The University of Toledo

1.  Choose a dissertation adviser (normally the ecology faculty member originally admitting the student) and a dissertation committee prior to the completion of the first year in the program. The committee will consist of at least five members including:
 
a. The dissertation adviser, 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. At least one member from outside the ES Department.

All members of the dissertation committee should hold a Ph.D. degree or the equivalent. The dissertation adviser must be a full member of UT's Graduate Faculty and the other UT committee members must have membership in the Graduate Faculty. Non-UT committee members must have the approval of the Department Chair and Dean of the College of Graduate Studies.

2.   Prepare a Doctoral Program Proposal (DPP) and secure departmental approval thereof prior to the first attempt at the written qualifying examination (for a copy of this form click here). The DPP must be signed by the student, dissertation adviser, Department Chair, A & S College Dean, and Dean of the College of Graduate Studies.

3.   Complete a program of study in ecology that is approved by the student's dissertation committee. A minimum of 90 credit hours of approved graduate course work is required by the College of Graduate Studies. Doctoral Program Plans may include 30 credit hours from a Master’s degree earned at UT or another accredited university if the coursework is of acceptable quality, appropriate to the student’s program, and approved by the dissertation committee and Dean of the College of Graduate Studies. Each program of study must include the following courses: two semesters of statistics (EEES 8400 and an advanced statistics course, such as EEES 8500 or EEES 8650), Foundations of Ecology (EEES 8600), one credit hour of Seminar (EEES 8930). Additionally, the program must include a selection of at least 12 credit hours of courses approved by the student's committee and the Graduate Advisor (excluding EEES 8960 and EEES 8990) at the 5000 level or above, and additional courses and research credits to meet the minimum required number of semester hours.

4.   Pass a written qualifying examination designed to evaluate the student’s capacity to complete his or her doctoral research. This examination may be administered at a time mutually agreed upon by the student and his or her dissertation 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 dissertation 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 committee. Each committee member's vote can take into account any section of the exam, not only the set of questions posed by that committee member. 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 the Graduate Affairs Committee at least six weeks prior to the examination.

5.   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 (on a 0-4.0 scale) for all graduate courses and have successfully completed the written qualifying examination. It is the student’s responsibility to initiate the application for candidacy. Any subsequent coursework must not drop the overall GPA below 3.0.

6.   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. It should be no more than 15 pages long, including figures and tables but not references. 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 dissertation committee. The defense may be attempted twice and must be passed by the end of student's third year in the program.

7.  File an approved 'Graduate Research Advisory Committee Approval and Assurances' form with the College of Graduate Studies before dissertation research commences.

8.  Complete the residency requirement of at least two consecutive semesters of full-time graduate study at UT.

9.  Complete at least one semester of teaching as an instructor in one or more of the following courses: EEES 1140 (Environmental Problems Lab), EEES 2150 and 2160 (Biodiversity Lecture and Lab, respectively), EEES 3100 (Surficial Geology), EEES 4740/5740/7740 (Aquatic Ecology Lab), and EEES 4800/5800 (Plant Physiological Ecology).

10. Meet with their dissertation committee (resident UT faculty members need only attend) at least once every academic year until graduation. The final committee meeting for the dissertation defense does not count as one of these meetings. It is the student's responsibility to initiate these meetings.

11. Prior to graduation, (1) submit a proposal for extramural funding to help support their research; (2) submit a manuscript on their research to a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal (this manuscript cannot be a product of previous MS work); (3) give either an oral or poster presentation on their research at a professional conference; and (4) make an oral presentation on their research at a scholarly forum [note that the same oral presentation may satisfy both items 3 and 4]. If the student is not the sole author of the journal manuscript or grant proposal, then he/she should be the first author and responsible for a majority of the writing. For the conference presentation, the student should be the presenter and not just a co-author on an abstract. It is not necessary for the manuscript to be accepted for publication or the grant to be funded at the time of graduation.

12. Apply for graduation before the deadline specified by the College of Graduate Studies.

13. Prepare a dissertation consisting of a written report on original independent research conducted by the student under the supervision of his or her advisory committee. The dissertation should be prepared in accordance with the format determined by the committee and consistent with the guidelines presented in the 'Handbook for Preparation of Graduate Dissertations, Projects, and Theses' issued by the College of Graduate Studies. In addition, each dissertation should contain a title page listing the student's advisory committee with the signatures of all committee members to certify the acceptability of the dissertation as partial fulfillment of the degree requirements.

14. Successfully pass an oral dissertation defense. In order for a defense to be scheduled, the student must complete the 'MS Thesis & PhD Dissertation Defense Request Form' at least one week prior to the defense date. This form requires the signed approval of all members of the dissertation committee as well as the departmental graduate adviser. By signing the form, committee members affirm that they have had an opportunity to read and comment upon the dissertation, and were provided with a copy of the dissertation draft that will be defended. Notice of the defense must be posted at least one week prior to its scheduled time. The student must present and successfully defend the dissertation before the dissertation committee. Faculty members and students are encouraged to attend, and the proceedings are open to the university community. The dissertation committee by majority vote must approve the student's dissertation and defense.

15. Submit three unbound and signed copies of the approved dissertation to the Graduate College and two unbound and signed copies and a pdf file to the ES Department by the last day of the semester in which the student wishes to graduate. All copies must be of identical high quality and content. In place of the three copies to the College of Graduate Studies, the student has the option of submitting one printed copy plus another electronic copy via Ohio Link (see the College of Graduate Studies for instructions).