PhD

The degree requirements consist of courses, two seminar requirements, PhD General Examination and a Dissertation. To graduate, you must:

1. Satisfactorily complete a minimum of 30 credits of content coursework beyond the baccalaureate, or its equivalent, or at least 15 credits of content coursework beyond the master’s degree. The suggested courses should provide the best training for future needs and are tailored to the student’s individual needs (Graduate Catalog).
   1. The coursework shall consist largely of courses at the 5000 level or above. A limited number of credits at the 3000 or 4000 levels (not more than six) may be included in a graduate degree plan of study. Undergraduate, below 5000- level courses, are applicable only if required by the Advisory Committee (Graduate Catalog).
   2. Register for GRAD 6950 (Doctoral Dissertation Research) or GRAD 6960 (Full-Time Doctoral Dissertation Research) after the first semester of study. Credit hours may vary and should be discussed with the Major Advisor. The Plan of Study for a PhD degree must include at least 15 credits of GRAD 6950 (Doctoral Dissertation Research) or GRAD 6960 (Full-Time Doctoral Dissertation Research) (Graduate Catalog).
   3. A related area must comprise a coherent unit of at least six credit hours of advanced work outside the field of study (or area of concentration) and usually outside the Department (Graduate Catalog).
   4. Enroll in two semesters of the seminar course PLSC 5897. One poster or oral presentation at a national or international professional meeting in your field of study may substitute for one PLSC 5897 seminar course requirement for PhD degrees. Students who completed their MS in our Department may enroll in one semester of PLSC 5897 and present at a professional meeting.
2. Form the Advisory Committee before completion of 12 credits of degree program coursework.
3. Complete and submit your Plan of Study for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Office of the Registrar when not more than 18 credits of course work to be offered for the degree have been completed. The successful completion of all work indicated on the Plan of Study is a fundamental prerequisite for conferring the degree. A student should earn at least the minimum grade point average of 3.0.
4. Pass the PhD General Examination, which is usually undertaken when the student has completed at least 75 percent of the content coursework listed on the approved Plan of Study. After the examination, the Report on the General Examination, indicating the result of the entire examination, must be signed by the members of the Advisory Committee and submitted to the Office of the Registrar no later than the date of the submission of the approved Dissertation Proposal. The report must be submitted whether or not the examination has been passed or failed (Graduate Catalog).
5. The Dissertation Proposal, bearing the signatures of the members of the student’s Advisory Committee as well as the signature of the Department Head verifying satisfactory review by two reviewers who are not members of the Advisory Committee, should be submitted to the Office of the Registrar for final approval by the time the student has completed the ninth credit of GRAD 6950 or 6960. In any event, the approved Dissertation Proposal must be on file in the Office of the Registrar before the public announcement of the Oral Defense of the dissertation (Graduate Catalog).
6. Upon approval of the Plan of Study, passing the General Examination, and approval of the Dissertation Proposal by the Executive Committee of The Graduate School, the student becomes a Candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Graduate Catalog).
7. When preparing to graduate, check the published deadlines for the appropriate conferral period for the degree to be granted with your conferral date. Formal application for a degree to be conferred must be filed online by the degree candidate using the Student Administration System within the first four weeks of the student’s final semester (Graduate Catalog).
8. Candidates must distribute a complete and formatted copy of their dissertation to the members of the Advisory Committee at least two weeks before the Final Examination.
9. The Final Examination must be announced publicly using the University’s online Events Calendar in the Daily Digest at least two weeks before the date of the defense.
10. Pass the Final Examination (Oral Defense of the dissertation). At this time, electronic tentative approval of the dissertation and an electronic working copy of the entire dissertation must be filed with the Office of the Registrar. Not fewer than five members of the faculty, including all members of the candidate’s Advisory Committee, must participate in the Final Examination (Graduate Catalog). Some members of the Advisory Committee may participate remotely via videoconference in the Final Examination. The exit seminar should be scheduled one hour before the Oral Defense.
11. The Graduate School requires the electronic submission of the dissertation through Submittable, a University repository for public access. The final copy must meet all specifications outlined on the Office of the Registrar’s website. Be aware that submission does not mean that the document has been ACCEPTED. The final approval can be delayed if revisions are necessary. The document should be APPROVED on or before the target date for that semester in order to graduate. The Dissertation Submission Checklist must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar with the Dissertation approval page bearing original signatures of all members of the Advisory Committee. Complete the degree within eight years of admission. Ordinarily, the PhD degree should be completed within four or six years.

Procedures for the PhD General Examination

The General Examination is under the jurisdiction of the student’s Advisory Committee. The PhD General Examination should be comprehensive and designed to assess the student’s general knowledge in their field of study, not merely in an area of their specialization. The questions may be of specific factual nature, as well as address your ability to integrate and synthesize knowledge to solve problems.

Preparation for the exam: You should discuss examination expectations of each member of the Advisory Committee a few months in advance of the General Examination and to ask about the exam format and the topics to be covered. During this conversation, you may provide a list of courses, which were taken during your graduate study. The examination may consist of a series of cumulative examinations, to be taken at intervals over the student’s period of study. For practical purposes, the final part of such a series shall be regarded as “the General Examination” (Graduate Catalog).

No fewer than five faculty members, including all members of the student’s Advisory Committee, must participate in the examination, and all members of the Advisory Committee must participate in any oral examination. Some members of the Advisory Committee may participate remotely via videoconference in the oral portion of the General Examination. The Examining Committee includes at least one faculty member representing each of the major areas addressed in the examination. All Examiners are invited to submit questions and to evaluate answers, but the final decision as to whether or not the student has passed the General Examination shall rest solely with the Advisory Committee (Graduate Catalog).

If the student does not pass any of the exams given by the Advisory Committee members, then the student may retake any failed portions of the exams. The number of times this exam can be retaken is decided by the Advisory Committee members, although twice is the common limit. Note that, in the end, the student MUST pass all exams given by each and all of the Advisory Committee members.

The General Examination consists of written and oral portions of the exam, which cannot be the same as the dissertation or portions thereof:

1. The written portion of the exam is coordinated by the Major Advisor. The Advisory Committee members write the questions. Each Advisory Committee member writes their own set of questions, and they also grade the answers given to their set of questions. They each also specify the time allowed to answer their questions and the materials that can be used or not used (e.g., 2-hour limit, closed book, closed internet, SAS software allowed).
2. The oral portion of the exam should be comprehensive in scope. A minimum of 2- hours should be scheduled, though there is no time limit. The oral exam or field exam is given by the Examining Committee members who are reminded that this is a doctoral exam. If desired, the student’s Advisory Committee can request that this oral exam be combined with the written exam noted above. That is, this oral exam can be a follow-up to the written exam described above and is often used for clarification of marginally written answers, rather than having any student fail outright.
3. Bring the “Report on the General Examination for the Doctoral Degree” form for signatures to the exam and submit to the Office of the Registrar no later than the date of the submission of the approved Dissertation Proposal.

Dissertation Proposal

The Dissertation Proposal should be prepared in consultation with the members of the Advisory Committee before the research is well underway. When the Dissertation Proposal has been completed and signed by the student and approved by the members of the Advisory Committee, the Dissertation Proposal then is submitted to the Head of the Department. The Department Head appoints reviewers from outside the Advisory Committee to conduct a critical evaluation of the Dissertation Proposal. Dissertation Proposals are reviewed with the following questions in mind:

1. Is the proposal well written, well organized, and well-argued?
2. Does the proposal describe a project of appropriate scope?
3. Does the student demonstrate knowledge of the subject and an understanding of the proposed method of investigation?
4. Does the student show awareness of the relevant research by others?
5. Does the student consider how the proposed investigation, if successful, will contribute to knowledge? (Graduate Catalog).

The Dissertation Proposal, bearing the signatures of the members of the student’s advisory committee as well as the signature of the department or program head verifying satisfactory review by two reviewers who are not members of the advisory committee (see the paragraph above), should be submitted to the Office of the Registrar by the time the student has completed the ninth credit of GRAD 6950 or 6960. In any event, the approved Dissertation Proposal must be on file in the Office of the Registrar before the public announcement of the oral defense of the dissertation. (Graduate Catalog).

Dissertation

A dissertation representing a significant contribution to ongoing research in the candidate’s field is a primary requirement for completion of the degree. The preparation of the dissertation is under the immediate and continuous supervision of the Advisory Committee, and it must meet all standards prescribed by the Advisory Committee and by The Graduate School. It must be acceptable in literary style and organization. Specifications for its preparation may be obtained from the Office of the Registrar’s website. It is the student’s ultimate responsibility to be certain that the dissertation conforms to the specifications (Graduate Catalog).

Students are expected to publish their research findings. Publications will improve your chances to find a job and enhance the reputation of our Department. Publishing is important for the broader dissemination of your work, as many people will read publications in professional journals. It is recommended to organize your Dissertation accordingly to allow for easy formatting of the chapters into manuscripts. Conversely, if manuscripts are already published, they become your chapters. Discuss the Dissertation structure with your Major Advisor at the beginning of your graduate study.

Teaching Requirement. Teaching experience is not required by the Department. However, for those students who are interested in careers in academia, opportunities exist to gain teaching experience by working as a teaching assistant or helping various faculty with extension projects.

Foreign Language Requirement. The PhD in Plant Science does not have a related area or foreign language requirement.

Milestones

Year 1	Start the research project Enroll in the coursework Choose the advisory committee
Year 2	Continue the research project Enroll in PLSC 5897 Complete the coursework
Year 3	Submit the Plan of Study to the Graduate School Pass the PhD General Examination Complete the departmental review of the Dissertation Proposal
Preparing to Graduate	Doctoral degrees steps to a successful graduation Enroll in PLSC 5897 or present at a professional meeting Schedule the Final Examination and Exit Seminar Distribute the dissertation to the Advisory Committee Pass the Final Examination Submit the revised dissertation and other documents to The Graduate School