Undergraduate Advising FAQ Page

  1. Who do I see for advising?
  2. Do I need to see a faculty advisor?
  3. Can I ask my faculty advisor about other things, like job searches, career options & graduate
      school?
  4. Can I change advisors?
  5. What is Senior Checkout?
  6. Is it important to set / regularly update my expected graduation date in PAWS?
  7. I can't register for a class because of a prerequisite problem.
  8. What is a Degree Audit, and where can I get a copy?
  9. I'm confused about IE4785 (Independent Study / Special Topics in IE)? What is it used for,
      and how do I register?
10. What is a minor? How do I get a minor?
11. What minors are of interest to IE's? Where do I find information on minor requirements?
12. Should I do an internship or COOP? How do I get one?
13. When should I sign up with Career Services?
14. How important is participation in student clubs?
15. Are there any IE-related Student Clubs?

Submit questions concerning undergraduate advising to Dr. Knapp (gknapp@lsu.edu).

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Q1. Who do I see for advising?

For regular course advising related to the IE program, see your assigned faculty advisor. At registration time, advisor assignments are posted on the bulletin boards in the IE hallway. You can always ask at the IE office to find out who your advisor is.

Students just entering the IE program (whether by transfer or from within LSU) need to stop by the IE office to get a faculty advisor assigned.

For questions about humanities, please see one of the College of Engineering counselors. They stay up to date on the latest approved courses and the rules concerning humanities.

For questions on course transfers, course substitutions, and for Senior Checkout, you will need to see the IE Undergraduate Coordinator (Dr. Knapp).

Q2. Do I need to see a faculty advisor?

A flag is placed on all engineering students prior to the start of registration. You will not be able to register until the flag is lifted. The flag is only lifted after you have met with your advisor and reached an agreement on coursework for the following semester.

During Fall advising, you will need to meet with your faculty advisor to plan your Spring coursework.

During Spring advising, you will need to meet with your faculty advisor to plan Intersession, Summer Session, and Fall coursework.

Q3. Can I ask my faculty advisor about other things, like job searches, career options & graduate school?

Yes!! In addition to course advising, your faculty advisor is there to provide mentoring and career planning for you. Please feel free to discuss career and academic related questions with your advisor.

Q4. Can I change advisors?

Initial assignment of students to faculty advisors is done randomly and with an effort to keep the number of students assigned to each faculty fairly equal. You can ask for a new advisor if you would prefer to work with another faculty advisor due to sharing similar interests with another faculty or a personality conflict with your current advisor. However, we may decline your request or assign you to someone other than your first choice if it would cause a significant imbalance in advising loads.

Q5. What is Senior Checkout?

For students graduating in Spring or Summer, Senior Checkout is performed in the Fall semester prior to graduation. For Fall graduates, Senior Checkout is usually done the prior Spring semester. You will receive a email from the College of Engineering Dean's Office when it is time to do Senior Checkout. You will also see notices in the IE hallway listing those that need to do Senior Checkout.

To checkout, you first need to meet with the Undergraduate Coordinator to plan out all remaining coursework and insure its possible to graduate. The Undergraduate Coordinator then signs off on your checkout audit. You must then bring the signed audit and a completed "Engineering Exit Survey" to Lisa Fontenot in the Engineering Dean's office. At that time, your Senior Checkout flag is lifted (allowing you to register) and you are put on the graduation list.

Q6. Is it important to set / regularly update my expected graduation date in PAWS?

Yes. If you have not set your graduation date yet, a flag is set on your account that will prevent you from registering. Also, if you set a graduation date a while back that is now gone by or is coming up and you have not done senior checkout, the date will be cleared and a flag set until you update it or go through senior checkout.

Q7. I can't register for a class because of prerequisite problem.

You will no longer be able to register for any of the core IE courses if you have not already completed the necessary prerequisites, or completed / enrolled in required co-requisites.

There presently is a problem for students who have course substitutions in classes that are pre or co-requisites to other classes. For some reason, the prerequsite checking program does not look at substitutions. We are working with the University Registrars office to resolve this as soon as possible. In the mean time, students having this problem should see Dr. Knapp to have the prerequisite check overridden. Please bring your degree audit.

Q8. What is a Degree Audit, and where can I get a copy?

The Degree Audit shows what coursework you have completed and not completed towards your degree requirements, as well as any minors you are registered for. It shows officially what you've been given credit for, what substitutions / transfers have been accepted, and what minors you are registered for.

You can get a copy of your degree audit in PAWS, under "Student Services".

The PAWS copy includes most but not all audit information, however. Before going for advising, you may want to stop at the desk in the Engineering Dean's office to pick up a copy of your complete Degree Audit.

Q9. I'm confused about IE4785 (Independent Study / Special Topics in IE)? What is it used for, and how do I register?

IE4785 is counted as an IE Technical Elective. It is used for "learning experiences" outside the regular IE courses. Before registering for IE4785 you must find a professor willing to guide your work. The work is agreed upon between you and the professor before the start of the semester, and may be self-study on a particular topic, participating in a research project, or conducting a project (similar to senior project). Projects are often done in teams. To register for IE4785, there is a "IE4785" approval form in the office that you will need to fill out and have signed by the professor overseeing your work. You need to register for the section corresponding to that professor. Joann in the IE office can help with determining the right section number, and will then take care of registering you into the course.

IE4785 also counts towards the Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) and Quality & Reliability (QRE) minors. If you are using it for this purpose, the work that you do MUST be related to the minor. It is sometimes possible to find a single project that will meet both these areas if you are pursuing both minors.

For the OHS minor, independent studies should be arranged with either Dr. Aghazadeh or Dr. Harvey.

For the QRE minor, independent studies will normally be arranged with Dr. Jiang or Dr. Knapp.

Q10. What is a minor? How do I get a minor?

A minor is a sequence of courses that are taken in addition to or in conjunction with your degree requirements to develop expertise in a particular subarea. Course requirements vary but most minors require between 18 to 36 credit hours of coursework. In addition to further building your expertise in areas of interest to you, minors can be ueful in making you more "marketable" when it comes time to graduate and get a job.

A minor is noted on your official LSU transcript.

You must register that you are pursuing a minor with the Engineering Counselors. They will enter into the computer that you are pursuing the minor. It is not enough just to take the courses!! To check your minors, get a copy of your degree audit - it will indicate at the top any minors that have been registered for, and will also have a section for each minor showing the minor requirements. If it isn't on the degree audit, you are not registered.

Q11. What minors are of interest to IE's? Where do I find information on minor requirements?

The IE department offers two minors, Occupational Health and Safety (OHS and Quality and Reliability Engineering (QRE). Other minors frequently taken by IE students include Business, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Technical Sales, and Internal Auditing (note: Internal Auditing is not an official minor - it will not appear on your transcript, but you can refer to it on your resume if you've taken the coursework).

As a starting point for information, see the CMIE webpage under Undergraduate Program and then Minors" ( http://www.cmie.lsu.edu/ieminors.htm ). For additional information on the OHS minor, see Dr. Aghazadeh. For more information on the QRE minor, see Dr. Knapp.

For more information on other minors, as well as a complete of list of minors on campus, see one of the Engineering counselors.

Make sure to indicate to your faculty advisor what minors you are pursuing, so that those requirements are factored into your scheduling.

Q12. Should I do an internship or COOP? How do I get one?

Having some non-academic engineering experience has become practically a requirement for getting a job with many companies. It is strongly advised that you get some practical engineering experience outside the university. This experience can come from part time work at a local engineering firm, or from internships or COOP's. Internships are typically done over the Summer. COOPs generally are multi-semester, and generally require the student to take off one or more semesters from school. A COOP is also formerly noted on a students transcript, while an internship is not.

Most internship hiring is done between November and March for the following Summer, so get started early. Register with Career Services and get familiar with their listings for internship and COOP opportunities. Career Services also has a COOP office which you can contact. Attend the LSU Job Fair and talk to the company representatives about internship opportunities. You may also consider interviewing with companies even if you are not yet graduating - if they are impressed they may be able to find an internship position for you.

Networking is another - and effective - means of getting an internship. Contact alumni, family friends, etc., who are working at companies you are interested in.

Q13. When should I sign up with Career Services?

Its never too soon. You can sign up with career services at any point in your program, including as a freshman. Registering early will allow you to participate in courses they offer on resume writing, job searches, finding internships & COOPS, as well as so you can get familiar with how to use their job search resources. Career Services is located in the Patrick F. Taylor Hall and their website is http://appl003.lsu.edu/slas/career/careerweb.nsf/index .

Q14. How important is participation in student clubs?

Companies want to hire students who are leaders, self-starters (motivated), and have good people skills. Participation as an officer in student clubs is an excellent way to demonstrate you have these characteristics.

It also shows you have done more than just academics while at LSU. Be aware that many recruiters look at school as a part time 20-30 hour a week job. The obvious question is what did you do with yourself the other 20 hours of the work week? Showing initiative and self-improvement will give you an edge in the job hunt.

Q15. Are there any IE-related Student Clubs?

Yes - the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) is open to all IE students. The Alpha Pi Mu (APM) honor society is open to the top 20% of IE students by GPA. There webpages can be found on the IMSE webpage ( http://www.cmie.lsu.edu/ ) under "Undergraduate Programs" and then "Student Groups".