4.3.1 Engineer Degree: Policy
Last updated on:
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Summary
Details all university requirements for the Engineer degree.
Rationale
Stanford University has authorized the granting of the degree of Engineer. The degree of Engineer is intended for those who desire more graduate training than can be obtained in a Master of Science program. It differs from the Ph.D. primarily in looking toward professional engineering work rather than toward theoretical research or university teaching. The Engineer degree is normally awarded at the completion of a comprehensive two-year program of graduate study and requires a thesis.
Policy
In addition to completing the general requirements for advanced degrees and the requirements specified by their department, candidates for the degree of Engineer must be admitted to candidacy and must complete a thesis per the specifications below.
Applicability:
Students pursuing and programs granting the Engineer degree.
Jump To:
1. Residency
The Engineer degree requires 90 units of completed credits (see GAP 3.2, Residency Policy for Graduate Students). Up to 45 units completed at Stanford toward a master’s degree or accepted as transfer credit in an Engineering discipline may be used toward the 90-unit residency requirement for the Engineer degree.
2. Candidacy
The Application for Candidacy for Degree of Engineer is an agreement between the student and the department on a specific program of study to fulfill degree requirements. Students must apply for candidacy by the end of the second quarter in the Engineer program by filing the Application for Candidacy. Honors Cooperative students must apply by the end of the fourth quarter of the program. Candidacy is valid for five calendar years.
3. Thesis
A University thesis is required for the Engineer degree. The thesis must be in English. Standards for professional presentation of the thesis have been established by the Committee on Graduate Studies and are detailed in Directions for Preparing Theses for Engineer Degrees.
The thesis for the Engineer degree is expected to be an original contribution to scholarship or scientific knowledge, to exemplify the highest standards of the discipline, and to be of lasting value to the intellectual community. The guidelines have been established to fulfill this commitment and represent the minimum standards for professional presentation of the work. A thesis that does not conform to the minimum University standards may have to be redesigned and resubmitted, with the possibility of delay in conferral of the degree. The Office of the Registrar publishes the directions and is responsible for review of theses for the Engineer Degree.
Three copies of the thesis, bearing the approval of the advisor under whose supervision it was prepared, must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar before the published quarterly deadline. A fee is charged for binding copies of the thesis.
The student must be enrolled in the term in which the thesis is submitted. The period between the last day of final exams of one term and the first day of the subsequent term is considered an extension of the earlier term. Students submitting a thesis during this period would meet the registration requirement but would be eligible for degree conferral only in the subsequent term.
The deadline for submission of theses in order to have the degree conferred at the end of the quarter is published in the academic calendar. Some departments may set earlier deadlines for submission of theses. Thesis deadlines are strictly enforced, and no exceptions are made. The final thesis with all required signatures must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar by the published deadline.
