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(2014/02/09) Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering
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The PhD requirements include:

72 total credits (minimum 18 PhD research and dissertation credits, minimum 9 credits for a minor concen-

tration, minimum 45 graduate course credits) (a minimum of 12 credits must be taken at the 3000 level- not
including 3999)

Pass a Qualifying Examination

Pass Proposal Defense

Must have a final GPA of 3.0 or higher

Must have at least one peer-reviewed journal article in press (fully accepted) or in print prior to graduation

Pass Dissertation Defense

NB- Students who are admitted directly to the Ph.D. program from their bachelor's degrees can obtain a

MSCE degree if they pass the Qualifying Examination and fulfill the requirements of the Masters Program

(either the course work option or the thesis option).

NB- Students who have already earned their MS degree may petition to apply a maximum of 30 relevant
course credits from another institution toward their PhD.

QUALIFYING EXAMINATION

Doctoral students must pass a written Comprehensive Qualifying Examination, based upon graduate cour-

sework and their defined area of research, in order to be considered a PhD candidate. This examination is
scheduled by students individually and will typically be taken following the completion of the majority of re-

quired course work and prior to the Proposal Defense.

PROPOSAL DEFENSE

The Proposal Defense consists of an oral presentation of a research prospectus by the student. Prior to the

examination, the student must submit a written research prospectus (10-15 pages) to the Examination Com-

mittee which constitutes four faculty members one of whom must be outside of the department. Students

should complete their proposal defense following their qualifying examination, normally two years (but no

more than three years) after the start of their program, to show their competence, their research plan, and ini-
tial research results to undertake research work in the area of their proposed dissertation. Students who pass

the Qualifying Examination and the Proposal Defense will become Ph.D. candidates.

If a student fails an examination, he or she will be granted one more chance, in each case, to be re-examined
on all or part of the examination material.

DISSERTATION DEFENSE

A final dissertation defense in the form of a public oral examination is required. The student should pass the

final dissertation defense, and the final dissertation should be approved by the dissertation committee which
consists of four members with at least 1 faculty from an outside Department, to complete requirements for

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