Curriculum
Academic Standards & Integrity

Academic integrity is fundamental to every facet of the scholarly process and is expected of every student in the Master of Engineering Management program in all academic undertakings. Integrity includes strict adherence to academic honesty, and to ethical conduct consistent with standards that respect the intellectual efforts of both oneself and others.

Ensuring integrity in academic work is a joint enterprise involving both faculty and students. Among the most important goals of graduate education are maintaining an environment of academic integrity and instilling in students a lifelong commitment to the academic honesty that is fundamental to good scholarship. These goals are best achieved as a result of effective dialogue between students and faculty mentors regarding academic integrity, and by the examples of members of the academic community whose intellectual accomplishments demonstrate sensitivity to the nuances of ethical conduct in scholarly work.

Standards of academic honesty are violated whenever a student engages in any action that jeopardizes the integrity of scholarly work. Such actions include:

  • Cheating in the classroom or on examinations
  • The intentional and deliberate misuse of data in order to draw conclusions that may not be warranted by the evidence
  • Fabrication of data
  • Omission or concealment of conflicting data for the purpose of misleading others
  • Use of another's words, ideas or, creative productions without citation
  • Paraphrasing or summarizing another's material in such a way as to misrepresent the author's intentions
  • Use of privileged material or unpublished work without permission

Students and faculty are guided in matters of academic integrity at the University, The Graduate School, and the McCormick School of Engineering & Applied Science levels, so it is the responsibility of every member of the engineering academic community to be familiar with the specific policies of our school. 

Academic dishonesty is a serious matter, and it will be adjudicated in accordance with procedures approved by the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science and, if applicable, The Graduate School.

MEM Student Policies

The Master of Engineering Management Student Policies Handbook Document has been created specifically for MEM students to understand degree requirements, policies and procedures, and academic information to ensure successful completion of the MEM degree at Northwestern University.

In addition, Northwestern strives to create an environment that fosters innovation, excellence, and collaboration, seeking always to do so responsibly, ethically, and with integrity. To this end, we must have in place thoughtful, strategic guidelines and policies that promote the success of our students, faculty, and staff in their daily work. University-wide policies thus are meant to guide and enable our community members to uphold Northwestern’s values and expectations.

MEM Course Auditing Policy

Course auditors are not given formal recognition or academic credits by either the MEM Program or the Registrar. An MEM student in good standing is permitted to audit an MEM course, without formal registration, depending on the limitations of space and facilities, permission of the instructor, and approval by the MEM Program. Students are not allowed to contact faculty directly for the purpose of auditing the courses. 

Contact the MEM Program to request an MEM course audit. Approved students are required to attend all classes. The instructor can dismiss an auditing student at any time of the quarter.   Students cannot request retroactive credit nor take the audited course again in the future for credit.

Note: Students outside the MEM Program are not allowed to audit MEM courses.