Department Policies

All departmental policies are strictly enforced, with some exceptions. To be granted an exception, students must have a petition approved by our Academic Standards Committee by filling out the Petition for Exception to Policy Form. If you have any questions about these policies please connect with your Academic Advisor to discuss them.

Academic Misconduct
Academic Standards
Course Repeats
Full Major Status
Minimum Grade
Prerequisites
Program GPA Requirements
Required Advising
Upper-division Transfer Course Policy
Laptop Computer Requirement

Academic Misconduct

Read the full ME Academic Misconduct Policy (.pdf) and the general Academic Misconduct Definition for Department (.pdf) for the Department that apply unless your instructor has provided course specific instructions.

Definition of Academic Misconduct

Per the University’s Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities: “Academic misconduct” includes, but is not limited to, cheating, misrepresenting one’s work, inappropriately collaborating, plagiarism, and fabrication or falsification of information (see https://regulations.utah.edu/academics/6-400.php for more details). It also includes facilitating academic misconduct by intentionally helping or attempting to help another to commit an act of academic misconduct.”

A primary example of academic misconduct would be submitting work that is copied from another student or an outside source as one’s own work. Other examples include showing your work to another student struggling with an assignment or posting solutions or exams to websites.  See the documents above for more details.

ME EN course instructors have the right to define what constitutes academic misconduct for their specific class. Such definitions should be provided in the course syllabus or as an attachment provided with the syllabus. If a student has questions about the course definitions, they should seek clarification from the instructor. The departmental definitions of academic misconduct will apply by default and should be referenced if the instructor does not provide course-specific definitions.

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Academic Standards (Updated Fall 2023)

The Department of Mechanical Engineering enforces Academic Standards for all undergraduate students in the ME program. Academic Standards metrics are based on (1) cumulative University of Utah GPA and (2) grades in technical courses. The metrics are assessed at the completion of each semester, and each ME student is assigned one of the following academic standings for the following semester: Good Standing, Warning, Probation, Suspension, or Dismissal. Students on Warning, Probation, or Suspension are considered to be “in the Academic Standards system.” 

Specific Academic Standards metrics include:

1. Maintaining a cumulative University of Utah GPA of 2.5 or higher
2. Passing all technical courses with a grade of C or higher
3. Fulfilling all academic advising requirements when on Warning, Probation, or Suspension

An initial move from Good Standing to Warning will occur when your cumulative GPA drops below 2.5 or you receive your second grade of C- or below in a technical course.

Once in the Academic Standards system, one of the following may happen based on your cumulative GPA and grades in technical courses: (1) you may return to Good Standing, (2) you may stay in the same standing for the following semester, or (3) you may drop by one standing for the following semester

Specifically, at the completion of a semester during which you are in the Academic Standards system:

1. If all of the following are true, you will return to Good Standing:

• Your cumulative GPA is 2.5 or higher
• You passed all of your technical courses in that semester with a C or higher
• You have replaced all C- or lower grades in technical courses with passing (C or better) grades
• You fulfilled all Academic Standards advising requirements during that semester

2. Otherwise if any of the following are true, you will drop by one standing:

• Your cumulative GPA and term GPA are both below 2.5
• You received a grade of C- or lower in one or more technical courses in that semester
• You did not fulfill all Academic Standards advising requirements during that semester.

3. Otherwise you will remain at your current standing.

If after returning to Good Standing your cumulative GPA drops below 2.5 or you receive a grade of C- or below in a technical course, you will go back into the Academic Standards system, starting one standing lower than you started the previous time. (As examples, you would start on Probation your second time in the system and on Suspension your third time in the system.)

Departmental Academic Warning

Advising requirements:  Each semester on Departmental Academic Warning, you must:

• Meet with your Academic Advisor during the first month of the semester to create an Academic Success Plan
• Update your academic advisor on your progress towards achieving your Academic Success Plan before the withdraw deadline

OR

• Enroll in either ME EN 1800 or 2800 (consult with your advisor)

Departmental Academic Probation

Advising requirements:  Each semester on Departmental Academic Probation, you must:

• Meet with your Academic Advisor during the first two weeks of the semester to create an Academic Success Plan
• Update your academic advisor on your progress towards achieving your Academic Success Plan before the withdraw deadline

OR

• Enroll in either ME EN 1800 or 2800 (consult with your advisor)

Departmental Academic Suspension

As a result of Departmental Academic Suspension from the Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Program, your CIS status will be changed to Intermediate Mechanical Engineering, which will prevent you from enrolling in ME EN courses without special permission.

Advising requirements:  Each semester on Departmental Academic Suspension, you must:

• Meet with your Academic Advisor before the first day of class to create a course schedule and an Academic Success Plan, both of which must be approved by the ME Academic Standards Committee. Note that you may enroll in ME EN courses only with permission, and your credit load may be limited.
• Meet with the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the second month of the semester to report on your progress towards achieving your Academic Success Plan and academic goals.
• Meet with your academic advisor monthly to report on your progress towards achieving your Academic Success Plan and academic goals or enroll in either ME EN 1800 or 2800 (consult with your advisor).

Departmental Academic Dismissal

As a result of Departmental Academic Dismissal from the Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Program, your CIS status will be changed to Pre-Mechanical Engineering and you will not be permitted to enroll in ME EN courses unless you are readmitted.

Readmission Process:  If you wish to return to the Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Program after being dismissed, you must:

1. Wait for a dismissal period of at least one full academic year.
2. Meet with the ME Academic Advisors to develop a plan for readmission. Your initial meeting must take place at least one full semester before your desired return semester.
3. Receive permission from an ME Academic Advisor or the Director of Undergraduate Studies to apply for readmission.
4. Complete the online admissions application.
5. Meet the current admissions standards.

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Course Repeats

If a mechanical engineering student is repeating a technical course, the repeated courses are subject to the academic standards policy above. Only the most recent attempt of a repeated course will be counted towards prerequisite and graduation requirements.

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Full Major Status

Students must be accepted to Full Major Status in order to take any ME EN course except ME EN 1000 and ME EN 1010. For information on how to receive or apply for Full Major Status consult the Future Students page for either First Year students or Transfer Students.

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Minimum Grade

Students must pass all technical coursework (engineering, math, and science courses) with a grade of ‘C’ or higher. Students with a catalog year of 2015-16 or earlier may pass their technical coursework with a grade of ‘C-‘ or higher.  See your degree audit for your declared major if you are unsure of your catalog year. (Spring & Summer 2020 are exceptions to this policy, the department will accept CR and C- grades from those semesters only,)

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Prerequisites

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Program GPA Requirements

A minimum of a 2.500 cumulative U of U GPA is required to be in Good Academic Standing in the program.
A minimum of a 2.300 cumulative GPA is required in the Upper Division Core courses at the time of graduation.

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Required Advising

Undergraduate students are required to meet with an Academic Advisor for the following touch points. To schedule a meeting with your Undergraduate Advisor or learn more about the Mechanical Engineering Advising Team click here.

• Orientation
• Mandatory First Year or Transfer Advising (during your first semester at the U)
• Mandatory Second Year Advising (before completing 60 credits)
• For any required Academic Standards or petition decision appointment (notified through Umail)

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Upper-division Transfer Course Policy

Generally, required upper division ME courses (e.g. ME EN 3xxx level and ME EN 4xxx level) and technical electives must be taken at the University of Utah to earn a Bachelor’s degree or BS/MS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Utah. Some courses must be taken at the University of Utah. Any requests to consider classes as substitutes for these courses will automatically be rejected. Courses that cannot be transferred include Engineering Design I and II (e.g. ME EN 4000 and 4010, respectively).

Exceptions:
Up to two (2) Approved Upper Division Courses can be transferred to the University of Utah and used in place of Required Core Upper Division ME EN Courses.
Up to one (1) Approved Technical Elective Course can be transferred to the University of Utah and used in place of an Approved ME Technical Elective.

Requirements:
No more than two courses in total (core courses + tech elective) can be transferred.
Any course being transferred must be approved via the Course Articulation Form.
Students must earn the required department minimum passing grade (currently a C) in any course for those credits to be transferred.

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Laptop Computer Requirement

All incoming undergraduate students (admitted to the University of Utah for Fall 2024 or later) in the Department of Mechanical Engineering are required to have a laptop. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that their laptop meets the following minimum requirements. These requirements are based on the product specifications¹ for MATLAB. The recommended requirements are in line with the specification for SolidWorks.

All currently-enrolled, fee-paying students can borrow a laptop from the Marriott Library. These machines can be borrowed on a 120-day term. The checkout can be renewed pending availability. According to the Circulation Staff at the Library, they are almost always renewable. However, staff cannot guarantee this, especially with increased undergraduate enrollment. The machines that can be borrowed from the Marriott Library are Lenovo Thinkpads which can run MATLAB, but not SolidWorks. University Surplus sells used laptops at discounted prices, but students will need to install hard drives and operating systems.

This policy does not carry direct punitive enforcement, but not having an appropriate laptop could have negative effects on course grades. Students who do not have a laptop or access to a laptop will not have sufficient access to learning and may not be able to participate in classes where a laptop is required.

In order to use financial aid money to cover the cost of the computer (estimated $900 – $1,500), a student needs to first pay for the machine out of pocket, then submit an appeal to the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. The appeal will require the student to send an email to financialaid@utah.edu with a statement asking to increase the cost of their attendance by the dollar amount of the machine and attach a copy of the receipt.

¹Specification are subject to change based on the Software provider’s recommended specifications

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