Some EE Department Policies that Students Should be Aware of
University Policies
Students in the Cal Poly Electrical Engineering Department must comply with all university requirements as stated in the Cal Poly Catalog by the Academic Programs Office. These policies specify certain rights and responsibilities of the students that are consistent with, but more general than Department polices.
Following is a partial list of polices of the EE department that students should especially be aware of to assure academic success and completion of the program in four years.
Student Progress and Class Level
Completion of a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering at Cal Poly requires completion of courses in the major field (EE) as well as specified engineering support, technical elective, and general education and breath courses. Complete course work requirements are listed online.
Students are strongly encouraged to take courses in the quarters specified in the EE Major Flowchart, available from the EE office or online at the Advising Center Website. EE course offerings and the number of students to be accommodated follow this flowchart. Course offerings planned for the current academic year are online on our Academic Information page. In some cases, a single section of a required course may be offered in a different quarter (usually following the designated quarter), but priority access will be given to transfer students entering Cal Poly in the given year and returning Coop students. Regular matriculating students will be accommodated on a space available basis. If a student enrolls in and passes courses according to the flowchart, every effort will be made by the Department to assure that the student is accommodated in every required course to allow graduation in four years.
Class level (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior) is determined by student progress through the program as defined by the flowchart, NOT by the number of years a student has attended Cal Poly. Students failing to complete all major area courses specified in the flowchart for a given class level will remain at that class level until the courses are completed.
Course Prerequisites
Prerequisites are specified for most courses. These may consist of specific courses or their equivalents from other institutions, some with a minimum grade requirement, specific topical material, or class level. Prerequisites are specified in the University Catalog, Electrical Engineering Section and in each course syllabus. The importance of prerequisites extends beyond adequate student preparation for the course: it is critical to accreditation of the EE program by ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology Programs, accredited under the Engineering Accreditation Commission, 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012 – telephone: (410) 347-7700), administered by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers).
Students are cautioned to plan the sequence of their academic courses to ensure that prerequisites have been met for each subsequent course. This will be assured if students enroll in and pass courses in accordance with the EE major flowchart. If students deviate from the flow chart, prerequisite requirements may extend the time to graduation. Since required EE courses are only guaranteed to be offered once a year, in the quarter specified on the flowchart, the delay may be as long as a year.
The Electrical Engineering Department complies with University policy, and enforces all course prerequisites. Students will not be permitted to register for a course if their academic records do not show completion of the required prerequisite courses at the required grade level (if specified). Only under special circumstances will a student be permitted to take a course without having fulfilled the stated prerequisites. An appeal must be based upon academic merit. Justification must be provided via email by the course instructor to the Department Chair stating that in their professional judgment, the student has met the prerequisite topical requirements for the course. For students starting in or after Fall Quarter 2007, prerequisites will be strictly enforced.
Academic Advising
Students are strongly encouraged to use the extensive advisory resources available to them. There are two primary sources of advising for EE students:
The College of Engineering Advising Center is available on a walk-in basis 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM in Building 40, Room 115. The Engineering Advising Center assists undergraduate students with academic questions or concerns, tracks the academic and administrative progress of each student, and administers academic or administrative probation or disqualification procedures.
Every undergraduate EE student is also assigned a faculty advisor, initially based upon the first letter of the student’s last name. New students are encouraged to meet with this advisor at least once, but are free to select any faculty member to serve as their advisor. The role of the faculty advisor is to provide guidance on course content, technical elective selection, career or graduate school preparation and general mentoring. The faculty advisor serves as the primary link between the EE department and the student. The faculty advisor also serves as the student’s representative in matters requiring the attention of the EE Department Chair or the entire EE faculty. Student concerns or questions within the scope of the EE program should usually be discussed first with the faculty advisor.
Technical Electives
As part of the BSEE program of study, the student is required to select 12 units of approved technical electives including a minimum of two EE senior design laboratories and two EE senior design lectures. In general, these may be any senior (400-level) or graduate (500-level) non-core EE or CPE courses and a limited number of senior-level courses outside the major with approval of the Dept. Chair. A suggested list of acceptable senior-level technical electives is available online. In the junior year, the student is required to complete a Technical Elective Form available from the EE Department office with the assistance of their faculty advisor. The objective is to provide a cohesive group of courses that supports the student’s specialization interests. Upon approval by the advisor and prior to the senior year, the student must submit this form to the Department office. The student then completes the selected coursework during the senior year (or during the senior and graduate years if the student participates in the BS-MSEE Honors program described below).
Senior Project
The Senior Project is one of the cornerstones of a polytechnic education and has always been a hallmark of the Cal Poly experience. All Cal Poly EE students must complete a two-quarter senior project, EE 463 and EE 464. All students are required to complete EE 460 prior to beginning work on senior project. Generally, this sequence is completed in the senior year. EE 460 has a number of prerequisites that require the student to have completed almost all of the EE core courses prior to starting senior project. During EE 460, a senior project proposal is developed and approved by a faculty senior project advisor selected by the student. The senior project and academic advisors can be two different faculty members.
A senior project cannot be entirely comprised of previously completed work – the project must be approved and supervised by an EE faculty member, executed and completed during the quarters in which EE 463 and 464 are taken. A senior project may be part of a team effort, but the student must identify their contributions in the report to allow individual grading.
In special cases, senior project work may be completed under the direct supervision of a company supervisor acting as a proxy for the faculty advisor, if all other requirements are met. It is therefore possible to complete a senior project concurrently with a coop assignment occurring between the junior and senior years.
Only in a limited number of special cases will a student be permitted to take both quarters of senior project concurrently. The senior project adviser will assess the ability and circumstances to assure that the student can realistically complete all requirements of the senior project in a single quarter.
Co-operative Education (Co-op)
The Co-op experience is considered by many employers as a significant enhancement to the value of a BSEE degree. Beginning in the sophomore year, a student may take a 1-4 quarter sequence under course number EE 495 for credit while employed by a qualifying employer. The co-op must be arranged in advance through the Cal Poly Cooperative Education Office. Not all employers or assignments qualify – all employers participating in the co-op program complete a contract with Cal Poly in which the company commits to providing an educational experience for the student, under the joint supervision of the employer and a Cal Poly faculty member (usually the Dept. Chair). The EE department enforces this arrangement and will intervene if the employer fails to provide a qualifying educational experience.
Students should be cautioned that electing a co-op experience will extend the time to graduation. EE 495 is considered “free elective” credit and does not help the student make progress toward graduation. However, the EE Department allows concurrent enrollment in up to 4 units of EE 400 “Special Problems for Advanced Undergraduates” which is acceptable for Technical Elective Credit. In this case, the requirements of EE 400 are met by completion of the co-op assignment and submission of a single report for both EE 400 and EE 495. Also, if all prerequisite requirements for senior project have been met, a student may arrange to complete senior project while on co-op by enrolling in EE 463 and 464 concurrently with EE 495 (additional information above).
Blended (4+1) Masters Degree Honors Program
Students with a Cal Poly cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 in the junior year are invited to participate in the 4+1 program that permits completion of the BSEE and MSEE degrees in five years. A key feature of this program is the use of Masters Thesis research to concurrently meet senior project requirements. This program also allows students more flexibility in selecting desired technical electives, some of which may not be offered every year. For more information, please see our Honors Program Page.