Graduate Student Handbook

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

University of Kentucky

September 2017

1 CONTENTS

2 About this handbook............................................................................................................................. 3

3 Program of study ................................................................................................................................... 3

4 Admission requirements ....................................................................................................................... 4

5 Application procedure .......................................................................................................................... 4

5.1 Deadlines ....................................................................................................................................... 4

5.2 Application material ...................................................................................................................... 4

6 General program requirement.............................................................................................................. 5

6.1 Academic advisor .......................................................................................................................... 5

6.2 Academic load ............................................................................................................................... 5

6.3 Transfer credit ............................................................................................................................... 5

6.4 Time limit for degrees ................................................................................................................... 5

7 Degree requirement – Master of Science in EE (MSEE) ........................................................................ 6

7.1 MS Mission Statement .................................................................................................................. 6

7.2 Expected MS Outcomes ................................................................................................................ 6

7.3 MS Curriculum .............................................................................................................................. 6

7.4 MS Thesis/Project Final Exam Procedure ..................................................................................... 6

8 Degree requirement – Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in EE ..................................................................... 7

8.1 PhD Mission Statement................................................................................................................. 7

8.2 Expected PhD Outcomes ............................................................................................................... 7

8.3 PhD Curriculum ............................................................................................................................. 7

8.4 Major professor and advisory committee .................................................................................... 8

8.5 Qualifying exam ............................................................................................................................ 9

8.5.1 Pre-Qualifying Course Requirements .................................................................................... 9

8.5.2 Written pre-qualifying exam ................................................................................................. 9

8.5.3 Oral Qualifying Exam ........................................................................................................... 10

8.6 PhD student annual review ......................................................................................................... 10

8.7 PhD final exam procedure........................................................................................................... 11

9 Courses ................................................................................................................................................ 11

9.1 EE 748 .......................................................................................................................................... 12

9.2 EE 767 .......................................................................................................................................... 12

9.3 EE 780 (2 hours) .......................................................................................................................... 12

9.4 EE 783 .......................................................................................................................................... 12

9.5 EE 784 (3 hours) .......................................................................................................................... 12

9.6 EE 790 (1-9 hours) ....................................................................................................................... 13

10 Financial assistance ......................................................................................................................... 13

10.1 Teaching and research assistance ............................................................................................... 13

10.2 Fellowships .................................................................................................................................. 14

2 ABOUT THIS HANDBOOK

The purpose of this handbook is to acquaint you with the rules and requirements that must be followed in order to

obtain a graduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Kentucky. Supplementary information and

up-to-date forms are available under the department’s Graduate Program website.

Students are solely responsible for familiarizing themselves with all regulations and requirements contained within

this Handbook and the University of Kentucky Graduate School Bulletin. Much of this Handbook was derived from

the latter publication. In no case will a regulation be waived or an exception granted because a student pleads

ignorance. This handbook is not intended to be a substitute for the Graduate Bulletin which is the authoritative

source of information for all graduate studies. Additional information, including application inquiries and further

clarification on either departmental or university policies may be obtained by consulting the ECE Director of

Graduate Studies at ecedgs@engr.uky.edu.

3 PROGRAM OF STUDY

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering provides programs for study and research leading to the

Master of Science in Electrical or Computer Engineering and the Doctor of Philosophy. Graduate curricula within the

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering are concentrated in the following major areas:

 Computational Electromagnetics

 Controls and Manufacturing

 Micro/Nano-scale Devices and Materials

 Power and Energy

 Computer Architecture and Embedded Systems

 Signal Processing and Machine Learning

Our graduate students collaborate with faculty researchers in the department and across the College of Engineering

to make the technological advances that can improve everyday life, whether it be through faster communications,

greener energy transmission and distribution, enhanced national security, more effective and less expensive health

care, etc. They also work across disciplinary boundaries with researchers in other engineering departments and in

world-class facilities like the Center for Nanoscale Science & Engineering and the Center for Visualization & Virtual

Environments.

An additional option for ECE graduate students is the Graduate Certificate in Power and Energy, a 15 credit hour

program to be taken in conjunction with an engineering MS or PhD that rapidly prepares students for power and

energy careers. The program can be completed in as little as one calendar year (MS project option). MS project topics

(and thesis topics) are drawn from industry, from faculty and staff of the Center for Applied Energy Research, and

through Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky (PEIK) faculty members and associated faculty.

4 ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The followings are required for admission to the Electrical and Computer Engineering Graduate Programs:

1. A bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited institution. You may apply if you are in your final year of

studies and you expect to earn your degree before the start of the semester you are applying. Formal proofs,

usually in the form of a final official transcript, must be provided upon admission.

2. Your prior degree should be in electrical or computer engineering. Degrees in physics, mathematics,

computer science, or other field of engineering would be considered. However, core undergraduate courses

in Electrical and Computer Engineering will be required prior to completing your graduate degree in

Electrical or Computer Engineering.

3. If your prior institution uses a 4.0 scale, a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 on all graduate

and undergraduate work is required. If you attended a university that does not use the 4.0 system, do not

convert your grades to GPA – leave it blank on your application.

4. The followings are our minimum Graduate Record Examination (GRE) requirements:

 MS degree: Verbal + Quantitative >= 301 (or 1100 in old version) and Analytical Writing >= 2.5

 PhD degree: Verbal + Quantitative >= 310 (or 1200 in old version) and Analytical Writing >= 3.0

5. For International applicants, our minimum TOEFL score requirement (for both MS and PhD degrees) is 550

(paper-based) / 213 (computer-based) / 80 (Internet-based). Alternatively, IELTS scores higher than or equal

to 6.5 are also acceptable.

Satisfying minimal standards, however, does not guarantee your admission as admission decision is made on a

competitive basis. To be awarded Fellowships and Assistantships, you usually need much higher scores. All

applicants will be considered for Fellowships and Assistantships (subject to the deadlines specified in 6.1) and

no separate forms are required.

5 APPLICATION PROCEDURE

5.1 DEADLINES

Our graduate program accepts student in both fall and spring semesters. The application deadlines are as follows:

Fall semester:

 February 1 for international applicants

 July 1 for domestic applicants

 February 1 for all applicants interested in fellowships and assistantships

Spring semester:

 August 15 for international applicants

 November 15 for domestic applicants

 New assistant awards are not typically given for students starting in spring semester

5.2 APPLICATION MATERIAL

1. Prior to submitting your application, review the University of Kentucky Graduate School’s Guidelines for

Admission Applications.

2. Submit your on-line application to the Graduate School.

3. When submitting official test scores to the Graduate School, please use the following codes:

 Official GRE Scores from ETS

 Institution code: 1837

 Department code: 1203 for Electrical Engineering and 1201 for Computer Engineering

 (For international applicants) Official TOEFL scores from ETS or Official IELTS scores

 School code: 1837

 Department code: 66

Inquiries concerning an applicant's admission status can be found at the UK Graduate School website

at http://www.gradschool.uky.edu or by writing to the Graduate School. Phone calls will not be accepted, and

information will not be provided over the telephone.

6 GENERAL PROGRAM REQUIREMENT

6.1 ACADEMIC ADVISOR

The ECE Director of Graduate Studies serves as a student's initial academic advisor upon admission into the ECE

graduate program. All full-time graduate students must choose a regular academic advisor by the end of their first

semester of graduate work in the UK Electrical & Computer Engineering program. Part-time students should comply

with this requirement after completing nine credit hours of graduate course work. In conjunction with their academic

advisor, the student must formulate a program of study. This plan will list the graduate courses to be taken in order

for him/her to obtain his/her degree. A research topic for the thesis/project/dissertation must be included. The

Director of Graduate Studies through the use of the Graduate Program Planning Approval Sheet must then approve

the plan of study and research topic. A copy of this plan containing the signatures of both the student's academic

advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies is to be filed in the student's academic folder. Students not complying

with this requirement may be denied future class registrations. Significant changes to a student's graduate program

plan, particularly the changing of advisors, must be approved by the ECE Director of Graduate Studies with a copy of

the change to be included in the student's academic folder.

6.2 ACADEMIC LOAD

The normal load of a full-time graduate student is 9 credit hours. Under no circumstances may a student's academic

load exceed 15 credit hours in any one semester. During the summer sessions, the maximum load for the four-week

session is 4 credit hours and for the eight-week summer session is 9 credit hours or a total load for both sessions of

12 credit hours. For the student who is a full-time teaching assistant or whose university service requires

approximately 20 hours per week maximum, the academic load may not exceed 10 credit hours per semester.

Exceptions to this rule may be made upon the recommendation of the Director of Graduate Studies and with the

approval of the Graduate School Dean.

6.3 TRANSFER CREDIT

Up to nine credit hours can be transferred with the approval of the graduate school. Details about the procedure

and restrictions of transferring credits can be found in the Graduate School Bulletin.

6.4 TIME LIMIT FOR DEGREES

Details about time limit for degrees can be found in the Graduate School Bulletin.

7 DEGREE REQUIREMENT – MASTER OF SCIENCE IN EE (MSEE)

7.1 MS MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the MS program in Electrical Engineering at the University of Kentucky is to provide students with an

advanced education in electrical and computer engineering, with the ability to contribute to scholarly research and

to new technologies, and to prepare them for successful careers.

7.2 EXPECTED MS OUTCOMES

As a part of our mission, students completing a MS in Electrical Engineering in the Department of Electrical and

Computer Engineering will have obtained the following outcomes:

1. A mastery of fundamental concepts in electrical and computer engineering;

2. The ability to perform creative research;

3. The ability to communicate difficult technical concepts both orally and in writing;

4. An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility.

7.3 MS CURRICULUM

The master’s degree requires 24 credit hours of acceptable graduate level course work and a zero credit hour thesis

(Plan A). A non-thesis option (Plan B) consisting of 30 credit hours of acceptable graduate level course work and a 3

credit hour project is also available. At least two thirds of the courses must be from within the Department of

Electrical & Computer Engineering. At least one half of all MS credit requirements must be at the 600 or 700 level.

Enrollment in the non-thesis option requires approval of the Director of Graduate Studies and must be requested

within the student’s first 9 credit hours of graduate course work. All MS students must also complete three of the

six 600-level graduate core courses in electrical engineering and obtain a GPA of 3.0 or higher in the three core

courses. These core courses are listed in Section 8.5.1.

7.4 MS THESIS/PROJECT FINAL EXAM PROCEDURE

A final examination is administered to all MSEE candidates. This examination may be oral, written, or both as

determined by the student's academic advisory committee. The examining committee shall consist of the student's

academic advisor, one other qualified member of the UK Graduate Faculty plus a third qualified committee member.

Membership on the UK Graduate Faculty is preferred but is not required of the third committee member. At least

one of the student's examining committee members must hold full membership on the UK Graduate Faculty. The

Director of Graduate Studies and the UK Graduate School must obtain approval of the student's examining

committee. Request to take the Final Exam must be made at least two weeks in advance of the date of the exam. It

is made by filing an online form on the graduate school website. The following procedure is required by ECE

Department:

1. Download the MS Student Final Exam Checklist

2. Fill in the information on Page 1 and Page 2, the project title on Page 3, and save it.

3. E-mail the filled Checklist and the ECE Department Rubrics for MS Final Examinations to his/her advisor

before the final exam.

4. Make sure that the thesis/project advisor has the Rubrics and Checklist before the MS Final Exam.

After the Final Exam, the advisor needs to e-mail or turn in both the Checklist and the signed exam card to DGS. The

DGS will not sign off the Final Exam card until the Checklist is received. It is the student’s responsibility to confirm

with the DGS if his/her signed final exam card has been submitted within one week of completing the Final Exam.

After the DGS signs off on the Final Exam card, the card will be sent to the Graduate School and the Final Exam is

concluded.

Note: A PhD student who enters with only a BS degree also has an option to obtain an MS degree on the way toward

his/her PhD studies. This can be done by using his/her partial research results for his/her MS thesis and following

the same procedure as described above.

8 DEGREE REQUIREMENT – DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PHD) IN EE

8.1 PHD MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the PhD program in Electrical Engineering at the University of Kentucky is to provide students with

an advanced education in electrical and computer engineering, with the ability to identify and develop creative

solutions to novel and existing problems, with the expertise to independently contribute to scholarly research and

to new technologies, and to prepare them for successful careers.

8.2 EXPECTED PHD OUTCOMES

As a part of our mission, students completing a PhD in Electrical Engineering in the Department of Electrical and

Computer Engineering will have obtained the following outcomes:

1. A mastery of fundamental concepts in electrical and computer engineering;

2. The ability to perform independent research;

3. The ability to identify, investigate, formulate, and solve new problems of interest through scholarly research

in order to contribute new ideas and engineering concepts;

4. The ability to communicate difficult technical concepts both orally and in writing;

5. An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility.

8.3 PHD CURRICULUM

The PhD degree is a research degree granted on the basis of broad knowledge of electrical or computer engineering

and in-depth study in a specific area leading to a dissertation reflecting original work by the doctoral candidate. To

obtain a PhD degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering, in addition to meeting the general Graduate School

requirements, a student must:

1. Earn 42 graduate credit hours taken at the University of Kentucky while in graduate standing, and take a

technical writing course (WRD204 or equivalent) beyond the 42 graduate credit hours.

For students with an MS degree earned at an accredited university in the U.S., the required graduate credit

hours are reduced to 18 units. For students with an MS degree earned at an accredited institution outside

of the U.S., the required graduate credit hours are 24 units. All PhD students must also complete three of

the six 600-level graduate core courses in electrical engineering with a score of “B” or higher in each core

course. These core courses are listed in Section 8.5.1. Of the required course credits, at least two thirds

must be from within the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, and at least half must be at the

600 or 700 levels.

2. Pass the PhD Written Qualifying Examination.

The Departmental Written Qualifying Exam is administered by the department. The exam will test the

student’s foundational knowledge in electrical or computer engineering as well as the student’s graduate

knowledge in areas related to his/her research. Details of the written qualifying exam can be found in

Section 8.5.

3. Go through Annual Reviews.

Every PhD student must go through an annual review with his/her PhD advisory committee. Before the

Written Qualifying Exam, the student’s annual review is conducted by DGS. The student should organize

his/her PhD advisory committee as early as possible after the Written Qualifying Exam. The student’s oral

qualifying exam and his/her PhD final defense are also considered as annual reviews. The student will

receive written feedback from his/her committee regarding the annual review. More details on the annual

review are provided below.

4. Pass PhD Oral Qualifying Exam.

After passing his/her Written Qualifying Exam and completing his/her course requirements, the student

should be focused on a research topic. The second part of this exam is the Oral Qualifying Exam

administered by the Graduate School and the student’s doctoral advisory committee. This exam will test

the soundness of the student’s proposed doctoral dissertation research. At least two weeks prior to the

oral exam, the student must prepare and submit a written prospectus to his/her doctoral advisory

committee outlining his/her research plan. On the oral qualifying exam date scheduled through the

Graduate School, the student will then give an oral presentation of his/her proposed research, with

sufficient evidence demonstrating knowledge of the topic, the novelty of the topic, and a research plan to

complete the dissertation research. Full details of the PhD qualifying requirements can be found in Section

8.5.

5. Pass Final Defense.

Upon completion of the research, the PhD student will give an oral presentation before his/her doctoral

advisory committee in defense of his/her dissertation research. The dissertation research will undergo the

scrutiny of the doctoral advisory committee, who will be responsible to determine the novelty,

completeness, and success of the candidate’s research program. The PhD candidate should submit a

completed copy of his/her dissertation to all members of the advisory committee no later than 2 weeks

prior to the scheduled defense date.

6. Submit the PhD Dissertation.

Upon passing the PhD defense and upon approval of the PhD Advisory committee, PhD advisor, and the

Director of Graduate Studies, the student will submit (electronically) the final version of the PhD

Dissertation to the Graduate School. The PhD Dissertation must meet all formatting requirements of the

Graduate School.

8.4 MAJOR PROFESSOR AND ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Doctoral students should choose a major professor during the first semester of their doctoral studies. The Director

of Graduate Studies may initially serve as a student's academic advisor but by the end of the first semester, he/she

must choose a major professor. The student's full advisory committee is to be chosen no later than one year prior

to taking the Qualifying Examination. This committee, along with the major professor who serves as the Chair of the

committee, guides the student, determines his/her doctoral course work, and sets specific requirements to be

followed in order for the student to obtain his/her degree.

The committee consists of four members. The student's major professor as well as two other members of his/her

advisory committee must be faculty members in Electrical & Computer Engineering. Another committee member

must be from outside the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department. All members of the student's advisory

committee must be members of the Graduate Faculty. The major professor as well as two additional committee

members must be full members of the Graduate Faculty. Formation of the advisory committee is completed by

filling an online request form on the graduate school website.

The Advisory Committee is to remain intact for the duration of the student's graduate career. If for any reason a

committee member cannot continue to serve on the panel, a suitable replacement is to be recommended by the

major professor and requested by the student by filing an online form for change of advisory committee. The

replacement must be approved by the ECE Director of Graduate Study as well as by the Graduate School.

8.5 QUALIFYING EXAM

The ECE PhD qualifying exam consists of two parts:

1. A formal written pre-qualifying examination testing core undergraduate concepts;

2. An oral exam.

In addition, the student must also satisfy the pre-qualifying course requirements.

8.5.1 Pre-Qualifying Course Requirements

To fulfill the course requirements, students must take at least 9 hours of graduate core courses, and can take up to

6 hours of independent study (EE 783) approved by the DGS.

Core courses: Students must take at least 3 of the 6 graduate core courses in EE:

 EE 611 – Deterministic Systems

 EE 621 – Electromagnetic Fields

 EE 640 – Stochastic Systems

 EE 661 – Solid State Electronics

 EE 685 – Digital Computer Structure

 EE 641 – Advanced Power Systems

Students must receive a B or higher in at least three of these core courses.

8.5.2 Written pre-qualifying exam

The exam shall be taken at the beginning of the second semester of enrollment. If a student fails the exam, a second

exam must be taken at the beginning of the next semester. No third exam is allowed. The exam will be offered two

times per year: once in the Fall semester and once in the Spring semester. The exam problems are organized into

two parts.

Part I problems apply to all students and are selected from topics typically covered in the following courses:

 EE 211 Circuits I

 EE 221 Circuits II

 EE 282 Design of Logic Circuits

Part II problems are selected from topics typically covered in the following six courses:

 EE 380 Microcomputer Organization

 EE 415 Electromechanics

 EE 421G Signals and Systems

 EE 461G Introduction to Electronics

 EE 468G Introduction to Engineering Electromagnetics

 EE 480 Advanced Computer Architecture

A PhD student needs to select the two of the six subject courses in advance.

A student may request (with documented evidence) to waive the exam of one or more subject courses for both Part

I and Part II. The request must be reviewed and approved by a committee of at least three graduate faculty members

designated by the Director of Graduate Studies. The request must be made eight weeks in advance of the exam.

A score of 70% will guarantee a pass on a subject course. If a second exam is needed, the student will take the exam

for the failed subject course(s) only.

8.5.3 Oral Qualifying Exam

The oral exam has a two-fold purpose: evaluate the student’s ability to conduct research and test the depth of

knowledge in the student’s field of research.

Prior to scheduling the oral qualifying exam, the PhD student must form their PhD advisory committee and complete

the “Doctoral Advisory Committee Request” form through the Graduate School. The students must also have passed

their written pre-qualifying exam and completed their pre-qualifying course requirement prior to scheduling their

oral qualifying exam. The request to schedule the qualifying examination must be submitted to the Graduate School

a minimum of two weeks in advance of the planned date.

The students should notify their advisory committee the intent to take their oral qualifying exam a minimum of two

months prior to the anticipated date of the exam. The student should prepare a research proposal and submit it to

the committee prior to the oral qualifying exam.

The research proposal should clearly state its objectives, provide motivation and background for the topic, clearly

propose the new technology or ideas, provide an expected timeline based on clearly stated milestones, provide

metrics for validating the proposed research, and the impact of the research.

Once scheduled, the oral qualifying exam will consist of three components:

1. Proposal presentation (typically less than 1 hour)

The student will present their proposal to their committee highlighting the objectives of the proposed

research, providing background and motivation for the topic, detailing the proposed research, justifying the

proposed approach or techniques, providing an expected time line with milestones, summarizing the

expected impact, and identifying risks of failure and potential for success

2. Proposal Critique

After the proposal presentation, the committee will take time to ask questions about the research proposal,

raise concerns, or provide comments. The candidate should have sufficient knowledge to field questions

and concerns.

3. General Questions

After all questions regarding the proposal are completed, the committee will then ask an array of questions

on topics directly related to the candidate’s field of research. The intent is to test the candidate’s depth of

knowledge in their field of research, and the ability to think and respond impromptu to technical questions.

8.6 PHD STUDENT ANNUAL REVIEW

As required by the Graduate School Bulletin, the progress of a PhD student must be assessed annually. This

assessment will be done by the student’s advisory committee, and must be completed at least once per year in the

format of a “PhD Annual Review”.

The annual review will have two components:

1. A formal written research summary of the student’s research activity

2. A formal presentation before the student’s committee (open to the public) summarizing the student’s

research activities.

The PhD student annual review must be scheduled by the student with his/her PhD advisory committee. For a

student’s first annual review, he/she must download the PhD Student Checklist, and then fill in the first page

electronically. He/she needs to e-mail the filled checklist together with the rubrics to his/her advisor before the

annual review. The committee needs the checklist and rubrics to conduct the annual review. For a student who is

not doing the annual review for the first time, he/she does not need to send the form to his/her advisor because the

checklist is reusable until graduation.

The PhD student should submit a written research summary to his/her advisory committee no later than 1 week

prior to the annual review. The student should prepare a presentation (power-point, or similar) on the order of 30

minutes that summarizes his/her research. The student should also be prepared to field questions from the

committee about the research. The student’s written report and presentation will be assessed quantitatively by the

advisory committee. The categories to be assessed can be found on the PhD student checklist. Each committee

member will independently assess the PhD student following a pre-defined set of rubrics. The student should

familiarize themselves with the criterion to be adequately prepared. After the annual review, his/her advisor needs

to send the completed checklist back to DGS for record.

Pre-written-qualifying PhD students, who have no advisors, must also complete an annual review. The DGS will

conduct the annual review by interviewing the student. The student needs to fill in the PhD Student Checklist and e-

mail it to DGS, and then schedule an appointment. For qualifying year students (typically, the second or third year),

the oral qualifying exam serves as the student’s annual review. For final year students who plan to do their PhD Final

exams, no annual review is needed.

8.7 PHD FINAL EXAM PROCEDURE

Please follow the Graduate School’s Check Sheet and the procedure outlined by the Graduate School. The following

procedure is required by ECE Department. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure that his/her advisor has the

rubrics and the PhD Student Checklist (reusable). The Final exam card will be e-mailed to the advisor from the

graduate school. After the Final Exam, the advisor needs to e-mail the Checklist to the DGS’s personal e-mail address

and deliver the Final exam card to the DGS’s mailbox at the department office. The DGS will not sign off on the Final

exam card until the Checklist is received. It is the student’s responsibility to check with the DGS if his/her Final exam

card is signed within one week of completing the Final exam. After the DGS signs off on the Final exam card, the

card will be sent to the Graduate School and the Final Exam is concluded.

9 COURSES

All courses numbered 500-799 may be counted for credit toward a graduate degree. Additionally, those courses

numbered 400G - 499G outside of Electrical Engineering may be taken, upon approval of the Director of Graduate

Studies, for graduate credit. Additionally, new graduate course offerings of current interest are offered under the

course number EE 699 - Topics in Electrical Engineering and include the appropriate course sub title (a PhD can take

up to 6 credit hours of EE699). Exceptions are possible if a request is made to DGS in advance and both DGS and the

graduate school approves it).

Students may enroll in independent problem/research courses (EE 595 or EE 783) under the supervision of a

graduate faculty member. Such work may not duplicate thesis/project work or work from previous courses. The form

is available in the ECE office and must be signed by the faculty member responsible for supervising the student's

work at the time of his/her registration. This form will include a synopsis of the work to be completed in order to

receive credit for the course. It is to be kept on file in the ECE office.

There are a number of special courses for graduate students. The usage of these courses is explained below.

9.1 EE 748

If students need to request an enrollment in the zero hour course EE 748 (Master’s Thesis Research), they must

complete the Enrollment Request Form for EE 748 and email the form to the DGS and cc their advisor and the

department’s academic advisor prior to the end of the registration period. The form must be signed by their advisor.

Note that the maximum length of enrollment in EE 748 for full-time students is 3 semesters. Students who enroll for

EE 748 for more than 3 semesters must petition the DGS by submitting a completed enrollment Request Form.

9.2 EE 767

PhD students should enroll in this course only after they have completed and passed the Oral Qualifying Exam

requirements. PhD students must enroll in EE 767 (2 credit hours) every semester thereafter until they complete

their PhD in order to remain in good standing or full time student status. A student may register for EE 767 the

semester he/she expects to complete the Oral Qualifying Exam. If a student fails to complete his/her Oral Qualifying

Exam requirement in that semester, the student must drop EE 767.

For the first-time enrollment in EE 767, students must submit the EE 767 registration form electronically to the

department’s academic advisor and cc to the DGS. Please include your name, UK ID, EE 767 Section# (in UK online

class schedule), the name of your advisor, and your oral Qualifying Exam date. Filling out more information in the

form is encouraged. Make sure your advisor sends your checklist to Ms. Green-Hinkle. Without your checklist, you

cannot register for EE 767.

For re-enrollment of EE 767, in every semester students must submit the EE 767 registration form electronically to

the department’s academic advisor and cc to DGS.

9.3 EE 780 (2 HOURS)

This course is for curriculum training internship in industry and national labs. Application for advanced training in

electrical/computer engineering to solve complex practical problems is subject to approval of DGS. This course may

be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours. MS and PhD students in electrical engineering who have completed

18 hours of graduate courses can enroll. For enrollment, the student must submit a 2-page mini proposal with a

faculty or industrial sponsor for a project. The proposal will include objectives, proposed tasks, and anticipated

results. A final report must be submitted to the DGS that documents the performed work and achieved results.

9.4 EE 783

Registration for Special Problems in Electrical Engineering is done directly by the student. However, students must

complete the departmental form for this course if they are to receive a grade for it. MS students can take one 3 hour

EE 783 course towards their degree. PhD students can take up to two EE 783 courses (6 hours) towards their

qualifying course credit hours.

9.5 EE 784 (3 HOURS)

EE 784 must be taken by students who are completing the MS with the project option (Plan B). MS students can

enroll in EE 784 after completing their 30 hours of course work (including the 3 core graduate level courses), or

during the semester students expect to complete their 30 hours of course work. The MS project should be a 1

semester project completed by the student under the advice of his/her academic advisor. The student must form an

MS committee of 3 faculty members and defend the project during the semester he/she enrolls in EE 784. The

student must also complete the project according to the Graduate Bulletin guidelines. To enroll in EE 784, the EE

784 registration form shall be submitted to the DGS.

9.6 EE 790 (1-9 HOURS)

After completing all the course work and prior to the oral qualifying exam, the student can take 2 hours of EE790

per semester. Registering for 2 hours of EE790, along with the DGS approved course load reduction, is considered

as full-time student status. Registration for this class can be done by contacting the DGS with the course load-

reduction form. At the end of the semester, the student must also prepare and submit to the DGS the current draft

of his/her PhD qualifying exam proposal. Note that the proposal does not have to be completed, however, the

student should show progress in the proposal during the course of the semester. The submitted proposal draft must

be signed and dated by the student and the student’s PhD advisor.

10 FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

10.1 TEACHING AND RESEARCH ASSISTANCE

Limited financial assistance is available to qualified applicants in the form of graduate teaching and research

assistantships. Stipends vary depending upon the student's program level and type of support. U.S. citizens in good

academic standing are given first priority on all assistantships awarded by the ECE Department. While no separate

application for assistance is required, the admission applications must be submitted to the Director of Graduate

Studies by February 1 for consideration for the next academic year.

A committee composed of ECE faculty representatives determines teaching assistantship recipients for each

academic year. Individual faculty members with extramural funding select research assistants on an individual basis.

Ordinarily, applicants are notified by May 31 as to the decision on their application.

Because of the enormous demand for financial support, normally, international students whose most recent degree

is from a college/university outside the U.S. must enroll in the Electrical & Computer Engineering graduate program

at the University of Kentucky and complete a minimum of one semester (9 hours) of graduate credit with a

minimum GPA of 3.0/4.0 before consideration for a departmental graduate assistantship. Obtaining the minimum

GPA does not guarantee the awarding of an assistantship. All awards are made on a competitive basis.

In addition to the monthly monetary stipend for services performed, graduate assistants are nominated for tuition

scholarships awarded by the ECE Department for all or part of their tuition. The Director of Graduate Studies

nominates assistantship recipients for tuition scholarships. All graduate assistants are responsible for paying

mandatory university fees over and above basic tuition charges for each semester.

The followings are the conditions of appointment for all ECE graduate assistantships:

1. Teaching and research assistantships in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering are awarded

on a competitive basis. Students are reviewed at the end of each semester to ascertain whether or not

reappointment will be made.

2. Teaching assistants in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or

better to be considered for reappointment.

3. Teaching and research assistants must be full-time during each semester of employment. The Director of

Graduate Studies must approve any exceptions.

4. Teaching and research assistants must show adequate progress towards their degrees in order to be

considered for reappointment. Full-time (20 hours per week) teaching and research assistants may not hold

employment internal or external to the University, without the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies.

Half-time (10 hours per week) teaching and research assistants may hold employment, internal or external

to the University, for no more than 10 additional hours per week.

5. Teaching and research assistants must be present and available on campus to carry out assigned duties for

the entire period of appointment. The exception to this is in the case of designated University holidays

during the assignment period.

6. Teaching assistants must maintain regularly posted office hours to provide time for consultations with

students. Failure to do so will result in disqualification for consideration for future appointments.

7. Teaching assistants are evaluated each semester as to their TA performance. Each must receive positive

evaluations from her/his supervising professor and, where applicable, from students taught in the

classroom in order to be considered for reappointment.

8. Research assistants are evaluated according to the expectations set forth by their employing professor.

Consideration for future appointments is based on this evaluation of performance and the availability of

extramural funding.

9. All teaching and research assistants are required to attend department sponsored seminars unless teaching

a course as part of her/his TA load or attending a course as part of her/his academic course load.

10.2 FELLOWSHIPS

All Fall semester applicants who have been accepted into our program no later than January 15th will be

considered for nomination of selected University Fellowships. Applicants who are deemed to be most

qualified will be nominated.