Admission Criteria, Admission Status, Quality Assurance, Engineering and Technology Concentration, Quality Systems Concentration, Course Descriptions

Admission to the Master of Science program with a major in Quality Assurance is open to persons holding the bachelor or higher degree in engineering, engineering technology, or related degree from an accredited college.

Preference in admission will be given to applicants having professional experience in a technical work environment. The admission procedure is competitive in that students will be admitted only if their academic accomplishments and work experience demonstrate that they can successfully complete the program.

Admissions Procedure
Applicants for admission to the Master of Science Program with a major in Quality Assurance must submit the following to the Admissions Office no later than semester deadline date before the beginning of the semester in which the applicant plans to enroll:

• An application for admission to the program,
• Two official transcripts from each college the applicant has attended, and
• A certificate of immunization

• A statement of purpose in seeking this degree
• At least three recommendation forms which have been completed by former or current supervisors, professors, or professional colleagues

Admission Criteria
Engineering and Technology Concentration:

Applicants should have:

• An undergraduate degree in engineering, engineering technology, physical sciences, and other technically orientated majors from an accredited college or university
• At least two consecutive years of experience in a full-time quality or closely related professional position
• College credit for a basic statistics math course that included hypothesis testing and confidence intervals. Students may be allowed to take QA 6610 in lieu of this requirement and use this course as a free elective

• College credit for a two (or more) course sequence in a physical science that included laboratories
• At least a 2.70 (on the 4.00 scale) undergraduate grade point average

Other technical and non-technical majors may be acceptable.

Applicants must have at least a 2.70 (on the 4.00 scale) undergraduate grade point average.
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Admission Status
The program coordinator in conjunction with the graduate admissions committee determines the student admission status.

1. Full Graduate Status have met all the criteria shown above and have been judged acceptable by the graduate programs committee.
2. Provisional students are graduate students who have not met all the criteria shown above. They are limited to designated courses, either graduate or undergraduate, during which they will be evaluated to determine their likelihood of success. Provisional students are not guaranteed full graduate status.

Quality Assurance

The Master's Program with a major in Quality Assurance is offered by the industrial engineering technology program in order to meet an established need in both manufacturing and service industries.

The program focuses on total quality management and on analytical methods such as statistics, process, analysis, and problem solving techniques. A primary objective of the degree is to provide graduate level study opportunity to individuals who are currently practicing in the quality and related fields so that they may be aware of recent advances and modern practice.
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Engineering and Technology Concentration

This concentration is designed for prospective students who have undergraduate degrees in engineering technology (any major), physical science, mathematics, and other technical majors. To qualify fully for admission students will need the technically oriented undergraduate degree including a laboratory-based physical science, at least one calculus course, and a statistics course. Two years of full time experience in the field is also expected of all applicants for this concentration.

For a fully qualified student the program requires 36 semester hours of study. This includes 8 semester hours for the Master's project, which is usually performed in the employer's facility. When admitted, students will be assigned a graduate advisor. Students are required to work frequently with their advisors to plan the program of study and to maintain progress.
 

Note: A grade of "C" or better is required for each course.
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Quality Systems Concentration

This concentration is designed for students who are working in the quality, training, and related developmental disciplines. The program has been established to meet the needs of the professional who has not received a formal technical education in quality, yet must support total quality, continuous improvement, process management, and re-engineering efforts within their organization.

The program focuses on total quality management and on analytical techniques. Students may elect a thesis or non-thesis option as part of their studies. A primary objective of the degree is to provide graduate level study opportunity to individuals who are currently practicing in a quality related field who have not had any formal technical education in the discipline.

The concentration is designed for prospective students who have undergraduate degrees in business, social science, education, and other non-technical majors. To qualify fully for admission students will need to hold a bachelor's degree and either be working in a quality related field, e.g., human resources or training, or desire to work in the field.

For a qualified student the program requires 36 semester hours of study. Students electing the thesis option will complete an 8 hour thesis. The remainder of the curriculum includes graduate coursework in Total Quality, Process Analysis, Technical Training, Quality Systems Design, Quality Cost Systems, and Statistical Process Control.
 

Note: A grade of "C" or better is required for each course.
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