MINOR REQUIREMENTS - ENGINEERING PROGRAM

In addition to the major area of concentration, the Ph.D. graduate student must demonstrate mastery of some other, smaller body of knowledge. However, the minor can be in an area inside of psychology, but outside the student’s major area of concentration (i.e., Engineering, Experimental, Industrial/Organizational, or Quantitative). For example, a student in the Engineering Psychology area can minor in Experimental, Industrial/Organizational or Quantitative psychology. Courses taken inside the student’s specialized area will not count towards the minor. The minor must be completed before the graduate student proposes his/her Ph.D. dissertation.

The minor will consist of at least 9 semester hours of work in related courses, chosen by the student in consultation with her/his advisor and approved by the School of Psychology Graduate Coordinator and the Georgia Tech Office of Graduate Studies. These courses should be at the 6000 level or above. Under special circumstances, one 4000 level course may be used to fill the requirement (but only if it is a course offered outside of the School of Psychology). In total, only 3 out of the 9 credit hours required for the minor can be fulfilled by a 4000 level course. If the minor is to be in an area within psychology, all courses should be at the 6000 level or higher. No 3000 level courses are allowed.

Grades:

Grades are necessary in order to certify satisfactory completion of the minor. With rare exception, the Graduate Office requires the same GPA (3.0) as that required for graduation, with no grades below a “C”. One course could be pass/fail rather than letter grade, only if out of the field of psychology. A 4000 level course cannot be taken pass/fail.

Minor courses may be taken from other Atlanta area universities, private or public, through the University Center cross-registration. In the case of transfer students, graduate-level courses already taken at another institution may be used to fulfill the requirement, even if they have already been used toward an advanced (graduate) degree at another institution. Approval by the Graduate Coordinator is required. [Note - a student could not get transfer credit for courses if they counted toward a previous degree, but they may be used towards fulfilling the minor requirement].

The Graduate Coordinator, in conjunction with the Office of Graduate Studies, will "pre-approve" a minor in concept, before the student takes the proposed courses. This is done through a Minor approval letter (see Appendix B for sample letter). The student then submits the minor for final approval after all courses have been completed. Students who do not obtain pre-approval do so at the risk that courses they take may not ultimately be counted as fulfilling the minor requirement