Urban Transportation (MS), Program Information

Program Faculty

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Department Chair

Anthony A. Saka, PHD, PTP, PE, PTOE 

Professor

 

Program Coordinator

Mansoureh Jeihani, PHD, PTP

Professor

240 Center for Built Environment and Infrastructure Studies (CBEIS) 

Tel: (443) 885-1873; Fax: (443) 885-8324

Email: mansoureh.jeihani@Morgan.edu

 

Program Faculty

Anthony A. Saka, PHD, PTP, PE, PTOE 

Professor

 

Mansoureh Jeihani, PHD, PTP

Professor

 

Zoltan Andrew Farkas, PHD

Professor

 

Young-Jae Lee, PHD

Associate Professor

 

Celeste Chavis, PHD, PE

Associate Professor

 

Program Description

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The Master of Science in Urban Transportation degree program provides an interdisciplinary curriculum in transportation that prepares students to assume professional positions in transportation engineering, planning, management, and analysis. Students can concentrate their studies on traffic operations engineering, transportation planning, transportation management, or freight transportation and logistics. With the approval of the transportation faculty, students may use appropriate courses in other disciplines to supplement the requirements of their program of study.

There are two options for the MS program, Thesis and Non-Thesis. In Thesis option, the students are required to take Thesis Guidance and Thesis Defense courses and defend their thesis successfully. Non-Thesis option students need to pass the comprehensive exam rather than thesis. Students can choose between the two options up to their last semester.

Program Objectives

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The program objective is to produce diverse, well-trained transportation professionals who are skilled in the fields of transportation engineering, planning, management and logistics and capable of pursuing senior-level positions. The program graduate will: 

• Utilize system approach to articulate, study, and mitigate transportation problems

• Apply latest technology and sustainability paradigm to efficiently plan, implement, analyze, evaluate, and manage components of the transportation systems 

• Utilize effective communication, team, leadership, and management skills to work productively within their professions and communities 

• Pursue professional development and advanced studies to meet the emerging and evolving demands, and increasing responsibilities of a successful career 

• Conduct themselves as responsible professionals and citizens.

 

The students’ learning outcomes are as follows: 

1. Ability to identify, formulate, and solve broadly defined technical or scientific problems by applying knowledge of mathematics and  science, and/or technical topics to areas relevant to the discipline;

2. An ability to formulate or design a system, process, procedure or program to meet desired needs;

3. An ability to develop and conduct experiments or test hypotheses, analyze and interpret data and use scientific judgment to draw conclusions;

4. An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences;

5. An ability to understand ethical and professional responsibilities and the impact of technical and/or scientific solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts;

6. An ability to function effectively on teams that establish goals, plan tasks, meet deadlines, and analyze risk and uncertainty.

General Requirements

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Candidates for the Master of Science degree must complete a minimum of [Thirty] (30) academic credit hours, pass comprehensive or submit an acceptably written thesis.

C or lower grades are not accepted for satisfying the requirements of the core courses. In order to be considered in good academic standing, students must maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 and not obtain C or lower grades in more than twenty (20) percent of the total credit requirement for the degree. Students may retake courses in which they obtained C or lower grades to satisfy program requirements. 

Admission

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To be eligible for admission to the Master of Science Program in Urban Transportation, an applicant must: 

 

• Have earned a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university, preferably in a transportation-related area. 

• Possess an undergraduate cumulative grade point average (G.P.A.) of 3.0 or better to be considered for regular admission. Students who possess a cumulative undergraduate G.P.A. of between a 2.5 and < 3.0 may be considered for conditional admission.  Post-bachelor’s undergraduate credits will not be used to enhance G.P.A. requirements for admission to graduate study. 

• Submit an application for admission to the School of Graduate Studies.  All required documents must be submitted as directed by the School of Graduate Studies prior to program review and admission decision.  

• Use the application system to arrange for three letters of recommendation to be placed with the application.  These letters must be from officials or faculty members of institutions previously attended who are acquainted with the applicant’s ability for graduate study or from employment supervisors where applicable. 

• Submit a typed exposition regarding the candidate’s personal, academic, and professional plans and the reasons for selecting Morgan State University. 

 

Meeting the minimum eligibility requirements and submitting all the required documents does not guarantee that an offer of admission will be made to the applicant.  The decision of the Program Admissions Committee involves a review and analysis of all the elements of the application as well as the availability of positions in the program.  The committee then recommends to the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies that an offer of admission should be made based on that review.

Candidacy

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All candidates for the degree who select the Thesis Option must complete thirty (30) credit hours (including TRSP 799  , Thesis Seminar) and submit an acceptable thesis

Candidates selecting the Non-Thesis Option must complete thirty (30) credit hours and pass a written comprehensive examination, TRSP 793  . 

All students must complete the core requirements as indicated below.

Thesis/Dissertation Completion

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The Thesis-Option requires students to form an advisory committee comprising at least three tenured or tenure-track faculty members that guide the student’s research activities. The committee chair must be from the Department of Transportation and Urban Infrastructure Studies and the committee must be formed before completion of Thesis Guidance (TRSP 797  ). Students are encouraged to form their committee as soon as possible. Students must complete and successfully defend a thesis based on timely research in a relevant area of transportation and/or urban infrastructure.

Additional Requirements

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Academic dishonesty is a very serious offense in the School of Engineering. Under no circumstance(s) shall a student use the original words or ideas of others without appropriately citing the source. Any student found culpable of academic dishonesty will be asked to withdraw from the Program, and referred to the appropriate School of Engineering and University authorities for additional disciplinary actions which may result in expulsion from the University. The student has the right to appeal the action taken by submitting in writing to the School of Engineering Judicial Committee to request for a hearing on the academic fraud allegation(s) within the same semester by emailing soesss@morgan.edu. 

Program Course Requirements

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MS Urban Transportation 30 credits

Note

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 Upon achieving Master’s Candidacy, the student will continuously register in Fall and Spring terms for TRSP 797   (Thesis Guidance) until the Master’s Thesis is completed and submitted to the School of Graduate Studies for review.  The course is used only when the curriculum is near completion, and the student is completing the research and writing of the thesis. The course registration maintains the student status as a matriculated, full-time student (student is registered for 3 credit hours and the system reports a full-time 9 credit hour load).  After the Intent to Defend the Master’s Thesis form has been accepted by the School of Graduate Studies, this course registration will be changed to TRSP 799   (Thesis Defense) for the given semester and count for 3 credit hours of curricular coursework (TRSP 799   will also count for 9 credit hours of load).  Other courses cannot be substituted for TRSP 797   (Thesis Guidance). The only eligible grade for TRSP 797   (Thesis Guidance) is the grade of “S” and the only acceptable grade for TRSP 799   (Thesis Defense) is “P/F” (Pass/Fail).

Suggested Curriculum Sequence

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• Urban Transportation (MS), Curriculum Sequence