduate students and
the faculty. The purpose of this meeting is to introduce the
students and faculty, and to provide information about thesis
topics in each professor's area of interest. Students then select
three potential research topics for consideration by the faculty.
The faculty then match students with advisors while trying to
honor each student's top choice for a thesis topic.

4. General Requirements and Policies

Credit Hour Requirements

Program A - Thesis - A minimum of 24 credit hours is required for

graduation. Usually 5-6 credits of Thesis (CEE 790) and 18-19
credits of formal coursework are used to satisfy this requirement.
Under special circumstances 16 credits may be taken in formal
coursework with the remaining credits in CEE 790-Thesis.

Program B - Advanced Independent Study - A minimum of thirty

credit hours is required for graduation. Usually 3 credits of
Research (CEE 790) and 27 credits of formal coursework are used
to satisfy this requirement. Under special circumstances, 25-26
credits may be taken in formal coursework with the remaining
credits in CEE 790-Research.

Required Courses

The following courses are required to satisfy the geoengineering

coursework requirement:

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a. Two of the following five courses: CEE 530, CEE 531, CEE 532,
CEE 633, CEE 534, CEE 635, GLE 594

b. CEE 730

c. CEE 939 each Spring Semester.

Thirteen (13) credits of coursework in geoengineering must be

completed with a course grade of B (3.0) or better. This
requirement applies to each course and not an average of all
courses. Courses generally considered to be in the geoengineering
area are listed on the attached sheet.

All of the formal coursework (300 level or above) must be

completed with an average grade point of 3.0 or better. This
requirement is more stringent than the Graduate School requires
in that the average grade point will not include the credits for CEE
790. The Graduate School does include these courses in their
grade point averaging.

Final Exam

Students must pass a comprehensive examination at the

conclusion of the MS program. The examination may cover both
coursework and thesis or independent study activities. Students
should be prepared to make an oral presentation about their
thesis or advanced independent study project for approximately
30 minutes. The examining committee is recommended by the
advisor and is normally composed of three professors.

Students should contact their advisor one month prior to the

intended examination date to compose the committee and
schedule the examination. The thesis or advanced independent
study report must be preparing following the format used in the
geoengineering program and the rules of the Graduate School.
The thesis must be submitted to the committee at least seven
days before the examination. Students should contact Ms. Lynn
Maertz of the Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering to
apply for an examination warrant at least three weeks prior to the
examination.

The final thesis or independent study report should be bound

using the method required by the Graduate School. One bound
copy is to be submitted to the student's advisor and another to
Memorial Library. An unbound copy of the thesis must also be
submitted to the advisor. To graduate at the end of a semester,
the Graduate School has additional deadlines that must be met.
Information on these deadlines may be obtained from the
Graduate School website at www.wisc.edu/grad. Additional time
should be allowed between the examination and these deadlines
for any revision of the thesis or advanced independent study
report that the committee may require

Courses in Geoengineering

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CEE/GLE 330 Soil Mechanics

CEE 412 Groundwater Hydraulics
CEE/GLE 431 Automated Laboratory and Field Measurements
CEE 427 Solid and Hazardous Waste Engineering
CEE 522 Hazardous Waste Management
CEE/GLE 530 Seepage and Slopes
CEE/GLE 531 Retaining Structures
CEE/GLE 532 Foundations
CEE/GLE 534 Field Methods in Geological Engineering
CEE/GLE 632 Soil Physics Laboratory
CEE/GLE 633 Waste Geotechnics
CEE/GLE 635 Remediation Geotechnics
CEE/GLE 637 Practicum in Geoengineering
CEE/GLE 730 Engineering Properties of Soils
CEE/GLE 731 Engineering Properties of Geosynthetics
CEE/GLE 732 Unsaturated Soil Geoengineering
CEE/GLE 733 Physicochemical Basis of Soil Behavior
CEE/GLE 735 Soil Dynamics
CEE 736 Uncertainty in the Geological Environment
CEE 939 Geoengineering Seminar
GLE 462 Geologic Hazards
GLE 474 Rock Mechanics
GLE 475 Rock Mechanics Applications to Environmental Problems
GLE 577 Tunneling
GLE 594 Applied Geophysics
GLE/Geol 627 Hydrogeology
GLE/Geol 629 Contaminant Hydrogeology
GLE 705 Advanced Rock Mechanics
Geol 320 Geomorphology
Geol 420 Glacial and Pleistocene Geology
Geol 590 Geophysics I
Geol 592 Geophysics II
Geol 724 Groundwater Flow Modeling
Geol 727 Advanced Hydrogeology
Geol 729 Field Applications in Hydrogeology
Geol 791 Geophysical Field and Interpretation Methods
Soil Sci 621 Soil Chemistry
Soil Sci 622 Soil Physics

:: PhD Curriculum

Admission to Program

Students wishing to be admitted to the Geo Engineering Graduate

Program in Civil and Environmental Engineering must satisfy the
admission requirements of the UW Graduate School and the UW
College of Engineering. Geo Engineering doctoral students must
also have an undergraduate-level of expertise in several, but not
all of the areas of study associated with an undergraduate degree
in Civil and Environmental Engineering or in Geological
Engineering. In addition, all students must have mathematics
through differential equations, at least one chemistry course, at
least one calculus-based physics course, and a statistics course.
Students who are deficient in these areas of study may be
admitted with deficiencies and will be required to take one or

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more courses to remedy the deficiencies.

PhD Advisor and Committee

After a student enters the Geo Engineering Graduate Program,

they meet with the faculty and then choose an advisor in their
area of interest. The student and advisor then form a PhD
Committee. The purpose of this committee is:

(i) to determine if any deficiencies exist in the student's

undergraduate background that must be rectified,

(ii) to establish course requirements and to determine if these

requirements have been satisfactorily met,

(iii) to ensure that the student's course of study has appropriate

depth and breadth, and

(iv) to participate in qualifying, preliminary, and dissertation

exams.

The Committee generally is comprised of three members during

the first year of study and is augmented with at least two more
members thereafter. At least one member of the committee must
be from outside Civil and Environmental Engineering by the time
the preliminary exam is taken.

Curriculum

There is no specific course sequence required for the Doctor of

Philosophy degree in Geo Engineering. Rather, specific courses
that are especially pertinent to a student's area of interest may be
recommended or required by the student's PhD Committee.

Specific Requirements

The following must be satisfied to obtain the PhD in Geo

Engineering:

(i) All of the general regulations of the Graduate School, including

the residency requirement and minor subject requirement.

(ii) The candidate must maintain a grade point average of 3.00

(on 4.00 scale) or higher in all graduate work. Credits for a course
in which the student receives a grade of less than B cannot be
applied towards the degree requirements unless specifically
approved by the student's PhD committee.

(iii) At least 72 graduate credits beyond the Bachelor's Degree

must be completed (for students who have earned a Masters
Degree, credits accumulated for the MS can be applied towards
this requirement). These credits will consist of formal course work
(following the guidelines established by the student's PhD

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Committee), independent study, minor subject study, and

dissertation credits.

(iv) A minor is required to give breadth to the PhD and to provide

expertise in an area outside the major field of study. The minor
consists of 10 units of course work outside the major, and can
either be concentrated in one department (Option A), or
distributed across two or more departments (Option B). In the
case of Option A, the minor must be approved by the department
in which the courses are taken. Option B minors are approved by
the Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

(v) PhD students must enroll in the Geo Engineering Seminar

(CEE 939) each spring until reaching dissertator status. In the
event of extenuating circumstances, students may petition for a
waiver of this requirement.

(vi) PhD students must complete and successfully defend a

dissertation.

PhD Exams

All PhD students must successfully pass three exams: the

qualifying exam, the preliminary exam, and the dissertation
defense. The qualifying exam is taken after the first year of study,
and is a one-day written exam. The preliminary exam and the
dissertation defense are oral exams that are scheduled in
consultation with the student's PhD committee.

Foreign Language and Liberal Studies

There is no foreign language requirement or liberal studies

requirement.

Copyright 2004 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Date last modified: February 3, 2005
Content by: benson@engr.wisc.edu

http://geotech.engr.wisc.edu/degrees_cee.htm 12/22/2009