General Advising
- Advising for graduate students are handled by CECS faculty members due to the in-depth knowledge needed to customize your program and electives to match your research interest(s).
- Non-thesis students are typically advised by their Graduate Program Director (https://grad.cecs.ucf.edu/academic-programs/departments-and-key-contacts/), except for CECE students.
- CECS Graduate students take courses in the Summer C Session, beginning in May and ending in August.
- Registering for Thesis Credits (XXX 6971) for the first time
- Must complete in order:
- A Thesis Program of Study must be approved by the College of Graduate Studies.
- A Committee Formation must be approved by the College of Graduate Studies.
- Submit a UCF CECS Registration Agreement.
- These must be completed by the established deadline listed on the UCF Academic Calendar and Reposted on our website (https://grad.cecs.ucf.edu/for-students/upcoming-cecs-deadlines/). These are university deadlines and cannot be waived by the CECS Graduate Affairs Office.
- Must complete in order:
- Registering for Dissertation Credits (XXX 7980) for the first time
- Must complete in order:
- An updated Program of Study must be approved by the College of Graduate Studies.
- A Committee Formation must be approved by the College of Graduate Studies.
- Submit a UCF CECS Registration Agreement.
- These must be completed by the established deadline listed on the UCF Academic Calendar and Reposted on our website (https://grad.cecs.ucf.edu/for-students/upcoming-cecs-deadlines/). These are university deadlines and cannot be waived by the CECS Graduate Affairs Office.
- Must complete in order:
6000/7000 – Level Courses
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- Half of all credit hours must be at the 6000 or 7000 level to graduate.
- For MS programs this is 15 credit hours.
- For PhD programs this is 36 credit hours.
Transfer Work
- Officially transferred with official transcripts and by listing them on your Program of Study.
- Must be formal course work.
- Must be a B- or better (unless stipulated as a B or better).
- No more than half of your total program can be transfer work.
- Internal Transfer Work – course work completed at UCF:
- Limited to 15 hours completed in another or Non-Degree program graduate program at UCF.
- Limited to 9 hours completed as an undergraduate student at UCF, unless you were part of the BS to MS Program.
- External Transfer Work – course work NOT completed at UCF:
- Limited to 9 hours
Active Student Policy
- Students can miss 2 consecutive semesters without being administratively discontinued from their program.
- If you plan on missing more than 2 semesters, you will need to submit a Special Leave of Absence request.
- If do you not submit the Special Leave of Absence and are administratively discontinued from the program, you will have to reapply for admission.
- The associated university policy is available here.
Satisfactory Progress
- All course work should be a B or better for use. However, after admitted, you can earn two C graded courses and remain eligible for graduation provided that your Graduate Status and Overall GPAs are a 3.000. Your C graded course work cannot be transfer course work.
- Graduate Status GPA – all graduate courses completed since admitted into your graduate program. Classes cannot be removed from this calculation. This GPA must be a 3.000 or better for satisfactory progress and eventual graduation.
- Overall Program of Study GPA – all graduate courses used toward your degree program. Classes may be removed from this GPA. This GPA must be a 3.000 or better for satisfactory progress and eventual graduation.
- If you earn a 2.999 Graduate Status GPA, you have an additional 18 hours to increase your GPA to a 3.000 or you will be dismissed from your graduate program. You must create a Probation Plan with your Graduate Program Director.
- If dismissed, you must either sit out for a calendar year and then reapply to the same program or be accepted to another graduate program.
College of Engineering and Computer Science – Policy on Dissertation/Thesis Defenses
The dissertation/thesis defense must be open to the public and announced two weeks prior to the date of the defense. You can submit your notice to www.grad.cecs.ucf.edu/graddefense.
Virtual dissertation/thesis defenses (off-campus defenses) are permitted. When entering your defense information, please enter your building as “Virtual” and the room area should be your Zoom link. Face-to-Face defenses are still an option for students and their committees.
Requests to deviate from the above policies due to extenuating circumstances will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Formal requests for exceptions (especially if the two-week lead time for the announcement was missed) should be sent by the student’s advisor to Dr. Ali Gordon at ali@ucf.edu.