Distance Learning

Distance Learning

UF EDGE

The University of Florida offers online graduate courses from six departments across all branches of engineering and from at least 17 departments outside of engineering.

Students in the Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment (ESSIE) can pursue a master’s degree in either Civil Engineering (CE) or Environmental Engineering Sciences (EES) through UF’s Electronic Delivery of Gator Engineering (EDGE).

Department of Civil & Coastal Engineering (CCE) and Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences (EES) Contacts and Responsibilities

 

Contact Role Responsibilities
Dr. Dennis R. Hiltunen
dhilt@ce.ufl.edu
352-294-7767
ESSIE EDGE Student Advisor and CCE Admissions Dr. Hiltunen serves as the faculty advisor for all EDGE students within ESSIE for both the CCE and EES master’s degrees. As advisor, Dr. Hiltunen will review all ESSIE EDGE Plans of Study and student degree completion requests. Dr. Hiltunen will also provide student admission decisions for the CE master’s degree.
Dr. Michael Annable
annable@ufl.edu
352-392-3294
EES Admissions Dr. Annable will provide all student admission decisions for the EES master’s degree.
Nancy McIlrath
nancy.mcilrath@essie.ufl.edu
352-294-7801
Administration Nancy will provide oversight of ESSIE EDGE Program coordination. She will also process Program Plans of Study and graduation degree certifications for submission to the Office of the Registrar.
Paula Johns
paula.johns@essie.ufl.edu
352-294-9168
Administration Paula will process admission applications for EDGE applicants. She will also process all EDGE transfer of credit requests.

Degree Requirements

  • The University of Florida (UF) offers online graduate courses from ten departments across all branches of engineering and from at least 17 departments outside of engineering.
  • Students in the Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment (ESSIE) can pursue a master’s degree in either Civil Engineering (CE) or Environmental Engineering Sciences (EES).
  • For either degree, all master’s students are required to complete a total of 30 credit hours, with a minimum of 15 credit hours of coursework from within their selected program within ESSIE, and the remaining 15 credit hours can consist of any graduate-level course available online at UF. Each student will prepare a listing of all proposed courses in a Program Plan of Study (section 5 below) and will be subject to approval by the ESSIE EDGE Student Advisor (edgecoord@essie.ufl.edu) .
  • UF graduate students are also permitted to enroll in up to six (6) credit hours of undergraduate-level courses (3XXX or 4XXX) outside of their department (i.e., outside of ESSIE) to be counted toward the graduate degree.
  • It is also noted that the UF EDGE program offers a series of graduate-level courses in engineering leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship that are available to students in ESSIE. These courses can be counted toward the 15 credit hour requirement of coursework within ESSIE with approval from the ESSIE EDGE Student Advisor.
  • It is UF policy that a 3.0 grade point average must be maintained. Performance below this standard will be considered grounds for dismissal from the program.

Admissions

  • Degree-seeking applicants to the EDGE program follow the same guidelines as all other ESSIE degree seeking applicants. These guidelines and deadlines are found on the Admissions page.
  • To see side-by-side tuition and fee comparisons for Florida and non-Florida residents, visit https://ufedge.ufl.edu/online-graduate-programs/tuition-fees.
  • The CCE EDGE Coordinator will review CE EDGE graduate admission applications and will provide admission decisions for these applicants.
  • The EES Graduate Coordinator will review EES EDGE graduate admission applications and will provide admission decisions for these applicants.
  • Admitted student will be asked to choose between a Master’s of Engineering (M.E.) and a Master’s of Science (M.S.) degree. The curriculum requirements for the two degrees are identical, but the UF Graduate School does require that a final exam be administered for the M.S. degree. In addition, an M.E. degree is only available to students who have completed a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in an engineering field from an ABET accredited university.
  • If a degree-seeking student does not enroll in courses at UF for two consecutive semesters or more, the student will need to apply to the department for readmission if the student chooses to continue in the same program. If a new program department is desired, there is an option to write in a new program area within ESSIE. Outside of ESSIE, the student would submit the application to the new department. This is a fairly lengthy process and it should be done at the minimum of two months prior to the start of the semester that the student wishes to re-enroll.
  • Non-degree seeking applicants must apply to the desired department by the posted deadlines. Applications can be found via admissions.ufl.edu/apply/non-degree. The applicant may be required to provide transcripts from previous education to demonstrate successful completion of course prerequisites.

Courses

  • View current course offerings for the UF EDGE program.
  • There are many online courses available at UF from departments outside of engineering (shown below). To seek out potential courses, visit the UF Schedule of Courses. This listing will show what courses will actually be offered each semester at UF. Within a typical department level listing, look for “WEB” to identify courses available in online format.
    • Agriculture
    • Agronomy
    • Biostatistics
    • Construction Management
    • Environmental Horticulture
    • Fisheries and Aquatic Science
    • Food and Resource Economics
    • Food Science and Human Nutrition
    • Forest Resources and Conservation
    • Geomatics
    • Geological Sciences
    • Information Systems and Operations Management
    • Management
    • Microbiology and Cell Science
    • Public Health
    • Soil and Water Science
    • Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
  • While a complete list would be extensive, some examples of coursework from other departments that are available to ESSIE students include:
    • Agronomy
    • Construction management
    • Engineering economy
    • Engineering leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship
    • Finite element method
    • Geographic information systems (GIS)
    • Soil and water science
    • Structural dynamics

Program Plan of Study

  • Prepare an ESSIE EDGE Program Plan of Study (PPS) following admission to the program and before registering for courses in the first semester.
  • Fill out the Plan completely, all 30 credits, using the course information found on the UFEDGE website under the Courses heading and assuming that courses taught in previous terms and currently will continue to be available in subsequent years.
  • Send your signed Plan to edgecoord@essie.ufl.edu for approval.
  • Please note that the Plan is a working document and not a fixed contract. The Plan can be revised at any time and submitted for reapproval.
  • It is possible to complete a portion of your coursework at another university. In this case, please list these courses on your plan as transfer credits. Please note that the last course that you schedule during your final graduation semester from UF must be taken at UF and cannot be a transfer from another university.
  • If you take a course from another university the semester prior to your anticipated graduation, an official transcript from the other institution must be submitted and posted to your records by the UF Office of Admissions before the third week of the final semester. If the transcript is not available by the third week, the transfer of credit will not be processed in time. If this is the case and you need these credits for your degree, your graduation will be delayed for an additional semester and you will be required to enroll in another course at UF.

Course Registration

  • After you confirm your acceptance of your admission, you will receive an email from edge@essie.ufl.edu letting you know that you have been coded as FED or FE2.  You will then register for the sections that fall under your designated code.  This is for the ESSIE courses only.  If you intend to register for a course outside of ESSIE, you will need to contact the department offering the course.  View the contacts for each department. Be certain that the course has been approved on your Program Plan of Study (PPS), otherwise you will need to submit a revised PPS to the ESSIE EDGE Student Advisor for approval.
  • If you are registering for any of the General Engineering courses (EGN prefix or Engineering Entrepreneurship, Engineering Innovation, Engineering Leadership) you will need to contact Pam Simon at phs@ufl.edu to register for those courses.
  • View registration dates. UF Policy is that you will be charged full fees if you withdraw from a course after the drop/add period and you will receive a ‘W’ on your transcript. If you have encountered extenuating circumstances, contact Nancy to discuss possible directions of action.
  • Non-degree (ND), Employee Education Program (EEP), and state employee (SE) students follow an alternative registration timeline. Non-degree registrants should review the information here. EEP and State Employee registrants should review the information here. Contact edge@essie.ufl.edu  directly at to obtain your registration code.

Intent to Graduate

Prior to the start of your final semester, be certain to check your transcripts in ONE.UF to be certain that you will have a total of 30 credit hours, a minimum of 15 credits in your major department coursework and a minimum GPA of 3.0 (overall and in your major coursework.)  Also, if you requested credits to be transferred, they should also appear on your transcript.  If they are not there or if you do not meet any of the previously stated items, send an email to edge@essie.ufl.edu stating the issue so that it can be resolved PRIOR to the start of your final term.

At the beginning of your final semester, submit a degree application by the posted deadline on the academic calendar in order to be placed on the graduation list. Visit the Degree Application page for graduation information. You will receive an e-mail outlining the graduation requirements. As long as you have followed your approved Program Plan of Study and you have maintained the required grade point average, you should not have any remaining graduation issues unless there are the exceptions outlined in the e-mail.

Final Exam

  • For all students pursuing a CE master’s degree, the Final Exam will be provided by ESSIE EDGE Student Advisor during the graduation semester. Send the completed exam to edgecoord@essie.ufl.edu prior to the deadline specified.
  • For all students pursuing an EES master’s degree, the Final Exam will consist of completing the exit interview forms available on the Student Resources page.
  • Send the completed forms via e-mail to edgecoord@essie.ufl.edu  prior to the deadline.