Advising Prerequisite Information
This page provides advising information about the MEM degree. It should be noted that the U recently created a SIME prefix for Systems, Industrial and Management Engineering. During a transition period, courses are listed with both the ME EN and SIME prefixes. The courses are identical in content, learning, grading and ability to satisfy the MEM degree requirements.
Transfer Coursework
At most 6 hours of courses from another institution can be transferred in to fulfill the requirements, but these credits cannot have been used to satisfy the degree requirements from the other institution. These classes will most likely be transferred as either engineering electives or electives.
Students occasionally ask about graduate courses taken over 7 years ago. The knowledge from past graduate classes is valuable; however, the directors believe that the majority of the details have been forgotten. It is also believed that the student could relearn the material reasonably fast. The program's general policy is to count approximately 50% of the transfer credit from courses that are over 7 years old. Again these courses could not have been used to satisfy another degree. Please email the director if you wish to use classes over 7 years old toward your MSSE.
Nonmatriculated Coursework
A total of 15 hours of nonmatriculated course work can be applied toward either the MSSE or MEM degrees. All nonmatriculated courses must have been taken within 3 years of being admitted to the relevant graduate degree. Please note, that any transferred courses also count toward the 15 hour limit. So a student transferring 6 hours can only apply 9 hours of nonmatriculated courses toward their MEM or MSSE degree.
Obtaining Credit for Nonmatriculated and Transfer Coursework
Nonmatriculated and transfer coursework are not automatically applied to the MSSE. Once a student is admitted A total of 15 hours of nonmatriculated course work can be applied toward either the MSSE. If you wish to receive credit for your nonmatriculated or transfer credit, fill out the linked form.
Program of Study
The Program of Study is the listing of courses that the student will take to earn their MSSE. This form should be completed prior to completing 15 hours or the student may end up needing to take more than 30 hours to complete the MSSE degree requirements. More information on the Program of Study is in the MEM Curriculum page. Once the Program of Study is completed and approved, that becomes the degree requirements for that particular student. The student should follow their Program of Study, unless a Change of Program of Study form has been completed.
Prerequisites
The majority of the ME EN or SIME courses supporting the MEM degree have the generic prerequisites of admission to the MEM, which is
- One year of calculus
- One semester of statistics
- It is highly encouraged that students have had at least one computer programming course.
If a student is taking courses from a different department, then the student should check the prerequisite information for that class to make sure that the student has the necessary background to succeed.
Mastering the Prerequisite Material
Many students in the MEM program have not taken a college course in years. It is expected that much of the prerequisite knowledge existed, but the majority of students have forgotten or are rusty in their knowledge.
The following advising notes provide classes where students can gain sufficient mastery of the prerequisite material for the MEM. These graduate classes can also be used to fulfill the MEM core course requirements.
- Individuals meeting the statistics requirement but feeling weak in their statistical knowledge should take either SIME 6060 (ME EN 6183) or SIME 6000 (ME EN 6185) early in their coursework.
- Individuals that have no computer coding experience or feel weak in this area should take SIME 6000 (ME EN 6185) early in their coursework.
- Any relevant calculus topics will be covered, when necessary, in their respective courses.
Course Section Numbers
The U uses standard section numbers for enrollment. These sections differ by on-campus and online, and also whether or not a student is enrolled in a graduate program or is a nonmatriculated student. While registering for courses, online students should not use the U's scheduler tools. Online courses are offered without times, and these courses may never show in the scheduling tools. Online students should search for the desired course name/number and make sure that they enroll in the correct section.
- On-campus students wishing to attend the lectures of a course should enroll in the 001-010 sections
- On-campus students wishing to enroll in a course that is offered online should enroll in the 090 sections (never have an in class lecture or activity). Many on-campus courses do not offer these sections. There is also no guarantee that a student could earn a degree using only 090 sections. Furthermore, 090 sections are not scheduled with the same regularity as the other sections on this list. See the current semester's on-campus schedule for existing 090 sections.
- Online students admitted to an online degree program or as a nonmatriculated student (Bachelors, Masters, or Ph.D.) should enroll in the 290 sections of courses.
- If your company has created a contract for online education, then the section is 030-039.
Certificates
The MEM has 12 hours of general electives (6 must be in the Price College of Engineering). As such, many students also earn a graduate certificate along with their MEM degree. Common graduate certificates include: Systems Engineering, Data Science, and Engineering Entrepreneurship. Students seeking a certificate should carefully choose their electives so they earn the certificate without taking more than 30 hours.
Typical Part-time or Online Schedules for the MEM
There are no prerequisites, students can start any semester. Many of the core requirements require that the student take one course from a list of three or four. Thus, there are a variety of ways to complete the core requirements. The following schedule is just a sample, but there are numerous other paths to graduation. The Program of Study, which must be approved, becomes that student's required courses for the MEM degree. See MEM curriculum page for more details about the Program of Study.
A full time student is 9 hours (3 classes). However, some people wish to finish in a single year. Each semester lists 4 classes. Students should generally take the top classes each semester. So if a part-time student only wishes to take one or two classes a semseter, then the student should enroll in the top one or two courses. All courses listed in this schedule are available on-campus and online.
| Typical Course Schedules | |
|---|---|
| Fall | SIME 6500 |
| SIME 6060 | |
| SIME 6400 | |
| Engineering Elective (SIME 6000 if lacking computer coding) | |
| Spring | SIME 6530 |
| SIME 6050 | |
| Eng. Elective | |
| Elective | |
| Summer | SIME 6560 |
| Elective | |
| Graduating Semester | Capstone Experience |