Revised – August 2003

Introduction

Listed below are the requirements which must be fulfilled for the Ph.D. Degree in Biology (ecology-track) in the Department of Environmental Sciences (ES) at the University of Toledo. The timeline spelled out in this document needs to be followed closely in order to successfully complete this degree program. Graduate student progress will be evaluated by the Graduate Affairs Committee each year during the spring semester. At that time each graduate student will be required to submit a detailed progress report with a written statement concerning research status and projected date of program completion. All progress reports must be endorsed by the student’s major professor.

Specific Requirements

To earn a Ph.D. degree in the ES Department, a student must:

1. Choose a major professor and an advisory committee prior to the completion of the first year in the program.

The advisory committee will consist of at least five members, including:

a. The major professor, who has primary responsibility for academic advising and directing the student’s research and dissertation preparation

b. At least two other full-time faculty members from the ES department.

c. Two members from outside the ES Department.

All members of the advisory committee should hold a Ph.D. degree or the equivalent.

2. Prepare a Doctoral Program Plan (DPP) and secure departmental approval thereof prior to the first attempt at the written qualifying examination. The DPP must be signed by the student, major professor, Department Chair, College Dean and Dean of the Graduate School.

3. Pass a written qualifying examination designed to comprehensively evaluate the student’s knowledge in Ecology. This examination may be administered at a time mutually agreed upon by the student and his or her advisory committee, but should be successfully completed by the end of the student’s second year in the program. Questions for the examination will be written by members of the student’s advisory committee who may solicit questions from other qualified scholars as deemed appropriate. Student performance will be judged satisfactory or unsatisfactory by a majority vote of this advisory committee. The results of the evaluation process will be transmitted in writing to the student within ten working days from the time the exam is completed. Failed examinations may be retaken only once and the repeat is to be administered no later than the end of the fall semester during the academic year following the failure. Deviations from this protocol must be approved by ES faculty (ecology-track) at least six weeks prior to the examination.

4. Apply for admission to candidacy prior to attempting the oral defense of the dissertation research proposal. For admission to candidacy the student must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 for all graduate courses and have successfully completed the written qualifying examination. It is the student’s responsibility to initiate the application for candidacy. Forms are available from the Graduate School office.

5. Write a dissertation proposal and pass an oral defense thereof. The dissertation proposal should focus on the student’s research area and clearly present the hypothesis being tested, along with an appropriate discussion of background, significance and a detailed description of experimental design. The defense of the proposal will include, but not be restricted to, questions about the proposal and the student’s area of specialization and will be administered by the student’s advisory committee. The examination may be attempted twice and must be passed by the end of student’s third year in the program.

6. Complete the residency requirement of at least two consecutive semesters of full- time graduate study at the University of Toledo.

7. Complete at least one semester of teaching.

8. Complete a program of study in Ecology that is approved by the student’s advisory committee and the ES Department (ecology-track). A minimum of 90 semester hours of approved graduate course work is required by the Graduate School. Doctoral Program Plans may include 30 semester hours from a Master’s degree. Each program of study must include the following courses: Two semesters of statistics (EEES 8400 and a multivariate statistics course, such as EEES 6500), Foundations of Ecology (EEES 8600), 3 semester hours of seminar (EEES 8930) that include section 003, a selection of at least 12 credit hours of EEES courses (i.e., not EEES 8960/8990) at the 5000 level or above, and additional courses and research credits to meet minimum required number of semester hours.

9. Apply for graduation by the published deadline.

10. Complete a dissertation and successfully pass a dissertation defense. The student must present and successfully defend the dissertation before the advisory committee. Faculty are encouraged to attend and the examination is open to the university community. Notice of the examination must be posted at least one week prior to its scheduled time. The advisory committee by majority vote must approve the student’s dissertation and defense.

11. Submit two original, unbound and signed copies of the approved dissertation to the Graduate School and two, bound and signed copies to the ES Department no later than 30 days prior to graduation. The dissertation should be prepared in accordance with the format determined by the advisory committee and consistent with the guidelines presented in the “Handbook for Preparation of Graduate Dissertations, Projects, and Theses” issued by the Graduate School at the University of Toledo. In addition, each dissertation should contain a signature sheet requiring each member of the student’s advisory committee to certify the acceptability of the dissertation as partial fulfillment of the degree requirements. Approved “Notice of Thesis” and “Assurances of Compliance With Applicable Federal and State Regulations Governing Research” forms must be filed with the Graduate School at the time the student determines the nature of the research project.

Changes or waivers of these requirements may be recommended at any time by the research advisory committee of individual Ph.D. students. Such recommendations as well as any other changes or waivers in these requirements must be approved by a majority vote of the ES faculty (ecology-track).