Advising at Viterbi 

At Viterbi, advising services are a partnership between your academic department advisors, as well as by the Graduate Academic Services and Programs (known as Graduate ASP) office. Academic departments oversee traditional academic advising, which includes advising on your program, requirements, course registration, academic plan etc. Graduate ASP serves as a more general office that can answer more general USC and Viterbi-wide inquiries.

Department Academic Advisors

Academic Advising is overseen by department academic advisors. Any questions related to your degree requirements, course recommendations, on-campus d-clearances, etc. should be directed there.

  • Advising/questions on degree requirements and exceptions
  • Graduation timeline
  • Course recommendations
  • On-campus D-Clearance
  • STARS report updates
  • Change of Major
  • RA/TA funding
  • Departmental Fellowships

VGASP Advisors 

The Viterbi Graduate Academic Affairs and Programs (VGASP) office is a more general office that manages Viterbi-wide policies and procedures.

    • General USC or Viterbi-wide questions
    • DEN D-clearance
    • Ph.D. Exam/Defense
    • Grad School Fellowship
    • Leave of Absence (domestic and international)
    • Academic eligibility for:
      1. Curricular Practical Training (CPT)
      2. Optional Practical Training (OPT)
      3. Program Extension (PE)
      4. Academic Difficulty Reduced Course Load (RCL)
      5. Leave of Absence (LOA)

      Academic Department Advisors

      Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering
      Astronautical Engineering
      Biomedical Engineering
      Chemical Engineering & Materials Science
      Civil & Environmental Engineering
      Computer Science / Data Science
      Electrical & Computer Engineering
      Industrial & Systems Engineering

      Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering
      Astronautical Engineering
      Biomedical Engineering
      Chemical Engineering & Materials Science
      Civil & Environmental Engineering
      Computer Science
      Electrical & Computer Engineering
      Industrial & Systems Engineering

      Please note that:

        1. Financial Engineering is housed within the Electrical and Computer Engineering department.
        2. Petroleum Engineering is housed within the Chemical Engineering & Materials Science department.
        3. System Architecting & Engineering is housed within the Astronautical Engineering department.
        4. Green Technologies is housed within Civil and Environmental Engineering. 

      VASE Academic Services Advisors

      Meet with a Graduate Academic Services Advisor

      To ensure that you have all of your questions answered during your meeting with an advisor, research your questions and set expectations of what you hope to be answered at the end of your appointment.

      PLEASE NOTE THAT ON 12/11, 12/18, and 12/20 DUE TO OUR WINTER BREAK.
      Virtual Drop-in Advising*Monday-Wednesday 10:00am-12:00pm
      Schedule 1-1 Appointment
      masters@vase.usc.edu
      phd@vase.usc.edu

      Published on August 4th, 2023

      Last updated on December 7th, 2023