This Manual contains information about

• The available graduate degree programs within the Department
• The admission requirements
• Requirements for completing the MS degrees in both EE and CpE
• Requirements for the Ph.D. degree

(including the procedures and various examinations required in completing each degree program, scheduling information)
• Sample course sets in all areas of the Department, types of financial support, and contact points for students and faculty are also provided.

ECE graduate students must obtain department-level approval on all requests that are submitted to the Virginia Tech Graduate School. Such requests include, but are not limited to: late requests to add or drop courses, force add course requests, requests for exemptions from ECE or University policies, change of grade options (A/F to audit or pass/fail or vice versa), or the addition of research hours to a student’s schedule. Exceptions to the rules, policies and procedures must be handled by completion and submittal of the ECE Petition Form to the ECE Graduate Advising Office.

Graduate policies and approval for programmatic and policy issues related to the graduate program rests within the ECE Graduate Advising Office, the ECE Assistantship Department Head for Graduate Education, and the ECE Graduate Committee. After securing departmental approval, requests will be forwarded to the appropriate person for final processing.

This procedure is consistent with that of the Graduate School and has been endorsed by Dean R. Avery, Senior Associate Dean of the Graduate School.

The Graduate School publishes a Graduate Catalog, providing the Graduate School requirements and regulations that apply to all graduate students. There are additional Departmental requirements which in some instances are more stringent than those of the Graduate School. Thus, the information in this Manual supplements, and in many cases supersedes, the information given in the Graduate Catalog. This Manual includes the Department rules and regulations that apply to ECE graduate students and assistants together with many of the most commonly encountered Graduate School regulations. Students should consult the Graduate Catalog and this manual when planning or revising their plans of study.

If there is any doubt regarding the interpretation of any regulation or requirement in this Manual, or if there are questions about the graduate program involving matters not covered in this Manual, please consult the ECE Graduate Counselor vt.ece.gradadv@vt.edu, (540) 231-8393. The most recent information is available on the Department's World Wide Web server at http://www.ece.vt.edu/graduate.html.