Santa Clara University

Faculty Advisors

The process for aligning students with academic advisors varies from department to department.  Following is how it works: 

Assign Advisors

• Computer Engineering
• Engineering Management
• Software Engineering

M.S. students are assigned an academic advisor upon admission to the Program. The advisor's name and contact information will be included in a student's admission offer letter. 

Choose Your Advisor

• Applied Mathematics
• Electrical Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering

M.S. students may choose any faculty advisor they wish, based upon area of interest.  

Please note: All students may change advisors at any time by following this procedure:

• Find another faculty member who will agree to act as your academic advisor.
• Request that the faculty member send written notification of the change of advisor to the Graduate Services Office either email or letter (This step is required only for students in Computer Engineering).
• The request will be processed and the new information recorded.

New Students

Please meet with your advisor and go over the Program of Studies Form in your first quarter of residence.  If this document is not on file by the end of the second quarter, a hold may be placed on your account.

Program of Studies

All M.S. students are required to complete a Program of Studies form (see Forms on the left of the navigation) and meet with their academic advisor in their first quarter of residence, in order to make sure they are on the right track for successful completion of the program. Maintenance of the Program of Studies or Waiver form, as well as regular academic advising, is critical and failure to do so may result in a delay in graduation.

Open University and Certificate Students

The chair of the academic department will serve as your advisor. 

You may apply a maximum of 16 units from any of our certificate programs toward the 45 units. The same applies to eligible Open University units. These units should be included on your Program of Studies Form as regular units, not in the Transfer Credits section.

NOTE: Open University students who are considering enrolling in the M.S. program should be aware that each M.S. specialization has its own set of requirements, and that the number of “free electives” is very limited. Such students are therefore strongly encouraged to choose their classes in consultation with a faculty advisor from the very beginning.