FAQs
Who do I see for advising?
For regular course advising related to the IE program, see your assigned faculty advisor. At registration time, advisor assignments are posted on the bulletin boards outside the IE office (2519 Patrick F. Taylor Hall). You can always ask at the IE office to find out who your advisor is.
Students just entering the IE program (whether by transfer or from within LSU) need to stop by the IE office to get a faculty advisor assigned.
For questions about humanities, please see one of the College of Engineering counselors. They stay up to date on the latest approved courses and the rules concerning humanities.
For questions on course transfers, course substitutions, prerequisite waivers, and for Senior Checkout, you will need to see the IE Program Director (Dr. Isabelina Nahmens).
Do I need to see a faculty advisor?
A flag is placed on all engineering students prior to the start of registration. You will not be able to register until the flag is lifted. The flag is only lifted after you have met with your advisor and reached an agreement on coursework for the following semester. Students who have declared IE but are still in UCFY or UCAC are not required to see an IE advisor, but are highly encouraged to see IE Program Director for scheduling advice.
During Fall advising, you will need to meet with your faculty advisor to plan your Spring semester and Winter Intersession coursework. You may also with to discuss your Summer and Intersession plans.
During Spring advising, you will need to meet with your faculty advisor to plan Spring Intersession, Summer Session, Summer Intersession, and Fall coursework.
Can I ask my faculty advisor about other things, like job searches, career options, and graduate school?
Yes! In addition to course advising, your faculty advisor is there to provide mentoring and career planning for you. Please feel free to discuss career options and goals, graduate school, and other academic related questions with your advisor.
Can I change advisors?
Initial assignment of students to faculty advisors is done randomly and with an effort to keep the number of students assigned to each faculty fairly equal. You can ask for a new advisor if you would prefer to work with another faculty advisor due to sharing similar interests with another faculty or a personality conflict with your current advisor. However, we may decline your request or assign you to someone other than your first choice if it would cause a significant imbalance in advising loads.
What is Senior Checkout?
The purpose of Senior Checkout is to make sure that a student graduating in the next semester is taking all the necessary courses, and to uncover & resolve any potential problems that may prevent graduation.
For students graduating in Spring or Summer, Senior Checkout is performed in the Fall semester prior to graduation. For Fall graduates, Senior Checkout is usually done the prior Spring Semester. You will receive an email from the College of Engineering Dean's Office when it is time to do Senior Checkout. You will also see notices in the IE office listing those that need to do Senior Checkout.
To checkout, you must first meet with the IE Undergraduate Coordinator to plan out all remaining coursework and insure it's possible to graduate. The Undergraduate Coordinator then signs off on your checkout audit. You then complete an ABET exit survey. Once that is completed, bring the signed audit to the counselors in the Engineering Dean's office. At that time, your Senior Checkout flag is lifted (allowing you to register) and you are put on the graduation list.
Is it important to regularly update my expected graduation date through myLSU?
Yes! If you have not set your graduation date yet, a flag is set on your account that will prevent you from registering. Also, if you set a graduation date a while back that is now gone by or is coming up and you have not done senior checkout, the date will be cleared and a registration flag set until you update it or go through senior checkout.
I can't register for a class because of a prerequisite problem. What do I do?
You will no longer be able to register for any of the core IE courses if you have not already completed the necessary prerequisites or completed / enrolled in required co-requisites. In the mean time, students having this problem will need to contact an engineering counselor in the CoE Student Services Office for assistance or see IE Program Director for advice. Please make sure you have your degree audit available (you can access it through myLSU).
What is a Degree Audit? Where can I get a copy?
The Degree Audit shows what coursework you have completed and not completed towards your degree requirements, as well as any minors you are registered for. It shows officially what you've been given credit for, what substitutions / transfers have been accepted, and what minors you are registered for.
You can get a copy of your degree audit through myLSU, under "Student Services." Click on the link "Degree Audit," and then expand all when it appears.
The myLSU copy includes most but not all audit information. Before going for advising, you may want to stop by the CoE Student Services Office to pick up a copy of your complete Degree Audit.
What is the Flowchart? Where can I get it?
The flowchart is a visual representation of the curriculum requirements for each Catalog year. It shows what courses you need to take, the prerequisite/co-requisite constraints between classes, and approximately when in your program you should take each course. If a student follows the flowchart exactly, they can complete the curriculum in four years. If, however, the student takes fewer credit hours (because of a job or other issues), or must repeat courses, or does not place into the preliminary courses in Math and Physics, or does an academic year internship/COOP, then summer courses and/or additional semesters may be required to complete the degree. In fact, few engineering students finish in 4 years.
I'm on an older catalog. Do I follow that catalog's flowchart, or the latest flowchart? Do I need to meet the latest prerequisites?
The catalog/flowchart for your catalog year defines what courses you need to take, and any minimum grade requirements for specific courses and the program overall (such as the C or better requirement for MATH 1550 and PHYS 2101 for all engineering students)
HOWEVER, course pre/co-requisite requirements - including minimum grade requirements on prerequisite courses - are always governed by the LATEST catalog. So, for instance if you are on the 2005-06 catalog and have not yet taken IE3302, you will need to have a C or better in PHYS2102 to meet the current prerequisite, which went into effect in 2006-07. If you already completed IE3302 prior to prerequisite change, the change does not impact you.
Sometimes courses on older catalogs are dropped or renumbered in more recent catalogs. When these changes occur, the IE Undergraduate Coordinator and your faculty advisors will provide you with information on which new courses are considered equivalent to the old courses. Contact the IE Program Director if you have any questions.
Which General Education classes can I take? What happens to my Gen Ed classes if I change catalogs?
You must always use the General Education list for your catalog year. The list for each year can be found on the Flowchart page or from the LSU A-Z page.
If you use the wrong year's list, you could potentially take courses for which you will NOT receive credit towards your General Education requirements.
When you change catalog years, the catalog year list also changes for your General Education requirements. Occasionally courses fall off the Gen Ed list, which means a course that was a Gen Ed on your old catalog may not be one on your new catalog. Always have a college counselor review the Gen Ed courses you have taken before changing catalogs, to make sure there will not be any problems.
Why would I change my catalog? How do I change my catalog year?
You can change to a newer catalog year at any time up to graduation. Students who have left LSU for 2 or more semesters and are re-entering must change to the latest catalog year at the time of their re-entry.
Changing to a new catalog may be beneficial. For instance, recent changes in the IE curriculum have reduced the number of courses/credit hours required to get the IE degree. Moving from an older catalog to a newer one may reduce the number of course you need to take. Your degree audit will also more closely align with the current flowchart, making course planning easier.
To change your catalog year, see the college counselors (3304 PFT Hall) - they will make the change (and review your Gen Ed courses first for any potential problems). It is also recommended that you speak with the IE Program Director first to see if the change will work in your favor.
I'm confused about IE4785 (Independent Study/Special Topics in IE). What is it used for? How do I register?
IE4785 is counted as an IE Technical Elective. It is used for "learning experiences" outside the regular IE courses. Before registering for IE4785 you must find a professor willing to guide your work. The work is agreed upon between you and the professor before the start of the semester, and may be self-study on a particular topic, participating in a research project, or conducting a project (similar to senior project). Projects are often done in teams. To register for IE4785, the IE4785 Approval Form will need to be filled out and signed by the professor overseeing your work. You need to register for the section corresponding to that professor.
What is a minor? How do I get a minor?
A minor is a sequence of courses that are taken in addition to or in conjunction with your degree requirements to develop expertise in a particular sub area. Course requirements vary but most minors require between 18 to 36 credit hours of coursework. In addition to further building your expertise in areas of interest to you, minors can be useful in making you more "marketable" when it comes time to graduate and get a job.
A minor is noted on your official LSU transcript.
You must register that you are pursuing a minor with the Engineering Counselors. They will enter into the computer that you are pursuing the minor. It is not enough just to take the courses. To check your minors, get a copy of your degree audit which will indicate at the top any minors that have been registered for, and will also have a section for each minor showing the minor requirements. If it isn't on the degree audit, you are not registered.
What minors are of interest to IE's? Where do I find information on minor requirements?
For more information on other minors, as well as a complete of list of minors on campus, see one of the Engineering counselors.
Make sure to indicate to your faculty advisor what minors you are pursuing, so that those requirements are factored into your scheduling.
For more information on minors that might be of specific interest to IE students.
Should I do an internship or Co-op? How do I get one?
Having some non-academic engineering experience has become practically a requirement for getting a job with many companies. It is strongly advised that you get some practical engineering experience outside the university prior to graduating. This experience can come from part time work at a local engineering firm, or from internships or Co-ops. Internships are typically done over the Summer. Co-ops generally are multi-semester, and generally require the student to take off one or more semesters from school. Co-op and internships arranged through Career Services are formerly noted on a students' transcript.
Most internship hiring is done between November and March for the following Summer, so get started early. Register with Career Services and get familiar with their listings for internship and Co-op opportunities. Career Services also has a Co-op office which you can contact. Attend the LSU Job Fair and talk to the company representatives about internship opportunities. You may also consider interviewing with companies even if you are not yet graduating - if they are impressed they may be able to find an internship position for you. The IE Undergraduate Coordinator will also send out notices on internship opportunities from time to time, so make sure to check your email for messages from the department.
Networking is another - and effective - means of getting an internship. Contact alumni, family friends, etc., who are working at companies you are interested in.
When should I sign up with Career Services?
Yesterday! It's actually never too soon. You can sign up with career services at any point in your program, including as a freshman. Registering early will allow you to participate in short courses they offer on resume writing, job searches, finding internships & Co-ops, as well as familiarize yourself with how to use their job search resources.
How important is participation in student organizations?
Companies want to hire students who are leaders, self-starters (motivated), and have good people skills. Participation in student organizations - particularly as an officer - is an excellent way to demonstrate you have these characteristics.
It also shows you have done more than just academics while at LSU. Be aware that many recruiters look at school as a part time 20-30 hour a week job (even though we know in reality its closer to 40-50 hours a week). The obvious question is what did you do with yourself the other 10-20 hours of the work week? Showing initiative and self-improvement will give you an edge in the job hunt.
Are there any IE-related Student Clubs?
Yes. The Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) is open to all IE students. The Alpha Pi Mu (APM) honor society is open to the top 20% of IE students by GPA.
I'm not receiving department emails.
All IE and IE-declared students should be on our IE email list. We occasionally sent out information on job/internship opportunities, student organization meetings, and advising/registration information, and curriculum changes.
We try to keep this list up to date, but the email list is only loosely tied to the campus registration systems and sometime students don't get put on our list (particularly recently entering / reentering or transferring students). If you believe you are not receiving these emails, please contact IE Program Director to make sure your name is on the list.