Policies and Procedures. Candidates for degrees must comply with the requirements of the university's Graduate School. To determine these, students should consult the Graduate School Policies and Procedures, a Manual for Graduate Students and Advisors (available at www.grad.buffalo.edu) for regulations governing the Ph.D., M.S., and M.Eng. degrees. Because individual departments may have additional requirements, students are advised to study the departmental Graduate Studies Manual for their department of interest and consult with their department when the requirements are not clear.
- Grade Point Average: Satisfactory progress requires a minimum GPA of 3.00 (a “B” average) for all courses taken for graduate credit that could be applicable toward the degree. Students are placed on probation if their GPA falls between 2.50 and 3.00 at the end of any grading period. Low grades are grounds for dismissal from the program.
- Continuous Registration: Students must maintain continuous registration until all degree requirements have been fulfilled. If such registration should be impossible, they must secure a leave of absence.
- Full-Time Status: Full-time status requires at least 12 hours of approved graduate courses or research credits (at least 9 hours for teaching and research assistants). When students reach a point in their program where they need fewer hours than the required minimum for completion of their degree, they should petition for full-time status at a lower number of hours.
- Graduate Credit for Undergraduate Courses: A maximum of two 400- level undergraduate courses may be applied to the entire master of science or doctoral program. The procedure requires a special petition submitted no later than the first week of class, which must be approved by the Graduate School. Retroactive approval will not be granted. 400 level undergraduate courses may not be applied to the M.Eng degree.
- Application to Candidacy: Application to Candidacy forms that define each student's program must be filed in duplicate with the graduate school. These forms should be submitted before a student completes 18 hours of Master's study or 60 hours of PhD work (including transfer credits). In any case, the application to candidacy should be submitted at least one semester before the degree is to be conferred. These forms are available from the Graduate School website.
- Trial Admission: Master's students admitted on a trial basis must demonstrate their ability to perform satisfactorily at the graduate level before being admitted to degree candidacy. The department will specify the conditions of the trial admission in a letter sent to the student.
- Coursework: The program usually consists of a minimum of 72 hours beyond the baccalaureate degree.
- Transfer Credit: A maximum of 30 transfer credit hours may be applied toward the Ph.D. In every case, only courses applicable to the particular engineering degree are acceptable. Only those graduate courses completed with a grade of “B” or better are eligible for transfer credit.
- Residency: The minimum residency requirement is the equivalent of two complete academic years of full-time study at UB. This includes two semesters of contiguous full-time study not already applied to the master's degree.
- Informal Courses: Excluding those credits applied toward the master's degree, a maximum of 6 credit hours of informal coursework may be applied toward the 72-credit hour requirement for the doctoral degree.
- Qualifying Examination: A graduate student is considered to be a candidate for the Ph.D. degree only upon successful completion of a departmental Ph.D. Qualifying Examination. An Application to Candidacy must be filed within one (1) year of successfully passing the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination.
- Advisory Committee: The advisory committee which oversees the dissertation of a graduate student, must be composed of a major professor and at least two additional UB faculty who are members of the graduate faculty.
- Dissertation: The dissertation should be an original contribution in the field as determined by the department. The SEAS requires that the dissertation be defended by the student. The maximum number of credit hours (out of 72) that can come from Master's thesis and Doctoral dissertation is 30 hours.
- Time Limit: The time limit for completion of the Ph.D. is seven years from the first registration date in the graduate program (at the master's or PhD level), excluding approved leaves of absence.
- Coursework: The program usually consists of a minimum of 30 hours beyond the baccalaureate degree. Some programs have additional credit-hour requirements.
- Transfer Credit: A maximum of 6 transfer credits of coursework may be applied toward the M.S. Only courses applicable to the particular engineering degree are acceptable. Only those graduate courses completed with a grade of “B” or better are eligible for transfer credit.
- Residency: There is a 24-credit-hour residency requirement.
- Informal Courses: A maximum of 6 credit hours of informal coursework may be applied toward the minimum 30-credit-hour requirement for the master's degree.
- Thesis, Project, or All-Course M.S.: A maximum of 6 credit hours (normally 3 to 6 hours) may be allocated for the M.S. thesis (plus at least 24 hours of coursework). When a student pursues the M.S. degree with project, a maximum of 3 credit hours (normally 1 to 3 hours) for project (plus at least 27 credit hours of coursework) may be applied. The all-course option requires a minimum of 30 credit hours of applicable coursework, culminating in a comprehensive exam. Not all departments allow the choice of an all-course or project M.S. option. Students should review the departmental Graduate Studies Manual for these requirements and options as they may vary from program to program.
- Time Limit: The time limit for completion of the M.S. is four years from the first registration date in the graduate program, excluding approved leaves of absence.
- Coursework: The program usually consists of a minimum of 30 credit hours, designed by the student and the department, which includes 24 to 27 credit hours in regular graduate-level courses and 3 to 6 credit hours in an engineering project.
- Graduate Credit for Undergraduate Courses: 400 level undergraduate courses may not be applied to the M.Eng degree.
- Transfer Credit: A maximum of 6 transfer credits of coursework may be applied toward the M.Eng. Only those graduate courses completed with a grade of “B” or better are eligible for transfer credit. Only courses applicable to the particular engineering degree are acceptable.
- Informal Courses: A maximum of 6 credit hours of informal coursework may be applied toward the minimum 30-credit-hour requirement for the master's degree.
- M.Eng. Project: A minimum of 3 and a maximum of 6 credit hours may be allocated for the project.
- Time Limit: The time limit for completion of the M.Eng. degree is four years from the first registration date in the graduate program, excluding approved leaves of absence.
- Grading policies: no S grades except for project, thesis, dissertation
- GPA based on all courses that could be applied to the degree.
Current UB Graduate School policy on repeating courses states “If a graduate student repeats a course that is normally not “repeatable” (“repeatable” courses include dissertation, research, thesis, project or portfolio guidance; independent study; directed readings, etc.), only the highest grade earned in the course will be counted toward the degree and used to calculate the grade point average associated with the graduate degree program requirements. However, the student’s official transcript will record all courses attempted (including repeated courses). All resulting grades earned are calculated in the GPA reflected on the student’s final official transcript.” UB Engineering places the additional stipulation that at most two such repeat attempts can be made for courses other than normally “repeatable” courses. This limit can be met in two different ways — by repeating the same course twice or by repeating two separate courses once each. In addition, there is a limit of four courses on which a student can receive an “R” grade.