In all cases the University of Mississippi Graduate School Catalog defines the specific requirements for a graduate degree. This outline attempts to summarize these requirements accurately, but in case of a conflict, the Graduate School Catalog is the final word, except in cases where Departmental requirements are known to be more demanding than Graduate School requirements (such as credit hours required for the Ph. D.). It is YOUR responsibility to make sure that you meet graduation requirements. The faculty will assist you in selecting courses, but they do not assume the responsibility of ensuring that you meet graduation requirements.

It is important that all graduate students understand that the course credit hour requirements outlined below are minimum requirements. Additional credit hours may be required by the Graduate Advisor, Research Advisor, Electrical Engineering Faculty, Electrical Engineering Department Chairman, or Thesis or Dissertation Committee. In general, extra credit hours will be required for students whose background in electromagnetics is insufficient or required to support specific research projects. However, it is the faculty's responsibility to maintain the quality of the graduate degrees conferred, and they may require course work beyond the minimum in order to meet that responsibility.

To receive a graduate degree with an emphasis in Electrical Engineering, a student must meet all three of the criteria given below:

1) Achieve a 3.0 or better GPA on all graduate courses attempted at the University of Mississippi. For courses which are repeated and which cover the same material, the Graduate School regulations apply.

2) Achieve a 3.0 or better GPA on all graduate courses with an ENGR or El E designation attempted at the University of Mississippi. For courses which are repeated and which cover the same material, only the most recent grade will be counted in determining the GPA. For courses which bear the same number but cover different material (for example, Special Topics), each grade received will be counted towards the GPA.

3) Achieve a 3.0 or better GPA on all graduate courses identified by the Electrical Engineering Department as "core courses" and attempted at the University of Mississippi. For courses which are repeated and which cover the same material, only the most recent grade will be counted in determining the GPA.

A minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate credit (500-level courses and above) is required. A minimum of 18 hours of formalized lecture courses is required. For students who elect the THESIS OPTION, 24 hours of course work is required in addition to a minimum of 6 semester hours of thesis credit (ENGR 697, Section 3). The THESIS OPTION is required for all students who accept graduate assistantships in the Electrical Engineering Department. For the NON-THESIS OPTION, 27 hours of course work is required in addition to a minimum of 3 semester hours from a design-oriented or research project course. At least one-half the candidate's graduate courses exclusive of thesis must be in courses to which only graduate students are admitted (600-level and above).

Every candidate for a Masters degree must pass a final oral examination administered by a committee appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School. Oral exams may not be administered before mid-term of

the semester in which the candidate is enrolled in the final courses which are required for graduation (excluding thesis credits). The oral exam may not be administered until the thesis has been submitted in

final form (except for changes the committee may require) to the examination committee and will not be scheduled during regular University examination periods or between semesters. Electrical Engineering Department guidelines require that the thesis (or research report for a non-thesis option) be submitted to the committee not later than 10 days prior to the oral examination.

There is no foreign language requirement for the Masters degree.

To receive a Ph.D. degree with an emphasis in Electrical Engineering, a student must complete a minimum of 12 semester hours of graded courses in a "minor" area (Math or Physics) and 36 semester hours of graded courses in the major area, for a total of 48 semester hours of graded course work. There must be exactly 2 hours of graded credit in Seminar used towards meeting the 36 hour requirement, and no more than 6 semester hours of Research Topics may be used toward meeting the 36 hour requirement. No more than 18 semester hours of credit toward meeting the 36 hour requirement will be awarded for courses completed at other institutions or for a Masters degree in an area of specialization other than Electrical Engineering; and no more than 24 semester hours of credit toward meeting the 48 hour (36+12) requirement will be awarded for courses completed at other institutions or for a Masters degree in an area of specialization other than Electrical Engineering.

A student's Dissertation Adviser and Dissertation Committee have the right to require courses in excess of the 48 hours described above, in cases where such courses are deemed necessary and advisable to support the candidate's dissertation research.

Doctoral students must take a qualifying exam after one semester of graduate study, and may not register for Dissertation credit (Engr. 797) until the qualifying exam has been attempted. The qualifying exam is based on material covered in Engr 621, Engr 623, and Engs 528 (Microwave Circuits, Electromagnetics, and Numerical Methods in Electromagnetics), and on core material included in every undergraduate electrical engineering curriculum. The qualifying exam, offered in January of each year, is a written exam and is administered in a single day.

The faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering will evaluate the qualifying exam and a student will receive one of the following ratings: Qualified, Qualified with Conditions, or Probationary Status:

Qualified. A student who receives the rating of Qualified may register for Dissertation credit. Further course work will be determined by the core curriculum and by the student's Dissertation Advisor or Dissertation Committee.

Qualified With Conditions. A student who receives the rating of Qualified with Conditions may be required to demonstrate competence in an area (or areas) of weakness by successfully completing special projects or reports, or by completing one or more courses. A student rated as Qualified with Conditions may register for no more than 3 hours of Dissertation Credit before successfully completing the conditions imposed. The faculty will judge when conditions have been successfully completed and notify the student that his or her status has been upgraded to "Qualified".

Probationary Status. A student who receives the rating of Probationary Status must attempt the Qualifying Exam again the following January, and may not register for Dissertation Credit. A student on Probationary Status who fails the Qualifying exam will be placed in non-degree status.

A Doctoral student must complete a comprehensive examination which includes written and oral parts at least one year prior to the time the student expects to receive a degree. The student's Dissertation Committee will make a decision whether or not to accept the Qualifying Exam as the written part of the comprehensive exam. If they judge that additional written material should be included as part of the Comprehensive Exam, this written test will be formulated and judged by the student's Dissertation Committee.

After passing the written part of the comprehensive exam, the oral part of the Comprehensive is attempted. The student must prepare a dissertation prospectus and defend it before his or her Dissertation Committee in a seminar-like format. The Dissertation Committee must unanimously approve the proposed work. This defense of the dissertation prospectus is part of, and may constitute all of, the oral comprehensive exam; but in the case that there is a question about a student's knowledge in one of the areas of the written exam, an oral examination on that area may be required by the faculty. During the oral examination, any faculty member may question the student about his or her knowledge of areas necessary for completion of the dissertation, and the dissertation committee may require additional preparation after the oral Comprehensive exam.

If a student does not receive the Ph.D. degree within five years of passing the Comprehensive Exam, the Graduate School requires that the Comprehensive Exam be repeated. The Department of Electrical Engineering interprets this requirement as follows. In the semester of the fifth calendar year following successful completion of the Comprehensive Exam (written and oral parts), a student must either graduate or repeat the presentation of the prospectus, which must be unanimously approved by the student's dissertation committee. The dissertation committee may be the same or may be different that the previous committee. The prospectus presented may be the same or may be different than that presented five years earlier, but if it is the same, then the student must review work published in the last five years that impact the proposed dissertation. The faculty may question the student to assess his or her competency to perform the proposed work; and as a result of this questioning may require the student to take a subsequent written Comprehensive Exam, take specific courses, or other remedies deemed appropriate by the faculty. Successful presentation and adoption of the prospectus and completion of any other requirements grants the student another five years to graduate before another prospectus must be adopted.

When the dissertation has been completed, the final oral exam procedure is similar to that outlined for the Masters degree, except that the dissertation committee should have three weeks to review the dissertation prior to the final oral exam.