Welcome to Astani CEE!

Congratulations on your admission to USC Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering!

To prepare for a successful start to your academic journey, please take the following action:

Regularly check your USC email. New student orientation information will be sent via email.
Ensure that you have reviewed all communication sent from the Astani Student Affairs team (cee.advise@usc.edu).
Attend and/or watch orientation recordings to understand policies and processes related to your degree and registration.

Below are quick links to important orientation recordings.

New Masters Student Welcome - Fall 2025

Masters Orientation - Coming Soon!

Be sure to review the Viterbi New Student Page for more information on Orientation and Welcome Events.

Program Exceptions

It is the responsibility of all students to review their degree requirements on their program website. Only courses explicitly listed apply toward their degree.

If you would like to request the opportunity to take a course outside of the approved electives, please complete the Program Exception Request Form. Your request justification must include why you believe the course will benefit your career and how you believe it is relevant to your degree. Requests should not be made before completed all core requirements. The department leadership reviews requests and all decisions are final.

While you await a decision on pending requests, please enroll in a back-up option. Program exceptions are not guaranteed to be approved and decisions are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

2/3 Rule

All programs require a minimum two-thirds of coursework must be 500-level or higher. Learn more.

Note: This policy applies to programs that require or allow 400-level coursework.

Academic Standing

All students are required to maintain a minimum of 3.0 GPA to remain in good academic standing and to graduate. Students that are unable to maintain the 3.0 GPA will be placed on academic probation. View the complete policy on the Viterbi Website.

Note: Only grades C or higher will count toward your degree progress, but all grades will count toward your GPA.

Note: No Pass/No Pass courses are allowed.

Academic Integrity

If you have questions about academic integrity, contact your professor as policies may differ from class to class. Always error on the side of caution if you are unsure if something is considered cheating.

Penalties for violations at the Master’s level are extremely severe grade sanctions (e.g., “F” in the course) or dismissal. Other consequences include:

Denied CPT/Internship
Loss of access to Viterbi Career Connections (VCC) office events
Suspension or explusion
Impact on job opportunities

View the complete policy on the Viterbi Website.

D-Clearance

D-Clearance stands for Departmental Clearance. Some courses at USC require D-Clearance (or the department’s permission) to register for a class.

Does a course need D-Clearance?

If a course section number ends in “D” (ex: 00000D) → Yes. All courses that end in D require need D-Clearance. See section below for D-Clearance Request Instructions.
If a course section number ends in number (ex: 00000) → No. For all courses that end in a number, you may register directly without departmental approval.

NOTE: All Den@Viterbi courses have department clearance. This process is different.

D-Clearance Requests

Login to MyViterbi
Select D-Clearance Manager
Select Request D-Clearance
Select the department you are requesting D-Clearance from: Civil & Environmental Engineering
Complete the form.
- Please ignore the text box. No justification is required.

The Astani CEE Department can only grant D-Clearance for CE (Civil Engineering) or ENE (Environmental Engineering) Classes. Please allow 3 business days for processing before contacting the department.

D-Clearance requests will be reviewed and decisions will be emailed to your USC email account. D-Clearance gives you permission to register, however it does not reserve a seat for you in the class.

If you want D-Clearance for a non-Viterbi course you must contact the department that offers that course. Information can be found at the top of the Schedule of Classes. An example is pictured below.

DEN@Viterbi section clearances are managed by the DEN Team.

Login to MyViterbi
Select D-Clearance Manager
Select Request D-Clearance
Select the department you are requesting D-Clearance from: DEN@Viterbi D-Clearance Request
- Do NOT select Civil & Environmental Engineering
Complete the form.

For a more detailed process, please refer to the resource below. If you have any questions regarding your clearance, please contact the DEN team (vaseden@usc.edu).

D-Clearance requests will be reviewed and decisions will be emailed to your USC email account. D-Clearance gives you permission to register, however it does not reserve a seat for you in the class.

Are you interested in doing research for credit? If so, you need to find a faculty member that aligns with your research interests and would be interested in supervising your work. Discuss how many units of research you plan to take and then request clearance.

As a reminder, for each unit of directed research, you should spend 3-4 hours per week. For example, a 4-unit directed research would translate to an average of 12-16 hours of research per week over the course of the semester.

Login to MyViterbi
Select Directed Research
Select Submit Direct Research Request
Select Sonny Astani Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Complete the form

Once the request has been submitted, the faculty advisor will review the request. Once the faculty has approved, the Astani Student Affairs team will review. Please allow 3 business days following faculty approval for processing before contacting the department.

Pre-requisite Waiver

Some courses have pre-requisite (pre-req) requirements. These are courses/prior knowledge that is required to be successful in the course.

As masters students, you may have taken the pre-requisite at your undergraduate institution. In this instance, you will need to submit a pre-requisite waiver in order to register for the class.

If you have not taken a course equivalent, you make seek faculty approval to enroll in the course.

Pre-req Waiver Request

Login to MyViterbi
Select Pre-Requisite Waiver Request Manager
Select Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Complete the form for the course you are looking to enroll in. (ie. CE 553)

Pre-requisite waiver requests require one of the following justifications:

Pre-requisite coursework as been completed at previous institution. In the text box, please provide the course number, title and term during which you took the course you believe satisfies the pre-requisite.
- Example: I completed ENE 431, Air Pollution Management, Spring 2019 at Example University
- The Department has access to your transcripts from other schools that you submitted. Your transcript, along with the information you provide in the request will be used to determine if a pre-requisite waiver can be granted.
- Please note that “This is a required course.” is NOT an appropriate justification in a waiver.
If the pre-requisite coursework has not been completed, faculty instructor approval is acceptable. In this case, contact the faculty instructor with your academic background information and request their approval to take the course. Attach email confirmation of their approval in request on myViterbi.
- Please reach out to the instructor and provide them with your academic background to see if they would approve your enrollment in the course.

A decision will be emailed to your USC email account.

What do I do if I did not take the pre-requisite in my undergraduate studies and do not have faculty approval?

Please reach out to your advisor on Advise USC by submitting a case. Your advisor will work with you to find a path forward.

Common Holds

The following table lists common holds that students may have on their student account and the removal procedure:

HOLD	DESCRIPTION	HOW TO REMOVE HOLD
STU50	Restricts registration and USCard application (prevents registration)	Complete Immigration Status Verification (ISV) with OIS upon arrival in the U.S.
ADM40	Degree Verification (allows registration)	Verify previous degree(s) with USC Office of Degree Progress. Deadline for all degree verifications is by the end of your first semester. If you are unable to complete verification within your first semester, this hold will become ADM 41.
ADM 41	Degree Verification (prevents registration)	Verify previous degree(s) with USC Office of Degree Progress. This hold will prevent registration until verification is complete. Department advisors cannot lift holds.
ADM20	Conditional Admission (note - allows registration)	Verify previous degree(s) with USC Office of Degree Progress.
ADM 21	Conditional Admission (prevents registration)	See your Admission Letter for any specific conditions. You should contact cee.advise@usc.edu once grades post to determine if you met the admission conditions.
ENGR 01	Advisement Hold	Every semester masters students are required to attend or watch the record of the group advisement session. The hold will be lifted once the video is viewed to its entirety. Please do not reach out to your department advisor regarding your ENGR 01 hold. They are processed periodically throughout the week.

Your academic advisor/student services cannot lift any collection/financial holds. Please contact USC Financial Services if you have a collection or financial hold.

Fall 2025 Advisement Recordings

MSCE - General

Advisement Recording

Fall 2025 Courses

MSCE - Structural Engineering

Advisement Recording

Fall 2025 Courses

Fall 2025 DEN Courses

MSCE - Construction Engineering

Advisement Recording

Fall 2025 Courses

Fall 2025 DEN Courses

MSCE - Emerging Technologies in Construction

Advisement Recording

Fall 2025 Courses

MS - Environmental Engineering

Advisement Recording

Fall 2025 Courses

MS - Sustainable Engineering

Advisement Recording

Fall 2025 Course List

Spring 2025 Course List

Fall 2025 DEN Course List

Spring 2025 DEN Course List

Fall 2025 Courses

Fall 2025 DEN Courses

MSCE - Transportation Engineering

Advisement Recording

Fall 2025 Courses

Fall 2025 Coursess

MS - Emerging Transportation Systems

Advisement Recording

Fall 2025 Courses

Masters of Construction Management

Advisement Recording

Fall 2025 Courses

Fall 2025 DEN Courses

Courses (Start prior to 2024)

DEN Courses (Start prior to 2024)

Connect With Your Advisor

If you need to speak with your advisor, please reach out to them via the Advise USC platform - the primary method for communicating with your advisor. In instances when the platform is facing technical difficulties, please reach out to CEE Student Affairs (cee.advise@usc.edu).

Below are resources to assist you with accessing Advise USC.

Purpose: Do you have a question for your advisor? Or something you initially wanted to send an email about? (Examples include: Change of Major, Class Registration, thesis inquiry, etc.) Create a case so that your inquiry can be prioritized!

After logging in, select “Advisor Connect” from the menu bar and under “My Cases” select “Create a New Case”

If you have an update to your situation and/or question, please find the case under “My Cases” and create an update on the right-hand side of the case page.

Purpose: Do you have a problem that requires a longer discussion? (Examples include: Leave of Absence, Academic Performance in Course, etc.) Schedule an appointment with your advisor. When in doubt, please create a case. Advisors will let you know if your inquiries require an appointment.

Please note that the Astani Student Affairs office does not accept walk-in appointments. If no appointments are available, please submit a case.

When you schedule an appointment, please be sure to include all questions in the description to help your advisor prepare for your appointment.

Astani CEE Masters Student Advisement

Additional Resources

About

Other CEE Links

Welcome to Astani CEE!

Program Exceptions

2/3 Rule

Academic Standing

Academic Integrity

D-Clearance

D-Clearance Requests

Pre-requisite Waiver

Pre-req Waiver Request

Common Holds

Fall 2025 Advisement Recordings

MSCE - General

MSCE - Structural Engineering

MSCE - Construction Engineering

MSCE - Emerging Technologies in Construction

MS - Environmental Engineering

MS - Sustainable Engineering

MSCE - Transportation Engineering

MS - Emerging Transportation Systems

Masters of Construction Management

Connect With Your Advisor

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Undergraduate

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Masters

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Ph.D.