ESE First-Year Student Guide for Freshman and Transfer Students

Dear First-Year Environmental Engineering Student,

Welcome to the Environmental Engineering program! By choosing this field, you have taken the first step toward a profession dedicated to improving public health, protecting natural resources, and addressing environmental challenges. Your studies will be rigorous and require commitment, perseverance, and consistent effort. While the journey may be demanding, the knowledge, skills, and opportunities you gain will make it a rewarding experience. We look forward to supporting you throughout your academic journey and wish you every success in the years ahead.

Environmental engineering is a rapidly evolving discipline, and both program requirements and academic policies are updated regularly to reflect advances in the field and emerging environmental priorities. This guide has been prepared to help you understand the current curriculum, academic expectations, and opportunities available within the Environmental Engineering program at CCNY. It should be used alongside the CCNY Undergraduate Bulletin as a primary reference for degree requirements and institutional policies.

If you have questions about course planning, degree requirements, career pathways, or any aspect of your academic experience, do not hesitate to reach out to your academic advisor. We are committed to supporting your success and helping you make the most of your undergraduate education in environmental engineering.

The ESE program offers several key concentrations and research themes that reflect critical areas of modern environmental science and engineering:

• Water Resources and Environment: Focuses on the management, quality, and sustainability of water systems, including hydrology, water treatment, watershed protection, as well as air quality monitoring and control and soil quality assessment and remediation, and the treatment of hazardous wastes.
• Energy and Environment: Examines the environmental impacts of energy production and use, and explores cleaner, more efficient, and sustainable energy technologies.
• Remote Sensing: Applies satellite and sensor-based technologies to monitor environmental conditions, analyze spatial data, and support environmental decision-making and planning.

Each concentration is supported by a set of required courses that provide all students with the foundational knowledge necessary for all areas. Through the selection of elective courses, students can further develop specialized knowledge and skills aligned with their chosen concentration, including opportunities for independent study within their area of focus.

Together, these areas equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to address complex environmental challenges through research, innovation, and applied engineering solutions.

The ESE program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET (http://www.abet.org). The program awards approximately 20 BE degrees each year and currently has an undergraduate enrollment of about 75 students. Information about the program’s mission, objectives, and affiliated faculty is posted on the ESE webpage.

• Student Clubs and Organizations: CCNY offers more than 200 student clubs and organizations, including academic, professional, cultural, and special interest groups that support leadership development, networking, and personal growth.
• Student Governance: Students may participate in campus governance by serving on committees and student organizations that represent the student body and contribute to decision-making processes.
• Undergraduate Research: Students have the opportunity to work with faculty on research projects, gaining hands-on experience in solving real-world environmental engineering problems.
• Sports and Recreation: Participation in athletic teams and recreational activities promotes physical well-being and supports a balanced student life.
• Internships: Gain valuable hands-on experience through internship opportunities that help you develop professional skills and prepare for your future career.

Any Questions?

contact us at https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/enveng/contact-information

• Accept admission by paying the commitment fee
• If you are an international student, please follow the instructions provided by the Department of International Student & Scholar Services: International Student and Scholar Services
• Claim your CCNY email account, activate university credentials, and multi-factor authentication
• Claim access to CUNYfirst and set up your student portal
• Do orientation, advising, and math placement exams
• Submit the required Health and Meningitis forms
• Familiarize yourself with the tuition payment system
• Familiarize yourself with CCNY's academic calendar to keep track of important semester dates, registration deadlines, college closing, exams, etc.
• Learn how to use Brightspace for courses, assignments, and announcements
• Understand your major 
• Direct all questions to your assigned advisor; no question is too small

• Check your transfer credit evaluation for AP, IB, CLEP, and other external exam credits
• Review how credits from other colleges are evaluated and applied toward your degree
• Understand how transfer credits appear in your CUNYfirst record and degree audit
• Complete this process before the start of your first semester to avoid registration and advising issues
• If courses or credits are not transferred or evaluated as expected, contact your academic advisor immediately for review and assistance

• Advising is mandatory each semester in order to remove advising holds, as required by the college.
• Who your academic advisor is and how to contact them
• Advising Hold: Contact your academic advisor through Navigate360 to be advised and to resolve the hold.
• How advising appointments work and how to prepare for them
• Advising periods:

For the Spring semester, advising begins in October
For the Fall semester, advising begins in March

• Quick check of available courses at CUNY Global Class Search https://globalsearch.cuny.edu/CFGlobalSearchTool/search.jsp
• Course selection and registration process (using CUNYfirst)
• Understanding prerequisites and staying on track in the curriculum
• Choosing electives strategically to support your academic and career goals
• When and how to seek academic help (do not wait until problems accumulate)
• Changing schedules, withdrawing from courses, or handling course difficulties in a timely manner
• Detailed program requirements and curriculum information for planning your studies are provided in the CCNY Bulletin
• The curriculum sheet is available upon request from your academic advisor

• GPA, QPA requirements, and academic standing (Dean’s List; academic probation/contract status)
• Academic probation: the consequences of having a cumulative GPA below 2.0, a QPA below 0, accumulating more than 12 withdrawal credits over two consecutive academic years, or needing to repeat the same course for a third time.
• Key checkpoints in the ESE curriculum (progression through required courses)
• The course sequence hierarchy must be followed exactly; prerequisites and course order are mandatory with no exceptions
• E-permit options for taking approved courses at other CUNY institutions (subject to approval and equivalency rules)
• Residency requirements: minimum number of credits that must be completed at CCNY for degree completion eligibility
• Independent project requirements (as applicable within courses and design experiences)
• Research, internship, and how to apply for them
• Preparing for upper-level engineering courses and increasing academic rigor expectations
• Know Academic Standards https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/engineering/ugrad-standards

• Pathways General Education Requirements
  • English Composition I: ENGL 11000
  • English Composition II: ENGL 21007
  • Liberal Arts and Sciences distribution requirements:
    • World Cultures & Global Issues (WCGI)
    • Creative Expression (CE)
    • Individual & Society (IS)
    • US Experience in Its Diversity (US)
  • One Level 2 (or higher) Liberal Arts course from the approved  list
• Engineering Core Requirements
  • ENGR 27600 (as required in the curriculum)
  • Required engineering foundational and discipline-specific courses as listed in the ESE curriculum sequence
• Mathematics and Science Requirements
  • Calculus sequence and higher-level mathematics requirements
  • Physics and chemistry sequence required for engineering students
  • Additional math/science courses as specified in the program curriculum
• Engineering Requirements (Major Core)
  • Required Environmental Engineering core courses
  • Laboratory and design-based engineering courses
  • Courses must be taken in the prescribed sequence (prerequisite structure is mandatory)
• Electives
  • Technical electives within engineering or approved related disciplines
  • Electives should be selected in consultation with the academic advisor to support academic and career goals
  • Independent research: procedure

Curriculum

Students may follow the curriculum sheet matrix corresponding to the academic year in which they were accepted into the ESE major. Alternatively, students may elect to adopt the curriculum sheet matrix for any subsequent academic year.

What if the curriculum changes?

We periodically make curriculum changes to improve the ESE program. If the curriculum changes, the requirements students must follow depend on the type of change:

• Prerequisite changes: Students must follow the new prerequisite requirements.
• Course changes: Students may choose to follow the new curriculum sheet matrix or continue to follow the curriculum sheet matrix that was in effect when they first began taking ESE courses.

Students who choose to adopt a newer curriculum sheet matrix should follow the requirements of that matrix.

What are prerequisites and corequisites?

• Prerequisite: A course that must be successfully completed before a student may take a specific course.
• Corequisite: A course that may be completed before or taken during the same semester as the course for which it is a corequisite.

• Degree completion requirements overview, including total credits and program completion standards
• Technical electives and available specialization options within ESE
• Capstone design course expectations, including team-based engineering design and final project deliverables
• FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) exam overview, purpose, and recommended timing (typically before or shortly after graduation)
• Internship, and practical experience expectations to support professional readiness
• Graduate study pathways (MS options), including:
  • Direct admission to Master of Science (MS) programs (where applicable and subject to departmental approval)
  • Accelerated 4+1 BE/MS program option for qualified students, allowing simultaneous progress toward bachelor’s and master’s degrees
  • Early planning for graduate study through elective selection and research involvement
• Research and experiential learning opportunities, including:
  • UNU-HUB opportunities, offering engagement in sustainability-focused research, global collaboration, and interdisciplinary environmental problem-solving
  • R-SIRUS opportunities, providing structured undergraduate research experiences, faculty-mentored projects, and exposure to applied environmental engineering research
  • Participation in these programs is strongly encouraged to strengthen technical skills, graduate school preparation, and professional development
• ABET-related student outcomes and competencies that must be demonstrated prior to graduation (engineering knowledge, design ability, teamwork, ethics, communication, and lifelong learning)

• Graduation audit process (degree evaluation through CUNYfirst and departmental review)
• Final-year checklist to ensure all required courses, credits, and milestones are completed
• Confirming completion of all general education, major, and elective requirements
• Application for graduation process, including deadlines and submission steps
• Preparing for post-graduation pathways (employment, graduate school, FE exam/licensure track)
• Final advising meeting and departmental clearance prior to graduation

• Undergraduate Bulletin for current academic year
• Academic calendar for current semester
• Web-pages for the Registrar's Office https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/registrar, Services for Freshman https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/admissions/freshman-students, 
• Web-page of the Office of Academic Affairs of GSOE: https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/engineering/oua
• Web-page of the ESE Program
• Tutoring and academic support services for math, science, and engineering courses
• Faculty office hours and academic mentoring opportunities
• Career services for internships, job search support, and resume/CV development
• Mental health and wellness resources to support student well-being and success
• Student organizations, engineering societies, and professional development groups for networking and leadership opportunities

• Scholarships: Explore scholarship opportunities to help fund your education, including merit-based, need-based, and departmental awards.
• Internal Scholarships: Apply for scholarships offered by CCNY through academic departments, colleges, and institutional programs: https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/giving/scholarships-awards.
• External Scholarships: Search for scholarships from organizations, foundations, businesses, and community groups outside of CCNY, for example, NSF REU: https://www.nsf.gov/funding/initiatives/reu.
• GSOE Fellowships: Discover fellowship opportunities offered through the Grove School of Engineering that provide financial support, research experiences, and professional development.
• Dr. Shahab Afshari’s Scholarship for Excellence in Engineering Education: Established to support engineering students in memory of Dr. Afshari and recognize excellence in engineering education.
• R-SIRUS Sustainability Scholarships: Support students committed to sustainability-focused study and research in engineering and related fields.