Advising Guidelines
Plans of study are outlined on the respective degree pages to determine the course sequencing and requirements. Depending on a student’s pathway, there may be other milestones along the way that students need to be aware of, particularly if they are pursuing a thesis.
Student’s Role and Responsibilities
The Office of Graduate Studies assists in tracking student progress through the program, paying attention to the courses students take and their research progress. Students, however, are ultimately responsible for their own success and adequate progression. Students must keep track of their plan of study, ensure they are successfully completing required coursework, and actively engaged with their department chair, research advisor, or GA supervisor (if applicable). Additionally, some departments may have timelines and processes that differ from those outlined here.
Time Commitment
Accelerated Course-Only - For Accelerated Course-Only graduate students, the time commitment for graduate school is based around class times, and significant study and preparation outside of the classroom. Accelerated Course-Only students enroll in 12 graduate credits in fall and spring semesters, and should therefore expect to dedicate significant time on-campus, usually with classes offered Monday-Friday at varying times throughout the day.
Evening Engineering Management - For students enrolled in the Evening Engineering Management program, the time commitment is 2 days per week in the evenings from 6pm-8:45pm, along with independent time for study and preparation outside the classroom. Evening Engineering Management is the only graduate program Florida Poly offers which is specifically designed for working professionals.
Thesis - In addition to completing a rigorous full-time graduate curriculum (usually 9 credit hours per semester), Thesis graduate students are also expected to produce quality research throughout the program. Thesis students are generally on-campus at various times Monday-Friday for either classes, Graduate Assistantship hours, or independent research time/meetings with their thesis advisor. Students should expect coursework requirements and demands to be more rigorous compared to bachelor’s level. Furthermore, the expectation is heightened to produce professional-grade work. Course registration is not required in summers, but students are expected to utilize the summer in between year 1 and year 2 as an intensive research period in preparation for their final year. Thesis student’s final year is especially rigorous, with significant time dedicated to thesis preparation, defense, and submission.
Before enrolling in graduate school, students should consider carefully, whether they can dedicate the time required to be successful.
Submission of Graduate Forms
All official forms for the program may be found on the University Registrar’s webpage at https://floridapoly.edu/registrar/forms.php. Forms can be submitted directly to the Registrar’s Office, or to the Office of Graduate Studies if a Graduate Director signature is needed.
Advisor’s Role and Responsibilities
Upon entering the master’s program at Florida Poly, students will be assigned a temporary advisor (usually the Department Chair or designee) until an appropriate faculty member has is identified. For students on the thesis pathway, once the thesis advisor is identified, the thesis advisor will also become the academic advisor. The role of the Advisor includes, but is not limited to, keeping students informed of:
- Key policies
- Important dates
- Curricular expectations, including courses required, course sequences, and research expectations
and to work in association with the student on Departmental and University processes for:
- Thesis proposal
- Committee selection
- Timelines
- Thesis oral defense
- Final submission of thesis to all appropriate offices
If this initial advisor becomes the committee chair and supervises the student’s research, the advisor also sets regular expectations and deliverables for the student to follow.
Note on Supervision of Graduate Assistants
The faculty member to whom a graduate assistant is assigned may not be the student’s advisor. Supervising faculty only interact with graduate assistants as it relates to instructional support, not research or other program advising. Depending on need and availability, a graduate assistant may be assigned to a faculty supervisor outside of their department. For clarity’s sake, the faculty member to whom the graduate student reports for work purposes is best referred to as the student’s “supervisor.”
Course-Only Pathway
Students in the one-year accelerated pathway complete a course-work only master’s degree in approximately 10 months. These students do not research and write a thesis. Rather, their master’s consists of work solely confined to the courses in the plan of study. The standards for successful completion of coursework are no different for these students than for thesis students and they generally take the same courses.
Students should refer to their catalog Plan of Study for scheduling and use Stellic as a tool to incorporate future courses into their plan. In addition to the Plan of Study in their catalog, students should also pay attention to other deadlines communicated by the Office of Graduate Studies and/or the Office of the Registrar, including course registration deadlines, graduate application deadlines, and add/drop dates.
Thesis Pathway
Completion of a thesis requires a great deal of time throughout the entirety of the program, not limited to the semesters in which Thesis courses are taken. Thesis-related work requires substantial student effort outside of the normal course-requirements and, if applicable, GA time. Students should set aside time in addition to their work and school schedules to plan, edit, and execute thesis deliverables including pre-proposals, proposals, final draft, and eventually the final thesis itself. Though the advisor and other faculty and staff are available to guide the Thesis process, the ultimate responsibility of producing work lies with the student themselves. More on this can be found in the Thesis Timeline and Procedures.
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