Academic Advisement

The office of Viterbi Admission and Student Engagement (VASE) provides services and resources to help students in the successful pursuit of their graduate degrees. All engineering graduate students are welcome to stop by to discuss their academics and student life, and especially enrollment, academic progress, academic integrity, financial aid, fellowships, curricular practical training (CPT) and post graduation optional practical training (OPT).

Please note that VASE does not replace departmental academic advisement. Advice on courses and research is provided by faculty in the respective academic departments below.

VASE Advisors:

Master's Student Affairs - Staff
Please include your USC ID number when communicating with our office.

Nora Sandoval
Director, Master's Student Affairs
Nora oversees master's student services for on campus and DEN@Viterbi students. She oversees academic and administrative services including those coordinated with central offices to provide student services for all master's students.
norasand@usc.edu

Patty Rinehart
Advisor, Master's Student Services
Patty provides academic advisement services for on campus and DEN@Viterbi students and helps coordinate important services for masters students.
ptrinida@usc.edu

Yadi Wang
Advisor, International Student Programs
Yadi provides advisement services for on campus and online master's students regarding academic and immigration rules and manages student affairs programs and events for students.
yadiwang@usc.edu

Doctoral Student Affairs - Staff
Please include your USC ID number when communicating with our office.

Andy Chen
Director, Doctoral Programs
Andy oversees academic and administrative services including those coordinated with central offices to ensure all doctoral students are provided top-notch support services during their PhD program. Andy enjoys spending time with his family, traveling around the world and being outdoors.
(213) 740-6241 | andysche@usc.edu

Tracy Charles
Coordinator, Doctoral Programs
Tracy oversees doctoral student accounting and fellowship payments, as well as organizes events and provides other support services to doctoral students. Tracy loves history, geology, and goes camping and hiking as often as possible!
(213) 740-0114 | tcharles@usc.edu

Academic Department Advisors:

Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering

DEPARTMENT	ADVISOR	LOCATION	PHONE	E-MAIL
Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering	Brian Zimmerman	RRB-101	(213) 821-3105	brianzim@usc.edu

Astronautical Engineering

Biomedical Engineering

DEPARTMENT	ADVISOR	LOCATION	PHONE	E-MAIL
Biomedical	William Yang	DRB-144	(213) 740-0344	yangwill@usc.edu

Chemical Engineering

DEPARTMENT	ADVISOR	LOCATION	PHONE	E-MAIL
Chemical Engineering		VHE-604	(213) 740-6011	mfdstudentaffairs@vsoe.usc.edu

Civil & Environmental Engineering

DEPARTMENT	ADVISOR	LOCATION	PHONE	E-MAIL
Civil & Environmental	Christine Hsieh	KAP-214	(213) 740-0573	christine.hsieh@usc.edu

Computer Science/ Data Science

M.S. Computer Science and Data Science students receive academic advisement from a dedicated team of advisors.

All advisement appointments are scheduled online through myViterbi.

DEPARTMENT	ADVISOR	LOCATION	PHONE	E-MAIL
Computer Science		SAL-104	(213) 740-4494	cscimasters@vsoe.usc.edu
Data Science		SAL-104	(213) 740-4494	datasci@usc.edu

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Electrical Engineering,Financial Engineering, Green Technologies

DEPARTMENT	ADVISOR	LOCATION	PHONE	E-MAIL
Electrical & Computer Engineering(Student with last name: A-G)	Ryan Pineda	EEB -102G	(213) 740-1182	rcpineda@usc.edu
Electrical & Computer Engineering(Student with last name: H-L)	Gabby Garcia	EEB-102C	(213) 740-1787	garc635@usc.edu
Electrical & Computer Engineering(Student with last name: M-V)	Jaimie Zelada	EEB-102D	(213) 740-4696	zelada@usc.edu
Electrical & Computer Engineering(Student with last name: W-Z)	Samantha Graves	EEB-102F	(213) 740-4447	smgraves@usc.edu

Industrial & Systems Engineering

DEPARTMENT	ADVISOR	LOCATION	PHONE	E-MAIL
Industrial & Systems	Mary Ordaz	GER-240	(213) 740-4886	mordaz@usc.edu

Material Science Engineering

DEPARTMENT	ADVISOR	LOCATION	PHONE	E-MAIL
Materials Science		VHE-604	(213) 740-6011	mfdstudentaffairs@vsoe.usc.edu

Petroleum Engineering

DEPARTMENT	ADVISOR	LOCATION	PHONE	E-MAIL
Petroleum	Ebonie Hawthorne	VHE-602	(213) 740-0322	mfdstudentaffairs@vsoe.usc.edu

Department Graduate Advisors provide academic advisement to all students in their respective degree programs. If you have questions about your degree requirements, curriculum, course credit, d-clearance for on campus courses, or department policies and procedures, please contact the Graduate Advisor in your department.

DEPARTMENT	ADVISOR	LOCATION	PHONE	E-MAIL
Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Department	Christine Franks	RRB-101	(213) 740-5353	cfranks@usc.edu
Astronautical Engineering Department	Luis Saballos	RRB-223	(213) 821-4234	lsaballo@usc.edu
Biomedical Engineering Department	William Yang	DRB-144	(213) 740-0344	yangwill@usc.edu
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science	Karen Woo	VHE-602	(213) 740-6011	karenwoo@vsoe.usc.edu
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering	Christine Hsieh	KAP-214	(213) 740-0573	christine.hsieh@usc.edu
Computer Science Department	Lizsl De Leon	SAL-308	(213) 740-4496	ldeleon@usc.edu
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering	Diane Demetras	EEB-100	(213) 740-4447	demetras@ee.usc.edu
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering	Shelly Lewis, Roxanna Carter	GER-240	(213) 740-4898 (213) 740-4885	lewisml@vsoe.usc.edu rsharvey@usc.edu

Academic Services
Academic Advisement Information about graduate advisement and contact information.
Academic Policies Policies and procedures throughout the University including policy information, academic integrity, academic conduct and support systems.
New Student Information Information for entering graduate students including orientations, next steps, etc.
International Student Services Important information for international students to maintain proper visa status and services including reduced course loads, curricular practical training, and more.
Course Registration and Access Information on course registration, D-clearances, access to DEN@Viterbi services and more.
Degree Requirements Program and degree requirements information, including maintaining proper status.
Commencement Information Information about commencement ceremonies and life after graduation