PhD Workshop

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PhD Workshop

• Friday, September 25, 2009
• 100 - 300

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Understanding the Department Hierarchy

• Academic Advisor
• Area Directors
• Circuits Embedded Systems, Ken Yang
• Physical Wave Electronics, Jason Woo
• Signals Systems, Abeer Alwan
• Graduate Advisor
• Mani Srivastava
• Department Chair
• Ali Sayed
• Student Affairs Director
• Deeona Columbia
• Student Affairs Officers
• Mandy Smith
• Brenda Trujillo

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Keys to Research Laboratories

• You must complete the Laboratory Safety
  Orientation course and pass the competence exam
  before keys will be issued.
• Safety classes are available on 9/28 9/29 in
  Boelter 8500 (Penthouse)
• 9/28 130-330 Lab Safety Fundamental Concepts
• 9/28 330-430 Hazardous Chemical Waste
• 9/29 - 900-1100 Lab Safety Fundamental Concepts
• 9/29 1100-1200 Hazardous Chemical Waste
• Send email to training_at_ehs.ucla.edu
• Include
• First and Last Name
• UID
• Department
• Email Address
• Lab Phone Number
• Title and date of the desired class
• See Gershwin Mason for key information

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Student Mailboxes

• You are discouraged from having mail sent to the
  department
• Lots of mail lots of students delay in
  receipt of mail
• If you choose to use these mailboxes, they are
  located in the Student Affairs Office
• Mail is sorted by first letter of last name
• Mail is NOT grouped by individual so you have to
  look through multiple boxes of the same letter to
  ensure you collect all of your mail
• You will receive an email if mail has been sorted
  into the boxes for you
• We do not determine what is junk mail

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Important Dates

• Refer to the Academic Year Calendar located in
  the folder handed out at Orientation on Tuesday.
  
• Calendar is also located on our NEW STUDENTS
  Website. http//www.ee.ucla.edu/New-ee.htm

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Updating Your Information

• If you change your address, phone number, or
  email account you must
• Update your record on URSA
• AND
• Notify the EE department Payroll/Personnel Office
  if you are holding an academic apprentice title
  (TA, GSR, or Reader)

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Check Your Email

• We send a lot of email.
• Many may not pertain to you, but please review
  them.
• We use the subject line to help you identify if
  its applicable to you.
• Deadlines important to your degree progress
• Reminders and important dates
• Fellowship Opportunities
• Career Days
• Job Announcements

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FINAL TRANSCRIPTS

• Your final transcript showing your degree must be
  received by December.
• You may have submitted it already.
• If not, you are encouraged to submit it ASAP
  because.the longer you waitthe more likely you
  will forget to get it here.
• If you forget, the Graduate Division will remind
  you by placing a hold on your record.
• Our office will not be sending reminders to you
  about your final transcripts.

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2 Masters Degree Joint Programs

• Students CAN NOT earn a 2nd MS degree
• There are some articulated degree programs.
• These are complicated situations and you must
  make an appointment to speak with Deeona about
  how things will work if you choose to
  participate

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Advisor/Area Changes

• Form is available on our website
• You will need to gain signature of the new
  advisor as well as the current advisor.
• Completed forms must be turned into the Student
  Affairs Office.
• Beware of changing advisors if you are receiving
  funding!!

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• www.ee.ucla.edu
• FORMS PETITIONS
• You will receive an email once your advisor
  change has been processed.

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What should I enroll in?

• ALL EE graduate students are required to enroll
  in 12 units.
• If you are enrolled in only 1 or 2 lecture
  courses per quarter, you can satisfy the 12 unit
  requirement by enrolling in Q WHAT COURSES?

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What should I enroll in? (cont.)

• ALL EE graduate students are required to enroll
  in 12 units.
• If you are enrolled in only 1 or 2 lecture
  courses per quarter, you can satisfy the 12 unit
  requirement by enrolling in
• INDEPENDENT STUDIES
• COURSES (500 SERIES)

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Independent Studies Courses

• You may enroll in variable units of 500-series
  courses to satisfy the 12 unit minimum
  requirement
• All 500-series are S/U grading
• Select the appropriate 500-level course depending
  on your degree progress
• Courses are listed under your academic advisor

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WWW.REGISTRAR.UCLA.EDU
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• Its very important that you select the section
  under YOUR advisor. If a section doesnt exist
  for your advisor email Deeona so that we can get
  a section created.
• EE 597B PhD students preparing for the
  preliminary exams
• EE 597C PhD students who have passed the
  preliminary exams and who are preparing for the
  qualifying oral exam (prospectus)
• EE 599 PhD students who have passed their
  qualifying oral exam (advanced to candidacy) and
  are working on their dissertation

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Select the year and term.
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If you have the nine digit course number from the
Registrars Office page, you can enter it here to
enroll.
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Other Enrollment Info.

• EE 296 Talk to your advisor. Some advisors use
  this course to track all advisees. Other
  advisors use this only for their research groups.
  
• You should be enrolled in 12 units NO LATER than
  the end of 2nd week.
• You must register for EE 297 for each program you
  complete with UCLA.
• Fall Signals Systems
• Winter Circuits Embedded Systems
• Spring Physical Wave Electronics

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What about prerequisite checking?

• The EE Department does not check to ensure that
  you have had the proper prerequisites.
• If you feel you have the knowledge base to
  perform well in a course, feel free to register
  for it.
• However, if you have doubts, ask the instructor.
• Failure to have prerequisites is NOT an excuse
  for a poor grade.

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Check your BAR Account
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• Check regularly
• Payments due on the 20th of each month
• If unpaid, a 20 late fee will apply EACH MONTH
• Common Fees
• Printing
• Ashe Center
• CALPIRG
• Transcript Orders
• Instructional enhancement (undergraduate course
  fee)

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GPA Requirement

• You must maintain a 3.5 each quarter
• You have several GPAs to maintain
• Quarterly
• Cumulative
• Program
• All 3 GPAs are used and are considered at various
  times

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GPA Requirement Cont.

• What happens if I made a B- or a C in a course?
  Do I have to retake the course?
• A grade of B- or C may count as long as you
  maintain all of your GPAs above the 3.0
  threshold.
• What happens if my GPA falls below the 3.5
  threshold?
• You will be on academic probation and you will
  have one quarter to bring your GPA up. Failure
  to do so, may result in your termination from the
  program.

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PhD Requirements

• Four (4) formal graduate courses
• One (1) graduate seminar course EE 297
• One (1) technical communication course such as EE
  295
• Pass the Preliminary Exam
• Pass the Oral Qualifying Exam
• Complete the PhD Dissertation under the direction
  of the students faculty advisor
• Defend the PhD Dissertation in a public seminar
  with a doctoral committee

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PROGRAM OF STUDY

• Due in December
• You may update this as needed -- just complete
  the form again and write REVISED
• Requires your signature as well as your advisors
  signature before turning into the Office of
  Student Affairs
• Signatures are required even on REVISED forms
• Q Where would you find this form???

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• ON OUR WEBSITE OF COURSE!!!
• www.ee.ucla.edu
• FORMS PETITIONS
• Form requires signatures from
• Your Advisor
• Deeona
• Graduate Advisor

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Preliminary Exam

• Purpose of the Exam
• The purpose of the exam is to assess the
  student's competency in the discipline, knowledge
  of the fundamentals, and potential for
  independent research. The examination provides
  the faculty with an opportunity to evaluate the
  student's presentation and communication skills,
  the student's level of confidence in the mastery
  of the discipline, and the student's ability to
  tackle unfamiliar problems in real time.

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Preliminary Exam Continued

• Frequency of the Exam
• The exam is administered by the Electrical
  Engineering Department and takes place once every
  year (usually in April).
• Exams are during the course of ONE WEEK.

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Preliminary Exam Continued

• Participation in the Exam
• All course requirements and the Ph.D. Preliminary
  Examination must be completed within two (2)
  academic years from admission into the Ph.D.
  program.
• It is strongly recommended that students take the
  Ph.D. Preliminary Examination during their first
  academic year in the Ph.D. Program.
• You must apply to take the exam. You will
  receive an email from our office that alerts you
  when you may apply (usually in February)

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Preliminary Exam Continued

• Structure of the Examination.
• Every student is examined independently by eight
  (8) faculty members for a total of 4 hours.
• The examination by each faculty member lasts 30
  minutes, and typically includes an oral part and
  a written component or record.
• Every applicant submits a list of twelve (12)
  faculty members. The list may include at most one
  faculty member from outside the department.
• The department selects the eight (8) examiners
  for each student.

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Preliminary Exam Continued

• Structure of the Examination continued.
• Each Area (Circuits and Embedded Systems,
  Physical and Wave Electronics, and Signals and
  Systems) ranks its students and makes pass/fail
  recommendations to the Vice-Chair of Graduate
  Affairs.
• A student passes the entire Ph.D. preliminary
  examination and not in parts.
• The results of the examination are announced by
  the Vice-Chair of Graduate Affairs following a
  departmental faculty meeting.

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Preliminary Exam Continued

• Examination Procedure.
• You will be notified of your list of examiners
  about one week prior to the start of the
  Examination Week. During the examination week,
  you must arrive at the offices of the faculty
  examiners promptly. The examination by each
  faculty member will last 30 minutes, and will
  typically include oral and written components.
  Each examiner will grade students on a scale from
  1 (poor) to 10 (excellent) on the following
  items
• Mastery of the fundamentals.
• Communication skills.
• Creativity and originality.

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Preliminary Exam Continued

• Selection of the Examiners
• You should submit a list of 12 faculty members.
  By selecting these faculty members you are
  indicating that you are comfortable being
  examined by anyone of them.
• You may select faculty members from any area
  across the department and not only from your
  general area of study.
• You are advised to select faculty members that
  are closest to your areas of expertise.
• All names listed in the application form are
  Electrical Engineering faculty members that will
  be participating in the Ph.D. Preliminary
  Examination.
• Rank each of your selections by using a score of
  1 to 12 with 1 being the most desired and 12
  being the least desired.
• The department will select 8 faculty members from
  your list to be your examiners. The selected
  examiners need not be the top examiners on your
  list. The selected examiners may or may not
  include any outside examiner on your list. The
  selections are meant to ensure a reasonable
  distribution of students and examiners across the
  department.

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Preliminary Exam Continued

• Outside Examiners
• Your list of 12 examiners may include at most 1
  faculty member from outside the Electrical
  Engineering Department. In this case
• You need to contact the faculty member in advance
  (before completing the application form) to make
  sure that he/she is willing to participate as an
  examiner. If the faculty member needs information
  about the examination and its format, the
  examiner should be referred to the Vice-Chair of
  Graduate Affairs in the Electrical Engineering
  Department. Your advisor may assist you in
  contacting the faculty member.
• The faculty member needs to indicate via E-mail
  to the Vice-Chair of Graduate Affairs in
  Electrical Engineering his/her willingness to
  participate in the examination. The faculty
  member needs to provide in his/her email a list
  of topics that he/she is likely to examine
  students from. The faculty member also needs to
  indicate during what times of the examination
  week he/she is available. The email should be
  copied to eeweb_at_ee.ucla.edu.
• Once the faculty member agrees to participate as
  an examiner, you will be asked to enter his/her
  information in a section in the application
  devoted to examiners from outside Electrical
  Engineering.
• Faculty members from other departments who hold
  joint appointments in Electrical Engineering are
  treated as Electrical Engineering faculty for the
  purposes of the examination.

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Preliminary Exam Continued

• Examination Topics
• Each faculty member in the department has
  provided a list of topics that they are likely to
  examine students from. The topics are generally
  expected to be at the advanced undergraduate
  level.
• For every faculty, the list of topics does not
  mean that students will be examined in all the
  topics listed by the faculty member. It only
  means that students should expect questions from
  any of the topics.
• List of topics available from Preliminary Exam
  section of program requirements at
  www.ee.ucla.edu.

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Preliminary Exam Continued

• Honor Code
• Obtaining a doctorate degree from UCLA Electrical
  Engineering is an outstanding accomplishment.
  Passing the Ph.D. Preliminary Examination is one
  step towards achieving this goal. The examination
  is a highly competitive process. Some students
  pass the exam and other students fail the exam.
• You should not share information about the
  examination with your fellow students until the
  examination week has finished. Doing so may
  jeopardize your chances of passing the
  examination. You will also be in violation of the
  University Academic Integrity Policy and the UCLA
  Student Code of Conduct.
• Students are required to report any infractions
  of this rule to the Department's Office of
  Graduate Student Affairs. Acts of academic
  dishonesty will be reported to the Office of the
  Dean of Students and serious penalties may apply.

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Preliminary Exam Continued

• What happens if I fail?!?!?
• A student who fails the examination may be
  permitted to repeat the exam only once, (subject
  to the approval of the Vice-Chair of Graduate
  Affairs).
• The examination must be passed within two (2)
  academic years after admission into the Ph.D.
  program.
• If you take the exam your 1st year, you may be
  permitted to retake the exam the next year.
• If you wait and take the exam your 2nd year you
  must pass.

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Preliminary Exam Continued

• THIS EXAM IS NOT MEANT TO SCARE YOUBUT YOU MUST
  PREPARE FOR IT!!!
• Professors want to know that you
• Can think on your feet
• Communicate your thoughts in a way that others
  can follow
• Know the basics
• Additional Information on the Preliminary Exam is
  available online..
• www.ee.ucla.edu
• Programs
• PhD Preliminary Exam
• What to do if you decide to drop the exam after
  registering
• How to appeal the pass/fail decision

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PhD Committee Nominations

• One month prior to scheduling your Qualifying
  Oral Exam you must nominate a doctoral committee
• The committee consists of at least 4 faculty
• 3 from the EE Department
• 1 from outside the department
• Before nominating a committee, the faculty must
  agree to serve
• You may have more than 4 members, but you
  increase the difficulty of scheduling your Quals
  Final as well as trying to gain all necessary
  signatures!

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www.gdnet.ucla.eduFORMS
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Nomination of Doctoral Committee
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Oral Qualifying Exam

• www.ee.ucla.edu
• Programs
• PhD Requirements
• Qualifying Exam

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Oral Qualifying Exam

• Taken after all courses completed
• Within 1 year of passing Prelims
• You must be registered and enrolled during the
  quarter you plan to take the Ph.D. Oral
  Qualifying Examination.
• You must have completed all course requirements
  with a minimum GPA of 3.5 in the Ph.D. program.
• You must have an approved PhD program of Study on
  file with the EE Office of Student Affairs.

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Oral Qualifying Exam

• You must follow the procedure outlined on the EE
  Department website to
• schedule your room for your Quals
• Notify the Office of Student Affairs of the date,
  time, and location of your Quals (and the
  tentative title of your prospectus)
• YOU SHOULD RESERVE ROOM AND NOTIFY OUR OFFICE AT
  LEAST ONE WEEK IN ADVANCE!! If we dont know to
  prepare your file.you wont be having your
  Quals..

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Oral Qualifying Exam

• BE PREPARED FOR YOUR QUALS!!
• Have a prospectus
• Submit to the committee 1-2 weeks prior to the
  Qualifying Exam
• Expect to be asked about your research plans
• Dont delay . . . If you wait until the last
  minuteit shows.and professors are starting to
  become more strict!!!

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Once You Pass YourOral Qualifying Exam

• Your NRT is waived for 9 quarters if applicable
• You have about 3 years to write and file your
  Dissertation.(depending on your timing.5 years
  to complete the degree)

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Thesis Dissertation Meetings for Fall
Thursday, October 1, 2009 MS thesis - 1000
a.m. PHD dissertation 1100 a.m. Young Research
Library Presentation Room Friday, October 2,
2009 MS thesis - 1000 a.m. PHD dissertation
1100 a.m. Young Research Library West
Electronic Classroom  Saturday, October 3,
2009 MS thesis - 1000 a.m. PHD dissertation
1100 a.m. Young Research Library West Electronic
Classroom
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• You may have to change committee members at some
  point.
• On the Graduate Division Website
• Under Forms
• Reconstitution of Doctoral Committee
• Form also used to change certifying members

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What is a Certifying Member?

• Three of the four members of your committee must
  be Certifying Members
• The Chair of the Committee and the Outside must
  be Certifying
• All Certifying members must be present at the
  Final Defense and they must sign off on your
  Dissertation
• A Non-Certifying member does not have to sign or
  participate

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Final Defense

• You must follow the procedure outlined on the EE
  Department website to
• Schedule your room for your Final Defense
• Notify the Office of Student Affairs of the date,
  time, and location of your Final (and the title
  of your prospectus)
• A flyer must be created for youa template is on
  our website.
• YOU SHOULD RESERVE ROOM AND NOTIFY OUR OFFICE AT
  LEAST ONE WEEK IN ADVANCE!! If we dont know to
  prepare your file.you wont be able to do your
  defense..

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File Your Dissertation

• You will need to bring a copy of your title page
  to the EE Office of Student Affairs
• While there, you will be given the Report on your
  Final Oral Exam form which you will need to file
• After completing the filing process with the
  Graduate Division and the library, email Deeona
  to let her know you filed successfully

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Notes on filing and finishing your degree

• There are certain dates that are important for
  filing your degree
• We hope to offer more workshops on graduation as
  they become needed
• As you get close to finishing and being ready to
  file, you should pay even more attention to our
  emails.and look at the academic calendar

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QUESTIONS?
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ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPT. ANNUAL PICNIC FOR
FACULTY, STAFF, AND GRADUATE STUDENTS
VOLLEYBALL
GREAT FOOD!
LOTS OF FUN!
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2009 12-3, SUNSET RECREATION
CENTER (top level)