Home Directory Contact News
     University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign logoIESE Logo
Undergraduate Program
Graduate Program
Admissions
News
Faculty & Research
Alumni & Friends
About IESE
Calendar
Seminars

Undergraduate: Advising

Early Enrollment (Banner System)

Frequently Asked Questions / Useful Links


Many of the topics below are addressed in more detail in Web and departmental documents as noted.

1.
Campus General Education Requirements for all Students
2.
General Education Requirements
3.
College Social-Science and Humanities Requirement
4.
Practical Reality-Simultaneously Satisfying Campus Gen-Ed and College SSH Requirements
5.
Secondary Fields of Concentration
6.
UI Integrate Restrictions Applying to Undergraduate Students
7.
College and Department Course-Drop Restrictions
8.
Free Elective Restrictions
9.
Credit/No-Credit Grading Options
10.
Dean's List Eligibility
11.
Math 385-Differential Equations
12.
Guide to the College of Engineering
13.
Degree Audit Report (DARS)
14.
Curricula Distinction
15.
Design Electives
16.
Engineering Science Electives
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
Classes Conflicting with Senior Project Design (GE 494 or IE 470)?
23.
Part-Time Enrollment Status Rule
 


1. Campus General Education Requirements For All Students

All students are subject to three requirements:

Natural Sciences and Technology and Quantitative Reasoning - satisfied by taking the Chemistry, Physics, and Calculus courses required in Engineering. All courses must be taken for letter grade.

Composition I - satisfied by taking one of the following:

          RHET 101 and 102                        
          RHET 105
          RHET 103 and 104 
          RHET 108
          SPCM 111 and 112                   
          ESL 114 and 115          

Advanced Composition (formerly termed Composition II) - GE's satisfy by taking GE 400. IE's statisfy by taking IE 470.

to top


2. General Education Requirements

All students are subject to College of Engineering Social-Science & Humanities (SSH) requirements (cf. Item 3). The scorecard:

  • Fall 1995 (& later) Beginning Freshmen - Campus Social & Behavioral Sciences (SBS), Campus Humanities & the Arts (HA), Campus Cultural Studies (SC), College Social-Science & Humanities (SSH)

A synopsis of the Gen-ED Social & Behavioral Sciences, Humanities & the Arts, and Cultural Studies requirements is:

  • Social & Behavioral Sciences - 6 hrs from approved list (cf. Item 4)
  • Humanities & the Arts - 6 hrs from approved list
  • Cultural Studies - one course from approved lists for (i) Western and (ii) Non-Western or U.S. Minority

All these courses must be taken for letter grade.

to top


3. College Social-Science and Humanities Requirement

Eighteen hours of humanities and social sciences are required by the College of Engineering. At least 6 hours of humanities courses, and at least 6 hours of social sciences courses, must be taken for letter grade. The remaining 6 hours may (i) be taken for credit/no-credit and/or (ii) include foreign language credit.

to top


4. Practical Reality- Simultaneously Satisfying Campus Gen-Ed (item 2) and College SSH (item 3) Requirements

Simply put, students satisfying both six-hour requirements of Campus Social/Behavioral Sciences and Humanities/Arts requirements will in almost every case also satisfy the College Humanities and Social-science requirements, providing the courses are taken for letter grade.

to top


5. Secondary Fields of Concentration

The most recent listing of GE Secondary Fields of Concentration and courses OK'd for use in Preapproved Secondary Fields of Concentration is HERE. Students must now declare their Secondary Field of Concentration choice via the Course Planning Consultant (CPC). The categories are and how they typically appear on the College Grad Check Sheet, etc:

Secondary Field of Concentration (SFC) Option Categories Examples
Option 1 - Undecided [1-undecided]
Option 2 - Preapproved SFC with no course changes [2-Automotive Eng]
Option 3 - Preapproved SFC with petitioned course changes [3-Control Sys]
Option 4 - Petitioned Custom SFC from existing list [4-Finance]
Option 5 - Petitioned Custom SFC not from existing list [5-Modeling]

An additional "Option 0 - Undetermined/Student Plan/SecFieldName" appears on College Grad Check Sheets if no CPC declaration has been made. If a Secondary Field of Concentration name shows, it is a guess based on elective courses taken (and is frequently wrong!)

GE students who wish to submit a petition in connection with Options 3-5 should obtain one in 209 Trans. Bldg., or on the web, obtain the approval and signature of their Academic Advisor and then take the form back to 209 Trans. Bldg.

to top


6. UI Integrate Restrictions Applying to Undergraduate Students

UI Integrate checks and restricts course loads of more than 18 hours and dropping below 12 hours. An Associate Dean's (206 EH) approval is required to do either.

to top


7. College and Department Course-Drop Restrictions

The following set of rules has been in effect for several years, with course listings updated periodically:

A. Requests to drop basic required courses in math, physics, chemistry, Composition I, computer science, and GE 101 at any time after the first day of instruction must be made directly to the Dean's Office - 206 Engineering Hall.

B. Requests to drop required courses with ECE, TAM, IE, ME or GE labels (including GE Design Electives, Item 15), with the exceptions of GE 400 and TAM 335, after the second week of instruction should be made directly to the IESE Chief Advisor - 209 Transportation. Note that there is a two-week grace period at the start of the semester to freely drop these courses as part of load-adjusting, etc

C. All other courses, including the required courses GE 400, Engineering Science Elective (see Item 16), and TAM 335, abide by the eight-week drop deadline..

D. Words to the wise: Requests to drop courses in Categories A-B should be based on compelling extenuating circumstances; poor performance and/or lack of class participation per se are not considered justifiable. If you decide to drop a course, act immediately. Procrastination or waiting until the arrival of the official semester drop deadline will weaken your case and may result in a W or F grade being assigned.

to top


8. Free Elective Restrictions

  • Kinesiology: A maximum of 3 hours of basic kinesiology courses (skill courses) can be used, no limit on professional kinesiology classes
  • Military courses: A maximum of six hours at any level, now including 100-level
  • Religious Foundations: A maximum of 4 hours can be used.
  • Remedial Courses: Credit cannot be used for remedial courses, for example, math courses below MATH 220 (Math 012, 014, 016 etc.); Chem. 100, etc.
  • Overages: UIUC courses may be used if they go beyond required course credits

to top


9. Credit / No-Credit Grading Option

Any undergraduate student on clear status (not on probation) may elect the credit/no-credit (CR/NC) grading option under these rules:
  • The deadline to elect CR/NC or to subsequently return the course to the letter grade option is the same as the last day to drop a course.
  • A full-time student may take a maximum of two courses each semester on CR/NC. A part-time student may take one course each semester on CR/NC. During the summer session, a student may take only one course on CR/NC. A maximum of 18 hours may be taken for CR/NC.
  • All six hours of free electives and all kinesiology and military science course may be taken CR/NC. Six hours of social sciences and six hours of humanities must be taken for a grade. Think of these as corresponding to the Campus General Education requirement to take six hours of social and behavioral sciences and six hours of humanitites and arts that must be taken for a letter grade. The remaining six hours may be taken CR/NC.
  • Secondary Field of Concentration and required courses must be taken for credit.

IESE students who wish to declare or rescind a course CR/NC option should fill out a CR/NC form (obtain in 209 Trans. Bldg. or 206 Engineering Hall), obtain the approval and signature of their Academic Advisor or the Chief Advisor, and then take the form to 206 Engineering Hall.

to top


10. Dean's List

To be eligible for the semesterly Dean's List, a student must be registered in at least 14 hours, 12 of which must be taken for a letter grade and achieve a GPA in the top 20% of his/her class. This GPA varies slightly among the freshman to senior classes, but typically falls in the 3.4 - 3.6 range.

to top



11. Math 385

Any version of Math 385 is acceptable for IESEs. Math 386 (4 hours) may be substituted.

to top


12. Guide to the College of Engineering

The College of Engineering no longer issues a printed Engineering Programs of Study booklet or the Engineering Student Handbook. Instead, a Guide to the College of Engineering is accessible on-line HERE. It's your responsibility to learn and apply what is in these documents.

to top


13. Degree Audit Report

The College Degree Audit Report System (DARS) is an important document that tallies all your course credits, past and ongoing, against degree requirements. Please examine it carefully online to insure it is correct. Bring any problems noticed to the attention of your advisor or the Chief Advisor.

Degree Audit Reports may be accessed via: http://www.registrar.illinois.edu/dars/index.html

to top


14. Curricula Distinction

The latest curriculum for IE & GE differs from the older curriculum in these respects: The old calculus sequence (MATH 220-230-242) as been replaced with two ways to complete the calculus sequence. MATH 220-231-241 sequence will be aimed at students with NO calculus background. MATH 221-231-241 sequence is for studens who have had 1 year of high school calculus or scored at lease a 2 on the AB Calculus AP exam. MATH 221 will cover the same material as MATH 220, but will be better suited to students who know some of the basic ideas already. MATH 230 has been renumbered to MATH 231 and MATH 242 has been renumbered to MATH 241.

to top


15. GE Design Electives

A three-hour Design Elective must be chosen in one of the following areas (a.k.a. paths or stems) A-C:
  • (A) Mechanics and Structures
  • (B) Control Systems
  • (C) Decision-making (a.k.a Operations Research)

Students eligible to take a Design Elective may choose from the following approved courses for the respective areas A-C:

(A) GE 410 Component Design (Prerequisite: GE 311 & GE 320)  
(B1) GE 420* Digital Control of Dynm System (Prerequisite: GE 320 or equivalent)
(B2) GE 423 Introduction to Mechatronics (Prereq: CS 101 or equivalent, GE 320 or equivalent, and knowledge of C) 
(C) GE 413 Eng Design Optimization (Prerequisite: GE 310, GE 330)

Subject to cancellation if very low enrollment, the planned offerings of the Design Electives are:

  Fall Semester Spring Semester
(A) GE 410 X X
(B1) GE 420 X

 

(B2) GE 423   X
(C) GE 413    

*Three hours of this course satisfy the Design Elective requirement. The additional hour may be applied by petition to appropriate GE secondary Fields of Concentration or used as Free Elective.

to top



16. GE Engineering Science Electives

A three-hour Engineering Science Elective must be chosen from the following list:

  • MSE 280 - Intro to Eng Materials
  • ME 300 - Thermodynamics

to top


17. IE Human Factors Electives

A three-hour Human Factors Elective must be chosen from the following list:

  • AVI 447 - Human Error (only offered in spring semesters)
  • AVI 455 - Aviation Accident Analysis
  • IE 440 - Occupational Biomechanics (only offered in spring semesters)
  • IE 441 - Interactive Sys Model and Des
  • IE 442 - Safety Engineering
  • IE 445 - Hum Perf and Eng Psych
  • IE 446 - Hum Comp Interaction Lab

to top


18. IE Manufacturing Electives

A three-hour Manufacturing Elective must be chosen from the following list:

  • ME 451 - Computer-Aided Mfg Systems
  • ME 452 - Num Control of Mfg Processes
  • GE 423 - Introduction to Mechatronics (only offered in spring semesters)
  • ME 498, SK/SK4 - EcoDesign and Environmentally Conscious Manfufacturing
  • ME 445 - Introduction to Robotics (only offered in fall semesters)
  • ME 446 - Robot Dynamics and Control

to top


19. IE M&IE Electives

A three-hour M&IE Elective must be chosen from the following list:

  • All 300 & 400-level IE and ME courses

to top


20. IE Operations Research Electives

A three-hour Operations Research Elective must be chosen from the following list:

  • GE 450 - Decision Analysis I (only offered in fall semesters)
  • IE 410 - Stochastic Proc and App (only offered in fall semesters)
  • IE 411 - Optimization of Large Lin Sys (only offered in spring semesters)
  • IE 412 - OR Models for Mfg Systems (only offered in fall semesters)
  • IE 413 - Simulation

to top


21. IE Technical Electives

A four-hour Technical Elective must be selected from a departmentally approved list.

to top


22. Classes Conflicting With Senior Project Design-GE 494 or IE 470

Several students each semester encounter a time conflict between some needed or desired class and the GE 494/IE 470 Senior Project Design meeting times. In most cases, this does not pose a significant problem and both classes can be taken.

The reality is that GE 494/IE 470 needs most or all the 9:00-11:50 a.m. meeting time on only a few occasions, including the first and second day it meets, two subgroup presentation days, and at least one away-from-campus company visitation day. On other Tuesdays and Thursdays, a project team meeting takes place for about an hour agreed upon with the team's faculty advisor within the 9:00-11:50 period. In most cases, team meetings can be arranged to bypass the outside class.

If the class overlap exists later in morning, the resulting conflicts are likely to be fewer. If the overlap occurs in the 9-10 a.m. periods, the situation may prove to be more challenging. By making suitable arrangements, students can make up for missed classes in the course conflicting with GE 494/IE 470. They should be sure to discuss this with the instructor of the non-GE 494/IE 470 class.

To register in GE 494/IE 470 and a conflicting class, the student should get approval from the course chairman in 104 TB and report to the Chief Advisor's office (209 TB) for approval to have an authorized staff member give an override to allow the student to register for GE 494/IE 470.

to top


23. Part-time Enrollment Status Rule

A persistent rumor abounds among engineering students that they are entitled to have a part-time semester load (<12 credit hours) at one time anywhere during the pursuit of undergraduate studies. This is only partially correct. The rule is "engineering students are allowed to have part-time status only during their final semester, if all that is needed to complete the degree requires less than 12 hours of course credit." No permission or notification is required to do this.

to top

Useful Links