Tag Archives: Fall 2021 Semester

Fall 21 Course Registration Follow-up

Students,

I understand there were some questions about course registration and so I thought I would send a note to try to cover some of the common questions and concerns.

  1. The most common question seemed to be will there be enough seats in technical electives?  The simple answer is that even with increased total enrollment, there should be if current student course interest is similar to past student interest. Having said that, we are aware that interests change from year-to-year and so we will be monitoring enrollment and making changes where we can.

I did want to talk about what we have done to prepare for this year. Historically, many of our electives have been only offered in 1 semester (fall or spring). This year, many of our electives will be offered in both the fall and the spring. The list below are those that will be offered in both the fall and the spring. If a student is not able to get a seat in the fall term, they may take the class in the spring term.

Course Number Course Name Allocated Residential Enrollment per semester Total seats in the year
EGRMGMT 512 PRODUCT MGMT IN HIGH-TECH COMP (Lecture) 48 total over 2 time periods 96
EGRMGMT 514 NEGOTIATION/CONSULTATIVE SALES (Lecture) 40 80
EGRMGMT 542 COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES (Lecture) 35 70
EGRMGMT 556 ENGINEERING MANAGEMT PRACTICUM (Independent Study) 48 Fall  Likely 30 spring 78
EGRMGMT 560 PROJECT MANAGEMENT (Lecture) 40 80
EGRMGMT 576 DESIGN THINKING AND INNOVATION (Lecture) 40 80
EGRMGMT 580 DECISION MODELS (Lecture) 45 90

 

The Negotiations (EGRMGMT 514) class is new for the fall. It was previously only a spring class.  We also increased the number of practicum sections, and added a number of Advanced Topics classes (EGRMGMT 590) that we think will be of interest. The advanced topic classes are related to managing product design, managing product development and managing software development.

Based on scaling our historical enrollment in these classes, we believe we will have enough elective options and seats to accommodate our incoming class of ~ 225 students.

  1. There are also questions about in person classes (room listed) and online classes for students in the MEM residential program (indicated by time listed and room is “online course.” All of these class seats are intended for our MEM residential students. (Note: classes for our MEM Online students are in the room “online course” and do not have a time associated with them. These classes are not typically available to MEM residential students.) In the above table, I combined the in-person and online seats for residential students. We will allocate seats in the in-person and the online sections for residential students as needed.  We made an initial guess as to how many residential students may be studying remotely or may be arriving after drop/add (Sept. 3, 2021) and would need to start the class online. Please sign up for the class for your situation, even if it puts you on a waitlist. We will monitor enrollment and reallocate seats as appropriate. Students will come off of the waitlist depending on their waitlist number. If you sign up for the online class, the system should not let you enroll. Even if it does let you enroll, if you want to switch from an online section to an in-person section, you will go to the end of the waitlist. Therefore, it is important that you sign up for the class that you want and let us manage the allocation of seats between in-person and online sections.
  2. We have heard that some students are planning on enrolling in 5 electives and not signing up for any core courses in order to hold potential seats in case they might want to take that elective. There is not any safeguard in the system that would prevent hoarding of electives, but we strongly discourage this. It is one of the many reasons we talk about professionalism and the 5 principles within the program. Just because something is not forbidden, does not mean that it is the appropriate and ethical thing to do. By hoarding elective seats you will not use, you are preventing one of your peers from securing a seat in a class they want to take. Hoarding classes also limits our ability to expand seats/sections of a class because we will not be sure if there is an actual need or a bubble due to hoarding. Our recommendation is to sign up for the classes that you intend to take. This will allow your peers to sign up for the classes that they want and will allow us to better respond to any waitlists that may occur.
  3. Many of you are seeking clarity about the different ways you can plan your Fall schedule in DukeHub. Under the “Enrollment” menu, DukeHub offers three tools — Planner, Schedule Builder, and Shopping Cart — to assist you in your course selections.

The Planner tool is primarily designed for undergraduates’ use in mapping out current and future semesters. The Planner tool does not automatically add courses to a student’s Shopping Cart. The Planner tool does not integrate well with graduate classes; for this reason, we discourage MEM students from using it to plan their MEM path. Instead, we encourage MEM students to utilize Stellic, a web-based platform for degree planning and auditing, to map out potential course paths.

The Schedule Builder tool allows students to create and save multiple possible course schedules for the upcoming semester. Students can create a schedule, view it in a weekly calendar view, and save it (e.g., first-choice schedule, back-up schedule, etc.). Multiple schedules may be saved in the Schedule Builder as you look for different possible class combinations. The Schedule Builder does not automatically add courses to a student’s Shopping Cart, but students may add courses to their Shopping Cart when they are in the Schedule Builder. For more information about how to use the Schedule Builder, please click here.

The Shopping Cart is what you will ultimately use to enroll in your Fall 2021 courses. You should add your intended Fall 2021 courses to your Shopping Cart and then enroll in your courses when registration goes live on July 7 at 7:00am (EDT). At any time prior to enrollment, you may also validate your course selection to ensure that you meet any prerequisites for your selected courses, and that your selected courses do not meet at overlapping times. For more information about registering from the Shopping Cart, please click here.

I hope this helps to address your questions. If you have other questions, please let us know.

Best Regards,

Brad

 

Brad Fox, Ph.D.

Associate Dean, Masters Programs

 

 

Welcome from the PDC!

Hello,

Congratulations & welcome to the Master of Engineering Management Program at Duke!

I am Pratik S. Rath, President of the student led MEM Program Development Committee, an organization dedicated to providing students with holistic development opportunities outside of classes during their time at Duke. I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the PDC board and student body to welcome you all to the MEM class of 2022!

The Program Development Committee consists of various professional and social clubs. The professional student organizations aim to provide students with opportunities to hone their skills or learn new ones through various client projects, competitions, and workshops. They are a great way to network with other MEM students, alumni and industry professionals while advancing your career. Social clubs work towards building a strong, inclusive, & diverse MEM community.

We are currently in the process of adding a few more organizations to the PDC roster and will keep y’all updated. We will be hosting our PDC Kick-off Event on August 18th where you’ll be able to meet our Club Presidents and learn more about each club, including membership registration, industry projects, and open cabinet member positions.

In the meantime, feel free to reach out with any questions you might have. We are excited to have you join us this fall and cannot wait to meet everyone!

Best,

Pratik S. Rath

Duke University | Pratt School of Engineering
Master of Engineering Management | Class of 2021

Board President | MEM Program Development Committee

217 419 7081 | pratik.rath@duke.edu

COVID Protocols for Beginning of the Fall Semester

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

Together we have made extraordinary progress in combating COVID-19 on campus. More than 81 percent of our faculty and staff and nearly 10,000 of our students are fully vaccinated, and that number increases every week. We ended the Spring semester with a very low number of positive cases and had a joyous in-person celebration for our graduates. In addition, since May 3, there have been 35,000 surveillance tests completed with only 7 positive results.

In preparation for the Fall semester, we continue to work closely with Duke’s infectious diseases experts and follow the guidance of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among others, to promote a safe environment for our students, faculty, staff and visitors. While the national news is good, the pandemic is not over yet. Vaccination rates in our region continue to lag and the emergence of new and more transmittable variants of COVID-19 mean we must continue to practice some of our public health protocols as we begin the Fall semester.

These protocols include:

  • Vaccinations: All Duke undergraduate, graduate and professional students must present proof of vaccination in order to attend classes and other campus activities this Fall. All faculty and staff are expected to present proof of vaccination by September 1. Students, faculty and staff may apply for a medical or religious exemption. Individuals granted medical or religious exemptions will be subject to daily symptom monitoring, regular testing, masking and other protocols applicable to those who have not been vaccinated.
  • Testing: All students will be tested upon arrival at Duke and must then participate in weekly surveillance testing regardless of their vaccination status. All students who have obtained an exemption from vaccination will be required to participate in surveillance testing twice a week. Faculty and staff who have not been vaccinated will be required to participate in surveillance testing once per week. The testing schedule for each group is based on the number of interactions they are likely to have that could lead to the transmission of COVID-19. Students tend to live in congregate settings and will likely have substantially more interactions than faculty and staff.
  • Symptom Monitoring: Fully vaccinated faculty, staff, and students will not be required to complete daily symptom monitoring. Anyone who has not been vaccinated, regardless of the circumstances, will be required to complete daily symptom monitoring.
  • Masking: Fully vaccinated faculty, staff and students will not be required to wear a mask in most indoor areas effective July 1. Because masks are still required in certain settings – including health care facilities, buses and shuttles on campus, and childcare centers – everyone should have a mask ready and available if needed. Also, please respect anyone who chooses to continue wearing masks as a means to prevent exposure to themselves or loved ones. Faculty, staff, and students who have not been vaccinated will be required to wear a mask indoors at all times. Masks will be provided to all students as part of the initial testing program.
  • Social Distancing: Social distancing is no longer required on campus, though distancing is still recommended for those who are not vaccinated.
  • Flu Vaccination: All members of the Duke community will be expected to participate in the annual flu vaccine program.

We will continue to assess our COVID protocols and test results as the semester progresses to determine whether it is safe to further ease restrictions.

With your participation and support, Duke has led the way back from this pandemic. Your perseverance, creativity and sheer will to overcome the many challenges that confronted us reflects the best of Duke and will define our future.

Sally Kornbluth,
Provost and Jo Rae Wright University Professor

Kyle Cavanaugh,
Vice President, Administration