You are in the official 2002-2003 General Catalog
for California State University, Fresno.
Department of Civil and Geomatics
Engineering and Construction
Civil Engineering
Civil engineering includes the research, development, planning, design, construction, and maintenance associated with urban development, water supply, structures, energy generation and transmission, water treatment and disposal, and transportation systems. The civil engineer deals with the function and safety of such public facilities as buildings, bridges, dams, pipelines, powerplants, highways, and harbors, and is concerned with the protection of the public against natural hazards of earthquakes, floods, landslides, and fires.
The graduate curriculum leading to an M.S. degree in Civil Engineering provides specialized training in the fields of structural engineering and applied mechanics, soil mechanics and foundation engineering, environmental engineering, water resources engineering, highway engineering, and geomatics engineering.
Mission of Civil Engineering
The mission of the Civil Engineering Program is to provide the educational environment necessary for civil engineering students to develop their personal potential to the greatest extent possible and to enrich the students' lives in a culturally diverse environment. Civil engineering also provides the high quality education required for the students to fully develop their professional qualities and skills to serve society.
The Civil Engineering Program's Educational Objectives
- Offer a broadly based curriculum to civil engineering students, including general education as well as civil engineering education.
- Provide a civil engineering curriculum that includes an appropriate balance of engineering fundamentals and practical applications. Engineering fundamentals are covered mostly in the lower division courses while the practical applications are strategically developed from the freshman through the senior levels.
- Provide the students with hands-on experience through laboratory courses, term projects, senior projects, and extra-curricular activities.
- Provide the students with the tools and skills required in professional practice and to make them aware of the necessity for a life-long learning approach in professional practice.
- Foster the development of sensitivity and awareness of the role of the professional civil engineer in society.
- Foster in the students the development of communication skills, responsibility, and dependability.
- Develop in the students the ability to effectively work in groups; multidisciplinary as well as multicultural groups.
- Develop in the students an understanding of the ethical, social, and political issues inherent in the civil engineering profession.
Bachelor of Science Degree Requirements
Civil Engineering Major
Major requirements (69 units)
CE 20, 85, 121L, 123, 123L, 124, 128, 129, 130, 132, 133, 142, 142L, 150,
180A, 180B, 185 (34 units)
GME 15 (3 units)
ECE 70 and 91 (6 units)
IE 160, IE 182W (5 units)
ME 26, 112, 136 (9 units)
Technical Area Courses (12 units)
Select mandatory technical area courses in one or more of the following
groups subject to the Design Courses statement below.
Environmental and Water Resources: CE 140, 141, 143, 144
General Professional: CE 110, 161, 190, 191T
Geotechnical: CE 125, 134
Structures: CE 131, 135, 136, 137, 138
Geomatics: GME 151, 173
Transportation: CE 151, 152, 153
Design Courses: at least 6 units of technical area courses must be selected from the following design courses: CE 125, 134, 135, 136, 141, 143, 144, 151
Other requirements (68 units)
--- General Education ---
Select one course from each of the G.E. areas: Area A1, A2, B2, C1, D1,
D2, D3. (See G.E. listings).
The following courses are required to satisfy both G.E. and major requirements:
MATH 75 [B4], CHEM 1A [B1], PHIL 20 [C2], CE 121 [IB], PHIL 120 [IC], PLSI
120 [M/I]
--- Additional requirements ---
GEOL 1; MATH 76, 77, 81; PHYS 4A, 4AL, 4B, 4C
Total (137 units)
__________
Note: Engineering majors are exempt from G.E. Area A3, third course Area C, Area E, and Area ID.
Advising Notes
- Courses in mathematics, the physical sciences, or engineering taken CR/NC are not counted toward fulfillment of degree requirements in civil engineering.
- Since the civil engineering major curriculum is very demanding, many students, especially those not fully prepared in mathematics, chemistry, and/or physics take 41/2 or more years to graduate rather than the traditional 4 years. Students not fully prepared in chemistry should consider taking CHEM 3A in lieu of CHEM 1A. If needed, students also may go to the Learning Resource Center in Lab School, Room 137 and request tutorial assistance.
Click here for civil engineering's recommended program.
Master of Science in Civil Engineering (MS-CE)
(See also Admission to Graduate
Standing, Advancement to Candidacy,
Program Requirements, and Criteria for Thesis and Project.)
Mission. The mission of the MS-CE program is to provide advanced education
in civil and geomatics engineering to help further prepare civil and geomatics
engineers for the rigors of the profession and for further education.
Admission. TThe requirements for graduate admission to California State University, Fresno must be met. Applicants should possess a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, geomatics engineering, or a related field from an institution accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. They must have a 2.7 grade point average in the last 60 semester-units of engineering courses attempted, on the basis of 4.0 being A, or the approval of the Graduate Committee of the Department of Civil and Geomatics Engineering. If an applicant's preparation is deemed insufficient by the Graduate Committee of the Department of Civil and Geomatics Engineering, the applicant is required to take additional courses which are specified in writing to remove the deficiency. Such courses, taken as an unclassified student, are in addition to the minimum of 30 semester hours credit for the master's degree in engineering. The department graduate program coordinator shall appoint an interim graduate adviser for each student when that student is accepted into the graduate program. The coordinator will take into account student interests and correlated faculty interests when making this appointment.
A student must satisfactorily complete a written examination administered
by the department before being eligible for Advancement to Candidacy; this
satisfies both the university's graduate writing requirement and demonstrates
the student has sufficient technical proficiency to continue in the program.
Continuation in the Program. Prior to being admitted to classified
standing, a student is required to take the Graduate Record Examination.
The minimum grade considered passing is quantitative 450.
The student then should select a graduate adviser before completing 12 units
of graduate study and advancing to candidacy. Other members of his or her
graduate committee shall be selected in consultation with the graduate adviser
if the student has selected Plan A. This committee shall consist of a total
of three members, two of whom must be tenure/tenure track faculty. The graduate
student shall notify the department's Graduate Committee with a letter signed
by both the student and the graduate adviser of the membership of the students'
Graduate Committee. This letter shall be placed in the student's academic
folder.
A graduate student may change graduate advisers but such change must be
approved by the department's Graduate Committee. The student, together with
his or her graduate adviser, completes a contract program within his or
her first semester of coursework taken for graduate credit. This program
must be approved by the department's Graduate Committee. A minimum of 12
semester hours must be earned before the average is determined.
Campus graduate disqualification procedures shall be enforced by the department
graduate program coordinator if the GPA drops below 3.0 (4.0 scale) each
semester and cumulatively throughout all graduate program coursework. Any
semester for which the grade point average falls below 3.0 shall result
in placing the affected graduate student on probation. Normally, a second
consecutive offense shall lead to disqualification. Such probation shall
be for at least one semester or shall continue until the cumulative grade
point average has again been raised above 3.0.
Program. Each master's degree student selects, as early as possible
during the first semester of attendance, and upon consulting with and securing
the approval of the graduate adviser, a program best suited to the student's
interests and objectives.
The M.S. degree in Civil Engineering requires the completion of 30 units
one of three programs of study.
Civil Engineering Courses