The Faculty of Engineering offers an Accelerated Master's Program. The program is a response to a number of needs among which are:
- recognition of outstanding students and provision of academic enrichment for them;
- provision of an introduction to the postgraduate milieu for good undergraduate students who might otherwise overlook the opportunity of graduate studies;
- provision of a reasonably firm time horizon for the completion of the Master of Applied Science (MASc) program.
This program provides a mechanism for the institution of a quicker route to the MASc degree, for outstanding students, on a Faculty-wide basis. The framework is a minimum requirement and departments may add to, but not delete from the requirements of the program.
General Principles of an Accelerated Master's Program
An Accelerated Master's program is one in which it is deemed academically advantageous to treat the educational process leading through the Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) to the MASc degree as a single continuous integrated whole, while at the same time satisfying the requirements for both degrees. This stands in contradistinction to treatment of the Bachelor's and Master's degree programs each as terminal activities. Such structured programs, starting at the undergraduate level and terminating with a MASc degree in the Faculty of Engineering provide an alternative means, complementary to the existing undergraduate and graduate programs, for the attainment of the MASc degree.
The following are some general conditions that an Accelerated Master's degree program should satisfy:
- Students who elect to enter and pursue the Accelerated Master's program will fulfill the degree requirements of both the BASc program and the MASc program. This implies that:
- eight terms of full-time registration at the undergraduate level and at least two terms of full-time registration (or equivalent) at the graduate level are mandatory;
- the graduate program must include at least four (graduate) courses and a thesis, or eight courses and an MASc project.
- the Co-operative work term requirements of the BASc program must be met.
- There must be complete freedom of transferability from the Accelerated Master's program to the regular program.
- Admission to the Accelerated Master's program is on the basis of merit, as is continuance in the program. Students who fail to maintain sufficiently high standing will be required to revert to the regular program, or if circumstances so warrant, to withdraw from the University.
- The culmination of the Accelerated Master's program is the Master's degree; this may be attained either through the completion of a Master's degree project or research thesis.
- An Accelerated Master's program normally functions on the Co-operative basis.
- Recruitment into an Accelerated Master's degree program must have the flexibility to satisfy the requirements of individual students; at the same time it must have coherence – each student's program must be addressed toward a well-defined area of specialization.
Organizational Structure for the Accelerated Master's Program
Application and Admission
Admission to the Accelerated Master's program is normally restricted to students with a consistently good academic record at the end of the 3A term who would be granted "conditional admission to the MASc program." The condition to be fulfilled is "satisfactory completion of the requirements of the BASc degree with at least a B average."
Students who are granted this admission would be notified at the start of the academic term preceding their 6th work term. As in any program culminating in a Master's degree, a Faculty Supervisor is appointed on admission.
Academic and Administrative Responsibility
Although the Supervisor advises students, all course selections and other academic administrative matters concerning each student are subject to the approval of the Department Associate Chair for Undergraduate and Graduate Studies.
Course Sequence
The courses chosen by the student (with the advice of the Supervisor and approval of the Associate Chair) in the 4A, 4B, 5A, and 5B terms should form a coherent series which (together with the MASc project or thesis) complete the requirements of the Bachelor's and, ultimately, the Master's degree.
In each of the 4A and 4B terms one course (normally 600 level) should be chosen for credit to the MASc degree. In some departments this course may replace one of the technical electives in each of those terms. To do this a student must have taken an additional technical elective in a previous term. Technically, it is necessary for students to enrol in these courses as "extras" in order to avoid counting them towards the requirements of both degrees. For students entering their program in 1997 and later, these MASc credit courses would be taken as a type X or type N course.
If a student is proceeding to an MASc with a research thesis, the balance of courses (two courses numbered 500 or above) will normally be taken in the 5A (Fall) term. There will be no course requirement for the 5B (Winter) term.
A student who is proceeding to an MASc with a Master's degree project, would normally select three courses in each of the 5A and 5B terms (with the advice of the Supervisor and approval of the Associate Chair).
Co-operative Work Terms
The Accelerated Master's program includes two work terms. These may take two forms:
- "Special" Off-Campus Work Terms
It is expected that most of the students proceeding to the MASc degree by course work and project will be involved in off-campus work terms. Because of the calibre of these students it should be possible to make special arrangements for significant projects to be completed in these terms, so that they form a coherent pair, and that the students have special supervision in industry. The "work reports" generated on the "special" work terms will form the basis for the MASc project report. The Faculty Supervisor will be expected to maintain liaison with the off-campus organization in which the student works during these terms.
- "Special" On-Campus Work Terms
It is expected that most of the students proceeding to the MASc degree with a research thesis will be involved in on-campus work terms. During these work terms they will not be registered students; they may be hired as associate researchers for the purposes of various research grants, without the restriction of student salaries. They may also work as teaching assistants during these terms. This combination can be attractive from the various points of view of available research time, income generation for the student, total research cost from a grant and effective teaching assistantships.
Fourth-Year Projects
All Departments have some requirement or opportunity for projects in the 4A/4B terms. For students in the Accelerated Master's program these projects may be integrated with their special work-term projects as well as their work in 5A and 5B.
Granting of Degrees
The BASc degree will be granted at the normal time i.e. at the Spring Convocation following the 4B term. The program, however, culminates in the MASc, which is normally granted at the Convocation following the 5B term. In some cases, additional time may be required to complete the thesis or project.
Postgraduate Scholarships
Students in the Accelerated Master's program may apply for Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Ontario Graduate Scholarship Program (OGS) scholarships, etc. at the same time as their colleagues in the Regular programs. They are also eligible for Faculty of Engineering (FOE) scholarships during the 5A and 5B terms.
Withdrawal or Failure
Students may remain in the Accelerated Master's program provided they maintain sufficiently high academic standards. The minimum is a cumulative B average (73% to the end of 4B, 70% thereafter).
A student who fails to maintain this standard will be required to withdraw from the Accelerated Master's program. In such a case, all courses taken up to the end of 4B, including those originally intended to fulfill part of the Master's degree requirements, will be counted towards the Bachelor's degree program and marks therefrom included in the 4A and 4B averages as appropriate. Should the student have then satisfied the requirements for the BASc degree, it will be granted at the next convocation. Such a student will not be permitted to enter the regular MASc program.
If a student does maintain at least the minimum standard mentioned above, but decides to withdraw voluntarily from the Accelerated Master's program, the 4A and 4B results will be calculated including the courses originally intended to fulfill part of the Master's degree requirements, and if the requirements for the Bachelor's degree are then satisfied, the BASc will be granted at the next Convocation. Such a student will be allowed, at a later date, to enter the regular MASc program, but the graduate courses taken in the final undergraduate year may not be applied to the Master's degree.