Mar 29, 2024  
Graduate Record 2021-2022 
    
Graduate Record 2021-2022 [ARCHIVED RECORD]

Civil Engineering


Graduate Programs


The Civil Engineering Graduate Program offers several areas of study for those interested in pursuing an advanced degree in civil or environmental engineering. These degrees can lead to employment opportunities in government, industry, or academia. Our graduate program offers the following degrees:

  • Master of Engineering (ME) in Civil Engineering*
  • Master of Science (MS) in Civil Engineering
  • Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Civil Engineering

*Students may complete the ME either on-grounds, or through Virginia Engineering Online (VEO).

Students completing an MS or PhD in Civil Engineering are actively involved in the department’s research program.

Environmental and Water Resources
Our research in environmental and water resources engineering is largely focused on developing environmentally-sustainable technologies relating to water, energy, and transportation infrastructure. This work covers a broad range of topics, including: optimizing management of local and international water supplies; modeling contaminant fate and transport in natural systems and engineered treatment facilities; development of technologies and approaches to mitigate global climate change and its induced impacts on environmental quality; and life cycle assessment (LCA)-based evaluation of infrastructure systems.

Infrastructure Engineering
Our research in infrastructure engineering focuses on improving the design, construction, and operation of civil infrastructure, most notably transportation infrastructure, for optimal sustainability and resilience. The department has considerable modeling and experimental expertise related to: advanced materials; structural health monitoring and condition assessment; solid mechanics; alternative mobility and intelligent transportation; cyber-physical systems and “smart cities”; and geotechnical engineering. 

For more detailed information about the department, degree programs, and research areas, visit the website at https://engineering.virginia.edu/departments/engineering-systems-and-environment.

M.E. Degree


Students pursuing an ME degree in CE will be assigned a faculty advisor, who will assist in selection of courses to complete one of five tracks: Environmental and Water Resources Engineering (EWRE), Structural Engineering (STR), Transportation Engineering (TRN), Infrastructure Systems Engineering (ISE) or Construction Engineering and Management (CEM). For all tracks, 30 hours of graded coursework is required, as described below. A thesis is not required. Students may be permitted to modify any of the four tracks, provided they have approval from the advisor and the CE Graduate Director. All CE ME students must also submit the following three assessment forms, as completed by qualified faculty: engineering design, engineering analysis, and technical writing.  These forms are available at the SEAS website.  All CE ME students must fulfill all SEAS requirements for the ME degree.

EWRE Track Requirements
Ten three-credit courses are required, of which at least four must be from the EWRE core list and at least two must be from the EWRE SSRR electives list. The four remaining courses constitute technical electives.  EWRE core classes include: CE 5020, CE 5240, CE 6130, CE 6220, CE 6230, CE 6260, CE 6500 (Physiochemical Processes), EVGE 5850, and SYS 6070 (not approved for students with a BS in CE).  EWRE SSRR elective courses include: ARCH 5150, CE 5000, CE 5500 (GIS Resilience), CE 6009, CE 6030, CE 6250, CE 6500 (Hydroinformatics), EVSC 7559, SYS 6001, and SYS 6050. EWRE technical electives include any technical course at or above the 5000-level, as approved by the student’s advisor.

STR Track Requirements
Ten three-credit courses are required, of which at least two must be CE 6720 and MAE 6710. At least six additional courses must be selected from the STR core list. One course must come from the STR SSRS electives list. The final course may be selected from the STR core list, the SSRS list, or a technical elective. STR core classes include: CE 5300, CE 5310, CE 5320, CE 5340, CE 5700, CE 6050, CE 6500 (Bridge Engineering), CE 6710, CE 6750, CE 6770, CE 7340, ARCH 7210, MSE 6050, MSE 6120, AND MSE 6320.  STR SSRS elective courses include:  CE 5000, CE 6009, CE 6030, CE 6360, SYS 6001, and SYS 6050.  The STR technical electives include any technical course at or above the 5000-level, as approved by the student’s advisor.

TRN Track Requirements
Ten three-credit courses are required, of which two must be CE 5400 and CE 6410. At least four additional courses must be selected from the TRN electives list. Two courses must come from the TRN SSRR electives list. The final two courses constitute technical electives. TRN electives include: CE 5000, CE 5020, CE 6420, CE 6430, CE 6440, CE 6450, CE 6470, CE 7400, PLAC 5720, and PLAN 5470.  TRN SSRR electives include: CE 6009, ECON 7710, PPOL 7035, STAT 6440, SYS 6001, SYS 6021, SYS 6023, SYS 6043, and SYS 6050. TRN technical electives include any technical course at or above the 5000-level, as approved by the student’s advisor.

ISE Track Requirements
Ten three-credit courses are required, of which two must be CE 5020 and CE 5000. At least four additional courses must be taken from the ISE core list. This list is split into Group A and Group B, and students may not take all four courses from the same group; i.e. they must take at least one course from each group. Students must also take at least two SSRR electives. The last two courses may comprise ISE technical electives. ISE core courses in Group A include: CE 5240, CE 5700, CE 6130,CE 6220, CE 6230, CE 6260, and SYS 6070 (not approved for students with a BS in CE). ISE core courses in Group B include: CE 5400, CE 6410, CE 6420, CE 6430, CE 6440, CE 6450, CE 6470. TRN SSRR electives include: ARCH 5150, CE 5500 (GIS Resilience), CE 6009, CE 6030, CE 6250, CE 6490, CE 6460, CE 6500 (Hydroinformatics), PLAN 5453, PLAN 5810, SYS 6001, and SYS 6050. ISE technical electives include any course at or above the 5000-level, as approved by the student’s advisor.

CEM Track Requirements
Ten three-credit courses are required. At least two courses must be taken from the CEM core list. This list is split into Group A and Group B. Students may not take all two courses from the same group, i.e., Students must take at least one course from each group. Students must also take at least four CEM electives and four CEM technical electives. The CEM technical electives include any technical course at or above the 5000-level, as approved by the student’s advisor. The CEM core courses in Group A include: CE 6045 and CE 6035. The CEM core courses in Group B include: CE 5035, and CE 6015. CEM electives include: CE 5500 (Construction Scheduling), CE 6025, CE 6065, CE 6500 (Civil Design and Management), LAW 9020, ARCH 5114, and PLAN 5200, and any CEM core course.

M.S. Degree


Students pursuing an MS degree in CE will be assigned a faculty member advisor in their area of interest. The advisor will serve as a research mentor and also assist in selection of courses to complete required coursework. The CE MS requires 30 credits beyond a BS. Of these, at least 24 credits must comprise graded coursework, and up to six may comprise MS research (CE 8999). At least 12 of the 24 graded coursework credits must be from within CE.

CE MS students will work with their advisor to form a three-person faculty committee to review and approve the student’s academic record, written thesis, and oral thesis defense. At least two of the three MS commitee members must be from CE. When the student circulates the thesis to the committee, prior to the oral defense, he/she must also circulate a copy of his/her draft Academic Requirements Report (ARR) from SIS. As part of the oral defense examination, the MS commitee will review the ARR and certify that all degree requirements have been satisfactorily completed. The documentation certifying successful completion of the CE MS thesis defense will not be filed until revisions to the ARR have been filed with CE departmental staff and implemented in SIS.

CE MS students are expected to participate in departmental events, including trainings, symposia, socials, and the weekly seminar series. They must also fulfill all SEAS requirements for the MS degree.

Ph.D. Degree


Students pursuing a PhD degree in CE will be assigned a faculty member advisor in their area of interest. The advisor will serve as research mentor and also assist in selection of courses to complete required coursework. The CE PhD requires 72 credits beyond a BS, of which at least 24 credits must comprise graded coursework. At least 12 of the graded coursework credits must be in CE. The other credits typically comprise dissertation research (CE 9999).

CE PhD students will work with their advisor to complete the three key milestones of a CE doctorate (Qualifying Exam, Dissertation Proposal, and Dissertation Defense) and also complete other departmental and SEAS requirements.

Qualifying Exam
PhD students will confer with their advisor to determine when they should take the Qualifying Exam, typically within 1-2 years of starting the doctoral program. The purpose of the exam is to assess the student’s core knowledge within their focus area and evaluate their research aptitude. The exam will comprise both a written and oral component, but the timing and format will vary based on the composition of the student’s doctoral committee. The examining committee will include three to five members. At least two of the committee members must be from the candidate’s main research area. At least three of the members must be faculty members with non-zero percentage appointments in Engineering Systems and Environment (ESE). External (non- ESE) or courtesy faculty may be a part of the committee but do not count toward the program requirement. The chair of the qualifying exam committee should be from the student’s home program but cannot be the student’s advisor. The chair will be responsible for collecting and delivering feedback to the student.

Dissertation Proposal
Within one year after completing the qualifying exam, PhD students will write and defend a dissertation proposal. Typical PhD proposals are roughly 15 pages long; however, the exact format is at the discretion of the student’s PhD committee. PhD students are not subject to any committee composition rules beyond the Engineering School requirements. The Engineering School rules are as follows: The final dissertation committee must include a minimum of three Engineering School faculty, a minimum of four UVA faculty and a minimum of five total members; one of the UVA members (the “external member”) must be from outside ESE; and at least three of the members must be faculty members with non-zero percentage appointments in ESE. It is ESE policy that graduate students may use a courtesy- appointed faculty member as either an internal or external member. As part of the proposal defense evaluation, the doctoral committee will once again review the student’s ARR and make recommendations about relevant professional development matters. If the committee is satisfied with the proposal and the ARR, the student will progress to doctoral candidacy.

Dissertation Defense
Upon completion of required coursework, proposed dissertation research, and all other degree requirements (see below), the PhD candidate will write and defend his/her doctoral dissertation. This may occur no earlier than one semester after completion of the dissertation proposal. There is no required format for the dissertation; rather, the candidate should work with their committee to prepare a satisfactory document. The candidate should circulate the final dissertation to their committee no later than two weeks before the oral defense date. Final defenses are advertised within the ESE and Engineering School. All interested parties are welcome to attend. The candidate gives a brief overview (30 to 35 minutes) of their dissertation research, then takes questions from the audience and their committee. The committee then deliberates and makes a determination about whether the candidate has passed. The final defense committee must have five members following the Engineering school rules: The final dissertation committee must include a minimum of three Engineering School faculty, a minimum of four UVA faculty and a minimum of five total members; one of the UVA members (the “external member”) must be from outside ESE; and at least three of the members must be faculty members with non-zero percentage appointments in ESE. It is ESE policy that graduate students may use a courtesy- appointed faculty member as either an internal or external member. If the committee is satisfied with the dissertation and the student’s ARR, the PhD degree will be conferred.

Additional Requirements
CE PhD students are required to serve as graduate teaching assistant (GTA) for at least one semester. Before scheduling the final defense, students must have at least one “first-authored” paper with their advisor published or accepted by a journal or peer- reviewed conference paper approved by their advisory committee. In addition, students must have presented at least one paper at a conference.  They are also required to participate in departmental events, including trainings, symposia, socials, and the weekly seminar series. Finally, they must fulfill all SEAS requirements for the PhD degree.

Public Professional Licensure Disclosure


As a member of the State Authorizations Reciprocity Agreement, the University of Virginia (UVA) is authorized to provide curriculum in a distance learning environment to students located in all states in the United States except for California. (34 CFR 668.43(a)(6)& 34 CFR 668.72(n)).

Upon completion of the Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering or the Master of Science in Civil Engineering at the UVA School of Engineering, graduates may be eligible for initial professional licensure in another U.S. state by applying to the licensing board or agency in that state.

Please visit the University’s state authorization web pages to make an informed decision regarding which states’ educational requirements for initial licensure are met by this program. (668.43(a)(5) (v)(A) - (C))

Enrolled students who change their current (or mailing) address to a state other than Virginia should update this information immediately in the Student Information System as it may impact their ability to complete internship, practicum, or clinical hours, use Title IV funds, or meet licensure or certification requirements in the new state. (34 CFR 668.402).