Riccio College of Engineering Graduate Student Policies

The Riccio College of Engineering is committed to providing a positive learning environment for our students to learn, do research, and to grow academically and professionally. This page highlights college-level policies and common resources for graduate students and reiterates important Graduate School and departmental policies. 

You may also want to visit the Information for Graduate Students resource page.

General Guidelines 

The Riccio College of Engineering offers a number of graduate degree programs and certificates that are subject to the proceeding policies and guidance.

Department Graduate Handbooks

In addition to this information, policies that are universal to all graduate students at UMass Amherst and can be found in the Graduate Handbook.

• Biomedical Engineering: coming soon  
• Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: coming soon 
• Civil and Environmental Engineering: coming soon 
• Electrical and Computer Engineering PDF or Accessible online version
• Mechanical and Industrial Engineering: PDF (accessible online version coming soon)

Professional Development 

It is recommended that graduate students participate in professional development exercises continuously throughout their degree. Professional development includes participating in conferences and workshops in the student’s research and professional communities and outreach activities to host one’s research group or department. Additionally, the Riccio College of Engineering offers the #GradLife Graduate Professional Development Series, connecting students with relevant offices on campus to enhance their graduate student experience. The signature #GradLife event is the Graduate Research Symposium, featuring the research and accomplishments of our graduate students. 

The Graduate School’s Office of Professional Development has considerable offerings to support leadership development, communication, and career preparation. 

Conflict Resolution and Emergency Support 

On occasion, graduate students require support to respond to emergencies or resolve conflicts. There are people and resources available to help you. Below is a list of campus resources. Generally, any trusted faculty, staff, or peers, can offer support or guidance. Some members of our college community have significant working knowledge of college and campus support and if you need guidance, your graduate program director, the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Affairs, and/or Associate Dean for Diversity Equity and Inclusion can be a good place to start to identify the support you need. Graduate students employed as a graduate assistant or who hold prestigious external fellowships are represented by the Graduate Employee Organization who can support a student in matters related to their employment. There are a number of advisors across the college in addition to our Graduate Program Directors (GPD).

Outside the College of Engineering: There are a number of resources including: Graduate School; Dean of Students of Office; Ombud’s Office; Graduate Employee Organization; EOA Office; Center for Counseling and Personal Health; and University Health Services.

Graduate Advising 

Upon arriving at UMass, MS students will be assigned a faculty or staff advisor to direct them in selecting coursework to complete their degree. A graduate student pursing a PhD or a MS thesis or project must have a research advisor in their academic home department. This advisor will also mentor them in course selection and professional development. This advisor may be an adjunct faculty so long as the department allows adjunct faculty to serve as a primary graduate student advisor.  

The Riccio College of Engineering expects that all faculty who advise or will advise graduate students participate in Research Mentor Training offered by the Graduate School. 

Field Experience Concentration and Curricular Practical Training 

Many graduate degree programs in the Riccio College of Engineering offer a Field Experience Concentration, allowing students to participate in internships in the semester or during breaks that align with their curriculum and earn course credit. Review your program’s Graduate Handbook to see if this option is available to you.  

Curricular Practical Training (CPT) allows F-1 international students to gain work experience (paid or unpaid internships, co-ops) directly related to their major, essential for their degree, and authorized by their Designated School Official (DSO) with an endorsement on their I-20, enabling them to work legally in the U.S. while studying, either part-time (under 20 hrs/week during semesters) or full-time (during breaks). Federal policies can change at any time and supersede any information presented here. 

Contact: Christina Mata, cmata [at] umass [dot] edu (cmata[at]umass[dot]edu) 

View CPT Instructions for International Graduate Students 

In-person internships are strongly preferred, and remote or hybrid work arrangements require additional consideration and restrictions. Remote or hybrid work arrangement should only be pursued after consultation with the Office of Global Affairs and will require taking in-person coursework.  

Students are discouraged from completing CPT in their final semester of their degree program. Exceptions can be made under specific circumstances and in consultation with their GPD and the Riccio College of Engineering Career and Experiential Learning Center. In the final semester, student must be full-time on campus and taking in-person courses (includes Charles River Campus in-person courses) and may intern for:   

• 40 hrs if they have 1 course left 
• 30 hrs if they have 2 courses left 
• 20 hrs if they have more than 2 courses left  

Commuting to a job from campus is allowed but residence needs to be on campus or local to campus and course attendance should be on-campus, in-person. The company must be aware of arrangement and allow the flexibility to attend classes in person 

Graduate Student Appointments 

PhD students, primarily, and some MS students may be hired as a graduate research assistant (RA), teaching assistant (TA), or project assistant. These appointments are aligned with the research and educational mission of the college. Appointments of research and project assistantships are under the purview of individual faculty and are generally awarded to support the research objectives of external funding. Teaching Assistantships are awarded by the department.  Additionally, some of our MS students have been recruited to a course-based program by international student recruitment firms, such as INTO. By Provost Office policy, these students can be hired only research or project assistant, not a teaching assistant. It is also the responsibility of the hiring PI or department to pay the recruitment fees associated with the students.  

As of Spring 2025, the Provost’s Office requires PhD students to be offered a commitment of, at minimum, a 20 hour/week appointment for two semesters per year for four years or the equivalent, contingent on the availability of funds. RA, PA, and TA are typically appointed and subsequently reappointed 3 times a year in the fall semester, spring semester, and summer. Sometimes reappointments are made for a longer period, e.g. both fall and spring semesters or the 12-month calendar year. 

The necessary conditions of a re-appointment include: (i) demonstration of satisfactory job performance expected of a RA, PA, and/or TA, (ii) the availability of funds, and (iii) the student making satisfactory progress towards the completion of their degree.  The term “satisfactory progress’ is at the discretion of the supervisor and includes, but is not limited to, being in good academic standing, conducting research, generating publications as expected, cumulative grade point averages of at least 3.0 out of 4.0, performing research tasks as requested, taking and passing examinations on schedule.  

MS Students and Appointments Outside the College.  Assistantships are preferentially awarded to PhD students across UMass Amherst. Occasionally, MS students are hired both inside and outside the college. If an MS student on a course-only path plans to take an assistantship that qualifies for a tuition waiver outside the college, the student should consult their faculty academic and/or research advisor as well as the graduate program director in their home department as it may require a memorandum of understanding between the hiring department and the graduate student’s home department and tuition transfer from the hiring department to the home department. 

Disruption of Funding. Sometimes, PIs and departments experience disruptions in funding due to unforeseen circumstances or unexpected departures from the university. In the event of disruption of funds, PIs and their departments, and in some cases, the college will do their best to support the financial commitment to a student's successful completion of the degree or 4 years, if they remain in good academic standing.  

When a doctoral student from one department is advised by an adjunct faculty member from another department, the student's home department and the adjunct faculty member's home department(s) shall share responsibility for determining financial support in the event the adjunct faculty member has insufficient funds to support the student. The specific allocation of support shall be determined through mutual agreement between graduate program directors and/or department heads, considering factors such as the student's research focus, teaching needs in each department, and available resources. In the event the departments cannot agree in the interest of the student, the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Affairs will mediate and find an arrangement to fulfill the funding obligation noted in the student’s offer letter, and in the interest of the student completing their degree compliant with department and college guidelines.  

Appointment Overages. In some specific cases, students may carry research, teaching, and/or project appointments greater than 20 hours/week, particularly in summer or winter periods. Protecting time for academic progress outside of these appointments is critically important for timely advancement towards a degree. The Graduate School’s Workload Policy [found here] states: UMass Human Resources and Massachusetts regulations impose a maximum of 40 hours per week that a student may work for compensation on campus. This includes the total from all job types: assistantships, student hourly, work-study, etc. The Graduate School includes the course credit hours in the total permissible workload of 40 hours. A student, who, with the addition of credit hours, slightly exceeds the 40-hour maximum, can have the limit lifted with a letter from the Graduate Program Director or Department Head attesting to the student's capacity to handle the overload. Note that international students with F1 or J1 Visas may not work more than 20 hours per week while classes are in session. These students may work up to 40 hours a week during winter and summer.  

In addition, to support the best interest of the student: 

• Appointments greater than 20 hours per week or collections of appointments greater than 20 hours/week during fall or spring semesters require a conversation and approval of an academic progress plan by their GPD. This plan should be codified in writing. 
• Students cannot take comprehensive exams, defend their prospectus/proposal, or defend their dissertation while carrying a 40 hour/week appointment as a PA, TA, RA, or combination. This applies to both the summer and winter terms as well as the academic semester. 

Master of Science Programs 

Credit Requirements 

Each Master's of Science program within the Riccio College of Engineering has a unique curriculum that complies with the graduate school’s requirement of a minimum of 30 credit hours with 21 credits in the program and 12 credits at 600-level or above. Students on the thesis or project path must take a minimum of 6 thesis credits, with some programs requiring more. Please consult your Department’s Graduate Program Handbook for requirements specific to your degree program. 

Good Academic Standing 

The grade-point average for the courses counted toward the degree must be 3.0 or above. Students pursuing a master’s thesis or master’s project must be making consistent progress toward the project’s goals.  

PhD Programs 

Graduate School Residency Requirement 

A doctoral candidate must spend the equivalent of at least one continuous academic year of full-time graduate work (nine credits per semester) in residence at the University. The residency year must be either in a Fall/Spring or Spring/Fall sequence. During this year, the student must spend some part of each week physically on campus. 

Credit Requirements 

The Graduate School does not regulate course requirements for PhD programs. Please refer to your graduate program handbook noting that there may be different requirements depending on whether you entered the program with a MS degree or not. A minimum of 18 dissertation credits is required to complete your Ph.D. 

Good Academic Standing  

The student is completing/has completed their course work and is maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or better. Consult your graduate program handbook for requirements specific to your program. 

The student must also be making consistent progress on research and progress towards academic degree milestones. Academic milestones are achieved in a timeline compliant with their department’s graduate handbook. The preliminary comprehensive exams (sometimes called Ph.D. qualifying exams) should be completed no later than 2 years after matriculating into the program and the dissertation committee formation and proposal/prospectus defense should be completed no later than 3.25 years after matriculation. For students that are unsuccessful in meeting either of these milestones, programs are expected to work with the student to enable them to leave with an appropriate graduate certification (e.g. an MS degree and/or a certificate), if possible. Individual programs may have shorter timelines, and you should consult your program. 

Students cannot begin continuous enrollment before completing their courses, the proposal defense, and forming their dissertation committee.  Additionally, students need to be registered for a minimum of 3 dissertation credits in a semester where they defend their dissertation. If a student defends during the summer or winter, they need to be registered for a minimum of 3 dissertation credits in the semester preceding the defense. Exceptions can be made for non-resident students on an ad hoc basis. 

Committee Formation and Member Eligibility 

The dissertation committee is composed of at least three (3) graduate faculty members; the chairperson (typically the student’s advisor), one other member from the candidate department, and one member from outside the candidate department. On occasion, committee members are appointed outside of UMass 5-college campus. To appoint a non-voting outside member, a curriculum vitae is needed to be considered by the Graduate School for a temporary appointment.  

Members of the Dissertation Committee must agree to not only assist in the supervision of the dissertation project but also conduct (be present at) the Dissertation Defense. Students should remember that most faculty are on a 9-month contract and should not assume that committee members will be available during the summer months.