Lyle School of Engineering - Off-Campus Distance Education
SMU, through its Lyle School of Engineering, has supported distance education
graduate programs for more than 35 years. Courses may be taken through the Lyle
School of Engineering DE program. Students can view and complete graduate-level
courses at work or at home. A proctor oversees all exams that the student takes.
Lyle engineering graduate course lectures are recorded “live” in one of the
school’s state-of-the-art tele-studio classrooms. The live classroom recording
includes the lecture and all dialogue among students in the class and between the
students and the professor.
The recorded lectures are then saved to a server at the Lyle School of Engineering within 24 hours of the on-campus course. Students should download the lecture
to their computer and watch it within 48 hours to keep current with course content
and requirements. Course handouts, syllabi and assignments are distributed via
course management software. Graded homework is returned by e-mail, fax or
regular mail. DE students may contact the instructor to ask questions and clarify
points from the lecture by telephone, fax, electronic mail or the postal service. One
great advantage to this format is that the student may replay the lecture as many
times as needed. DE instruction has proven to be an effective medium for overcom-
ing time and distance constraints, providing much-needed graduate education for
qualified students.
Students are required to have a proctor for all exams. The proctor must be the
student’s supervisor, someone in the training or personnel department of the stu-
dent’s company, or a librarian or professor at a local college. A proctor may NOT
be a student’s relative, personal friend or subordinate at work. Proctors are required
to sign an agreement with the Lyle School of Engineering detailing the responsi-
bilities and expectations of the proctor.
Today, the Lyle School of Engineering offers DE students the opportunity to
complete Master of Science degrees in professional disciplines and traditional
engineering disciplines. Each of the programs is interdisciplinary in content and
flexible in approach. The programs are:
More information about the Lyle School of Engineering’s off-campus graduate
programs can be obtained by contacting Distance Education Marketing, Lyle School
of Engineering, Southern Methodist University at
www.smu.edu/Lyle/Graduate/ProspectiveStudents/DistanceEducation.aspx.
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