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Below is some detailed information for our online learning Masters of Engineering students who are preparing to graduate. If you have any questions about the process, here is our distance learning staff contact information.

Take course PETE 692

The Graduate and Professional School (GPS) refers to PETE 692 as a "final examination." We refer to it as your final report, professional report, or final project.

This is a one-on-one course with your advisor or chair. It is part of the requirements for a Masters of Engineering from our department and consists of:

  • a written professional report
  • a formal defense

You can start the project at any time, but the oral defense will not take place until the last semester. Although professors are flexible on the topic, most students relate it to what they are working on with their employer.

Check with your advisor or chair before you start your report. There are no strong guidelines for the content, length or style but, generally speaking, it should be comparable to a Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) paper (15 pages of text - Times New Roman 10 pt., single-spaced - with another 10 plus pages of figures/tables). Your advisor will tell you what they prefer.

Also, read the notes on academic integrity and plagiarism from Texas A&M's library services before you begin.

Dates and deadlines to finish your report and give your defense can be found on the GPS website at the start of the semester. Defense deadlines are usually around the second week of November, the second week of April, or mid-July.

Steps to graduation

Check Howdy

  1. Apply for graduation and pay the fee.
  2. Check to see if all courses (listed on your degree plan) have been completed.
  3. If there are any holds, get them cleared.
  4. Both your degree plan and your overall grade point average must be above a 3.0 to graduate.

Keep working on your PETE 692 written report until your advisor confirms it is ready to be presented to your committee.  

Once your paper is approved

When your advisor approves your PETE 692 written report: 

  1. Ask your advisor what dates and times work best to do your oral presentation.
    1. Use those dates and times to insert into doodle.com and send to members to fill out.
  2. Ask your advisor or our staff who they recommend to substitute if your committee member or outside member cannot make any of the dates and times.
  3. Notify our staff after all committee members agree on a date and time.
  4. Give our staff at least three weeks notice if you want to hold your defense in the department. You can also hold your defense on Zoom. The Zoom link is available through HOWDY, or go to tamu.zoom.us.
  5. Fill out your Request and Announcement of the Final Exam form through GPS, then follow instructions below for setting up your defense. Contact our staff if you need any guidance. Note: Under the Department Head or Intercollegiate Faculty Chair section, please put Dr. Jenn-Tai Liang. His email is: jenn-tai.liang@tamu.edu.
  6. At least three to five days before your defense, send your committee copies of your final paper to allow time for their reviews and suggestions.
  7. Run a test of your presentation a day or two in advance. Contact our staff for guidance. Note: presentations average about 20–30 minutes, followed by questions and answers, which can range between 10–20 minutes. 
  8. The day before your defense, send your committee AND our staff a copy of your PowerPoint presentation and make sure the copies are received.

Setting up your defense

Fill out the request and announcement of the final exam (RAFE) form on the GPS website after your date/time/room is finalized.

You must turn in this form ten (10) days prior to your exam date, or the final date listed under GPS exam deadlines for Master of Engineering (non-thesis) students. Check their website for the dates and deadlines.

    1. You might not graduate if you wait until the last minute to do your paperwork.
    2. Approvals for online forms can take 5 to 10 business days going through GPS.
    3. The department head and the graduate program advisor (Dr. Liang) will sign your degree plan, but they are not part of your committee. They only approve your paperwork.
    4. Once you submit your form to GPS, it is "first come, first serve" in their approval process, so be patient.

NOTE: Obtaining approval e-signatures can take a day or more, so waiting until the last minute to turn in your form can delay your graduation

Dates and deadlines

Contact our staff for help with setting up your presentation via teleconferencing if you or any of your committee members are attending OFF CAMPUS. Our staff will need:

  • date, time, and location
  • your committee members names
  • a copy of the both your report and PowerPoint presentation

A test run is recommended a day or two in advance of your presentation.

If you defend ON CAMPUS, you will use your NetID and password to get into the system.

Ceremony details

  1. For dates and other ceremony details, go to the Texas A&M graduation website.
  2. A degree audit is needed to check your status and make sure you are cleared for graduation.

After graduation

Send our staff the title of your presentation.

Keep your profile updated via The Association of Former Students.

The Aggie Network.com is where you order your Aggie ring.

Every now and then, drop us a line. We'd love to hear from you.