Advising and General Information

ADVISING AND GENERAL INFORMATION

CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING ADVISORS

All students majoring in civil and environmental engineering will have an assigned faculty member as their academic advisor.  Students are assigned an advisor at the beginning of their first year or when transferring into the program.

Students meet with their advisors during the pre-registration process each semester.  The student and advisor plan the next semester’s program with the required program of courses in mind.   The pre-registration sheet must be signed by your advisor before you are allowed to enroll in courses.  If your advisor is out of town or otherwise unavailable, you can always consult with the department chair.

Pre-registration for the Spring 2013 Semester is tentatively scheduled for October 22 through November 16, check your MaineStreet account.  Just prior to the pre-registration period, new “Directory of Classes” will be available to you on-line.  You can schedule a meeting with your advisor, work out your schedule, and submit your wish list in MaineStreet.  You will be scheduled a block of time in which you can register for the classes in your “wish list”.

GRADING POLICIES

Letter grades on a scale of A to F are given by faculty at the university.  Civil engineering faculty may assign whole letter grades or may grant plus and minus grades.  If you are in doubt as to the grading procedure used in any course, check with the instructor.

Passing grades:

A = excellent
B = good
C = satisfactory
D = low level passing

Failing grades:

F = failed
L = stopped attending after 10 weeks (Note: same as F)

Non-credit grades:

W = dropped without penalty
H = an audited class

Incomplete grades:

I = course work incomplete (form required).  A grade of incomplete must be made up at the discretion of the instructor.  However, this action must be taken no later than one calendar year from the end of the semester in which the student was registered for the work.  At that time an incomplete grade will automatically change to an F.  Thus, it is the student’s responsibility to ensure that any incomplete work has been made up within this time frame and a grade change form has been submitted by the instructor.

Academic Standards

In addition to meeting all University academic requirements, a civil and environmental engineering student must maintain a 2.0 GPA overall, and a 2.0 GPA in the major.

Courses numbered 500-599 are graduate courses that may only be taken by under-graduates with a cumulative GPA greater than or equal to 3.0 who have permission from their academic advisor.

PASS/FAIL COURSES

Civil and environmental engineering students cannot take courses on a “Pass/Fail” basis and earn credit toward their degrees. The only exception is CIE 100 and 394 and courses that are not applied toward graduation.  In other words, courses beyond the 129 credit hours required for graduation can be taken “Pass/Fail”.  Students should also be aware that any courses taken for post-baccalaureate credit, e.g., MS degree, cannot be taken “Pass/Fail”

COURSE SUBSTITUTIONS

With the exception of students transferring from other universities or programs, substitutions are generally allowed only under exceptional circumstances.  Even then, the course substituted must be highly similar to the normally required course and be at a higher academic level.  For substitutions to be allowed, they must be approved in advance by the Bill Davids, Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

TRANSFER STUDENTS

Candidates who desire to transfer to the Civil and Environmental Engineering Program from another university or college of recognized standing must file an application with the University of Maine Admissions Office.  If your academic performance at another institution has been satisfactory and you meet the minimum requirements for entrance into the College of Engineering, there is typically little difficulty in admitting you into the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.  Students wanting to transfer into the Department from another program at the University of Maine need to meet with the Department Chair to discuss their eligibility.

The evaluation of transcripts of prior academic work is done through the College of Engineering Dean’s Office.  Evaluations are completed only after the candidate has been approved for admissions to the University and full final transcripts from other institutions have been received.  The Dean’s Office makes every attempt to give reasonable credit for work performed at other academic institutions.

POLICY ON SELECTED STUDIES COURSES

Registration for a selected studies course (CIE 498) requires approval of the Department Chair.

1. The student should select and meet with the proposed instructor to develop the content and requirements for the selected topic.

2. The student must submit to the Department Chair a request for approval of the course.  The request should be signed by the proposed instructor and student.  The request should include:

  • Topic or topics to be studied
  • Goals of course
  • Relationship of course to student’s education and career goals
  • Hours of credit to be awarded
  • Resources available
  • Outline of proposed work
  • Type and timing of reports or examinations.

(Request should be submitted before the beginning of the normal registration period.)

3. The department chair either schedules the CIE 498 course with an appropriate title and registers student or denies the request.

4.  The advising faculty member may appeal the chair’s decision to the Curriculum Committee.

COOPERATIVE EDUCATION/FIELD EXPERIENCE

Thomas Sandford is the Department’s Cooperative Education coordinator.  This program provides paid full-time work experiences related to your career objectives. The Career Center at the Memorial Union maintains a list of co-op employers who are interested in hiring civil engineering students.  In addition, you may obtain a job with a qualified firm not on the list and request the firm to register with the campus co-op office.  Also, regularly check the Civil Engineering bulletin board on the First Class system for additional job posts.

Students can receive up to three credits of academic course work for the work experience.  Students must be registered for CIE 394 while participating in the work experience.  A learning plan and description of the anticipated work experience must be submitted to Professor Sandford within two weeks of beginning of your co-op experience.  A form is available for this purpose, which must be filled out by you in conjunction with your co-op employer.  You are expected to keep a weekly log of the tasks you carry out while on the job.  Before receiving academic credit for the work experience, you must submit a three to five page report summarizing the experience and detailing both positive and negative aspects of the experience.  The weekly log, detailing progress in meeting your objectives, must be attached to your final report.    Employers may specify additional requirements for your participation in a co-op experience with them.  Conceivably a student may work at a co-op job only in the summers after their sophomore or junior years and meet the minimum requirements for the co-op program.  This arrangement would not extend your time in college.  However, most employers want you to spend at least one extended period with their company prior to graduation.

Credits in CIE 394 count only as technical elective credits.  Those who participate in such programs say the rewards far outweigh the drawbacks.  The co-op program also provides a relevant means for aiding many students in paying for their college expenses.

EXCHANGE PROGRAMS FOR CIVIL ENGINEERING STUDENTS

International Student Exchange Program

To encourage student exchanges with Canada, students may attend one of the Canadian programs while paying only in-state tuition at the University of Maine.  In addition, several tuition waiver grants are available such that students receiving them pay no tuition while they are attending the Canadian University.  Because the courses at Laval University are presented in French, you must necessarily have a working grasp of the language prior to attending this institution.  Most students apply during the sophomore year and attend the exchange university during their junior year for one or two semesters.  Details on the exchange program with Canada and financial aid may be obtained from: The Canadian-American Center, 154 College Avenue, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, telephone (207) 581-4220.

Other opportunities for international study may be explored at the Office of International Programs in Winslow Hall.    Over the past few years, some of our students have spent a year abroad in such places as Ireland and Budapest.  Their telephone number is (207) 581-2905.