Curricular Advising Policies and Procedures

On this page:

• EGR 1010
• Course Substitutions
• Deadline to Request Permission to Register for Courses
• Independent Study and Research Courses as Technical Electives
• Independent Study Registration
• Internship for Technical Elective Credit
• Departmental Honors
• Combined Degree Programs (4+1)
• Graduate Student Registration for More Than 9 Credit Hours
• CPT
• OPT

EGR 1010

EGR 1010 will be substituted with a general or technical elective if either of the following applies: 

• The student has already successfully completed a full year of calculus at the time of transfer to WSU
• The student changes their major into BME or ISE and has already successfully completed a full year of calculus

Note that this policy does not apply to students coming to WSU directly from high school into BME or ISE with AP credit for Calculus I and II.  

Course Substitutions 

Course substitutions are considered for transfer students and WSU students who change their major to BME or ISE on a case by case basis via petition to the department. Course substitutions are not permitted for students coming to WSU directly from high school into BME or ISE.  

The following course substitutions do not require a petition and can be approved by the academic advisor as applicable.  

• For CS 1160: ME 1020, CS 1180, CEG 2170
• For BME 1110: ISE 1110, BIO 1120
• For ISE 1110: CHM 1210/L
• MTH 2240 is acceptable as a prerequisite for ISE 2211 in lieu of EGR 1010 or MTH 2300

Deadline to Request Permission to Register for Courses

Beginning Summer 2025, the deadline to request permission to register for courses requiring department permission will be approximately one week before the start of classes. The request deadlines apply to the following courses:

Undergraduate

• BME 3940 BME Internship I
• BME 4940 BME Internship II
• BME 4950 Undergraduate Research in BME II
• BME 4960 Departmental Honors Research in BME
• BME 4990 Undergraduate Independent Studies in BME II
• ISE 3940 ISE Internship I
• ISE 4940 ISE Internship II
• ISE 4950 Undergraduate Research in ISE II
• ISE 4960 Departmental Honors Research in ISE
• ISE 4990 Undergraduate Independent Studies in ISE II

Graduate

• BME 6990 Graduate Independent Studies in BME I
• BME 7990 Graduate Independent Studies in BME II
• BME 7950 MS Thesis Research in BME
• BME 8950 PhD Dissertation Research in BME
• IHE 6990 Graduate Independent Studies in IHE I
• IHE 7990 Graduate Independent Studies in IHE II
• IHE 7950 MS Thesis Research in IHE
• IHE 8950 PhD Dissertation Research in IHE

Specific Deadlines by Semester

Semester	First day of class	Permission request due by
Summer 2025	Mon, May 12	Mon, May 5
Fall 2025	Thu, Aug 21	Wed, Aug 13
Spring 2026	Mon, Jan 12	Mon, Jan 5
Summer 2026	Mon, May 18	Mon, May 11
Fall 2026	Thu, Aug 20	Wed, Aug 12
Spring 2027	Mon, Jan 11	Mon, Jan 4
Summer 2027	Mon, May 17	Mon, May 10

Independent Study and Research courses as Technical Electives

Up to four credit hours of one of the following courses may be used to fulfill one technical elective course requirement:

• BME 4990 Independent Study in Biomedical Engineering
• ISE 4990 Independent Study in Industrial and Systems Engineering
• BME 4950 Undergraduate Research in Biomedical Engineering
• ISE 4950 Undergraduate Research in Industrial and Systems Engineering
• BME 4960 Departmental Honors Research in Biomedical Engineering
• ISE 4960 Departmental Honors Research in Industrial and Systems Engineering  

Independent Study Registration

Registration for independent study courses requires department permission: 

• Submit the Special Course Approval Form found on the Forms website to the BIE Department.  
• Following approval by the Department Chair, permission will be given for registration.  

Internship for Technical Elective Credit

Internship may be used for technical elective credit at the junior level (BME 3940 or ISE 3940) or senior level (BME 4940 or ISE 4940).  

Internship course registration permission is based on number of hours per week a student is anticipated to work per week during the semester of registered internship.  

• 10 hours per week = 1 credit; 
• 20 hours per week = 2 credits; 
• 30 hours per week = 3 credits.

Students may complete the internship for technical elective credit over multiple semesters.

Approval for technical elective credit for internship requires submission of:

• Internship technical elective application
• Offer letter that includes number of hours per week to be worked, as well as start and end dates of the internship.
• Company-provided job description.  This can be the original job posting, an email from the supervisor, or included in the offer letter.  

Once approved as appropriate for the student’s degree program, the student will be given permission to register for BME 3940/4940 or ISE 3940/4940.  

Students will also register their internship with Career Services, and the CECS Career Services Consultant will get feedback from the employer about the student’s performance during the internship.  

Note that BME 3940/4940 and ISE 3940/4940 require completion of several assignments in Pilot during the internship semester in order to earn a passing grade.  

Departmental Honors

• Departmental Honors research is available for eligible undergraduate BME and ISE students.  
• Departmental Honors may be earned as a stand-alone honors degree designation or as part of the University Honors designation.  
• Departmental honors students will work with a faculty member (honors research advisor) to develop a research proposal to submit to the department for approval by the Department Chair.  
• The research project must take place over two semesters for a total of six credits.  
• Three of the six credits may be used to fulfill technical elective requirements.  
• Departmental Honors applications and proposals may be submitted at any time for registration in any semester, subject to the agreement of the honors research advisor.  
• Permission to register for Departmental Honors Research (BME 4960 or ISE 4960) will be given upon submission of the application and approval of the research proposal.  
• The full departmental honors policy can be found at https://engineering-computer-science.wright.edu/sites/engineering-computer-science.wright.edu/files/page/attachments/Dept-Honors-Program_Application.pdf 

Combined BS/MS Degree (4+1) Programs

A combined degree program allows students to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in five years.

The BIE Department offers three combined degree programs:

• BSBE/MSBME
• BSBE/MSIHE
• BSISE/MSIHE

Up to nine credit hours of required or elective 4000-level courses may be taken at the 6000-level for dual credit in both the undergraduate and graduate degrees.  

An additional 7000-level course may be taken for graduate credit only while a student is an undergraduate.  

Eligibility requires:

• 3.3 or higher overall GPA
• Grades of A or B in all engineering coursework taken prior to the start of the 4+1 program
• Completion of 75 credit hours in the degree program (students typically meet this requirement in spring of junior year).  

For entrance into a 4+1 program, students must submit the application and a full graduate program of study.  

Applications are due in November for spring semester start and April for fall semester start.

Full policy details and application can be found at https://engineering-computer-science.wright.edu/sites/engineering-computer-science.wright.edu/files/page/attachments/Combined-BS-MS-application.pdf 
 

Graduate Student Registration for More Than 9 Credit Hours

Graduate students in CECS are able to register for a maximum of 9 credit hours per semester.  BIE Department policy will allow graduate students to register for 10 or 11 credit hours with an established WSU GPA of 3.0 or higher, upon request.  Graduate students with an established WSU GPA of 3.4 or higher will be permitted to register for up to 12 credit hours upon request.  
 

CPT (International Students)

Department approval for CPT requires submission of:

• Offer letter that includes number of hours per week to be worked, as well as start and end dates of the internship.
• Company-provided job description.  This can be the original job posting, an email from the supervisor, or included in the offer letter.  
• An updated program of study that includes the CPT

Following submission of these items and approval by the faculty advisor of the internship as appropriate to the graduate program, the departmental approval will be granted on the electronic form.  

OPT (International Students)

Electronic department approval of OPT requires a current and accurate program of study that indicates completion of required program coursework prior to the start of OPT.