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CONTENTS
Basic Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree
This schedule summarizes the requirements and due dates for the Ph.D. degree. Students
who have not completed requirements or submitted required forms to the
Graduate Secretary by the due dates may be dropped from the program. All
students who are on visas must be registered for at least nine credit
hours of coursework in every semester (excluding summer), including
their final semester, unless they receive permission from the
Department Graduate Committee prior to the beginning of the semester.
| |
Requirement |
Process |
Due Date |
| Supervisory Committee |
5 members
The
chair of the committee must be a regular ECE faculty member; the
majority of the members must be ECE faculty; at least one member must
be from outside the department |
Submit a Request for Supervisory Committee form to the ECE Office |
Full time: drop deadline of second semester of study
Part time*: drop deadline of third semester of study |
| Program of Study |
At least 42 semester hours of coursework beyond B.S. degree, 4 hours of graduate seminar, and 36 hours of research
Students
with a previous Master's degree will receive credit for 30 hours of
coursework and 2 hours of graduate seminar toward the Ph.D.; these
students must take at least 12 hours of coursework, 36 hours of
research, and 2 hours of graduate seminar for their Ph.D. program
(supervisory committees may require more coursework).
|
Submit a form Program of Study for the Ph.D. Degree (Part 1 and Part 2) to the ECE Office |
Full time: drop deadline of second semester of study
Part time*: drop deadline of third semester of study |
| Amendment to Program of Study |
|
Submit an Amendment to Planned Program of Study form to the ECE Office for approval prior to registering for added courses |
Changes must be made before an added class is taken; classes cannot be dropped after they have been completed
|
| SPEAK Test |
Yes |
Contact Testing Center to make arrangements; requires request form from Graduate Secretary |
Drop deadline of second semester of study |
| Proficiency Requirement |
Yes Must satisfy the ECE proficiency requirement |
Submit a form Fulfillment of Proficiency Requirements to the ECE Office |
Full time: drop deadline of third semester of study
Part time*: drop deadline of fourth semester of study
|
| Residency Requirement |
At least one year (two consecutive semesters) of full-time academic work; a full load is 9 credit hours |
|
|
| Qualifying Exam |
Yes |
Make arrangements with Graduate Secretary during first week of semester in which exam is taken |
During second semester of study |
|
Research Comprehensive Exam
(Dissertation Proposal) |
Yes Pass
a Research Comprehensive Exam administered by the supervisory committee
(including defense of a written formal dissertation proposal) |
Notify the Graduate Secretary in the ECE Office at least one week prior to the date of the exam |
No later than fifth semester of study (may not be taken in the same semester as the dissertation defense) |
| Dissertation |
Yes
At
least 36 hours of thesis research
|
|
|
| Dissertation Final Exam |
Yes |
Notify the Graduate Secretary in the ECE Office at least one week prior to the date of the exam |
Defend
the dissertation at the end of coursework requirements; the defense
must be done at least two semesters after the comprehensive exam |
*Please note that international students must be full-time students.
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Supervisory Committee
The Ph.D. supervisory committee consists of five faculty members. At
least three of the committee members must be regular ECE faculty
members, and at least one must be from outside the ECE Department. The
committee conducts the student's written and oral Qualifying
Examinations, the Research Comprehensive Examination, and the
dissertation defense.
Each student forms a supervisory committee whose members guide the
student's graduate program. Students must form this committee by the
beginning of the second semester of study.
Any regular Electrical & Computer Engineering faculty member may
serve as a supervisory committee chair. After the faculty members have
agreed to serve on a supervisory committee, the student should file a
completed Request for Supervisory Committee form with the Graduate Secretary in the ECE Office. A committee may be revised, if necessary, by submitting a Request to Change Supervisory Committee Personnel
form.The Graduate Committee approves all supervisory committee forms;
final approval is granted by the Dean of the Graduate School.
Faculty outside of the ECE Department may supervise a student, but
the student must have a regular ECE faculty member serve as
co-chair. Individuals who are not faculty members may serve on a
supervisory committee if approved by the supervisory committee chair
and the Graduate Committee. A current vita for any non-university
member must be submitted with the Supervisory Committee form.
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Program of Study
After consulting with the approved supervisory
committee chair, the student must plan a program of study and complete
and submit the Program of Study for the Ph.D. Degree form (Part 1 and Part 2).
Approval signatures of the supervisory committee
members are to be obtained by the student. Completed and signed
forms must be submitted to the Graduate Secretary in the ECE Office by
the drop deadline of the second semester of study. After approval
of the Department Graduate Committee, the program of study is submitted
to the Graduate School for their approval.
The program of study must be filed prior to taking the Qualifying Exam and the Comprehensive Exam (dissertaion proposal).
Ph.D. Program Requirements
-
All coursework is to be completed within seven consecutive calendar years.
-
Coursework listed on the program of study must consist of:
- A minimum of 42 hours of graduate courses (5000 level or above)
beyond the B.S. degree, in engineering and allied fields.
Students with a prior Master's degree will receive credit for 30 hours
of coursework and must take at least 12 hours of coursework for their
Ph.D. coursework hours (supervisory committees may require more
coursework hours).
- 4 semesters of Graduate Seminar (ECE 6900, 6910, 7900, and 7910) or
2 semesters of Graduate Seminar (ECE 7900, 7910) for students with a
prior Master's degree.
- At least 36 semester hours of thesis research (ECE 7970).
-
The 42 hours of required coursework may not include faculty consultation or thesis research.
-
Ph.D. students may take up to three semester hours of
ECE 7950 (Special Studies) which will count toward the required 42
coursework hours. If a student has taken three hours of Special Studies
for their Master's degree, they may not take more hours of Special
Studies for their Ph.D. degree. Students cannot register for
Special Studies
without prior permission from the Graduate Committee.
Permission is obtained by completing and filing the Special Studies
Request form with the Graduate Secretary. The general guidelines state
that for every hour of credit, a course generally requires two hours of
study per week outside of class. Therefore, it will be understood that
for every credit hour of Special Studies, the student will be expected
to spend three hours per week on the activity. Special studies courses
from other departments cannot be used for the program of study. Special Studies may not include the material of any class taught by the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department.
All students who are on visas must be registered for at
least nine credit hours of coursework in every semester (excluding
summer) unless they receive permission from the Department Graduate
Committee prior to the beginning of the semester.
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Amendment to Planned Program of Study
Modifications to the Program of Study may be made by filing an Amendment to Planned Program of Study
form with the supervisory committee and obtaining required approval
before enrollment in any added courses. Completed courses cannot
be deleted from the program of study. Credit towards obtaining a degree
will not be granted for classes taken prior to approval of the form,
unless the student is changing degree status.
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Coursework Guideline Criteria
- A minimum GPA of 3.0 on coursework listed on the program of study
with no grade lower than C- is required for graduation. A student
who receives a grade lower than C- in a course listed on the program of
study must repeat that same course and receive a higher grade. Courses cannot be deleted from the program of study after they are taken.
-
The coursework to be taken for the Ph.D. degree is
decided and must be approved by the student’s supervisory committee.
The 42 hours of required courses are not to include faculty
consultation (ECE 7980) or thesis hours (ECE 7970).
-
Coursework cannot be used for more than one degree on the same level.
-
A course taken for 5000-level credit cannot be taken again for 6000-level credit.
-
Cross-listed courses must be registered through the ECE course numbers.
-
Where a course has both a 5000- and 6000-level
number, the 5000-level version is intended for undergraduates and the
6000-level version for honors and graduate students. The two versions
of the class will meet together, but extra work will be expected of
honors and graduate students.
-
Students may only register for thesis research after they have set up a supervisory committee.
-
No Graduate Seminar course (ECE 6900, 6910, 7900,
7910) may be taken more than once to satisfy the requirement.
Each seminar course has different requirements and may not be
substituted for each other.
-
Students who receive an “Incomplete” grade in a class
must complete the class by the following semester, even if the semester
is the summer semester.
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Examinations
Students must be registered for at least three credit hours in the semester in which they take an exam. The Research Comprehensive Exam and Final Oral Exam (oral dissertation defense) may not be done during the same semester. The defense must be done at least two semesters after the comprehensive exam.
Ph.D. Qualifying Examination
All Ph.D. students must pass a Qualifying Examination,
as specified by the Graduate School. The Qualifying Exam consists of a
written part and an oral part. Students must take the Qualifying
Examination during the second semester of study.
Procedure:
- During the first semester, the candidate forms a supervisory
committee and discusses his/her field of study with the primary advisor.
- During the second semester, the Graduate Secretary solicits one
paper from the research literature from each member of the supervisory
committee.
- Eight weeks prior to the oral exam, the candidate chooses three of
the five papers to study. The candidate submits the written summary
within six weeks (four weeks in summer). The summary will then be distributed to the
supervisory committee, and the candidate schedules the oral exam.
- The candidate then has the oral examination. Based upon the written
summary and oral examination, the committee will recommend Pass, Fail,
or, in exceptional cases, Retry. In the event of a second chance, the
candidate must repeat the process the following semester, even if that
semester is summer.
In both the written component and the oral presentation, the
candidate must address the following points for each study paper: (1)
the methods, results, and significance of the paper; (2) the
completeness of the paper and what follow-on research could be
performed; and (3) the relationship of the paper to the candidate’s
intended field of study.
In the oral exam, in addition to the items covered in the written
summary, the candidate should be prepared to answer questions from the
committee specific to the papers and in the general field of study.
Research Comprehensive Examination (Dissertation Proposal)
Ph.D. candidates must take a Research Comprehensive Examination
(dissertation proposal) to be administered by their supervisory
committee at a time determined by that committee, but no later than the
fifth semester of study.
The candidate writes a proposal on their research in the NSF or NIH
format which would include only the technical proposal and the vita
sections. The page limit for the proposal should be 15 pages for
Ph.D. students.
The choice of which format to use would be based
on the area of research. The faculty advisor would help the
student choose. The following are the links to the NSF and NIH
websites for their format information.
NSF Grant Proposal Guide
NIH Grants
This
proposal should be submitted to the members of the candidate's
supervisory committee at least two weeks before the comprehensive
exam.
Students must notify the ECE Graduate Secretary at least one week
before they are going to take the Research Comprehensive Examination.
Dissertation Defense
The Final Oral Examination (oral dissertation defense) is conducted
by the supervisory committee according to Graduate School
regulations. A student will be passed only if the committee is
satisfied that the dissertation research and documentation are
unquestionably of the quality that will bring distinction to the
candidate and the department. The committee may request further
work of the candidate before a final decision is made.
All students must understand that they are responsible for
ensuring that the submitted dissertation meets the requirements of the
Graduate School for proper format. Ample help is available from the Graduate School Thesis and Dissertation Editor in the form of a Style and Format Guide as well as seminars. Dissertations with improper format will be rejected.
The student must provide the ECE Graduate Secretary with the
following information at least one week before the date of the
dissertation defense: the defense date and time, room, and a copy
of the abstract and title of the dissertation. A “Report of the
Final Oral Examination for the Ph.D. Degree” form will be completed by
the ECE Graduate Secretary for approval signatures during the defense,
and the Graduate Secretary will submit the form to the Graduate School.
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Dissertation Requirements
The supervisory committee must give preliminary approval of the
dissertation prior to the defense. The defense can be scheduled
after this approval. The student must provide one copy of the
dissertation to the chair of the supervisory committee at least three
weeks before the defense, and one copy to each of the other committee
members at least two weeks prior to the defense.
After successfully defending the dissertation, the student must obtain
approval by having their committee members sign the Supervisory
Committee Approval and Final Reading Approval forms. The student
should prepare at least three copies of each form on thesis paper. The forms are submitted to the Graduate
Secretary for the Department Chair’s signature. The student must then
submit the forms to the Thesis Editor with a draft of the final dissertation.
The due date of the final dissertation to the
Thesis Editor may be found at http://www.utah.edu/graduate_school/thesisoffice.html.
Detailed policies and procedures concerning the dissertation are contained in A Handbook for Theses and Dissertations published by the Graduate School.
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Ph.D. Forms
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