Engineering Leadership M.S.

Leading technical organizations and projects is an ever more complex task – this program will prepare graduates to be leaders of technical organizations across a wide spectrum of economic sectors. The program provides a blend of business skills (including operations management, organizational behavior, and business ethics), technical engineering skills, and a core in engineering leadership. The core includes content in fundamental leadership skills (conflict resolution, team construction, vision and strategy), decision making in complex environments (uncertainty, risk, optimization, statistical modeling), and systems engineering and process control. This blend of competencies is vital in today’s interdisciplinary technological environment and will prepare graduates to lead effectively in organizations across the technical spectrum. 

Total Semester Credit Hours = 30

Admission Requirements

Students wishing to be admitted to the Master of Science in Engineering Leadership (MSEL) program are expected to have a background equivalent to that of students graduating from one of the Bachelor of Science in engineering programs offered at The University of Texas at Tyler, or have obtained such background through specified prerequisite coursework.
In addition to the general requirements for admission to graduate study at The University of Texas at Tyler, to be admitted to the MSEL program a student must meet the following admission requirements.

1. Satisfactory score on the General Test (verbal and quantitative) of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or three years of U.S. only engineering or construction experience.
2. Satisfactory grade point average on the student’s last four semesters of academic study and last 60 semester credit hours of upper division undergraduate or graduate courses.
3. A bachelor’s degree in an engineering program or field similar program. Students who have not earned specifically an engineering degree may be required to complete prerequisite coursework prior to the completion of the MSEL degree, identified upon admission to the MSEL degree, as determined by the MSEL Graduate Coordinator.
4. A demonstrated proficiency in the use of the English language, both spoken and written.
5. Approval of the MSEL Graduate Coordinator and the Chair, Department of Civil Engineering.

Consideration for admission to the Master of Science in Engineering Leadership program may also be given to one or more of the following: the applicant’s demonstrated commitment to his or her chosen field of study, socioeconomic background, first generation college graduate, multilingual proficiency, geographic region of residence, and level of responsibility in other matters including extracurricular activities, employment, community service, and family responsibilities.

Graduation Requirements

There are pathways to earning the Master of Science in Engineering Leadership (MSEL): (1) professional practice option, and (2) Bachelors to Masters (Straight through 4+1) BS./MSEL is limited to students earning their BS in one of the BS programs in an engineering/construction/technology field from the University of Texas at Tyler.
Regardless of the option selected, a student must complete at least 70 percent of the required total credit hours applied to the MSEL, excluding  design project, must be designated courses within the Degree plan for the MSEL. Two-thirds of the credit hours applied to the degree must be taught by a department within the College of Engineering. The student must attain a cumulative 3.0 GPA on all course work applied to the MSEL. The program options and additional degree requirements are as follows:

Professional Practice (30 SCH)

Students must successfully complete at least 27 semester credit hours of graduate coursework, included in the Degree Plan for MSEL including at least three semester credit hours of graduate capstone project that culminates in the preparation of a project report and presentation to a selected faculty jury.  The MSEL degree option is intended primarily for students who intend to practice in an engineering leadership or management role at the professional level.

Bachelors to Masters (Straight thru 4+1) BS/MSEL (30 SCH)

The path to the MSEL is available only to UT Tyler undergraduate students intending to complete a Master’s of Science in Engineering Leadership contiguous with their BS degree.  This option is intended as a degree which shares some of the undergraduate courses (9 semester credit hours) in a graduate career enrollment. BS students must enter the MSEL program and complete the MSEL portion of the program without interruption.  The completion of this path is the same for all MSEL graduates. (All those seeking the MSEL degree will be required to demonstrate mastery of the topics through a culminating Project) comprised of a 30 SCH degree plan. Students interested in the 4+1 pathway must apply for consideration through the MSEL program and admission to the graduate school. Students will be provisionally admitted to the 4+1 in the spring of the senior year, and fully admitted once completing and receiving the BS degree and meeting all admission requirements for the MSEL program. Students will be eligible to complete 9 SCH of graduate course work during their undergraduate enrollment.  These 9 semester credit hours will count toward both the completion of the BS  and the MSEL degrees when completed in the Graduate career..  Additionally, students admitted into the program and wishing to transfer 9 SCH into the MSEL program must also take one credit of undergraduate research seminar (EENG 4105) or other undergraduate single SCH credit during their senior year.  Upon awarding of the BS the 9 hours of course work at the graduate level will then transfer into the Graduate Career for the MSEL degree. Work completed during the senior year may be counted towards the design or technical elective requirements of the applicable BS degree.  Student’s considering the BS (4+1) pathway must have a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.250 or higher and must submit a personal statement for review.  Additionally, the student will be required to apply for the 4+1 by the end of their junior year.  The program requires the completion of a project (MSEL 5393).Students wishing to continue towards the 4+1 completion will be required to enroll in 3 graduate level courses during the fall or spring of their senior year. These will be carried as design or technical elective requirements into both the BS and MSEL careers.

Transfer of Credit

Any student may request transfer a maximum of 9 semester hours of graduate credit in in engineering credit from an engineering program similar to one currently offered through the College of Engineering at the University of Texas at Tyler, in which a grade of "B" or better has been earned from an accredited institution/program. Transfer credit is subject to the approval of the student's advisor, graduate coordinator and departmental chair.  These 9 semester credit hours of transfer are not available to the 4+1 path as the 9 SCH earned through the BS degree will serve to achieve the limit of transfer credit.

Program Outcomes

Graduates of the program will:

1. have specialized knowledge in engineering leadership beyond that normally expected at the undergraduate level.
2. be adequately prepared for advanced professional practice.
3. be able to address a complex engineering problem using sound engineering leadership principles and techniques.
4. demonstrate the ability for independent life-long learning.
5. have effective oral, written, and graphical communication skills to meet increasing professional demands.