Ph.D. Degree Requirements
Appointment of Dotoral Committee
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At the time the student prepares to take the Ph.D. Candidacy Exam, the members of his/her examination committee will be appointed. On passing the Ph.D. Candidacy Exam, the department will recommend this examination committee as the official doctoral committee of the student to the Dean of the Graduate School for formal approval and appointment. The committee Chair will ordinarily be the candidate's research advisor.
The Doctoral Committee is to consist of 3 Faculty members in the major field and 1 Faculty member in a related field (outside the major).
The outside member shall have no conflicts of interest with members of the department such as a budgetary connection to the department, or serving as a co-principal investigator with any other members of the committee. The Primary responsibilities of this outside member are
(1) to maintain the academic standards of the Graduate School and
(2) to assure that all procedures are carried out fairly. - The committee should meet with the student at least once a year to review the progress of the research at the call of the advisor or the student. When the student is ready to write the first draft of the dissertation, he/she may schedule a committee meeting to present his/her results for discussion and criticism.
- The student's doctoral committee has the responsibility to guide the course of study undertaken by the student.
- If a student is pursuing an official minor (e.g., Chemistry, Materials Science and Engineering, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, etc) then at least one member of the Doctoral Committee must be a member of that Department.
Reviewed 11/27/07