Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Environmental Engineering and Environmental Engineering and Science Degree Requirements Graduate Student Advisory Committee Requirements for Ph.D Degree Degree Requirements The Doctor of Philosophy degree requires at least 90 semester hours, of which normally 30 to 60 is awarded for the Dissertation. A full-time graduate course load is considered to be 9 to 15 semester credit hours. A teaching or research assistant must carry 9-12 credits each semester. Special permission is required for higher credit loads. All students must register for a minimum of 3 hours for all semesters of their graduate program. Graduate Student Advisory Committee Ph.D. candidates must have at least five faculty on their graduate committees, three of which are generally Environmental Engineering faculty. A graduate advisory committee is established at the time that a Program of Study is submitted to the Graduate School. Before the end of the first semester, the student must select a full-time advisor and advisory committee and submit a Program of Study. Members of the graduate advisory committees will follow a student's progress and be available for consultation with the student. A Progress Report form is available in the Program’s main office. It should be signed by the student’s committee at the committee meeting to indicate that the student is making good progress and is on track for graduation. The advisory committee for the Ph.D. candidate is also established when the Program of Study is filed with the graduate school. The duties of committee members are provided in detail under the document below entitled, Requirements for Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Environmental Engineering and Environmental Science. Requirements for Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Environmental Engineering and Engineering Science 1) Formal Application to the Ph.D. Program 2) Selection of Ph.D. Committee and Development of Program of Study 3) Satisfactory Academic Progress 4) Written Qualifying Examination 5) Preliminary Examination (Written, Oral and Dissertation Proposal) 6) Twice Yearly Committee Meetings 7) Changing Program Areas 8) Final Dissertation Defense This document summarizes the specific Ph.D. degree requirements that have been developed by the Environmental Engineering faculty. However, the student should also consult the following two documents: Graduate Policies and Procedures Manual for the Charles Edward Via, Jr. Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering (available from the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering) Graduate Policies and Procedures and Course Catalog (available from the Graduate School) These contain the general policies and procedures that apply to Ph.D. programs within the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and the University. 1) Formal Application to the Ph.D. Program This occurs prior to beginning the program and requires that all students formally apply so that the proper forms and records are generated for both our department and the Graduate School. Master’s students must also apply to the Ph.D. program in order to be admitted. 2) Selection of Ph.D. Committee and Development of Program of Study Students are required to develop an approved Program of Study for the Ph.D. degree prior to completing 12 hours of graduate study (beyond the M.S. degree). Thus, students should initiate a search for a research topic and a major dissertation advisor during their first academic year in the Ph.D. program. Working with the major advisor, the student should develop a Program of Study as well as a Ph.D. Committee. The Environmental Engineering Program requires that students take a minimum of 6 graduate-level courses (comprising at least 15 credits) beyond the M.S. degree, with 3 of these comprising a minor taken outside of Civil & Environmental Engineering. The purpose of this requirement is to broaden the student’s knowledge beyond M.S. degree coursework. For students entering with Master’s degrees from disciplines other than Environmental Engineering, a minor within Environmental Engineering may be possible. Additional requirements for the Program of Study may be found in the Graduate Policies and Procedures Manual. 3) Satisfactory Academic Progress The academic performance of a Ph.D. student will be monitored by the Environmental Engineering faculty during each semester a student is enrolled. If a student fails to make satisfactory progress toward the Ph.D. degree, permission to continue may be denied. This decision may be reached by the student’s Ph.D. committee, the Environmental Engineering faculty, or the Civil Engineering Department Head, and recommended to the Graduate School for action. Students will be notified in writing should concerns arise regarding their academic performance. The letter will indicate the specific concerns of the faculty, the corrective actions that must be taken, and the time frame for achieving such progress. Normally, the notification procedure will also provide for a meeting between the student and the faculty so that concerns regarding academic performance can be discussed. The faculty will reconvene at a later date to review the student’s progress and make a formal decision on whether the student will be allowed to continue in the Ph.D. program. 4) Written Qualifying Examination The Written Qualifying Examination should be taken soon after or on nearing completion of the Ph.D. degree coursework, and typically within one year of matriculation into the Ph.D. program. The qualifying examination is administered by the Environmental Engineering faculty to determine whether the student may proceed with the Ph.D. preliminary examination. The faculty will meet as a group and the advisor will present the student’s area of interest and credentials (background, grades, program of study, research area, strengths and weaknesses). All students taking the qualifying exam will select one of the defined MS tracks and then answer questions that are drawn from the following subject areas: the 2 basic core courses, statistics, and any 2 track core courses. The same will apply for students who have passed through the flexible track. The ESEN track is used to define the core course material for students who are doing the ESEN PhD degree. Questions focusing on the core MS curriculum areas will be prepared, although faculty members may propose questions in broader areas, depending on specific circumstances. The student will be informed in writing by the PhD Qualifying Exam Coordinator regarding the subject areas that will be covered on the examination. The questions must be designed in such a way that students entering with M.S. degrees from other institutions are not penalized relative to those entering with M.S. degrees from the Environmental Engineering Program at Virginia Tech. In particular, students from other institutions should not be expected to audit the Virginia Tech MS core courses if they have successfully completed similar coursework elsewhere. Scheduling of the examination should be such that the student has ample time to prepare (a minimum of one month). After the examination, the faculty will grade the questions and have the opportunity to evaluate the student’s overall performance. The faculty as a group will then make a formal decision on whether the student has completed the examination in a satisfactory manner. Student’s will be notified in writing regarding their performance on the Written Qualifying Examination. Once the student passes the examination, they become eligible to begin the Preliminary Examination with their Ph.D. committee. The Written Qualifying Examination must be passed (via formal faculty decision) before a student can initiate the Preliminary Examination. 5) Preliminary Examination The Preliminary examination has both written and oral sections. The oral examination requires an accompanying dissertation proposal and follows the written component. 5a) Written Preliminary Examination Written Preliminary exams should occur after or near completion of Ph.D. coursework. This should be during the student’s third or fourth semester into the doctoral program. The written examination is designed and executed by the student’s committee and all committee members may contribute questions. The goal of the examination is to determine if the student has the creative capacity and intellectual skills necessary to conduct research. The committee has the flexibility to design the written examination to best evaluate a candidate. Questions are generally of a more open nature than the questions in the qualifying examination. For example, the student may be asked to evaluate a pertinent research topic using the library and other source materials, or to critique published research. The student’s advisor will be responsible for soliciting questions from each committee member and deciding the final format for the examination. The advisor should make sure the questions are appropriate for the student’s area of research. Grading is done by the committee, with each committee member taking major responsibility for evaluation of the questions that they ask. Questions should be graded within one week after the student takes the examination and the results reported to the major advisor. The advisor should collect and summarize all of the grades/comments, and provide a copy of this summary to the committee. The advisor should then schedule the Oral Preliminary Examination (if a date has not already been set). 5b) Oral Preliminary Examination This examination serves two major purposes. First, it provides the committee with an opportunity to further probe the student’s knowledge in research and/or coursework subject areas. For example, committee members might desire further clarification of student answers to questions that were part of the Written Preliminary Examination. The Oral Preliminary Examination also serves as the committee’s opportunity to formally review the student’s dissertation research proposal. The emphasis is on evaluating the student’s ability to think through and plan doctoral research. A formal presentation to the committee of the research goals and approach to achieve those goals is required. This should occur early in the research, possibly after collection of some preliminary data, so that the student receives direction from the committee and the feasibility of the research is assessed. The examination also provides the student with an opportunity to organize and present a talk, and students should present their work in a professional fashion. The student will prepare a written research proposal that provides an overview of their research project, including a literature review, objectives, and specific experimental approaches. A copy of the proposal should be distributed to committee members at least one week in advance of the Oral Preliminary Examination. The student presentation of about 30 minutes should include a summary of the proposal. The committee can ask questions and discuss specific issues related to the research. After this meeting, the student should have a consensus on what the research project will entail, and how the research will be accomplished. Students will generally be expected to achieve the goals that they set in the Dissertation Proposal. While both portions of the Oral Preliminary Examination may take place in a single committee meeting, this is not required. There may be occasions where the student has already developed their dissertation research proposal and had it approved by the committee. 6) Twice Yearly Committee Meetings The purpose of these meetings is to keep the committee informed and the student on track. The Oral Preliminary Examination and meetings concerned with the Written Preliminary Examination count as a committee meeting. At other committee meetings, the student is expected to give an informal progress report. 7) Changing Program Areas Formal faculty approval is required before a student may change programs from ESEN to CE or vice versa. 8) Final Dissertation Defense The dissertation should be distributed to the committee members at least two weeks prior to the final defense. The student will make a formal public presentation of the research. After the presentation, there will be both public and non-public question and answer periods. At the close of the exam, the committee will go into executive session for deliberation and a final decision.

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