While the University has general regulations governing scholastic eligibility for continuation, departments and programs in the College of Engineering have adopted additional requirements. The following criteria and procedures apply to all undergraduate students.
Continuation criteria
Students should complete an average of 16 credits per quarter to complete the BSME degree requirements in the conventional 12 quarters (4 academic years).
1. Full-time status required
Full-time students are expected to complete 12 or more credits per academic quarter applicable toward their degree requirements to be considered a full-time student. This rule is interpreted by the Mechanical Engineering Department to mean that failure to meet the 12-credit requirement for two consecutive quarters will result in automatic transfer out of the Department and the College of Engineering. Students meet the requirement of 12 credits per quarter by completing 24 applicable credits in any two consecutive quarters. Summer quarter is not counted.
2. Part-time status permission
Part-time attendance is possible subject to departmental approval. Written permission must be obtained each quarter from the adviser. An application for part-time status must be made prior to the first day of each quarter. Students who have received permission to attend part time should complete a minimum of six credits each quarter applicable towards their degree.
3. Leave without approval
A student who withdraws from the University without prior written approval or is dropped for non-payment of fees must obtain approval of the departmental undergraduate adviser before registering or maintaining pre-registration for the following academic quarter. In such cases the department registration may be disallowed or canceled if the student's academic record is inferior to the level of admission prevailing at the time.
4. Credits in excess of BSME requirements
All undergraduate students who have exceeded by more than 10 credits the requirements of the BSME degree program will be transferred to the College of Arts and Sciences.
5. Grade-point average
The grade-point average in all departmental and professional program courses must not fall below 2.00. The grade point average is computed by considering all professional program courses, including repeated courses. If the grade point average in these courses falls below 2.00, a student will be placed on departmental probation and must achieve a quarterly grade point average above 2.00 the following quarter or be transferred out of the Department and the College of Engineering.
Review and notification procedure
The progress of each student will be reviewed on a regular basis. If a student fails to meet the standards outlined above, that student will be placed on probation the following quarter, and the student will be notified in writing of the reason for probation. If the student does not show satisfactory progress in the following quarter, the student will be notified in writing, dropped from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and will be transferred to the College of Arts and Sciences. Failure to notify the student does not nullify the termination.
Appeals Procedure
The departments and the College recognize that inequities can result from any continuation policy. Therefore, a student who has been placed on probation or has been dismissed and believes that some facts in the record have been overlooked or misinterpreted may request reconsideration of the probation dismissal by writing a letter to the Mechanical Engineering Chair. Included in the letter should be any additional information in support of the student or any other information that the student believes is relevant. The appeal must be made within 30 days of the notification of placement on probation or dismissal. A response to the appeal will be made within 30 days.
Academic Misconduct
Academic misconduct encompasses plagiarism, cheating on examinations or on individual project assignments, and theft or alteration of other people's work on academic materials for the purpose of improving one's own grades or acquiring academic credit. Students accused of academic misconduct will be referred for disciplinary action pursuant to the Student Conduct Code of the Washington Administrative Code 478-120, and if found guilty are subject to sanctions. As a function of the seriousness of such misconduct, sanctions range from a disciplinary warning to immediate dismissal from the College of Engineering and the University of Washington. The latter can and has been applied even for first offense.
Minimum Grade Requirements
The Department of Mechanical Engineering has no additional minimum grade requirements for undergraduate students in our major beyond policies already set by the university. To earn credit, have it count towards your degree and serve as a prerequisite to your ME coursework, a student needs to earn a 0.7 or higher to be considered passing (not a 2.0 or higher as commonly misunderstood). "S/NS" or Satisfactory/Non-Satisfactory grades cannot be applied towards a graduation requirement with the exception of those earned during Extraordinary Circumstances Quarters (official designation for COVID-19 pandemic quarters). Some non-ME courses such as MATH 209 and CEE 220 have separate grade requirements for prerequisites (as seen in the course catalog) that might impact your registration. Please consult with your academic advisor if you have a question about minimum grade requirements in MATH 207 or AA 210.
By your graduation, a student must earn a 2.0 cumulative GPA average and a 2.0 GPA average in ME major coursework (courses with prefix ME 1XX, 2XX, 3XX, etc).