Introduction
In order to satisfy the requirements for the civil engineering baccalaureate degree in the Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences a student must:

1. take and pass or gain credit in an approved manner, all courses specified in the curriculum,
2. take and pass or gain credit in an approved manner, all elective courses in the specified subject area,
3. have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0, and
4. comply with all requirements of the University of Notre Dame.

In addition to registering for and completing with a passing grade courses offered at Notre Dame, other means of gaining credit "in an approved manner" include:

1. advanced placement credit,
2. credit by exam,
3. taking, passing and causing an official transcript to be sent to the College of Engineering Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, a course at an accredited institution of higher learning which had been previously approved by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and
4. courses taken at another institution prior to enrollment at the University of Notre Dame, which have been evaluated and accepted for transfer credit by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Credit obtained by any means other than enumerated above requires petition and justification by the student and approval by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Degree Requirements
Elective Courses are indicated by subject area and may be classified as follows:

• Arts and Letters Courses or Humanities and Social Science Courses
• Civil Engineering Electives
• Technical Electives
• Free Electives

Arts and Letters Electives must include eight (8) three-credit courses and must be distributed as indicated in the Academic Code in the following areas:

1. University Seminar one course
2. Composition one course
3. History one course
4. Social Science one course
5. Literature or Fine Arts one course
6. Philosophy two courses
7. Theology two courses

A University Seminar course taken during the First Year of Studies satisfies a distribution requirement in history, social science, literature or fine arts, philosophy or theology, depending on the subject matter of the University Seminar course.

Civil Engineering Electives must be satisfied by taking Civil Engineering courses. These are identified in the Bulletin of Information and the DART book with the program abbreviation (i.e., CE XXX). In no case will a student be permitted to use both CE 450 and CE 470 in fulfillment of Civil Engineering Elective requirements. It is permissible for a Civil Engineering student to take both CE 450 and CE 470 provided one is used to satisfy a Technical Elective or Free Elective requirement or is in addition to all other degree requirements.

Technical Electives must be satisfied by taking a course offered by a Department in the College of Engineering or by a Department in the College of Science, which is numbered 300 or higher.

The above stated general rule notwithstanding, the following exceptions are noted:
            Not accepted:

1. Math 318. Introduction to Numerical Methods
2. Phys 309. Philosophical Issues in Physics
3. ME 435. Statistical Quality Methods
4. EG 498B MTXE Seminar

Accepted:

1. ME 241. CAD/CAM
2. Chem 223-224. Elementary Organic Chemistry I and II
3. Chem 235-236 Organic Chemistry I and II

Any course other than those included in the general rule or an exception thereto must have explicit written approval of the Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences and concurrence by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs to satisfy a Technical Elective requirement for any degree program in the department.

Free Electives are intended to permit a student an opportunity to explore areas in disciplines far afield from his or her own, or to investigate his or her own discipline in greater depth than would otherwise be possible in the established curriculum. Free Electives should not be viewed as a "burden" to be discharged using "extraneous" credits, which may have been accumulated for some other purpose. Subject to the restrictions outlined below, a Free Elective requirement may be satisfied by a three (3) or more credit course offered by any Department in the University. Variable credit courses (Undergraduate Research or Directed Studies) taken in increments of less than three credits may be accumulated to satisfy free elective requirements with the approval of the student's advisor.

Limitations. Students in the Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences will not be permitted to use Advanced Placement, Credit by Exam or Transfer credits to satisfy any degree requirement, including a Free Elective requirement, if the number of the course for which credit is granted is lower than the initial course in that discipline required in the curriculum. For example, no mathematics course numbered lower than 125, no chemistry course numbered lower than 115, no physics course numbered lower than131, etc. may be used to satisfy a Free Elective requirement.

No credits granted for participation in any music organization or completion of applied music instruction (e.g., marching band, glee club, piano class, guitar class) may be used to satisfy any degree requirement, including a Free Elective requirement.

Pass-Fail grades are allowed only in Free Electives, taken outside of the Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, and courses taken and not needed to satisfy the degree requirement. Approval is required by the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs.

How Other Program Courses Apply
Four programs (i.e., ROTC, EG/BUS, MBA, and EPICS) have been approved to satisfy degree requirements as described below. However, a student participating in more than one program may use no more than one Civil Engineering or more than the number of Technical or Free electives than the degree program requires.

ROTC. No ROTC (Military Science, Naval Science, Aerospace Studies) course numbered lower than 300 can be used to satisfy any degree requirement, including a Free Elective. A maximum of six (6) ROTC credits numbered 300 or above may be used to satisfy degree requirements by those students who complete the ROTC program requirements for a commission in one of the United States Uniformed Services. Three (3) of these credits may be substituted for either the history or the social science requirement and three (3) may be used to satisfy a Free Elective requirement.

EG/BUS. One EG/BUS (Integrated Engineering Business Practice, as administered by the College of Engineering) course may be used to satisfy a Civil Engineering or Geological Sciences, Technical or Free elective degree requirement. A second course may be used to satisfy a Technical or Free elective degree requirement.

MBA. One MBA (Masters of Business Administration) course may be used to satisfy a Technical or Free elective degree requirement.

Study Abroad in International Programs
Students seeking to participate in international programs should following the following approach outlined below. Failure to follow this recommended approach could result in completion of international courses that do not contribute to the degree requirements, which may result in failure to meet the degree requirements in the time expected.

The recommended approach is as follows:

1. The student should prepare a written plan, including the list of courses that they expect to take abroad, and an indication on how these will be used to satisfy their degree requirements. If two or more international programs are being considered, each program should have a written plan.
2. The students should review these plans with the Department’s International Studies Academic Advisor, who will indicate approval by signing and dating a copy of the plan. The signed copy will be given to the Director of Undergraduate Studies by the advisor.
3. The Director of Undergraduate Studies will review the advisor approved plan, and if in agreement, it will be signed and dated. A copy will be sent to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, for his final approval, and a copy filed in the students department file. The Director of Undergraduate Studies and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will inform the student of the approvals by completing the approval form on the web site of the International Study Program, http://www.nd.edu/~intlstud/.

4. For the program in Australia, which currently is being administered by the Department through Dr. Clive Neal, the Department will prepare and post on the Academic Guide web site, an equivalent course list.  The Department’s Undergraduate Curriculum Committee will review the courses in Australia, which are being proposed to be substituted for required Notre Dame courses, and prepare this equivalence list. The final approval will be provided by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs before it is posted as part of the academic guide.
5. Participation in other international programs will require the student to provide course description information to the Director of Undergraduate Studies, which will allow the approval of both the Department’s Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. This approval will be noted in the student’s Department file.

*Approved by the faculty on September 2, 2003. The CE/GEOS faculty will review this document annually at a regularly scheduled faculty meeting. Modified to include consideration of the International Programs as approved by the faculty on December 9, 2003.