The doctor of philosophy degree is a research degree. It is awarded in recognition of demonstrated mastery of subject matter in a chosen field of study and demonstrated competence in the conduct of an individual research investigation that represents a significant contribution to the cumulative knowledge of the field. The program of study and research will be planned and supervised by an advisory committee. Each candidate’s course work and research topic must be approved by the advisory committee as meeting the standards generally associated with the doctoral degree. A minimum of 30 course and/or research credit hours beyond the MS degree (or its equivalent) or a minimum of 60 course and/or research credit hours beyond the bachelor’s degree is required.
The doctoral student must comply with the requirements on this page, the requirements of their program, and complete any necessary forms to document their progress with the Graduate School. Individual programs may have higher standards, and students are expected to know their program’s requirements.
Grades—Students must maintain an overall 3.0 GPA for all coursework taken as a graduate student. No course in which a grade lower than B (3.0) is received may be used toward a graduate degree without express permission of the department chair or graduate program director and of the advisor; a maximum of 6 credits of BC (2.5) or C (2.0) in a cognate department may be used toward a graduate degree if express permission is given by the advisor and the department chair or graduate program director.
Campus Residency Requirement—There are no University-wide, on-campus residency requirements. Some degree programs have specific requirements. Doctoral students must complete the equivalent of at least four semesters of full-time study through Michigan Tech beyond attainment of a bachelor's degree, or the equivalent of at least two semesters of full-time study beyond attainment of a master's degree. Research credits used to satisfy degree requirements must be taken through Michigan Tech and must be supervised by a member of the Michigan Tech graduate faculty. No more than one-third of a graduate student's course work can be completed elsewhere.
Time Limit—Comprehensive examinations must be taken within five years of entry and two terms before the final oral defense, and all requirements must be completed within eight years from the time of a student’s first enrollment in the doctoral program or earliest course listed on the degree schedule, whichever is earliest.
Modern Language Requirement—There is no University-wide language requirement for doctoral degrees. Individual programs may require a foreign language. Each program is responsible for establishing standards and examination procedures where a foreign language is required. Doctoral students should consult with their advisory committee concerning program regulations.
Advisory Committee
During the student’s first semester of residence, an advisor will be chosen to assume initial responsibility for the direction of the student’s educational program and to hold meetings as needed to fulfill this responsibility. It is also possible that other members of the advisory committee will be chosen at the same time as the advisor. The primary advisor, or a co-advisor must hold a regular or adjunct appointment in the student's administrative home department or school.
The advisor and committee, consisting of at least two members of the graduate faculty in addition to the advisor, will be recommended by the advisor and the chair/graduate program director of the major department, school, or program and approved by the Graduate School and filed on the Advisor and Committee Recommendation form. This committee, with the addition of a fourth, external member, will often become the Examining Committee (see “Oral Examination” below).
Preliminary Program of Study—Initially the advisory committee will meet with the student and prepare a program of course study and research work that will lead to the doctoral degree.
Proficiency Examinations—Exams may be scheduled as necessary by the program to assist in planning students' study programs or to determine the advisability of students continuing in the doctoral program.
Comprehensive Examination
A comprehensive examination will be given to determine the general knowledge appropriate to the student’s program and the student’s ability to use this knowledge. This examination will be a written examination, although it may be oral in part if recommended by the advisory committee, but it must be given no later than five years after enrollment. It is recommended that the comprehensive exam be given after about two years of doctoral study and following completion of all course work required by the advisory committee. The examination will be given after the applicant has completed any modern language requirement and at least two terms prior to scheduling the final oral examination.
The examination will be prepared and administered by the program with the cooperation of the advisory committee. Satisfactory performance on the comprehensive examination will be regarded as an indication that no additional formal course work is needed, although the student may take additional course work. Any member of the graduate faculty may attend the oral examination as an observer.
Final Degree Schedule—Upon satisfactory completion of the comprehensive examination, a final Degree Schedule form (D5) must be filed in the Graduate School and approved prior to scheduling a final oral examination. This Degree Schedule should include all course work taken since the last previous degree to be applied to the doctoral degree. It must be approved by the advisory committee chair and the department chair/graduate program director as meeting the standards associated with the doctor of philosophy degree.
Dissertation
The research study undertaken as part of the doctoral degree program will be presented in the form of a dissertation that can be made a permanent acquisition of the library, along with an abstract. There is no word length requirement for the abstract, but students are advised that many databases will truncate the abstract at 350 words. Any classified or proprietary material that cannot be made available to the public is not acceptable as a dissertation. Completing the dissertation includes approval of the dissertation proposal, preparing the dissertation according to guidelines, and filing the completed (and successfully defended) dissertation.
The dissertation will be written and prepared under the supervision of the chair of the advisory committee according to discipline-specific writing requirements. See the theses and dissertation homepage for details on how to prepare and submit the dissertation to the Graduate School. A completed draft of the dissertation must be approved by the advisory committee chair two weeks prior to the final examination.
After the dissertation has been satisfactorily defended, recommended or other appropriate editorial changes in the dissertation should be made with the approval of the advisory committee chair.
The corrected dissertation, as approved by the committee, along with an original signature page (advisor and department chair signatures), is submitted to the Graduate School. The J. R. Van Pelt Library archives all doctoral dissertations.
Oral Examination
At a public final oral examination, primarily concerning the research and doctoral dissertation, the candidate should justify the validity of the methods and conclusions contained in the dissertation and should be familiar with the import of the particular investigations reported in the dissertation relative to the larger body of existing knowledge. The examination may be given any time after a period of two academic terms following the successful completion of the comprehensive examination and upon completion of the dissertation in a satisfactory form. The student’s examination results must be reported to the Graduate School on the Report on Oral Exam form (D8).
The examining committee will be appointed by the Graduate School in consultation with the department chair. The committee will consist of at least four members of the graduate faculty. At least one of these will be from outside the student's administrative home department or school. The primary advisor, or a co-advisor who serves as chair of the committee, must be from the student's home department or school. For interdisciplinary and non-departmental programs, the outside examiner may not be affiliated with the interdisciplinary or non-departmental program. A person external to Michigan Tech may be appointed as an ad hoc member of the Graduate Faculty to serve as the outside examiner. Persons who are not members of the Graduate Faculty may not serve as voting members of doctoral examination committees.
The examination will be scheduled by filing the Pre-defense form with the Graduate School, in consultation with the chair of the advisory committee. The date of the examination must be at least two weeks following the approval of the completed draft of the dissertation by the advisory committee. Copies of the completed draft must be distributed to any new members of the examining committee at least two weeks prior to the scheduled examination date.