Handbook - Mechanical Engineering - Iowa State University

CURRICULUM/MAJOR CHANGES
A curriculum change implies that you are staying within the College of Engineering, but are changing to a
discipline other than your current one. For example, if you are presently a mechanical engineering
student and would like to change your curriculum to civil engineering, you would go through the
sequence of steps given below:
1. You should first visit with an advisor in the department you wish to enter. You may also consider
visiting with the Career Explorations office (3078 Student Services Bldg.) to speak with a career
counselor. This critical step will be helpful in either reassuring you that you should make the
change, or as sometimes happens, help you rethink your decision altogether.
2. Visit with your advisor in mechanical engineering. Your mechanical engineering advisor will
provide you with a file transmittal form. He or she will check for documents in your advisor file
that your new advisor would find useful and informative.
3. Proceed with the file transmittal form and advisor file to the Engineering Undergraduate
Program's (EUP) office, Room 110 Marston Hall. The EUP office will make the change on your
records.
4. Proceed from EUP to your new departmental office, in the example above that would be the main
office of the Department of Civil Engineering. Someone in the departmental office will take your
advisor file, perform an inventory of important documents, and assign you to your new advisor.
If you are leaving the College of Engineering for another College, (i.e., changing your major) an
additional step is required. Let's call this Step 3A; it follows Step 3 above.
3A. After leaving the College of Engineering Undergraduate Program office, proceed to your new
College's Student Services office. The Engineering Undergraduate Programs office will tell you
where that is. But, if they should forget, ask them which office you should go to.
Step 4A replaces Step 4.
4A. Proceed from the new college Student Services office to your new departmental office.
Someone in the departmental office will take your advisor file, perform an inventory of
important documents, and assign you to your new advisor.
If you are on academic probation and you are making a change to another college, you must first
receive permission to change from the college and department you wish to enter. If you proceed
with the change and at a later time determine that you would like to transfer back to the College of
Engineering, you must receive permission from the College of Engineering Academic Standards
Committee.
STUDY ABROAD OPPORTUNITIES
The first step in determining whether or not you want to pursue a study abroad opportunity is to visit
with the staff of the Study Abroad Center, 3224 Memorial Union or www.iastate.edu/~studyabroad/.
The Study Abroad Center is equipped to answer your questions about which schools are best
for engineering students, which schools are in countries you are interested in visiting, what you will need
to do before you leave, approximately how much it will cost to live and study abroad, and a whole host of
other important information that will help you make your decision.
2009 Kiewit Undergraduate Student Services Center
19