The basic outline of the Plan B process is something like this:

1. Identify an advisor and a project, and negotiate the scope and goals of your project with your advisor.
2. Write a project proposal that describes your project and identifies your advisor, and submit it to the DGS and the UMSEC office.
3. Keep your advisor informed of the status of your project as agreed in your project plan.
4. Schedule an examination with a committee of 3 faculty members, one of whom must be your advisor.
5. Prepare a final report and submit it to the committee.
6. Present your work to your committee. This is considered an examination, and your committee must sign off on your work before you can receive credit for it.

In the Graduate School, the Plan B is considered to be an individual effort. In MSSE we encourage group efforts, with the proviso that the contributions of each individual student must be evident and of reasonable scope. It is normal, but not required, for each student in a group project to have the same advisor.

There are 4 parties who play important roles in the Plan B project process:

• The student presumably wishes to complete the MSSE degree.
• The advisor supervises the student's work. Your advisor must be a member of the MSSE Graduate Faculty. Some students wish to work with other University faculty, and that can be accomodated with a co-advisor arrangement. For example, we have had students working with advisors in the Law School and in Bioengineering.
• The MSSE program office in UMSEC keeps records, facilitates interactions with the Graduate School, and keeps a library of past successful projects to help students gain perspective on the process.
• The Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) is responsible for the academic quality and consistency of the program.

Here is a recommended timeline for the process that shows what each party is expected to do, and when. All of these activities are during the second year, but there is no reason a student needs to wait until the second year to get started.

Date	Student	Advisor	UMSEC Staff	DGS
Late Spring, first year				Discuss Plan B procedures and timeline with students.
Summer or Fall semester	Settle on a topic, possibly organize a team. Find an advisor.	Help student to scope a project that is relevant to the program and of reasonable scope.	Library copies of past Plan B projects are available for checkout. Contact UMSEC staff.
Fall semester			Staff available to answer procedure and other process-related questions.	Follow-up information session and progress check.
late January	Get your degree program form and commencement attendance form from the UMSEC office. You must have your advisor sign these forms before the end of February and return them to the office.		Set up an examination schedule for the month of May.
Early February	After reviewing with your advisor, submit your project proposal to DGS and UMSEC office.	Ensure that the proposal contains the essential elements.		Register proposal.
as agreed between student and advisor	Report progress to advisor, meet and discuss as necessary.	Offer assistance as requested, expect conformance to plans in lieu of agreed re-planning, but don't drive the process.
End of February (if you want a prearranged slot) or earlier if you want to finish before 1 May	After discussing your schedule with your advisor, set an examination date. This gives you a deadline to work toward. If you cannot schedule one of the pre-arranged slots, then you must arrange your own exam. This involves recruiting your own committee members and scheduling a room.	Make sure the schedule is realistic, and that your advisee is focused on the elements that are essential to a successful exam. Do not allow your advisees to schedule exams if you are not confident they will be well-prepared.	Prepare student's degree program form, get necessary signatures, and submit to Graduate School. For student-arranged exams, assist in room scheduling if asked.	Approve the degree program form.
February (pre-arranged exam slots only)	If possible, sign up for a pre-arranged exam slot (but make sure your advisor is available at that time). The sign-up sheet will be in the UMSEC office.	Make sure you advisee will be ready and that you are available.	Set up exam slot sign-up sheet in the Student Services office. Arrange examining committees.
6 weeks prior to exam	Fill out the Application for Degree form and turn it in to the MSSE office.		Forward Application for Degree to the Graduate School.
2 weeks prior to exam	Prepare your final report and presentation. You may want to do a dry run with your advisor or spouse or someone who will give you an honest critique. Re-confirm your exam date with the MSSE office.	Make sure your advisee is ready. Do not allow advisees to present unless they are ready. It is much better to postpone an exam than to re-take one.	Receive Examination Report form from Graduate School. Send the form to the advisor, or arrange for it to be brought to the exam room before the exam.
1 week prior to exam	Distribute your report to your committee members, and get a copy to the UMSEC program office. Generally an email copy is acceptable here, but make sure that your committee members can handle the file formats you are using, or use a portable format. If you wish to distribute hard-copy, you must prepare the copies yourself. You may work with the MSSE office to get them distributed, but you will need some additional lead time.		Request student permission to make the report available to future students for reference purposes. Offer copyright registration through the Graduate School. Assist with report distribution if requested.
Exam	Make a good impression before your examining committee. You must provide a hard copy of your final report to your committee members at or prior to the exam. Fancy bindings are not necessary. The most important factor is usability: It should open and lay flat, and it should be easy to make notes in the margins.	The advisor generally acts as chair of the examining committee. Make sure the meeting stays on track and the time is used effectively.	Work with the student to make sure that the facilities and tools are available as agreed.
After exam	Make final changes to your report if required by your committee. Breathe a sigh of relief. Celebrate.		Return student's examination report to the MSSE program office. If student requests copyright registration, collect the fee from the student, and forward final report copy, paperwork, and fee to the Graduate School for registration.
Following week			File the examination report with the Grad School office, and report the final grade (Pass or Not Pass) for the Plan B credits.	Record successful completion of exam.