MechSE Advising Manual(last updated 10/26/2018)

Introduction
The purposes of faculty advising of students are to provide the students with career advice and tohelp the students tailor their coursework and experience (internships, research, study abroad,student societies, etc.) to achieve their academic and professional goals. If you make good useof your advising sessions your advisor will be an excellent potential source for letters ofrecommendations for jobs, graduate school, fellowships, and scholarships.
We have listed below topics that commonly arise, in order to reduce the time you spend withyour advisor on curriculum requirements and procedural questions.
If you have additional curriculum requirement and procedural questions that are not addressed by
the information below, please refer to the MechSE Undergraduate Programs Office in 154 MEB
or by email at mechse-ug-advise@illinois.edu.

Add/Drop/Withdraw Courses
Adding/Dropping
Students may modify their schedules independently on UI-Integrate during the first ten days ofthe semester. After the first ten days of instruction, undergraduate students must go to the College
of Engineering web portal to request any type of schedule change, including adding, dropping,changing sections, or changing credit hours for a course. For information regarding the procedureand timeline, respectively, for dropping a course please visit the following:https://wiki.illinois.edu/wiki/display/ugadvise/Course+Registration
https://registrar.illinois.edu/academic-calendars/
All schedule change requests that are restricted, such as dropping a required course or adding acourse late, will require approval—the web portal will prepare a form with instructions for thetype of approval needed: https://wiki.illinois.edu/wiki/display/ugadvise/Course+Registration#CourseRegistration-AddorDropCourses. Schedule changes that are not restricted
will be automatically processed within a few days of the date the requested change was made.
Hand written changes to the form are not accepted by the college.

Undergraduate students must have approval from the MechSE Department and a College ofEngineering Assistant Dean to do either of the following: (i) drop below 12 credit hours, or (ii)register for more than 18 credit hours.
A student must obtain MechSE approval to drop an ME or TAM course listed by number on the
curriculum flow sheet after the first ten days of instruction. Only one such drop is permitted
during the student’s undergraduate program.
Withdrawing
Students may only withdraw from a course with proof of extenuating circumstances beyond theircontrol that have severely affected their academic performance. For more information on
withdrawing from courses visit:https://wiki.illinois.edu/wiki/pages/viewpage.action?
pageId=680722808#IncompleteGrades,Withdrawals,andReadmission/ResumingStudiesWithdrawal

Auditing a Course
No credit is given for auditing a course. Auditing courses is typically only done by graduate
students. For more information, please visit:https://wiki.illinois.edu/wiki/display/ugadvise/Course+Registration#CourseRegistrationAuditaCourse

Campus Foreign Language Requirements
All students must complete either three years of a single foreign language in high school or athird semester of a language at the college level—for example, SPAN 103 or
GER 103. International students whose native language is not English may petition to take aproficiency exam in their native language to satisfy this requirement.
Students who have not already met the foreign language requirement should be directed to 206
Engineering Hall for assistance.
https://wiki.illinois.edu/wiki/display/ugadvise/Degree+Requirements#DegreeRequirementsLanguageRequirements

Counseling center
The Counseling Center is committed to providing a range of services intended to help students
develop improved coping skills in order to address emotional, interpersonal, and academic
concerns. The Counseling Center provides individual, couples, and group counseling. All of these
services are paid for through the health services fee. The Counseling Center offers primarily shortterm counseling, but we do provide referrals to the community when students could benefit fromlonger term services.
http://www.counselingcenter.illinois.edu/

A counselor from the Counseling Center is also available for consultations at Engineering Hall
206. Students will have the opportunity to meet with a counselor to talk about issues that may beaffecting their academic, social or emotional functioning, such as procrastination, depression,
relationships and anxiety. To schedule an appointment, stop by EH 206 or call 217-333-2280.

Credit / No Credit (CR/NC) Grading Option
The only courses that engineering students may take CR/NC and apply towards a degree are theFree Electives, the Liberal Education (not General Education) electives, and approved study
abroad courses. In ME, the required Economics course must be taken for a grade. The CR/NC
option, if allowed, also requires:
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that the student be on clear status (not probation), andthat the student elect the CR/NC option on or before the last day to drop a course.
Other restrictions also apply:
A full-time student may take a maximum of two courses each semester CR/NC. A parttime student may take one course each semester CR/NC. During the summer session, a
student may take only one course CR/NC.
To remain eligible for the Dean’s List, students must be registered for at least 14 hours ofgraded course work.

Students who wish to take a course CR/NC should fill out a form for this purpose, available in
154 MEB, obtain the approval of the MechSE Academic Advisor or Chief Advisor, and take theform to 206 Engineering Hall. Complete regulations governing the CR/NC grading option arefound in the Code of Policies and Regulations Applying to All Students:
http://www.admin.illinois.edu/policy/code/.

Curriculum Modification
Students may petition that an alternate course fulfill the requirement of a required course in theircurriculum by using a Curriculum Modification form found in the MechSE Undergraduate
Programs Office, 154 MEB.

Emergency Dean (217-333-0050)
The Emergency Dean provides information and follow-up services to students and families in an
emergency situation. Also, the Emergency Dean acts as a resource to community and University
law enforcement agencies, hospitals and crisis centers.
The Emergency Dean can send a letter for extended absences due to an illness, accident orfamily crisis. However, the faculty has authority and responsibility for excusing students fromclass, accepting late assignments and giving make-up tests.
http://odos.illinois.edu/community-of-care/emergency-dean/Free Electives—Restrictions••

Kinesiology: A maximum of 3 hours of basic kinesiology courses (skill courses)
Religious foundations: A maximum of 4 hours

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Remedial courses: No credit—for example, math courses below MATH 220(MATH 112, MATH 114, etc.); CHEM 101; PHYS 100
Duplicate courses: No credit—for example, for MATH 225 if MATH 415 is taken
Military science courses: No restriction
Foreign language: only if a language placement examination has been taken and thecollege hours used do not duplicate more than the last two years of high school work.
Credit earned in the student’s native language is not allowed.

For additional information on free electives see the following link: https://wiki.illinois.edu/wiki/
display/ugadvise/Degree+Requirements#DegreeRequirements-FreeElectives

General Education Requirements / Liberal Education Electives
The College of Engineering requires all students to complete 18 hours of Liberal Education
Electives. Of the 18 hours, 6 hours of humanities and the arts and 6 hours of social andbehavioral science are required. At least one Western cultures course and one non-Westerncultures course must be completed. Also, Mechanical Engineering students (only) are required
to take ECON 102 or ECON 103.
By judicious selection, courses can be picked that satisfy multiple requirements. For example,
ENGL 208 (3 hours) and ENGL 285 (3 hours) meet: (i) the campus General Education
requirement of 6 hours of humanities and arts; and (ii) the campus cultural studies requirement of
one Western cultures course (ENGL 208) and one non-Western cultures course (ENGL 285).

Grade Replacement
All undergraduate students on campus can repeat courses and use the new grade to replace thegrade earned in the first attempt. The policy places some limits on the course and hours that canbe replaced. Grade replacement may be requested for up to four distinct courses, totaling no
more than 10 credit hours.
You can find more information regarding grade replacement at the following links:
College of Engineering guidelines:
https://wiki.illinois.edu/wiki/display/ugadvise/Course+Registration#CourseRegistrationGradeReplacement
Student Code:
http://studentcode.illinois.edu/article3_part3_3-309.html

Graduate Credit for Undergraduates
Taking graduate courses for graduate credit
Undergraduate students may take graduate courses for graduate credit if they are within 14 hoursof graduation and have at least a 3.0 GPA. If a student meets these qualifications, then thestudent must receive written permission from the course instructor and the head of thedepartment offering the course. Once this is done, the student must receive a level override fromthe Undergraduate Programs Office, 154 MEB. This process must be completed before the tenthday of classes.
Early admission to UIUC graduate schoolStudents may apply for early admission to the UIUC Graduate College if they are within 5 hoursof graduation and have at least a 3.0 GPA. To do this, they must complete the Petition for Early
Admission to the Graduate College in addition to the usual graduate application for admission
required of all prospective graduate students. Students should be directed to the MechSE
Graduate Admissions Office, 162 MEB, for assistance.

Graduation
Students intending to graduate must declare their intent to graduate with the College ofEngineering. This is normally done at the same time you register for your final semester ofclasses through the student registration system. If you do not complete this step, your name will
not appear on the pending degree list, you will not receive information regarding the Graduation
Convocation Ceremony, and the date of your degree award and diploma will be delayed. See thefollowing link for more information:
http://engineering.illinois.edu/current-students/graduation

HonorsBronze Tablet
The Bronze Tablet is a recognition of continuous high academic achievement. The student's nameis inscribed on the Bronze Tablet, which hangs on a wall in the Main Library Building.
Undergraduate students must meet the following qualifications:
1. They must have a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade-point average for all work taken throughthe academic term before graduation (academic term before graduation means: for August
graduates, the preceding spring semester; for October graduates, the preceding summer
session; for May graduates, the preceding fall semester).
2. They must rank, on the basis of the cumulative grade-point average through the academic
term before graduation, in the top three percent of the students in their college graduatingclass. (College graduating class means all students receiving bachelor's degrees from thesame college between July 1 of each year and June 30 of the next.)
In addition to the above rules, transfer students must meet the following qualifications.
3. They must have cumulative University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign grade-point
averages as high as the lowest ones listed for students in their college who qualify on thebasis of having completed all of their work at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign.
4. They must earn 40 or more semester hours at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign through the academic term before graduation.
In recent semesters, the GPAs of Bronze Tablet recipients from the College of Engineering havebeen above a 3.93.
http://studentcode.illinois.edu/article3_part4_3-404.html

Campus Honors Program
Information about the Campus Honors Program can be viewed at
http://honors.illinois.edu/
Dean’s List
The Dean’s List is prepared each semester to honor undergraduate students who have achieved agrade point average in the top 20 percent of their college class. To be eligible for Dean's List
recognition, students must successfully complete at least 14 hours of course work in which
traditional letter grades are earned. Credits earned during the semester through proficiency,
CLEP, and advanced placement examinations are not counted toward the 14 semester hourrequirement.
http://studentcode.illinois.edu/article3_part4_3-401.html
James Scholar Program
The honors program in Engineering is part of the Illinois James Scholar program established torecognize and encourage the talents of academically outstanding students. Students in the
program are expected to perform at a superior level throughout their undergraduate careers:
students applying to become a James Scholar starting in Spring 2016 are expected to maintain a
3.5 GPA. Students already enrolled in the James Scholar program prior to Spring 2016 are
expected to maintain a 3.3 GPA, according to the previous agreement. They must also take one
course for “Honors” per academic year. Detailed James Scholar information and requirements
can be viewed at:
http://engineering.illinois.edu/academics/undergraduate/honors.html
Applications for admission are available at the front desk in 206 Engineering Hall and will be
accepted during the first two weeks of any Fall or Spring semester. Students can also apply at theJames Scholar portal:
https://my.engr.illinois.edu/james-scholar/
Freshman James Scholars
At least one honors activity is required during the freshman year. The following courses andactivities are recognized as freshman honors experiences:• Completion of an honors section of any course• Completion of a course with an honors credit learning agreement (HCLA) that indicates
additional work to be completed to receive honors credit. (MechSE honors credit options include
ME 170, ME 199 and/or TAM 251)

Upperclass James Scholars• Sophomores must: (1) complete the design of their honors contract; and (2) take one honors
course, OR complete an Honors Credit Learning Agreement for a regular course, OR complete atleast one course in their honors contract if the contract has already been filed.
• Juniors and seniors must take at least one course per academic year from their honors contract.
• An honors contract must be comprised of a minimum of 12 credit hours and must showcoherence, focus, and purpose. Minors and dual degrees can be used to fulfill an honors contract.

Help in making a class schedule
The following page may be helpful to you in generating you class schedule:
http://illinois.edu/students/

The MechSE Innovation Trophy Competition
The Innoventor Trophy Competition is a phased competition, designed to let students pursue an
original idea that has significant mechanical engineering content, addresses a societal need andhas potential for commercialization. Selected projects satisfy the ME 470 Senior Design
requirement and are supplemented with a project budget. The final winning team receives anadditional cash award with the ultimate goal being to form a startup company or commercialize
the idea in some other manner, such as licensing or selling it to another company. For additional
information, students can stop by 154 MEB or email mechse-ug-advise@illinois.edu.

Internships/Coops/CPT/Engineering Career Services
We encourage students to pursue the following activities as they give students an opportunity tosynthesize and practice what they have learned in the classroom in the real world and help
students obtain full time employment:••••Internships (work with a company over the summer or a semester)
Co-ops (work with a company for two or more semesters)
Curricular Practical Training (CPT- option for domestic and international students toobtain work experience and course credit)
This also provides students the opportunity to explore employment options before
graduation. Students should contact/register with Engineering Career Services (ECS) to
pursue these opportunities:
http://engineering.illinois.edu/current-students/career-services

Typically for coops and internships you should work with ECS and register for a course,
depending on your Program of choice (see table below)
Program
Summer internship1
Fall or Springinternship1

Domestic
No need forenrollment

International2
ENG 310 (0 hours)

ENG 310 (0 hours) 3 ENG 310 (0 hours)

Students can also choose to enroll in ENG 451 (2 hours) during the Summer, which is a course
offered online.

2

For more information regarding the CPT process, please refer to the ISSS website at:

http://www.isss.illinois.edu/students/employment/f1cpt.html
3

Domestic students are not required to register for ENG 310 during Fall or Springsemesters. However, in order to maintain full-time student status with the University of Illinois
for the purposes of deferring loan repayment, maintaining insurance discounts, retaining timeticket for class registration for the returning semester, and access to EWS, students are strongly
encouraged to sign up for ENG 310. Students that are planning to not register in ENG 310 needto contact the College of Engineering (217-333-2280 or engineering@illinois.edu) and apply forre-entry in the following semester.
http://ecs.engineering.illinois.edu/careers-for-your-major/internships-co-ops/
In addition, attending employment fairs on campus held in the spring and the fall semesters aregood opportunities for students connect with companies to pursue these opportunities. ECS canprovide the dates of these employment fairs.

Laptop/software recommendations
Memory:4G or higher
Operating System
Windows 7 64 bit SP1 or better
Mac OS X 10.7 or better** with Windows also installed**Some engineering software will require Windows. You can run it undera Windows on a Mac, but performance will take a hit. It is alsoavailable in the Engineering Workstation Labs
Processor: i5 or better
Software:Microsoft Office, others depending on your courses. Purchase from webstore.illinois.edu for a
student price.
Pro/E (used for ME classes). This is available for free from webstore.illinois.edu.
Monitor:
1280x1024 or higher.
If you have too low a resolution or too small a monitor on a laptop, you may end up needing an
external monitor for some programs or using the lab.

MinorsStudents are encouraged to pursue a minor in a field of their interest. To obtain a minor, astudent must complete at least 6 credit hours towards the minor in addition to the minimum credit
hours required for the major. Information about minors can be found at:https://provost.illinois.edu/educational-innovation/advising-resources/pursuing-undergraduateminor/

Probation Rules
The 2.25 GPA Rule
To qualify for registration in the ME or TAM courses shown in the third (junior) year of thecurriculum in either EM or ME, a student must have completed, with a combined GPA of atleast 2.25, the courses indicated on the “2.25 GPA” column of the curriculum pages of theEngineering Mechanics or Mechanical Engineering flowsheet:• EM flowsheet: https://mechanical.illinois.edu/sites/default/files/PDFs/2018-04-05EM_flowsheet.pdf• ME flowsheet: https://mechanical.illinois.edu/sites/default/files/
PDFs/2018-04-05_ME_flowsheet.pdf
Students who fail to meet the 2.25 GPA Rule requirement will have to repeat strategic courses inorder to raise their grades.
Technical Grade-Point Average (TGPA)
To remain in good academic standing and to graduate from the EM or ME curriculum, a student
must have a GPA of at least 2.00 in curriculum-specific courses under the “TGPA Requirements
for Graduation” column:
https://wiki.illinois.edu/wiki/display/ugadvise/Degree+Requirements#DegreeRequirementsTechnicalGPARequirement
Students who have completed 6 or more hours of courses in the TGPA subset with a TGPA
below 2.00 will be placed on probation. If the probation level is not met the following semester,
the student may be dropped from the respective curriculum.
UIUC GPA Rule
To remain in good academic standing and graduate from the University of Illinois, all students
must have a cumulative UIUC GPA greater than 2.0. The grades in transfer courses do notcontribute to the UIUC GPA.
For more information see
https://wiki.illinois.edu/wiki/display/ugadvise/Probation+and+Drop
Minimum Grade Requirement for Individual Course
The minimum grade requirement to pass an individual class in the Engineering Mechanics andMechanical Engineering curriculum is a grade of D- (0.67/4.0 scale).

Research
Participating as an undergraduate research assistant with a professor or graduate
student can be a very rewarding educational experience. It allows students to
explore topics in which they are interested to greater depth than is possible in aclassroom setting, and can lead to an interest in graduate school. UG Research
Assistants typically dedicate 5-15 hours per week on their research activities.

Types of researcher positions:• Volunteer• Course credit• PaidNote that students cannot receive course credit and get paid during the same semester.
Course credit option:• Students need to pick up MechSE Independent Study Approval Form in 154 MEB• Students and advisors must read and sign complete form
• 1-3 credit hours per semester• Suggested number of hours: 1 credit hour = ~ 5 hours per week on project• ME 297:o Free elective credit only.
o Limit of 6 credit hours of graded coursework.
• ME 497/TAM 497:
o Limited to juniors and seniors.
o Project activity must be at 400-level course.
o MechSE elective credit.
o For ME majors, only 3 credit hours can be used to satisfy MechSE/Technicalelective requirement• Must submit graded report to UPO at end of the semester. Quality and quantity of thereport should be commensurate with faculty-student expectations for the registeredcourse level and number of credit hours.
There are often opportunities in the summer, as well as during the fall and spring semesters.
Students are encouraged to contact professors directly to inquire if they have any undergraduate
research positions available. Often faculty are seeking students who show initiative and interestin their research. Please feel free to use the MechSE faculty e-mail directory to contact
professors. It is best to make an appointment with them to discuss their research and to see ifthey have any openings. The Society for Experimental Mechanics in conjunction with the
MechSE Undergraduate programs office offers and announces an Undergraduate Research
Symposium every Fall semester. Students interested in undergraduate research are encouraged
to attend.
The College of Engineering also offers the two-semester Illinois Scholars Undergraduate
Research (ISUR) Program for US citizens and permanent residents.
http://engineering.illinois.edu/research/undergraduate/college_programs.html

Residency Requirements
Students must comply with the following residency requirements for graduation:
https://wiki.illinois.edu/wiki/display/ugadvise/Degree+Requirements#DegreeRequirementsResidencyRequirements

Scholarships/Awards
The Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering offers a variety of scholarships andawards to eligible students. These scholarships and awards are internally selected by a
departmental committee and students cannot apply for them.

Study Abroad
Students are encouraged to study abroad. It is easier to study abroad early in the student’s
academic program, because the selection of transferable general education and introductory
technical courses is greater than that for upper-level courses. Students interested in studying
abroad should contact the International Programs in Engineering (IPENG) office:http://engineering.illinois.edu/ipeng/
Students planning to study abroad should:
1. First speak with IPENG and have a green study abroad form filled out
2. Make sure to checked for prior articulations with IPENG
3. If students need MechSE related courses to be reviewed we need a detailed syllabus in
English
4. Print out all above materials and bring it to 154 MEB for review at the time of ascheduled appointment

Transfer Credits / Proficiency / AP
Chemistry
Students who earn proficiency, advance placement (AP), or transfer credit for one or bothchemistry classes receive 3 hours credit for each lecture class, but not the extra hour(s) for thelaboratory course(s). The hour(s) missing must be offset by additional hours in other course
work (including additional free electives).
AP/IB credits
If a student has received AP credit, International Baccalaureate (IB) credit, or ACT English subscore credit for RHET 105, but the credit does not show up on the DARS audit, the student
should contact the Office of Instructional Resources, Measurement, and Evaluation, 247 Armory,
217-333-3490, to correct the records.
Proficiency
If a student is told by an examining department at UIUC that proficiency credit has been earned
in a course, but the credit does not appear on the DARS audit, direct the student to 206
Engineering Hall.
Transfer credits
If a student has taken or wants to take courses at another institution, the student should check if
the course is eligible for transfer via the website below:
https://www.transferology.com/welcome.htm

Note you will need to create a log-in. Additionally, neither the transfer course equivalencies
shown here, nor any report generated by it, constitute a contract between the students and the
University of Illinois. Current University of Illinois students should contact their college offices
prior to enrolling in the courses at other institutions to verify transfer credit eligibility.
NOTE: Transfer credit for fine arts skills courses are subject to audition and/or placement exam
or portfolio review.
Instructions on how to properly transfer course credit from another institution can be found here:
http://registrar.illinois.edu/transcripts•

If Advanced Level (A-Level) or other course work completed at another institution does
not show up on the DARS audit, then the student should have the institution send an
official transcript directly to the UIUC Office of Admissions and Records. It typicallytakes at least 4 weeks for the information to show up in DARS.

Transfer Procedures
1. From institutions outside UIUC: The MechSE Department encourages interested
outstanding undergraduate students attending other institutions to apply for admission.
Please contact the UIUC Office of Admissions after consulting the Transfer Handbook on
the UIUC Office of Admissions website:
http://admissions.illinois.edu/apply/Transfer/handbook
2. Inter-college and inter-departmental transfer: The MechSE Department encourages
interested outstanding UIUC undergraduate students, as measured by their high GPA,
attending UIUC to petition to transfer into Mechanical Engineering or Engineering
Mechanics majors. Please check the transfer procedures on the College of Engineeringwebsite: http://go.engineering.illinois.edu/ExploreMajor

Tutoring Information
Students requiring help in courses should fist seek the help of TA’s and instructors. There isalso free tutoring available for students through the Math, Chemistry, Physics, Molecular andCellular Biology, Office of Minority Student Affairs, and student societies given in the following
link:
https://wiki.illinois.edu/wiki/display/ugadvise/Student+Resources#StudentResourcesCampusResources
The Center for Academic Resources in Engineering (CARE) creates a dynamic learning
community where services, resources, and expertise converge to support engineering students asthey work to realize their academic and professional aspirations. Please visit
http://publish.illinois.edu/engineering-care/