Engineering Requirements:
Students entering the University of Dallas as physics majors have the opportunity to pursue a cooperative degree in electrical engineering through the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) Electrical Engineering Department. The dual degree program is designed for the well-prepared student to be able to complete two degrees, a BA in physics from UD and an electrical engineering degree from UTA, in five years. The program is rather unique in that students take classes from both institutions beginning in their freshman year. This allows students to establish early in their undergraduate education that they desire to be an electrical engineer with a firm grasp of the Western intellectual tradition, to have extensive reading and writing abilities, and to understand the physical nature of our world, all skills of the physics degree and Core Curriculum at UD. This dual degree program also requires that prospective engineers have the ability to communicate their ideas to others. It is the goal of this program to liberally educate engineers and physicists who meet these challenges.
The entrance requirements for this dual program are the same as the entrance requirements for a physics major at UD. Students expected to do well in this program will have completed a rigorous high school program which included courses in upper level mathematics, advanced chemistry and advanced physics. Students not having such a background may still complete the program, but the completion time may be more than five years. The suggested course sequence below includes the Rome Program during the second semester of the sophomore year.
Admissions Policy and Process:
- Apply to UD as a dual-degree physics/electrical engineering student as a freshman and make sure Dr. Olenick is your adviser.
- Apply to UTA by December 1 of your freshman year after completing an application form available from the Department of Physics.
- Once admitted to UTA, contact a UTA undergraduate engineering adviser to complete your registration requirements for the spring semester. Students must see an adviser before they can register for classes at UTA, and they must also complete an orientation class before enrolling in January classes.
- Normal UTA admissions standards will apply, but students must indicate they are dual-degree students. Although the student will have completed less than 24 hours of college work by the beginning of the spring semester of the 1st year, the student's academic adviser will be the undergraduate adviser in electrical engineering (EE) and not the University College (UCOL) adviser (i.e., the student's major should be coded as EE_INT and not EE_UCOL).
- The student's home institution shall remain UD for years 1-3 and UT Arlington for years 4-5. Normal standards for continuation will apply.
Program Description:
- The undergraduate adviser in EE at UTA will provide the personal contact needed to navigate the enrollment and advising processes.
- For the determination of tuition, fees, room and board costs, and financial aid, students in this program are considered full-time students at UD during years one through three and full-time students at UT Arlington during years four and five. Tuition and fees for students taking classes at UT Arlington during years 1-3 and at UD for years 4-5 will be based on the course rates. The institution in which the student has full-time enrollment is responsible for calculating financial aid, disbursing aid, monitoring satisfactory progress and other student eligibility requirements, keeping records, and returning funds in the event of withdrawal from the program.
- Normally at the end of the fifth year upon the completion of all of the Core and major degree requirements at UD and the completion of all of the degree requirements at UT Arlington, students will be granted a BA degree in physics from UD and a BS degree in electrical engineering from UT Arlington. Students who withdraw from this program and who have completed the undergraduate degree requirements at UD will be granted a BA degree in physics.
- Students who do not fulfill the requirements of this dual degree program are in no way precluded from applying to the EE program at UT Arlington through the usual process.
University of Dallas Contacts
Department | Name | Phone | |
Dean of Constantin College | Dr. Philip Harold | 972-721-5044 | pharold@udallas.edu |
Engineering Adviser | Dr. Rich Olenick | 972-721-5313 | olenick@udallas.edu |
Registrar | Ms. Marisa Darby | 972-721-5280 | mdarby@udallas.edu |
Director of Financial Aid | Mr. James Hubener | 972-721-5266 | jhubener@udallas.edu |
University of Texas at Arlington Contacts
Sr. Associate Dean of Engineering | Dr. Lynn Peterson | peterson@uta.edu |
Engineering adviser |
Dr. Saibun Tjuatja Ms. Pauline Mason |
tjuatja@uta.edu pmason@uta.edu |
Suggested Five-Year Curriculum
Incoming students are encouraged to apply to UD's O'Hara Chemical Sciences Institute. This rigorous program is offered during the summer prior to their freshman year to students who meet the entrance requirements. The O'Hara program is not a requirement for the dual-degree program, but it does ease scheduling requirements for completing the program in five years.
Summer Prior to Freshman Year - O'Hara Program
Semester | Course | Credits | |
Summer I | CHE 1303/1103 Gen Chem I and Lab | 4 | |
Summer II | CHE 1304/1104 Gen Chem II and Lab | 4 | |
Total Credits | 8 |
1st Year
Semester | Course |
Credits |
Fall | ENG 1301 - Literary Traditions I PHY 2311/2111 - General Physics I and Lab MAT 1404 - Calculus I LANG 2311 - Intermediate Foreign Language I THE 1310 - Understanding the Bible Total Credits |
3 4 17 |
Spring | PHY 2312/2112 0 General Physics II and Lab MAT 1411 - Calculus II LANG 2312 Intermediate Foreign Language II CSE 1311 - Intro Prog for Eng & Sci EE 1201 - Intro to Electrical Engineering EE 1106 - Electrical Engineering Practicum Total Credits |
4 17 |
Courses in bold font must be taken at UTA.
2nd Year
Fall | ENG 1302 - Literary Traditions II PHI 1301 - Philosophy and the Ethical Life PHY 3320/3120 - Quantum Physics and Lab MAT 2412 - Calculus III EE 2441 - Dig Logic and Micro Total Credits |
3
18 |
Spring (Rome) |
ENG 2311 - Literary Traditions III HIS 2301 - Western Civilization PHI 2323 - Philosophy of Man THE 2311 - Western Theological Traditions ART 2311 - Art & Architecture of Rome Total Credits |
3 15 |
Courses in bold font must be taken at UTA.
3rd Year
Fall | MAT 3324 - Differential Equations PHY 4423 - Theoretical Mechanics PHI 3311 - Philosophy of Being PHY 3363 - Computational Physics ECO 1311 - Fundamentals of Economics Total Credits |
3 16 |
Spring | PHY 4424 - Quantum Mechanics PHY 3333/3133 - Electronics and Lab HIS 2302 - Western Civilization II EE 2415 - Circuit Analysis I EE 2347 Math Foundations of EE Total Credits |
4 18 |
Courses in bold font must be taken at UTA.
4th Year
Fall | PHY 3326 - Statistical Physics PHY 4327 - Electromagnetic Theory POL 1311 - Principles of American Politics EE 3446 - Circuits II EE 3417 - Continuous Sigs and Sys Total Credits |
3 17 |
Spring | PHY 4328 - Electrodynamics Biology Core PHY 4153 - Physics Seminar EE 3330 - Prob. and Random Signals EE 3318 - Discrete Sigs and Sys EE Core Elective Total Credits |
3 16 |
Courses in bold font must be taken at UTA.
5th Year
Fall |
HIS 1311 - American Civilization I EE 4340 - Concepts & Exer for Eng Practice ENGR Elective EE Core Elective Total Credits |
3 3 3 3 3 15 |
Spring | HIS 1312 - American Civilization II POLS 2312 - State and Local Government EE 4349 - Engineering Design EE Elective COMS 2302 - Prof and Tech Communication Total Credits |
3 3 3 3 3 15 |
Courses in bold font must be taken at UTA.
Physics and Engineering Requirements
UD Physics Courses - Need 32 for a B.A. | ||
Fall 1st Year | PHY 2311/2111 - General Physics I & Lab | 4 hours |
Spring 1st Year | PHY 2312/2112 - General Physics II & Lab | 4 hours |
Fall 2nd Year | PHY 3320/3120 - Quantum Physics & Lab | 4 hours |
Spring 2nd Year | in Rome | |
Fall 3rd Year | PHY 4423 - Theoretical Mechanics (CE 2312 - Statics & Dynamics)2 |
4 hours |
PHY 3363 - Computational Physics | 3 hours | |
Spring 3rd Year | PHY 4424 - Quantum Mechanics | 4 hours |
PHY 3333/3133 - Electronics & Lab (EE 2403 - Electronics I)2 |
4 hours | |
Fall 4th Year | PHY 3326 - Statistical Physics (MAE 3309 - Thermodynamics)2 |
3 hours |
PHY 4327 - Electromagnetic Theory (EE 3407 - Electromagnetics)2 |
3 hours | |
Spring 4th Year | PHY 4328 - Electrodynamics (EE Elective)2 |
3 hours |
PHY 4153 - Physics Seminar | 1 hour | |
Total | 37 hours1 |
1 This is three more hours than required for the BA in Physics degree from UD.
2 UTA Course equivalent
Courses Taken at UTA | ||
Spring 1st Year | EE 1104 - Intro to Engineering | 1 hour |
EE 1205 - Intro to Electrical Engineering | 2 hours | |
CSE 1311 - Intro. Programming for Eng. & Sci. | 3 hours | |
Fall 2nd Year | EE 2415 - Circuit Analysis I | 4 hours |
Spring 3rd Year | EE 2441 - Digital Logic and Microprocessors | 4 hours |
EE 2347 - Math Foundations of EE | 3 hours | |
Fall 4th Year | EE 3417 - Continuous Signals & Systems | 4 hours |
EE 3446 - Circuit Analysis II | 4 hours | |
Spring 4th Year | EE 3330 - Probability and Random Signals | 3 hours |
EE 3318 - Discrete Signals and Systems | 3 hours | |
EE Core Elective | 3 hours | |
Fall 5th Year | EE 4340 - Concepts and Exercises in Engineering Practice | 3 hours |
EE Core Elective | 3 hours | |
EE Elective | 3 hours | |
ENGR Elective | 3 hours | |
Spring 5th Year | POLS 2312 - State and Local Government | 3 hours |
EE4349 - Engineering Design Project | 3 hours | |
EE Elective | 3 hours | |
COMS 2302 - Professional and Technical Communication | 3 hours | |
Total | 58 hours |
Additional Comments:
- Students will qualify for a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the University of Dallas by completing a research thesis and by giving a talk at a professional meeting; they must also satisfy the UD Core Curriculum.
- Students must complete the physics comprehensive examination from the University of Dallas.
- The 5th year could be completed entirely at the University of Texas at Arlington.
- The above curriculum assumes students enter the O'Hara Summer Chemistry Institute and that they place at the Intermediate language level when entering UD. Additional semesters or summer work will be needed if these are not true.
- AP or IB credit will be assessed according to the UD code. Students may place out of some of the above classes with appropriate scores on AP and IB examinations.
- Total number of hours = 172 semester hours.
- The distance between UD and UTA is 19.4 miles and is a 28-minute drive under normal driving conditions. Students are expected to provide their own transportation to UTA. It may also be possible to take some UTA courses online.
- EE requirements are subject to change by the Electrical Engineering Department at UTA, as are graduation requirements for the BS in Electrical Engineering.
Responsibilities of Student Participating in UTA/UD Dual Degree Program:
- Apply and obtain admission to both programs (UD for Fall of Y1 and UTA for Spring of Y1; UTA applications are due Dec. 1 of your freshman year.)
- Provide UD with copy of admission to UTA Electrical Engineering program
- Submit a FAFSA and any other requested financial documentation if applying for need-based aid
- Register for the appropriate classes at each institution
- Meet with adviser each semester at both institutions
- Follow all applicable rules and regulations of both campuses while enrolled
- Follow withdrawal protocol of each school if intention to withdraw occurs
- Notify both schools if complete withdrawal is required
- Notify both schools of change of address or demographic information
- Pay semester/term balance in full at each institution (or arrange payment plan if available) by required deadline
- Student is responsible for transportation between campuses
- Student is responsible for obtaining and meeting merit scholarship requirements. Merit scholarship funds will be applied to tuition charges only
- Obtain and sign the Information Release Authorization form from the UD Registrar
Things we have learned that are not written in the original agreement:
- Once you apply to and are accepted at UTA, you will receive email notifications with things that you must address. Make sure you do so.
- If you are not listed in the special UTA/UD Dual-Degree Program, please let the UTA admissions director or engineering adviser know.
- You will need to go through UTA's orientation before you can take classes in the spring and meet with the UTA engineering adviser.
- Once you are enrolled in classes, please give the UD registrar and engineering adviser a copy of your classes.
- ARAMARK runs food services at both institutions; please talk to the Aramark office about our shared arrangement.
- Please meet with the UD Director of Financial Aid to make sure you qualify for as much financial aid as possible.
- The calendars of the two institutions do not always completely align. Please talk to the Director of Student Life to work out living arrangements for non-overlapping periods.