Department of Earth Sciences

Syracuse University

Sequence of steps in Graduate Degree Programs

Following is a sequential presentation of how to meet requirements for graduate degrees in the department of Earth Sciences at Syracuse University. Many of the steps are common for both new M.S. students and new Ph.D. students. Differences in M.S. programs and Ph.D. programs will be noted as appropriate.

Important items

• Give copies of all paperwork to the department office
• MS/MA students - have your research proposal done by the end of the 2nd or 3rd semester
• PhD students - have your orals exam and your research proposal done by the end of the 4th semester
• Writing a thesis or sequence of papers takes longer than you think, plan accordingly
• Have the final (hard) copy of your thesis to your research committee 2 weeks before your defense date

Check list for students - Departmental forms required at various stages

· Temporary Advisory Committee (Discussed before 1^st semester)

· Permanent Advisory Committee (Form: Formation of a Permanent Committee)

· Research skills requirement for Ph.D. (Prior to oral exam; memo from advisor)

· Research proposal for M.S. and Ph.D. (A cover page format is available in departmental office)

· MS Candidate Annual Progress Report

· Ph.D. Candidate Annual Progress Report

August, 2007

1. Initial Advising:

Upon matriculation, normally during the week before fall classes begin, you will meet with a faculty committee for an Advisory Review. During this review, the committee will review your academic background, discuss your short-term and long-term goals, and help you with a course of study for the first two or three semesters of your graduate study.

At this time a Temporary Advisory Committee will be assigned to you. The membership of your temporary committee will be chosen to reflect your interests, and you should meet with this committee when making academic decisions until a Permanent Advisory Committee has been selected (see below).

2. Formation of a Permanent Advisory Committee:

When you have decided on a thesis or dissertation topic and selected a research supervisor, you must form a Permanent Advisory Committee. Such a permanent committee is expected to be formed by the end of the first year of graduate study towards a degree. In consultation with your research supervisor, you should select committee members who are well qualified to assist you in your research program. However, the Permanent Advisory Committee should also provide scientific breadth. The membership of the Committee must be approved by the Chairman of the Graduate Studies Committee and by the Departmental Chair.

Permanent Advisory Committees may have members from outside the departmental faculty, but because of the expense of bringing committee members to campus for examinations and defenses, such members must be approved in advance by the departmental chair.

A MS/MA committee must have at least three members, although a larger committee may be approved where appropriate. A PhD committee will usually have 5 members. Normally the research supervisor is the Chair of the committee. The committee works closely with the student in planning the degree program and must approve any changes (substitutions of courses, dropping courses, changes of research topic, etc.). This committee will constitute the Examining Committee for the final examination (MS or PhD thesis defense) or the MA final written examination. However, the research supervisor cannot chair the Examining Committee.

A form titled "Formation of a Permanent Committee" is available in the departmental office. Students should prepare such a form, obtaining the signatures of all committee members (who thus commit themselves to serve) and the signatures of both the Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee and the Departmental Chair (who thus approve the committee). Students should understand that either the Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee or the departmental Chair, or both, may require modifications to the membership of permanent committees. The formation of a permanent committee does not require the approval of the Graduate School.

3. Completion of Course Work:

The MS degree requires completion of 24 credit hours of graduate course work plus 6 credit hours of thesis work. The MA degree requires completion of 30 credit hours of graduate course work, at least 12 of which must be at or above the 600 level. The Ph.D. degree requires 72 credit hours. Thirty hours are credited for completion of the MS degree, whether at Syracuse University or elsewhere. Up to 30 hours of dissertation research are allowed. Thus, the minimum course work requirement for the Ph.D. is 12 credit hours, although nearly all students take more than this in preparation for research and examinations. The department also has a "breadth" guideline that requires students to take courses in multiple specialty area (usually at least two research areas and from at least four faculty members).

4. Research Skills Requirement for the Ph.D.

Ph.D. students must complete an approved program of two Research Skills, which may be satisfied by taking specialized courses either inside or outside of the Department of Earth Sciences, or by other specialized methods. The two Research Skills must be developed in consultation with the Advisory Committee and approved by the Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee and the Departmental Chair. Ph.D. students must have completed the research Skills requirement and have an approved Dissertation Proposal before the Qualifying Examination may be scheduled (see 5 and 6 below). Note that neither the M.S. nor M. A. degrees has a formal research skill requirement, although it is likely students will develop such skills.

5. Preparation of Thesis or Dissertation Proposal:

All M.S. and Ph.D. degree students are required to write a thesis (M.S.) or Dissertation (Ph.D.) proposal. Because the M.A. is a non-thesis degree, proposals are not required. Thesis or dissertation proposals should clearly state the nature of the scientific problem to be addressed, the approach to be used in solving the problem, and methods to be used (analytical, observational, statistical, etc.). Proposals should include a realistic budget, indicating the sources of funds (grant, departmental, personal, etc.). Proposals should be concise; M.S. thesis proposals may not exceed 10 pages of double-spaced text, exclusive of figures, tables, references, etc.; Ph.D. dissertation proposals may not exceed 15 pages of double-spaced text. A cover page format for proposals is available in the departmental office.

Thesis or dissertation proposals should be prepared in consultation with the research supervisor. When the research supervisor is satisfied with the proposal, he or she will sign the cover sheet. The proposal may then be circulated to the other members of the permanent advisory committee for their comments. When comments from the advisory committee have been completed, the student should consult with the research supervisor on the final form of the proposal. All members of the advisory committee should sign the cover sheet of the proposal when they are satisfied with it. Then, the proposal (both M.S. and Ph.D.) should be dated (date of circulation) and made available to all other members of the faculty. The student will circulate an email to the faculty indicating the thesis proposal is available in the departmental office. Faculty have one week from the date of circulation to object, in writing, to the Departmental Chair. If no objections are received, the proposal is approved and will be signed by the Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee.

Thesis or dissertation proposals should be written as early in the degree program as possible. They should not be written when the research is well under way or nearly completed, for the student then risks much wasted effort if the proposed research is not approved. Normally, M.S. students should write their thesis proposals in the second semester, but certainly not later than the third semester, of their graduate degree programs. The Ph.D. dissertation proposal serves as the vehicle for the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination. Because Ph.D. students are required to take the Qualifying Examination not later than the fourth semester of the degree program (see below under Examinations), it follows that the dissertation proposal must be written by the fourth semester.

Students should not make the mistake of assuming that their committees will read, edit, and approve proposals on short notice. It is reasonable to plan on spending as much as one month, or more, writing the proposal and having it approved by the research supervisor. Approval by the rest of the committee may take as much as an additional month. However, reading, editing, and commenting upon thesis and dissertation proposals is the responsibility of faculty members and students should not hesitate, after a suitable interval of time, to ask their committee members about the status of their proposals. Students who do not complete research proposals in a timely manner my jeopardize continued departmental funding.

6. The Ph.D. Qualifying Examination:

The Ph.D. Qualifying Examination is a departmental examination that must be taken by Ph.D. students not sooner than the beginning of the third semester, nor later than the end of the fourth semester. The examination may not be scheduled until the Research Skills program has been completed and a Dissertation Proposal has been approved (see above).

The examination is oral, and is based upon the Dissertation Proposal that serves as a vehicle for a broadly based examination. The examination is not a "defense" of the proposal. Rather, the aspirant makes an oral presentation of the proposal that lasts about thirty minutes. Following this, the Committee will examine the aspirant on various subjects that are germane to the proposed research. The examination is designed to determine whether the aspirant has appropriate conceptual abilities to carry out advanced scientific research and whether the aspirant has sufficient knowledge to pursue, complete, and interpret his or her doctoral dissertation research. Any subject matter that is related to the proposed research is "fair game" for questioning. However, aspirants will not be asked questions that are unrelated to the proposed research.

All faculty members are invited to attend the examination, but if they wish to participate in the questioning, they must remain until the examination is completed and participate in the Committee's discussion of the outcome. Only the Examining Committee, however, votes on the outcome. The result of the examination shall be Pass or Fail. More than one negative vote constitutes failure of the examination. Should the Examining Committee decide that the results of the oral examination are inconclusive, it may schedule a written examination to be taken within one week of the oral examination; in this case, the committee vote may be deferred until evaluation of the written examination in completed.

Students who pass the Qualifying Examination are advanced to "Candidacy for the Ph.D. degree". If the student fails the examination, one additional attempt may be made, but not sooner than three months after the initial attempt. If the examination is not passed on the second attempt, the student's doctoral program will be terminated. Examining Committees also have the option to grant a "Pass" that is conditional upon additional courses work, reading, etc. and may require a further committee examination or review of such additional work.

7. The Thesis (MS) or Dissertation (PhD):

The thesis (M.S.) or dissertation (Ph.D.) is the written presentation of research accomplished. The research phase of a graduate program is generally the most exciting and productive part, and should be very carefully planned. Research by graduate students is normally done in close consultation with the Research Supervisor and the Advisory Committee. Research studies vary widely because of the breadth and interdisciplinary nature of earth science. However, the department expects that all research done by its students will be of the highest quality, involving careful study of significant scientific problems.

M.S. theses and Ph.D. dissertations must comply with the general requirements of the Graduate School; students who are approaching the writing stage of their programs should read the Graduate Catalogue and the booklet "Instructions for Preparation of Theses and Dissertations" that are available from the Graduate School. The Department of Earth Sciences encourages M.S. and Ph.D candidates to prepare theses or dissertations in a format that is suitable for publication and, in addition to standard format documents, will accept texts that constitute one or more articles ready for submission to journals. The number of articles, particularly for Ph.D. dissertations, will depend upon the subject studied (but typically number three papers in peer reviewed journals of international merit for Ph.D. students and one paper for M.S. students) and must be approved by the Advisory Committee and the Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee.

Students should understand that completion, and approval, of a document as important (and sometimes lengthy) as a thesis or dissertation, is not a trivial exercise that can be accomplished in a couple of weeks. Below are steps that should be followed, with estimates of the time required:

a) First draft of text, with tables and figures in acceptable form, to Research Supervisor; edited version, with comments and suggestions back to student. About three months.

b) Revised text, with tables, maps, figures, etc. in final form, to Research Supervisor; edited version, with comments and suggestions back to student. Three weeks to one month.

c) If Research Supervisor thinks the text, figures, etc. are ready for Advisory Committee reading, he or she signs preliminary cover page (or suitable memo) and the text is distributed to the Advisory Committee; edited versions, with comments and suggestions back to students from Advisory Committee. One month.

d) Defense version of the thesis or dissertation is prepared by the student and approved by the Research Supervisor; the defense version is then distributed to the Defense Committee (see below), which must sign the cover page indicating their consent that a defense may be scheduled. Two weeks.

e) Note that the process may take more than six months! Add more time if your writing skills are not what they should be. Add more time if you try to do all of this during the summer when faculty may be away from the department doing field work or other research work.

8. Program of Study Form: Prior to the thesis or dissertation defense (see below), and with the advice and concurrence of the Research Supervisor and the Departmental Chair, the student must file a Program of Study form with the Graduate School. This form made is obtained from the departmental office or from the Graduate School. Directions for filing are given in the University's Academic Rules and Regulations booklet. The Program of Study must be filed before any credits will be transferred from another college or university.

9. Thesis or dissertation defense: Defenses of theses and dissertations are public events in which the student presents the results of his or her research and then answers questions.

The normal format is that a presentation lasting thirty to forty-five minutes is made. Then, the floor is opened to questions from the audience. Normally, the Defense Committee does not ask questions at this time. After the general audience has asked questions, it will be excused and the Defense Committee will ask questions of the candidate to elucidate any aspects of the research it deems necessary. For both M.S. and Ph.D. candidates, the Defense is a final examination.

At least four weeks before the Defense, the Department Chairperson, in consultation with the Research Supervisor, recommends a Defense Committee to the Graduate School. Normally, the Defense Committee consists of the Advisory Committee plus another member who serves as Chair of the defense. Thus, a minimum of four examiners are required for a M.S. defense whereas six are required for a Ph.D. defense. In the case of a Ph.D. dissertation defense, the Chair must be from a department in the university other than Earth Sciences.

The results of the Defense are:

• a pass with minor revisions
• a pass with major revisions
• fail

The results will be reported on a form provided by the Graduate School. It is the responsibility of the Chair of the Defense to obtain the concurring signatures of the Defense Committee and report the results to the Graduate School.

A final version of the thesis or dissertation, incorporating all required revisions, must be completed and approved at least two weeks before the expected graduation date. Details of requirements regarding microfilming, copyrighting, and binding can be found in the booklet Academic Rules and Regulations. The University will bind the final copies of the thesis or dissertation and place them in the University Library.