Undergraduate Handbook - Graduation Information

UT allows a student to graduate under the curriculum of any catalog in force during the student's attendance, provided the chosen curriculum has been in effect within six years of graduation. However, the University does not obligate itself to offer the courses that may be required. In the ECE Department the course offering and content are under almost continual review and you would be well advised to graduate under one of the more recent curricula.

tudents entering the BSEE and BSCpE Program are expected to strive for excellence in all courses as they work toward their degree. They must have an average GPA of 2.0 for all their courses taken at UTK, and must have earned at least a “C” grade in all their required ECE, mathematics and computer science courses. These are minimum requirements. Students are encouraged to strive for a higher GPA than this in order to enhance their career opportunities and individual satisfaction following graduation.

Furthermore, the ECE department has instituted a progression requirement such that progression of ECE undergraduate majors to the upper division program of the department is competitive and is based on space available in the department. Factors considered in this decision include overall GPA, grades earned in ECE and COE courses, and seriousness of purpose and interest in department programs as exemplified by regular and orderly progress through the prescribed curriculum without abuse of withdrawal and course repeat privileges.

By the time you begin your junior year you should have a plan of all the courses you intend to take before graduating and the semesters in which you plan to take them. This will probably be fairly vague to begin with, but a little planning at this point in your school career may save a great deal of frustration later. The plan will necessarily be tentative until you know what courses are offered in any particular semester. Ms. Becky Powell or the principal secretary gives you a good clue as to what might happen when she puts the anticipated course offering for the next semester in the Timetable of Classes for the current semester. In addition, the department will, as far as possible, offer in the summer term many courses required in the sophomore and junior years, subject to an enrollment sufficient to justify the offering. In general, senior level courses will not be offered in the summer. If you are a Co-op student, you should pay special attention to the scheduling and sequence of course offerings. There may be scheduling problems due to limited summer offerings. You should plan to begin senior classes in the Fall Semester.

s you complete your junior year, it may be a good idea to make sure that you agree with the official University records regarding the courses you have taken to satisfy the requirements of the BSEE or BSCpE degree. Students should apply to graduate one year in advance of the term they plan to graduate (80-90 hours completed) by the deadline published each semester in the timetable classes. Application for Graduation can be obtained from room 209, Student Services Building. This application constitutes a declaration that you wish to graduate at that point. The records office will finally check your records to see that you have completed all requirements. You may also wish to run a DARS to verify you have met all the graduation requirements.

ECE juniors and seniors are strongly encouraged to request a DARS to determine if they are on track to graduate. DARS are available from Mrs. Judy Evans in FH-414. If the DARS does show a deficiency, you are encouraged to meet with your advisor to correct these problems.

The moment you graduate, you become a member of that select group who are the graduates of the ECE Department. You will be one of some 5,000 alumni who are distributed widely in 48 states including Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Texas.

You will find that your education has only just begun when you leave UT, and you will discover it is necessary to continue your education throughout your career in engineering. What you carry away from UT will be a good foundation for further study, whether it is back here on familiar ground or at another institution. Your company may choose to send you to short courses and technical seminars, or you may decide to pursue a graduate degree. This can be done on a part-time or a full-time basis. Whatever you decide, you will more than likely need academic references. Therefore, be sure to take with you the names, addresses, and the approvals of professors here who know your work well enough to write a strong recommendation for you.

If you have been a student member of IEEE, you will be elevated automatically to the grade of full member upon graduation. Fortunately, you will be able to enjoy a sliding fee scale over the next four years as the membership dues rise in increments from the student grade rate to the full member grade rate. This will be a welcome relief to your financial state. Like the alumni you will meet after leaving UT, the IEEE can provide a vital network of professional contacts on which to draw as your career unfolds.

We encourage you to let us know where you are by periodically updating your address records. The easiest way to do this is to write to the Alumni Office, Tyson Alumni House, 1609 Melrose, Knoxville, TN 37996. In this manner, we will be able to keep you informed of important news in the Department.

Once you have graduated and are practicing as an electrical engineer or computer engineer, your success will be determined by how you use your education and communication skills. You will be expected to demonstrate an entry-level understanding of engineering and computer engineering fundamentals. Therefore, your goal as an undergraduate should be more than achieving a high GPA, although this is a worthwhile goal. Your goal should be to develop a fundamental understanding of the physical laws and their practical application to solving real problems. Any course or project in which you have the opportunity to participate while at UT can help you in this regard. You should take advantage of opportunities that come your way. Rather than barely satisfying the minimum requirements in a course and being satisfied with a minimum understanding of a subject, you should strive for excellence. Do not feel that once a course is passed you have overcome a hurdle and can forget the course material. Courses represent divisions of material according to how a particular department and the University as a whole have divided the knowledge of a subject area into blocks, which fit conveniently into a semester calendar. All the knowledge you acquire will likely be useful as your career expands. A suggestion: you will find that your engineering and computer engineering textbooks can be useful tools for reference after graduation.

Your primary job as an electrical engineer or computer engineer will be to deal successfully with the application of physical laws. You will also need to communicate your work to other people if it is to be of any significant use. You should therefore seek to build good communication skills along with your technical skills. Furthermore, as the volume of electrical and computer engineering knowledge continues to increase, so must you continue to learn in order to stay abreast in your field. Staying current requires self-motivation and the ability to learn on your own. Perhaps enrolling in occasional short courses will be appropriate. Thus, another skill you should seek to build in school is effective self-study.

In the current job market there are many opportunities. You must learn about them and choose according to your preferences. To be in a good position to do this you must keep yourself well informed. Good ways to do so are to read professional publications, to become involved in professional societies, and to talk to faculty and other engineers about the profession. Seasoned electrical engineers and computer engineers can attest to the joy that can be derived from being paid reasonably well for doing interesting and creative work. The opportunities for personal growth and for making lasting contributions to society will hopefully enrich you as an individual. There are further pleasures to be found in developing friendships with professional people who, like you, will be striving for excellence through lifelong learning. It is the Department's wish that you will find joy and satisfaction in your electrical and computer engineering career.