Core Curriculum

The core curriculum is comprised of six courses that are to be completed from the several M.S. programs of the School of Information Technology and Engineering. The core curriculum forms a significant part of the coherent Plan of Study that is required for each student. As such, these courses should be carefully planned and, with the exception of courses necessary for the distribution requirement, are to be selected from the prerequisite courses for INFT 800- and 900-level courses. The minimum requirements for the core curriculum are as follows:

All students must take one course from OR 541 or STAT 644 or STAT 654 or a course with a higher number from the offerings of the Operations Research and Engineering Department or Applied and Engineering Statistics Department. This course may not be waived barring extraordinary circumstances (e.g., the student is ABD from another institution in a highly technical field).

In addition to the course in item #1 to be taken by all students, one course must be taken from three of the five SITE departments for a total of three courses. The departments are listed below:
  1. Computer Science
  2. Electrical Engineering
  3. Systems Engineering
  4. Information and Software Systems Engineering
  5. Operations Research and Engineering
  6. Applied and Engineering Statistics
Two additional courses taken from the offerings of M.S. degree programs in SITE are required to complete the core curriculum.
No more than two courses may be taken from one M.S. program.
A GPA of 3.5 is required in core courses taken at George Mason.
Waiver options may be requested for up to four core courses. Waivers must be approved by the departmental doctoral coordinator and the Office of the Dean based on a review of student provided supporting material to assure that the course waived was equivalent to the appropriate GMU course.
Waiver candidate courses must have been taken within five years of acceptance to the Ph.D. program or the student must attest to using the material from the course during the most recent five year period (Honor Code invoked). A GPA of 3.5 is required for waived courses.
Final examinations may be taken to obtain waivers for up to four Core Courses. A GPA of 3.5 is required for core courses satisfied by this mechanism.

Doctoral Supervisory Committee