Advising Notes - Vol. 6 No. 4 - 28 February, 2010
This instrument is intended for communications with all AE students and prospective AE students. Anyone
wishing to be added to or deleted from the listserv should notify Prof. Moses D. F. Ling mosesling@psu.edu
All AE and ENGAE students must remain on the listserv.
o Commencement Exercises
o Suggested Semester Schedules
o Advisors
o Petitions
o 2010 Program Revisions
o CE336/CE337
o Mgmt 326
o First, Second and Third Year Students
o If You Will Be a Second Year Student in the Fall
o If You Will Be a Third Year Student in the Fall
o If You Have Been Recently Admitted to AE through The Second
Year Window
o If You Will be a Fourth Year Student in the Fall
o If You will be a Fifth Year Student in the Fall
o Current Fifth Year Students
o MAE/BAE Students
o Minors
COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES
If you are graduating this semester, congratulations! You should check the University
web sites for the commencement ceremonies. The College of Engineering undergrad
ceremony is typically on Friday night and the Graduate School ceremony on Sunday. If
you are an IP student, you have two ceremonies and you have two sets of academic
regalia to purchase. The colors are different; blue for undergrads and black for grads.
The trim color on the hood is orange for Master of Architectural Engineering (all
engineering). Don’t get the color for architecture.
SUGGESTED SEMESTER SCHEDULE
An effort is made each semester to provide a schedule of all required courses without
time conflicts. Course schedules are coordinated for the published patterns each
semester. Students should refer to http://www.engr.psu.edu/ae/advising/schedule.asp
for “suggested schedules”. Student should follow the published schedule as much as
possible to avoid conflicts. It is the responsibility of the out-of-sequence students to
make their schedule work.
ADVISORS
Each ENGAE and AE student is assigned an AE advisor upon entering the major.
Please get to know your advisor. The advisor list is posted on line under “find your
advisor” at http://www.engr.psu.edu/ae/advising Students not yet in the major should
consult the Engineering Advising Center at University Park or an advisor at their campus
locations.
IP students are assigned a new advisor upon entrance into the MAE program.
Dr. Hanagan -Structural Option and Graduate Program Officer
Dr. Srebric - Mechanical Option
Dr. Mistrick - Lighting /Electrical Option
Dr. Riley – Construction Option
PETITIONS
Student taking course not listed in the program or as approved department electives
must process a petition in advance. Failure to do so can result in a course not being
approved for your intended purposes. Please recognize that filing a petition means the
student is asking for permission to deviate from the norm. Approval is not automatic. A
secondary purpose of a petition is to make sure that an entry is made to the degree audit
for courses not preprogrammed into the system. Course ending in 96 or 97 are typically
in this category.
Students must have a signed petition prior to enrolling in any AE courses ending with 96
or 97 (i.e. AE497, AE597) except the zero-credit AE497 for fifth year thesis. Not every
course offered by the AE Department or an AE faculty is approved to meet degree
requirements.
2010 Program Revisions
There are several changes planned for the curriculum. These changes are being
implemented as the process to make the changes official continues.
o AE 404 and AE 467- Both of these courses will become spring semester
courses. They will not be offered fall semester 2010. The next offering will be
spring 2011.
o CmpSC 200 - CmpSc 200 will be added in the 4th year of the AE curriculum for
Lighting/Electrical, Mechanical and Construction options. While this is not yet
official, the faculty encourages all students to incorporate this course into their
plans. The Mechanical Engineering Department is adding CmpSc200 as
prerequisite for ME320 and ME410. This course takes the place of a Department
Elective. For Mechanical option students, CmpSC 200 takes the place of AE455
and AE455 will become a department elective.
In order to make room for these changes, several other courses must be adjusted. See
the new 5-year plan for the changes.
CE336+CE337 (If you need this course next semester)
Students registering for CE336 shall also register for CE337. Sections of CE337 will fill
up very quickly as soon as the CE students with fewer credits than 4th year AE’s can
register. AE students needing these courses typically have more credits and can
schedule earlier. Please register as soon as you can. Once the sections are filled, there
is nothing the AE Department can do for you.
MGMT 326
The Management Department has changed the enrollment of AE students in this course.
AE students will no longer be enrolled in sections controlled for Management Majors.
Section 008 has been arranged to suit the AE CM schedule. CM students with 7th
semester standing should have no problem scheduling this section as long as they
schedule during their “first-available” time. Do not drop this course later. You will likely
not to be able to get back in. Departments are sometimes forced to over-enroll a course.
This is not obvious to the public. If student drops a course under this scenario, the
student will not be able to add back in (the course would still be over-subscribe without
you).
FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD YEAR STUDENTS
By the time students can select an option at the end of the third year, they are expected
to have completed all required courses. If a student is not on track, he/she will not be
able to enter an option and should consider catching up in the summers. Not being on
track causes problems in scheduling and the ability to make progress towards
graduation. The Department will NOT accommodate scheduling conflicts in later
semesters. The 5-year program has become more rigid as more courses are aligned
perfectly in sequences and more courses are offered only once a year. Failing to make
progress as outlined in the 5-year plan may very well mean extending a student’s
studies to 6 years. Please check out course prerequisites early. Then, schedule
accordingly.
IF YOU WILL BE A SECOND YEAR STUDENT IN THE FALL
If you are choosing AE as your major, you will need to have the 4 Entrance-to-Major
courses completed with a C and have a good cumulative GPA (above 3.0) by the end of
this spring semester to be competitive. The students with the 4 ETM courses completed
are selected in descending GPA order until we have selected 100 students. If you are
not offered admission after the first year, you will have one other opportunity to join the
AE program. Complete all 4 entrance-to-Major courses with a least a C by the spring
semester of your second year and have a 3.0 cumulative GPA by the end of FALL
semester of the second year (your third semester) and you can enter through the second
year window. In your second year, take all the non-major courses listed in the second
and third year program. In the third year, you will take all the AE and Arch studio courses
listed for 2nd and 3rd year. The schedule for students admitted through the second year
window is presented in the suggested schedules for “5th or 6th Semester – Newcomers”.
http://www.engr.psu.edu/ae/advising/schedule.asp Again, make every effort to stay on
track (see previous paragraph).
First-year students should indicate AE as their first preference on e-Lion (when the
announcement is made on e-News in the spring) if they wish to major in AE after the first
year. This is your official application to the major. Students must reconfirm the choice of
AE in the 2nd year again.
First-year students will not be able to register the controlled courses until they receive
the acceptance notice from the dean’s office about June 1st. Schedule non-major
courses in advance. Just wait till June 1st to schedule the controlled courses. Everyone
is in the same situation. The course control typically will be for AE and ENGAE status
students only. “ENGAE” is the status given to admitted students in the second year.
University Park students, you can schedule Math, Physics and E Mch on your own.
Please sign up for other sections than those being saved for the Commonwealth
Campus students, if possible. You may wish to switch into the sections saved for AE
students after the Commonwealth Campus student have their chance to register.
First year students at a Commonwealth Campus, please schedule for the fall as if you
are staying at the Commonwealth Campus. This is your contingency plan. You can
explore the schedule for the fall at University Park. Once you receive the notice to join
the AE program in June, you should activate your “change of location” at your current
campus first. (You should look into this and make all necessary arrangements before the
summer.) As soon as your location is changed to UP, you can register for your
University Park courses. We are arranging to have seats in EMch211 and Phys213R
reserved for you. Please notify Prof. Ling at mosesling@psu.edu if you have trouble with
any course. While I cannot guarantee success, I will do my best to help.
Arch130A – Conflicts with this class should be avoided. You are expected to be in class
for the entire time.
AE221 and AE222 are co-requisites. Take them in the same semester. Student signed
up for only one course will be disenrolled form that course.
If you are unable to schedule for ARCH130A or AE202, please notify Prof. Ling
mosesling@psu.edu .
All second year students have (5) 8:00 am classes. No way out of it. DO NOT skip
AE202 or Arch 130A to sleep in. You will mess up your future schedules.
Commonwealth Campus students wishing to be in University Park the second year
should have made on-campus housing arrangements at University Park. The Office of
Housing and Food Services will not enforce the contract if a student is not able to enter
the major. Entering a commercial lease takes on the risk that the contract is enforced
regardless if the student can move to University Park. Any student accepted to
University needing on campus housing should contact Prof. Ling. Prof. Ling will try and
intervene on these students behalf, but there is no guarantee.
Act at promptly as you can after you receive your invitation to the AE major during the
end of May/ beginning of June period. Prof. Ling does not expect to be available after June
12 for a month. He is accompanying the students studying in China this summer.
IF YOU WILL BE A THIRD YEAR IN THE FALL
Schedule AE308 your third year fall semester. (CE340 is not an acceptable substitute for
AE308.). Do not wait till a later semester. This is a critical course for subsequent
structural courses.
In the 3rd year, students should complete AE308, AE309, AE310, AE311 and AE372.
AE308, AE310, AE311 and AE372 are C-required courses. AE308 is offered in the fall
semester only. AE309, AE310, AE311, and AE372 are offered only in the spring.
Pre-requisites for third year courses:
o EE211 for AE311
o ME210 for AE310
o EMCH213 for AE308
IF YOU HAVE BEEN RECENTLY ADMITTED TO AE THROUGH THE SECOND
YEAR WINDOW
Register for courses shown on the suggested schedule for “5th and 6th semester - new
arrivals”. If you have not completed the other courses in the second and third year,
consider taking these courses in the summer. Taking AE308 in the fall is absolutely
required. By the end of the third year, you must be on track to declare an option.
ARCH130A must be taken in the fall and again in the spring as a two-course sequence
for total of 6 credits. Do not postpone taking ARCH130A till the fourth year. You will have
fourth year studio then.
IF YOU WILL BE 4TH YEAR IN THE FALL
You are encouraged to take ARCH443 in the fall. There is a substantial course fee (in
the range of $500). Students will be studying architecture for four days in Chicago.
Arch441 is scheduled for either MWF or TR afternoon. See the section intended for your
option. Most previous conflict has been worked out. The course instructors are expecting
that you are available for classes during all the scheduled hours.
IF YOU WILL BE A 5TH YEAR STUDENT IN THE FALL
All rising 5th year students should review his/her degree audit and make sure all
graduation requirements are being met. Accomplishing this prior to the summer is a
good idea. Please see your advisor to go over your degree audit if you have any doubt.
BAE/MAE students essentially have accomplished this with you MAE program of study.
CURRENT FIFTH YEAR STUDENTS
Check to see that you will have all the requirements lined up for graduation.
If you have any petitions, you must file them one semester prior to your graduation. The
Dean will NOT consider petitions filed in your last semester! Don’t wait. (Not every
petition needs to go to the College, just those dealing with College requirements.) Check
your degree audit. If things are not as you expect, you probably need to file a petition.
See your advisor for advice. Forms are available from Mrs. Kim Lyle in the ”Window”.
MAE/BAE STUDENTS
You must follow your program of study filed when you applied for the program.
Alterations to course selections and proposed schedule must be approved in
advance.
Please keep track of your progress using information provided on the web page.
The MAE degree audit is not yet working. Use the transcript to check. Make sure
you will have taken every course on the BAE/MAE work sheet for your option. No
course can double count on that list.
MINORS
If you are getting a Minor, go to the department offering the minor and fill out the
necessary paper work. Don’t wait till the last minute. You can miss getting the minor
altogether if you are too late! Check your degree audit to make sure your minor is
approved.