The progam of study for the Ph.D. degree consists of the following parts:

  1.  Major         18 hours
  2.  Minor I       12 hours
  3.  Minor II      12 hours
  4.  Others         6 hours  OR,  zero iif student wrote  a master thesis.
  5.  Dissertation 18 hours
  6.  Exams:
   A.  Preliminary Exam: Taken as soon as possible after admission; conducted by  the Department.
   B.  Qualifying  Exam : Taken towards the end of the program of study;  Conducted by the Supervisory Committee. The Exam has two parts, one written and the other is oral. The oral exam must also include a proposal for the dissertation.
   C. Final Exam: Dissertation defense, given by the Supervisory Committee and open to the public.
 

A doctoral dissertation will be approved only after at least one refereed journal or refereed national conference article had been accepted for publication.If the article has appeared, a copy or reprint from the refereed journal or refereed national conference proceedings must be submitted along with the dissertation.If the paper has not yet appeared, then the letter of acceptance from the Editor or Conference Proceedings Editorial Board together with a preprint of the accepted paper must be submitted with the dissertation.

A student pursuing a doctoral degree is required to fill out the following forms in the specified sequence.  A student is admitted to the doctoral program only after satisfactorily passing the Preliminary Examination.  Required approvals are shown on the forms.  The department specifies the number of copies needed.

1. Graduate Student Supervisory Committee.  This committee supervises the student's work throughout the doctoral program, and is selected by the student and the major advisor after the student has satisfactorily passed the preliminary examination.
2. Program of Study for the Doctoral Degree.  Subsequent to the approval of the supervisory committee, the advisor calls a meeting to develop a complete program for the student, who should be invited to the meeting.
3. Petition for a change in the program of study, if any.
4. Notification of Final/Qualifying Examination.
5. Application for Admission to Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy.  It is necessary to file this form after passing the qualifying examination and the language requirement at least six months prior to the final examination.
6. Application for Advanced Degree: to be filed three months before the final examination.
7. Notification of Final/Qualifying Examination.  Notification of the final examination requires a minimum lead time of two weeks.  This examination must be taken at least six weeks before graduation.
 
 
 

TIME LIMIT

All requirements for the Ph.D. degree must be completed in no more than five years after the candidate has passed the qualifying examination.

 All students who have completed the minimum coursework requirements for the doctoral degree must register for a minimum three semester hours (to include dissertation credit) each Fall and Spring semester until all degree requirements are completed.
 
 
 
 

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