A master's research thesis, viewed as acceptable by a thesis committee appointed by the program faculty, is required of each student in this track. To fulfill this requirement, the student submits a written proposal to a faculty member, usually by the third academic quarter. By accepting the proposal, the faculty member becomes the thesis adviser. The remaining members of the thesis reading committee are appointed by the student's program in consultation with the thesis adviser. The majority of the membership of a thesis reading committee shall be members of the Santa Cruz Division of the Academic Senate. Each committee member is provided a copy of the proposal. Upon completion of the thesis work, the student presents an expository talk on the thesis research, and the final thesis must be accepted by the master’s thesis reading committee before the award of the master of science degree. The completed thesis must be filed with the Graduate Division by the end of instruction in the term in which the student expects the degree to be awarded.
The comprehensive exams are only available for ECE graduate courses approved in the four core areas. Graduate courses approved in the four core areas outside ECE (such as AM or CSE) are not available for the comprehensive exams.
At the end of each quarter students will have the opportunity to take the section of the comprehensive examination relevant to the courses offered that quarter that are approved for the core areas as outlined above. The comprehensive examination will focus on fundamental material related to the subject matter of the course and will be offered, typically, on Friday of final’s week. The results of these examination sections, when integrated, will comprehensively test the student’s mastery of the curriculum. In order to pass the overall comprehensive examination, a student is required to pass at least three sections of the comprehensive examination in the proposed core area of study. Students may attempt more than one section per quarter.
Master’s students must take the corresponding course in order to take the comprehensive exam in a given subject. A maximum of six exams may be attempted, and a student must pass a minimum of three subjects within their core area in order to fulfill the comprehensive exam capstone requirement.
Students must register for the exam subjects they wish to take each quarter when the call for exam registrations is sent. Students who do not register may not be permitted to take the exam.
The comprehensive examinations are closed-note, closed-book exams, and the use of calculators or other electronic devices is not permitted during the exam. The instructor who writes the exam may deem it appropriate to provide an equation sheet or other reference sheet with the exam, however no other reference materials are allowed. Students are allocated one hour per exam subject. Students who are taking only one exam will be asked to leave the exam room after one hour. Students who are taking multiple exams in the same quarter may allocate their exam time as they see fit, however they will receive only one hour of exam time per subject.
Students are notified of their exam results (pass/fail) by email prior to the start of the following quarter, and the results are also recorded in the student’s file by the graduate adviser. If students have questions about the exam or how it was graded, they should contact the instructor who wrote the exam to request a meeting to go over the exam. Once a student has passed three exam subjects within their core area, they have fulfilled the comprehensive examination requirement and are eligible for graduation as soon as they have completed all of the other requirements for the degree.
Students in the M.S. comprehensive examination track are not eligible for Filing Fee status.
Note that Plan II: Comprehensive Examination track, is the default option for all M.S. students. Students can select Plan I: Thesis track, or Plan II: Project, only if they can find a faculty sponsor to supervise the thesis or project.
Completion of a project report is required for the master’s degree in this track. To fulfill this requirement, the student submits a written proposal to a faculty member, usually by the third academic quarter. By accepting the proposal, the faculty member becomes the project adviser. In consultation with the adviser, the student forms a project reading committee with at least one additional faculty member, each of whom is provided a copy of the proposal. Upon completion of the project, the student submits the report to the project reading committee, and the final project must be accepted by the reading committee before the award of the master of science degree.