October 2008                                                                                          Memorandum 3807

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Graduate Office, Room 38-444

THE MINOR REQUIREMENT (REVISED 10/08)

Each student in the EECS doctoral program must complete a minor program, approved by the student’s Area Chair, consisting of two MIT subjects, at least one of which is an advanced graduate subject. The intent of the minor is to provide a broadening experience, and therefore the minor program field must not be directly related to a student’s research. In fact, the subject matter may fall well outside of Electrical Engineering or Computer Science.

The subjects in the minor program should constitute a coherent study within a single discipline. One of the subjects may be introductory. At least one of the subjects must involve study at an advanced level (typically H). Please note that the following subjects are normally not acceptable for a minor program, although special cases may be approved by petition.

• subjects graded Pass/Fail,

• subjects transferred from another institution,

• subjects taken before entry into the EECS graduate program

• subjects used to satisfy the TQE requirements, and

• language acquisition subjects (see below)

The committee will consider language acquisition as a minor on a case-by-case basis if the student has had a minimum of three terms of study in the language while a graduate student at MIT. Please note that a petition must be submitted to the Committee on Graduate Students for approval of language minors. Subjects taken at Harvard under cross-registration are acceptable.

The minor program will be completed when

• it has been approved by the student’s Area Chair (or the EECS Graduate Officer)

• the minor subjects appear on the MIT transcript with grades of A or B 

The form on the reverse side of this memorandum is generally used to seek approval of the minor program. Area II students should submit the minor requirement approval request through the ‘Area II Graduate Student Website’. All students are encouraged to discuss the subjects for the minor, as well as all subjects taken, with their graduate counselor in advance of taking the subjects. 

EECS MINOR APPROVAL FORM

(Area II students should use the ‘Area II Graduate Student Website.’

https://projects.csail.mit.edu/area2/students)

(Please print)

Name ____________________________________________________ MIT  I.D.____________________

e-mail ________________________________________ Area: ________ Date submitted: ____________ 

Minor program field: ____________________________________________________________________

For the two subjects that constitute your proposed minor program, please enter the MIT or Harvard subject number, subject name, whether it is graduate (H or G) or undergraduate (U).  If you have completed the subject, enter the grade.

Subj. #: ________ Subject Name _____________________________________ H, G, or U: ___ Grade ____

Subj. #: ________ Subject Name _____________________________________ H, G, or U; ___ Grade ____

Brief description of your major area of interest: __________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Expected doctoral thesis topic: ______________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

Please provide this additional information about coursework taken at MIT:

Your signature: ________________________________________________________________

Please submit this form to the EECS Graduate Office, 38-444, for approval.

Area Chair's approval: _________________________________________________ Date: _____________________

OR,

Graduate Officer's approval: _____________________________________________ Date: _____________________