Electrical and Computer Engineering, M.S.

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The Master of Science program in Electrical and Computer Engineering (MSECE) consists of a minimum of 31 credit hours beyond the baccalaureate degree.

In addition, students are required to maintain acceptable performance; all master’s course work must be completed with a minimum GPA of 3.0. A student receiving one “C’ in the course work will be warned that his/her performance is unacceptable and that the student will be reviewed by ECE faculty, which will also suggest corrective. A student receiving two “C’s” will be dismissed from the program, pending review by the ECE faculty.

Students enrolled in non-thesis option are required to do a graduate project supervised bu an ECE faculty member. The student’s plan of study must be developed in conjuction with his/her thesis/project advisor or Graduate coordinator and filled with the Graduate Coordinator.

Admission Requirements

In addition to the UALR Graduate School admission requirements, the applicants for the M.S. program in Electrical and Computer Engineering must also meet the following criteria:

Education: Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree in engineering, technology, science or related discipline. The applicants must have an overall undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or 3.3 on the last 60 credit hours.

Standardized test scores: Applicants must have a minimum score on the GRE test: a score of 140 on the Verbal Reasoning section, a score of 155 on the Quantitative Reasoning section, and a score of 3.5 in the Analytical Writing section. The GRE requirement will be waived if the student’s GPA is 3.5 or higher.

English language requirement: International students must satisfy the Graduate School TOEFL or IELTS tests requirements.

Applicants who do not meet all the admission requirements may be recommended for conditional admission. Conditionally admitted students must fulfill the requirements of the UALR Graduate School and those specified in their letter of admission to achieve regular admission.

Early Admission Requirements

Undergraduate students may apply and be accepted provisionally into the MS program any time after completing 75 or more hours of undergraduate course work. However, at least 90 hours of undergraduate coursework must have been completed by the time the first graduate Electrical and Computer Engineering course is taken.

Students must satisfy the minimum university requirements for admission to an early graduate program.
Students must be majoring in the BS in Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering
Students must have completed 40 hours of ECE Courses with a GPA of 3.3 in those courses
Students must be recommended for admission by the Electrical and Computer Engineering faculty

Transfer Credit

A maximum of six hours can be transferred from a graduate program from another university with a graduate coordinator’s approval.

Program Requirements

Core Courses

Student is required to take 24 hours of graduate level courses (27 hours of Non-thesis option) subject to the following restrictions.

At least 15 hours must be taken in fields associated with electrical and computer engineering
Up to 9 hours can be taken from graduate programs in the following STEM areas: Physics, Mathematics, Computer and Information Sciences
Up to 6 hours can be taken from graduate courses in management sciences
Students enrolled in early entry Masters can count up to 12 hours of graduate course work taken as part of Bachelors in Engineering and Computer Engineering degree curriculum

Electives

Students who have been admitted to the early entry graduate program in the MS in Systems Engineering may use 12 hours from the following courses as electives toward BS in Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering. The same courses can then be used as electives toward MS on Systems Engineering.

Research Methodology/Ethics

This will take 1 Credit hour and students can select either of the following.

SYEN 7101 - Research Methodology
SYEN 7112 - Research Ethics

Master’s Thesis

This will cover 6 credit hours.

Graduate Project

This will cover 3 credit hours.

SYEN 7385 - Systems Engineering Graduate Project

Master’s Thesis/Project Advisor

The advisor is the faculty member who supervises the student’s thesis work or project. Any faculty member appointed in the Systems Engineering department may serve as the advisor. Faculty members outside the Systems Engineering department may serve as advisor with approval of Systems Engineering Faculty. A studnet amitted to the master’s program should declare an advisor before he/she enrolls in thesis or graudate project courses.

Master’s Thesis/Project Committee

The Master’s Thesis Committee or Master’s Project Committee can be constituted once the student has declared his/her Master’s Thesis/Project Advisor. The committee will include a minimum of three members and a maximum of four members. At least two members have to be Systems Engineering faculty.

Thesis/Project Proposal Defense

Students choosing the thesis option must present their research proposal to their Master’s Thesis Committee one semester prior to their final thesis defense. Students choosing the non-thesis option must present their project proposal to their Master’s Project Committee before their final project defense. At the completion of the examination, the Master’s Thesis or Project Committee will vote to either pass or fail the student. Students who fail the proposal defense will have to repeat the defense. If the student fails the proposal defense for a second time, he/she will be dismissed from the program, pending review by the Systems Engineering Faculty.

Thesis/Project Defense

Students choosing the thesis option will prepare and successfully define a written thesis in accordance with the format and procedures dictated by the Graduate School. Students choosing the non-thesis option will prepare a final project report according to the requirements defined by their Master’s Project Committee. Students must orally defend their completed thesis research or project work to their Master’s Thesis or Project Committee. At the completion of the examination, the Master’s Thesis or Project Committee will vote to either pass or fail the student. If two or more negative votes are cast by the committee members, the student is considered to have failed the exam and will be dismissed from the program, pending review by the Systems Engineering Faculty.

Graduation Requirements

Pass thesis proposal defense / project proposal defense.
Pass thesis final defense / project final defense.