Civil Engineering, with Specializations, MSCE

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Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Fenn Hall 107
(216) 687-2400
http://www.csuohio.edu/engineering/civil/programs.html

Nilufer Dural, Graduate Program Director (environmental)
Josiah Owusu-Danquah, Graduate Program Director (structures/foundations)
Jacqueline Jenkins, Graduate Program Director (transportation)
Ung Tae Kim, Graduate Program Director (water resources)

Programs of Study

Environmental
Structures and Foundations
Transportation
Water Resources

Introduction

The graduate program in civil engineering is designed to provide the student with knowledge of advanced methods for analysis and design or for research and development. The student must select one of the following graduate specializations: Structures/Foundations, Water Resources Engineering, Transportation or Environmental Engineering. Full-time or part-time study may be pursued.

Faculty Research and Publications

Areas in which students may conduct thesis or project research are reflected by the research interests and publications of the faculty. These areas include concrete and steel structures, structural mechanics and dynamics, experimental and theoretical stress analysis, elasticity, constitutive modeling, composite materials, stress-wave propagation, ultrasonics, nondestructive evaluation, finite elements, fracture mechanics, soil mechanics, foundations, water resources, hydraulics, transportation and highway engineering, and construction materials.

Current faculty information can be located on the Cleveland State University Faculty Profile page.

Financial Assistance

Graduate teaching and research assistantships and graduate tuition grants are available to qualified students on a competitive basis. Applicants who are seeking an assistantship or tuition grant should so indicate on the Application for Graduate Admission.

Career Information

Graduates of the MS in Civil Engineering program work as project engineers for consulting firms; perform research in government laboratories; conduct analysis, design, and research in industry; and manage public works facilities. Recent graduates are working as a structural designer, a ceramics researcher, and a stress analyst. Job prospects for those with advanced degrees in civil engineering are excellent.

Accelerated Program in Civil Engineering

For more details, please refer to the Civil Engineering, with Specializations, Accelerated 4+1 BCE/MSCE section of this catalog.

Admission Information

Admission to the graduate program in civil engineering is open to qualified students with a baccalaureate degree in engineering or science. A minimum baccalaureate grade-point average of 2.75 typically is required. The applicant must have successfully completed those courses common to accredited undergraduate programs in engineering or engineering science, including the following: statics, dynamics, mechanics of materials, one year of physics, and mathematics up to and including ordinary differential equations. Additional course work may be required to satisfy deficiencies in the student’s undergraduate preparation.

The GRE General section is required if one or more of the following conditions is true:

An unaccredited college or university awarded the undergraduate degree.
The student’s undergraduate cumulative grade-point average is below 2.75.
The year of the baccalaureate degree precedes the date of application to the College of Graduate Studies by more than six years; however, in this case, the examination requirement may be waived, with program approval, if the applicant’s undergraduate grade-point average is 3.0 or above.

If the GRE is required, the admission decision is based on the applicant’s performance on the quantitative section of the GRE examination along with the undergraduate grade-point average. A minimum of the 50th percentile on the GRE quantitative is required, but this minimum score does not guarantee admission.

All non-native English speakers must demonstrate proof of English-language proficiency. Any individual who has earned a bachelor’s degree (or higher) from a U.S. institution, where the primary language of instruction is English, is not required to take an English-language proficiency examination. International students who want to be considered for teaching assistantships are advised to take the Test of Spoken English (TSE).

Apply Now: http://www.csuohio.edu/graduate-admissions/how-apply

Degree Requirements

In addition to meeting other University requirements, a master’s candidate must fulfill the following:

Completion of at least 30 credits. For students pursuing the thesis option, a minimum of 24 credits of course work and a minimum of 6 credits of thesis are required. (A maximum of six credits of thesis may count toward the degree). For students pursuing the non-thesis option, all 30 credits must be earned in courses.
Students pursuing the thesis option must complete at least 15 credits of graduate level CVE course work. Students pursuing the non-thesis option must complete at least 21 credits of graduate-level CVE coursework.
A maximum of nine credits of course work may be taken outside of the department with advisor approval.
A maximum of six credit hours of course work may consist of approved 400-level courses taken outside of the department.
Course work may include a maximum of nine credits of graduate-level course work taken at other institutions.
A maximum of six credits of Special Topics may be used for the master’s degree.
Each student must elect a specialization from among Environmental; Structures and Foundations; Water Resources; and Transportation. For each specialization, the student must plan a program of study in consultation with an advisor assigned by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. After the student’s program of study has been designed, any changes or substitutions require advisor approval. In planning the program of study, courses to satisfy the course work requirement (a minimum of 15 or 21 CVE/EVE credits for thesis and nonthesis students, respectively) should be selected to emphasize courses for the student’s specialization.

Specializations

Structures and Foundations

Courses most suitable for students having elected the Structures and Foundations specialization are as follows:

Water Resources

Courses most suitable for students having elected the Water Resources specialization are as follows:

Transportation

Courses most suitable for students having elected the Transportation specialization are as follows:

Environmental

Courses required for students having elected the Environmental specialization are as follows:

Exit Requirements

Thesis students must submit a thesis to their graduate committee, following the Thesis and Dissertation Format Guidelines, available on the College of Graduate Studies web page: http://www.csuohio.edu/gradcollege/students/thesis/

In order to graduate, each student’s thesis must be accepted by the graduate committee and pass an oral defense of the thesis.

Non-thesis students must complete the course requirements.