Distance Education FAQ

Your acceptance letter will have been emailed to you as well as a hard copy sent by postal mail. Please review it carefully. A few things you will need prior to enrolling are:

• If your bachelor’s degree was not yet awarded at the time you applied, you will need to submit an official copy of your transcript showing the B.S. degree awarded to you. Please submit this to the Office of Graduate Education address provided on the website.

• Contact your advisor listed in your acceptance letter. Your advisor can tell you what courses are recommended for registration.

• Register for your Mines email account. Your Mines email address is our sole source of communication from the Office of Graduate Education. You can forward your Mines email to your primary email address, so you don’t have to remember to check a second account. For instructions on how to set up and access your Mines email account, go to the ITS "How Do I?" webpage.

Immunization records are required for students attending on campus. They are not required for students attending courses that are coded as distance delivery. However, If you wish to attend any courses on campus, you will need to submit an Immunization Form. Direct any questions about this to the Dean of Students office, DeanOfStudents.sdsmt.edu.

Your Self-Service Banner account will have all of your account information, including registration for future semesters, courses previously taken, financial aid award information, and student account balances. (You can access the Self-Service Banner portal from any page on our website; click on the Self-Service Banner link at the bottom of the page under the Academics column.)

Some courses have an on-campus section and an online section; be sure that you select the online section to ensure you are charged the correct tuition rate.

The required materials for online courses will be found on the course description page on the program website. The Mines Bookstore (Rocker Shop) online is your place to buy South Dakota Mines textbooks, gear and supplies. Buy or sell used and new textbooks, compare prices to other online competitors, purchase software and gifts - all online. For more information, visit the Mines Bookstore website. ( www.sdsmtbookstore.com). You can also buy the textbooks elsewhere, but you should make sure the edition you buy is the one required for the course.

Online payment for tuition and fees can be made via Self-Service Banner from your home computer or from a campus computer lab. Cashiers will be available in the Student Accounts/Cashiers Office from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm MST for answering online payment questions. Failure to make financial arrangements by deadline may result in cancellation of your classes and/or a late payment fee.

U.S. citizens and permanent residents of the U.S. may be eligible to apply for federal financial aid benefits. Find out more from our Financial Aid office about applying for financial aid. Graduate assistantships are not available in some programs; contact your advisor for more information.

Health insurance can be purchased by students attending South Dakota Mines. Find more information on Student Health Insurance here.

The Devereaux Library at South Dakota Mines is a good resource for reference materials. Your student ID card will be used to check out materials. For more information, please email library@sdsmt.edu

We offer support to students and assist with a variety of personal, academic, and career concerns. For more information, visit our information on Counseling.

Visit our Software webpage.

Contact the ITS Helpdesk.

All students are assigned a campus email which is firstname.lastname@mines.sdsmt.edu. The campus will use this email for all official campus correspondence. Students are encouraged to check this email on a regular basis. To login to your mines email account go to: mail.mines.sdsmt.edu. For the login, your username is firstname.lastname. The system will add @mines.sdsmt.edu automatically. Your default password is your birthday + 7 digit id number mmddyyyy1234567.

Yes. All official campus correspondence will go to your Mines email account.

Students must check this email on a regular basis or forward the email to their personal email account. You will miss important notifications if you do not check or forward your Mines email account.

All student email accounts are set up through google email and you can forward your email to another account that you use. To forward official correspondence from your Mines email account to another email account, go to http://mail.google.com. Once you log in to this site, you will see a box with a gear in it. This is the settings link. Click on it, then click on Settings in the drop down menu. Click on the Forwarding and POP/IMAP link at the top and then click on the Add a Forwarding Address link.

Course access depends on the method of delivery, which can vary by instructor and program. Please visit the course description page for the program you are interested in: Construction Engineering and Management | Engineering Management | Mining Engineering and Mgmt

Testing requirements will vary by instructor and program. Please visit the course description page on the program website for more information. Construction Engineering and Management | Engineering Management | Mining Engineering and Mgmt

Students are welcome to take courses via distance learning, on campus, or a blended model of the two. Students attending on campus must submit the required immunization reporting form. Tuition for campus courses are assessed a different rate than distance learning courses.

Please review the Graduate Education Policies in the South Dakota Mines Catalog. 32 credits are required for a non-thesis option, and 30 credits are required for a thesis option (a thesis option is not common in the distance programs).

Degree seeking graduate students must enroll for a minimum of 2 credits during the spring and fall semesters. A student who is unable to continue his/her program of graduate study due to unanticipated circumstances may request a leave of absence from his/her program of study by completing and submitting a request for leave of absence form (see the Graduate Education Forms webpage)

• All graduate students must maintain a minimum 3.00 cumulative GPA for all courses taken in all departments which appear on the graduate transcript. Only courses listed on the graduate transcript are used for computing the graduate GPA.
• Students must earn a C grade or better in any graduate course (500 through 800 level), which is indicated to be credited toward advanced degree requirements by appearing on the program of study form.
• Students must earn a B grade or better in any 300 or 400 level course which is indicated to be credited toward advanced degree requirements by appearing on the program of study form.

Each graduate student is assigned or forms a graduate advisory committee during the first and second semester of study. The graduate advisory committee assists in the supervision of the general study program. The GAC consists of 3 faculty members: a major professor who heads the committee, a graduate division representative selected from a department other than your home program, and a third committee member at large.

A program of study form is due to the Office of Graduate Education at midterm of the second semester of study or after the completion of 9 credits, whichever is later. The program of study consists of the appointment of the graduate advisory committee, along with a schedule of coursework leading to the advanced degree. Forms are available on Graduate Education Forms webpage.

Before the final semester of study, students will submit the application for graduation found on the Graduate Education Forms webpage. The program of study must be current in order for the Graduate Office to verify degree completion.