Navigating the Program

The following steps must be followed to ensure the completing of the MSCE program using any of the culminating activities:

1. Choosing a topic
2. Supervisory committee>
3. Proposal
4. Admission to candidacy
5. Culminating document

The following sections provide additional details for each of these steps. Students can reach out to the graduate coordinator or their advisor with any questions/clarifications.

Choosing a topic

Usually students are in contact with their major advisor before entering the program. In case a student has not decided on their major advisor it is recommended that they do so in their first semester with help from the graduate coordinator. There are multiple faculty members to choose from within each of the focus areas of MSCE. Once the student chooses a major advisor, they should work with their advisor to decide on a topic they would like to work on. Please make sure to choose a topic you are most comfortable with as this will occupy the next few semesters of your life!

Supervisory Committee

The committee consists of your Major Advisor, who serves as committee chair, plus at least two, but no more than four, additional members. The Major Advisor is your primary mentor and must be a member of the graduate faculty within the CE program. The CE program includes graduate faculty from the Civil Engineering Department and participating faculty from Mathematics, Biology, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, along with appointed graduate faculty outside the university. At least two members of the committee must be from the CE program.

You should form a committee through consultation with your Major Advisor and submit an Appointment of Supervisory Committee form to the Graduate College (with a copy to the Graduate Coordinator) once research toward your thesis has commenced. A change in the membership of the supervisory committee can be made after the initial appointment by submitting an updated Appointment of Supervisory Committee form. This should happen in your second semester of the program.

 

Although you will interact with members of your Supervisory Committee individually and informally on a daily or weekly, or monthly basis in classes or working on your research, the entire Supervisory Committee should formally meet with you at least once each semester to receive a progress report, provide feedback, and discuss plans. You or your committee may invite external members to observe and offer input to the research direction and methods. It is your responsibility to schedule these meetings annually.

Proposal

Once the topic has been selected, the student shall conduct a thorough literature search on the subject.  The first step in this process is to develop a bibliography. All key references from professional literature on this topic should be included.  For narrow topics, the bibliography shall be as complete as possible. For broader topics, the noteworthy references shall be included. The advisor and the committee members can assist in defining the kinds of references that might be appropriate for the selected topic. Upon completing the literature review, the student should begin preparing the Proposal.  The purpose of this proposal is to describe the objectives and methodology of the proposed work, and the final deliverables. The student should be in close communication with the advisor while developing the proposal so that both will have a common vision of the scope and expectations. This proposal (one to two pages) shall comply with the following format:

1. Introduction and problem statement
2. Objectives
3. Proposed investigation
4. Timeline

The student shall submit a draft proposal to the advisor and the committee. The advisor is primarily responsible for reviewing and approving the proposal and advises the student of any changes that need to be made. The student shall finalize and circulate the proposal among the committee and the advisor for signature, then submit the signed copy to the Graduate Coordinator.

Proposal Defense

The student will then schedule an oral proposal presentation to the student’s advisory committee, which is also open to the public. After the supervisory committee is set up, students can pick a date for their proposal defense. It is recommended that students complete this step in their second semester at Boise State.

 

Admission to Candidacy

After completion of the core coursework and approval of the Supervisory Committee, students can be admitted to Candidacy. The Application for Admission to Candidacy is submitted through the Graduate College. Once approved, a student becomes a master’s candidate. This must be completed by the term before the final oral exam and intended graduation.

Culminating Document

The thesis, project, or portfolio must culminate in a formal written report. The report shall be prepared following the guidelines outlined by the graduate college.

Thesis Option

Two options are available for students choosing a thesis option to prepare the culminating document and showcase their research: (i) a traditional M.S. thesis or (ii) a manuscript-based M.S. thesis. A traditional thesis is a comprehensive collection of your research effort typically comprised of five chapters: (i) Introduction, (ii) Background Information, (iii) Experimental Methods, (iv) Results and Discussion, and (v) Conclusion. The manuscript-based thesis enables students who, as the first author, have prepared one or more peer-reviewed publications as part of their research to present and defend a thesis comprised of the publication(s). The Major Advisor will guide the student toward either the traditional M.S. thesis or the manuscript-based thesis. For a manuscript-based thesis, the manuscript(s) (at least one high-quality journal publication) must, at a minimum, be submitted before graduation. Additional information about the thesis can be found on the graduate student success center website.

Project option

Students choosing this option will submit a project report describing the problem they addressed and the solution(s) they analyzed.  The project report is similar in anatomy to a conventional thesis that presents the work performed by the student.

Portfolio Option

Students under this choice of culminating experience will produce a final report summarizing the different case studies/histories analyzed by the student. The formatting requirements for each of the case studies/histories are similar to that of a project.

Final Defense

Graduate students must be enrolled during the semester they graduate. All MS students (Thesis, project, and portfolio) must orally defend their work before the advisor and the entire committee and should consult with the advisor to become familiar with the format and expectations. The student is responsible for scheduling the oral defense at a time agreeable to the committee. A 90-minute session should be scheduled. The student shall work with the civil engineering administrative support coordinator to locate a room and arrange for any necessary audio-visual equipment.  If all of the committee members are not present, the defense will need to be rescheduled. The presentation part of the oral defense is open to the public. Once the student completes the presentation, the audience is given a chance to ask questions, after which the audience members will be asked to leave the room, and committee members will resume the Q&A session. The oral defense must be completed by the graduate college’s deadlines for the semester in which the student plans to graduate. Students must keep track of these deadlines.

 

Program Timeline

The M.S. program is expected to take between 2 and 3 years, but this can vary based on student background, research project, and other variables. An example timeline for a two-year program is described below. All program requirements must be started and completed within a single continuous interval of at most seven years.

 

Semester	Milestones
1st semester	Take coursework (at least one core course), and conduct research.
2nd semester	Continue course work, identify supervisory committee, proposal defense, conduct research
3rd semester	Complete course work, conduct research
4th semester	Complete and defend written thesis/project/portfolio, complete research, and publish.

Table 1 Geotechnical/Geoenvironmental Focus Area

Course	Credits
Required Core Courses CE 567 Advanced Soil Mechanics CE 568 Rock Mechanics and Engineering CE 502 Computational Methods	9
Elective Courses (Civil Engineering) CE 560 Geotechnical Engineering Design I CE 562 Geotechnical Engineering Design II CE 566 Ground Improvement Design CE 597 Geoenvironmental Engineering CE 540 Pavement Design and Evaluation CE 552 Structural Steel Design CE 550 Reinforced Concrete Design CE 542 Microstructural properties of concrete	9-15
Elective Courses (Non-Civil Engineering) GEOPH 610 Geophysical Methods for Geotechnical Engineers GEOS 551 Principles of Soil Science BIOL 515 Applied and Environmental Microbiology GEOG 560 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems GEO 522 Data Analysis and Geostat. MATH 527 Introduction to Applied Mathematics for Scientists and Engineers ME 510 Continuum Mechanics ME 570 Finite Element Methods	0-6
Culminating Activity: Thesis (CE 593 Research) Culminating Activity: Project (CE 592 Research) Culminating Activity: Portfolio of Case Studies/Histories (CE 591 Research)	6 3 3
Total	30

Table 2 Sustainable Infrastructure and Materials Focus Area

Course	Credits
Required Core Courses CE 542 Microstructural Properties of Concrete CE 540 Pavement Design and Evaluation CE 502 Computational Methods	9
Elective Courses (Civil Engineering) CE 597 Infrastructure Condition Assessment CE 566 Ground Improvement Design CE 552 Structural Steel Design CE 550 Reinforced Concrete Design CE 597 Geoenvironmental Engineering>	9-15
Elective Courses (Non-Civil Engineering) CS 533 Introduction to Data Science CS 534 Machine Science MATH 527 Introduction to Applied Mathematics for Scientists and Engineers ME 570 Finite Element Methods ME 510 Continuum Mechanics GEOG 560 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems GEO 522 Data Analysis and Geostat.	0-6
Culminating Activity: Thesis (CE 593 Research) Culminating Activity: Project (CE 592 Research) Culminating Activity: Portfolio of Case Studies/Histories (CE 591 Research)	6 3 3
Total	30

Table 3 Transportation Systems Focus Area

Course	Credits
Required Core Courses CE 575 Traffic Systems Design CE 572 Transportation Planning MATH 571 Data Analysis	9
Elective Courses (Civil Engineering) CE 570 Highway Systems Design CE 502 Computational Methods CE 597 Infrastructure Condition Assessment	9-15
Elective Courses (Non-Civil Engineering) GEOG 560 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems GEOG 562 Geographic Information Analysis MATH 556 Linear Programming MATH 572 Computational Statistics MATH 573 Time Series Analysis MATH 574 Linear Models CS 533 Introduction to Data Science CS 534 Machine Learning	0-6
Culminating Activity: Thesis (CE 593 Research) Culminating Activity: Project (CE 592 Research) Culminating Activity: Portfolio of Case Studies/Histories (CE 591 Research)	6 3 3
Total	30

Table 4 Water/Environmental Focus Area

Course	Credits
Required Core Courses CE 525 Wastewater Treatment Design CE 512 Hydrogeology CE 502 Computational Methods	9
Elective Courses (Civil Engineering) CE 520 Environmental Process Chemistry CE 597 Contaminant Fate and Transport / CE 633 Contaminant Hydrogeology CE 524 Water Treatment Design CE 523 Air Pollution Engineering CE 597 Geoenvironmental Engineering CE 597 Environmental Transport and Ecohydrology	9-15
Elective Courses (Non-Civil Engineering) GEOS 518 Modeling Earth and Environmental Systems GEOG 560 Introduction to GIS GEOS 505 Research Computing in the Earth and Environmental Sciences GEOS 526 Aqueous Geochemistry CE 535 (U of I) – Fluvial Geomorphology	0-6
Culminating Activity: Thesis (CE 593 Research) Culminating Activity: Project (CE 592 Research) Culminating Activity: Portfolio of Case Studies/Histories (CE 591 Research)	6 3 3
Total	30