Water and International Development

Courses

Students in the WAID program complete either an MS or PhD degree from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as well the International Development Studies program through the Office of International Programs. Although students typically do not need to take more courses than what is required for a traditional MS or PhD degree, the courses must be selected to meet the requirements for both the degree and the IDS program. When students begin their studies in WAID, they should visit the Office of International Programs to enroll in IDS. During the last semester of their studies, they also need to submit the graduate check sheet and the additional requirements forms to the Office of International Programs (click here for the forms). Students who are admitted to the WAID program but do not have an undergraduate degree in engineering are required to take some additional undergraduate courses to bring their engineering background up to the required entry level.

Students can use engineering-related internships with development and relief agencies as the basis of their technical paper if they are seeking a non-thesis MS degree. Students can also use more extensive international experiences with an engineering component as the basis of an MS thesis.

The final choice of classes is made by the student with the approval of the advisor and thesis committee, but the courses must meet the requirements for both the desired Civil Engineering degree and the IDS program. Students are required to take both core classes listed below if they have not already taken an equivalent course. The lists of supporting engineering classes and other supporting classes provide examples of possible electives.