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Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Engineering
Because the Doctor of Philosophy degree is essentially a research degree, engineering programs leading to the Ph.D. are administered in the College of Engineering through the involvement of both academic departments and interdisciplinary student advisory committees. Students admitted to these programs are expected to follow a plan of study and research determined in conjunction with these advisory committees.
Sometimes a master’s-level student takes more graduate-level courses than are required for the degree because the student is expecting to continue on to the Ph.D. program and hopes to use the extra courses to satisfy the Ph.D. coursework requirement. When this is the case, the student can request when registering for the course(s) that the course(s) be "banked" for the Ph.D. program. If the student lacks no more than 12 semester hours on the master’s degree, he/she may accumulate a maximum of 9 semester hours which may be applied toward the Ph.D. When this is the case, the student’s advisory committee must initiate approval via memo with consensus of the departmental chairperson, dean of the college, and the Associate Vice President of Research and Graduate Studies. Banked courses then show up on the student’s transcript as courses taken for the Ph.D. rather than being shown as a part of his/her M. S. program. Banking a course does not guarantee admission to the Ph.D. program, or, if admitted, that the student’s Ph.D. advisory committee will approve the course as part of the student’s Ph.D. program of study.
The basic requirements for the Ph.D. in Engineering are listed below:
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A minimum of 48 credits of course work and doctoral research
and dissertation as follows:
- A minimum of 24 semester credits of course work beyond the master's degree. These 24 or more credits, together with the credits taken as part of the student's master's degree, are required to include a minimum of 12 semester credits of course work at the 7000 level, acceptable to the student's advisory committee. No 5000-level courses are to be used to meet the minimum requirement of 24 semester hours of coursework.
- The equivalent of 24 semester credits of doctoral research and dissertation, built upon the student's course of study and making a significant contribution to the state of knowledge or to the art of the engineering profession, is required; not more than 9 credits may be earned in a particular semester.
- Residence of four semesters beyond the master’s degree, with at least two semesters in continuous residence, is required. All requirements, including the dissertation, must be completed within a period of eight consecutive years.
- Maintenance of a minimum quality point average of 3.0 and adherence to the general regulations of the Graduate School are expected.
All students in the program must follow a plan of study and research developed in conjunction with an advisory committee, satisfactorily complete a comprehensive examination, achieve candidacy, and satisfactorily defend the dissertation.
Advisory Committee
Each Ph.D. student's advisory committee will have a minimum of five (5) voting members with at least three members from the student's major department and at least one (1) member from outside the department. The Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research will serve as an ex officio, nonvoting member. The student is responsible for identifying, in consultation with the departmental chairperson and Associate Dean, a faculty member who is willing to chair his/her advisory committee. In consultation with the chairperson of the committee, the student is responsible for identifying the other faculty members required/desired and determining if they are willing to serve. Advisory committee is permitted to have more than the minimum number required. Normally one faculty member will serve as the chair. If the proposed research work is interdisciplinary, or if the initial chair retires, experiences health problems, or for some other cannot continue to perform all of the duties of the chair, the student may request that a co-chair be appointed. The request should be made in writing to the Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, via the Departmental Chair and the Associate Dean of Engineering for Graduate Studies and Research. If a student is not able to identify a sufficient number and type of faculty who are suitable and willing to serve on his/her advisory committee, the student will be advised by the Associate Dean that he/she should either change his/her area of research interest to more closely match those of the available faculty or consider selecting another major. Failure to be able to form a committee is a cause for transfer to nondegree status. Further regulations concerning the membership, appointment, and responsibilities of the advisory committee are given in other sections of the catalog, including the sections on "Organization of the Graduate School" and "Degree Requirements."
Program of Study
All students will undergo a preliminary assessment during their semester of enrollment. The purpose of the preliminary assessment is to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the newly admitted student so that a program of study could be tailored to prepare the student for advanced course work and independent research. Each department will make an objective assessment of the student's strengths and weaknesses, and the program of study should reflect such assessment. The department may employ a written examination or other objective instruments to make this assessment. Each department is required to develop its own policy in this regard and submit it to the Engineering Graduate Committee. The preliminary assessment must be done before the end of the second semester of enrollment for the degree. A memo from the chairperson of the department should accompany the student's program of study to the Associate Dean of Engineering for Graduate Studies stating the results of the preliminary assessment of the student.
The plan of study is specified in the student’s Program of Study. The Program of Study shall include a minimum of 24 semester credits of coursework beyond the master’s. The Program of Study will also include a list of background, graduate-level courses taken prior to enrollment in the Ph.D. program. If the student has not taken at least 24 semester credits of appropriate (timely and relevant) background courses (as determined by the advisory committee), the student will be required to take additional courses either as background courses or in addition to his/her required minimum of 24 semester credits of coursework beyond the masters. These additional courses will be shown appropriately on the Program of Study. All courses shown on the Program of Study, including background courses, are indicators of the student’s depth and breadth of knowledge in the discipline and shall be considered by the committee when designing the written part of the student’s comprehensive examination. In determining the time limits for taking the comprehensive examination, for earning the degree, and for determining eligibility for financial aid, the time that the background courses were completed shall not be considered.
Each proposed Program of Study must be approved by the student’s advisory committee, the departmental chairperson, the Associate Dean of Engineering for Graduate Studies and Research, and the Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies. There will be a hold placed on a student’s registration if his/her Program of Study has not been filed in the Graduate School office by the time 15 semester hours have been earned.
Comprehensive Examination and Admission to Candidacy
The comprehensive examination will consist of a written part and the presentation and oral defense of the research proposal. The written examination will consist of several parts as appropriate to the engineering major discipline and the research area. This examination will be to test the student's breadth of knowledge in the discipline, depth of knowledge in selected areas, and the ability to integrate the knowledge acquired from several courses. This examination must be given after the student has completed at least eighty (80) percent of the coursework beyond the master's degree, as prescribed in the program of study. However, the written comprehensive examination should be completed before the end of the semester following completion of the coursework prescribed in the program of study. The extension of this deadline is possible with the appropriate justification. A student desiring an extension shall make a request in writing to the Associate Dean of Engineering for Graduate Studies and Research. The request must include justification and a schedule for completion. If the student is not satisfied with the decision of the Associate Dean, the decision may be appealed to the Engineering Graduate Committee, with the Dean of Engineering substituting for the Associate Dean as chair of the committee.
All parts of the written examination should be completed within a period of two weeks. Other details of this examination, including format, content, method of evaluation and timing, will be left to the discretion of the committee. All voting members of the committee should participate in evaluating the student's performance in the written parts of the examination.
The written research proposal should, as a minimum, consist of the development of the research problem from the extant knowledge in the area, the approach and methodology to be followed, the expected original contribution to the extant knowledge and the expected time-line for the completion of the research. The student should submit copies of written proposal to the committee within thirty (30) days from the date of taking the final part of the written examination, and the proposal defense will be scheduled shortly thereafter. The student will be informed of the results of the entire comprehensive examination (written part and proposal presentation) at the end of the defense of the research proposal.
On passing the entire comprehensive examination, the student will become an official candidate for the doctoral degree. Normally, a student not passing any part of the comprehensive examination will not be permitted to continue in the doctoral program. However, at the request of the student, the committee may agree to give a second chance to the student to pass that part of the written examination that he/she did not pass. The committee may prescribe additional academic work to be undertaken by the student prior to making the second attempt. No student will be permitted to continue in the program if he/she does not successfully complete all parts of the comprehensive examination after the second attempt.
Other Regulations
Except as may be otherwise stipulated by the student's advisory committee, contingent upon the concurrence and approval of the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research in Engineering, the Associate Vice President of Research and Graduate Studies, and the Graduate School Executive Committee, the general regulations of the Graduate School shall be followed by all doctoral students.
Page last updated: 6/22/06
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