Ph.D. Degree Requirements | Academic Programs

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The Ph.D. program at Michigan State University is designed to develop the student's ability to conduct original research. As such, the program fosters:

understanding of scientific inquiry;
knowledge of the structure of the Geographic discipline, its history, issues, methods and trends;
depth of knowledge in an area of specialization, including an understanding of important research questions;
proficiency in appropriate analytical and technical skills;
skills in communicating the results of research.

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Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree

Ph.D. students whose Master's degree is in a field other than Geography must have completed a course in (1) physical geography, (2) human geography, (3) quantitative methods, and (4) an introductory 'tool' course (e.g., cartography, GIS, remote sensing). If these courses were not been taken previously, they must be taken while in the degree program at MSU. In addition students seeking the Ph.D in Geography must:

Complete at least 56 credits in the courses and areas listed below.
Courses below the 400 level may not be counted toward the 56 credit requirement for the Ph.D. degree, but may be used to fulfill tool course requirements (see below). Ph.D. students may count no more than six credits of coursework in independent study or research problems toward their degree. Geography courses covered under this requirement include, but are not limited to, GEO 490, 492, 495, 890, and 892. The exception is when these course numbers are used for new courses.
Complete:

Two seminars in Geography	6
GEO 886 - Research Design in Geography	3
GEO 986 - Theory and Methods in Geography	3
At least one advanced-level tool course (see below)	3+
Electives (may include GEO 825 and 865)	Min. 15
GEO 999 - Doctoral Dissertation Research	24
Total	56

Pass the comprehensive examination, (see below).
Present and defend a written dissertation proposal before the Department (see below).
Complete a dissertation (see below).
Present a research paper or poster, approved by the advisor, at a professional meeting. This requirement must be met prior to the awarding of the degree.
Submit an authored or co-authored manuscript, approved by the advisor, for publication in a book or referred journal. This requirement must be met prior to the awarding of the degree.
Pass an oral examination in defense of the dissertation.

Tool Courses:

Eight credits in a foreign language, appropriate for and pertinent to, the dissertation research, and/or in appropriate research techniques, are required as tool courses. Acceptance of foreign language as a tool requires the student to pass a competency examination. Approval of the language courses and the level of proficiency is determined by the student's Guidance Committee; the Committee may confer with a faculty member in the department offering the courses for guidance on the issue of language competency. Generally, the tool course must advance the level of competency, via coursework, while in the MSU Ph.D. program. Research techniques used to satisfy the tool requirement must be in the fields of cartography, GIS, remote sensing, computer science, statistics, mathematics, or social or physical science research methods. Coursework in combinations of these areas is permitted. Tool courses taken to satisfy deficiencies (see above) may not also be used to fulfill the tool course requirement for the Ph.D. program.

Ph.D. students whose Master's degree is in Geography from MSU may count one tool course they successfully completed (grade > 3.0) in their MA/MS program toward the eight credits of tools required in their Ph.D. program of study. The credits from this course cannot, however, be counted toward the 56 needed for graduation (see above).

New Comprehensive Examination

The comprehensive exam tests a student's mastery of geographical subject matter, knowledge of related geographic literature, and an understanding of research theory and methodology. It is recommended that students complete their comprehensive examination by the end of their 6th semester in the Ph.D. program. This examination consists of both a written and oral component.

Written portion:
The questions for the exam will be formulated by the student's Advisor and Guidance Committee. The length of the written examination will be no fewer than 2 days, and no more than 3 days (8 hours maximum per day).

The written examination must be taken on consecutive days. Questions for each day will be provided only on that day and not before. The Guidance Committee will determine the mechanics of the examination, e.g. open or closed book, use of computer with access to the internet, use of a personal vs. a departmental computer. These mechanics will apply to the entirety of the written examination and must be clearly communicated to the student via 'Ph.D. Form 3. This form is to be signed by all members of the committee and turned in to the Graduate Secretary four weeks prior to the examination. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that legible copies of his/her responses to the exam questions are made available to all members of the Guidance Committee. The Department shall be notified of the examination at least at least one week before it is taken.
Oral portion:
The oral examination, like the written, examination, will broadly examine the student's general knowledge in geography and their field(s) of specialization, together with related theory, methodology, literature, and research. The oral examination, not to exceed 4 hours, is also an opportunity for the student to defend his or her answers to the questions in the written test, and for faculty to examine the student further should some responses to the written examination need clarification. Under no circumstances should the oral comprehensive examination focus on the student's dissertation proposal; the proposal defense is a separate examination (see below). The oral examination will be taken within two academic calendar months of the written exam (August 15-May 15) but cannot occur until the student has advanced to this portion of the exam (see below).

Notice of the oral examination will be given to the Department at least one week in advance of the date of the examination. All Geography faculty may attend and participate in the oral examination by notifying the student, their Advisor, and the Guidance Committee. 48 hours in advance of the examination date. Geography graduate students may attend with permission of the student being examined.
Assessment of the Comprehensive Examination:
After the student completes the written examination, their Guidance Committee will decide whether the student should 1) advance, or 2) not advance, to the oral portion of the examination. A decision to advance reflects that the Guidance Committee judges that the student satisfactorily responded to the questions on the examination or that concerns regarding the responses could potentially be addressed during the oral portion of the examination. The student will be considered as having 'advanced to the oral examination' provided that no more than one member of the Guidance Committee votes not to advance. The Guidance Committee will officially notify the student and the Graduate Secretary of their decision within ten working days from the date when the written examination answers were given to the Guidance Committee. Decisions to advance the student on portions of the examination are not permitted. Prior to evaluating the student's answers to the written examination, the Guidance Committee will agree as to which members will evaluate which answers. The Advisor will then inform the student of the Guidance Committee's decision regarding the outcome of their written examination. If the answers to the written examination are not considered to be adequate for advancement, the written examination may be repeated but not more than once. Scheduling of the 'retake' of the written examination is left to the Advisor and the Guidance Committee, but should not exceed one year from the date of the original written examination. After the examination, regardless of outcome, a copy of all questions and the student's responses to them will be placed in the student's departmental file. The questions the student was asked will be kept in a file of comprehensive examination questions. This file will be maintained by the Graduate Secretary and may be consulted by Graduate students upon request.

The Guidance Committee will meet immediately after the oral examination to determine whether 1) the comprehensive examination has been passed in full, 2) the oral exam has to be retaken, or 3) the entire exam (oral and written) must be retaken. The student will be considered as having 'passed' the Comprehensive Examination provided that no more than one member of the Guidance Committee votes to fail on either portion of the examination. If the student does not perform satisfactorily on the oral portion of the examination, this portion of the examination may be repeated only once. Scheduling of the 'retake' of the oral examination is left to the Advisor and the Guidance Committee, but should not exceed one year from the date of the original oral examination. Under no circumstances should there be a modification of the format of the examination (e.g. a student being asked to write further essays of clarification).

At the completion of the oral examination, Guidance Committee members must sign the Record of Comprehensive Examination Form ('Ph.D. Form 4') indicating pass or fail for the written and the oral portions of the examination.

The comprehensive examination needs to be passed before the student can progress to the Proposal Defense (#10 below).

Please note:
1. The entire examination needs to be retaken if a student switches Advisor after the comprehensive exam has been taken.
2. The comprehensive examination expires if no further progress is made towards the degree (p. 19).

Dissertation Proposal

The student must prepare a written dissertation proposal in consultation with the Guidance Committee. The content of the proposal will be orally presented and defended before the Guidance Committee and other interested faculty and graduate students by the end of the student's fifth semester. The primary purpose of the proposal presentation and defense is to facilitate high-quality dissertation research by providing a forum for student-faculty interaction on this critical part of the student's Ph.D. work. The session gives the student access to evaluation of the research by the committee, other faculty, and students. At least two weeks before the presentation, copies of the written proposal must be made available to each member of the committee and to the Graduate Secretary for distribution. It is the responsibility of the student to insure that copies of the proposal are made available by the deadline.

A time for the proposal defense should be selected that will allow for a minimum of scheduling conflicts. The room selected should be large enough to seat the bulk of the GEO faculty and graduate students. Scheduling proposal defenses over spring break or during finals week is discouraged. Two hours will be allowed for the presentation and subsequent questioning. An initial uninterrupted presentation of the proposed research should be 20-30 minutes in length. All faculty and students, including those who do not wish to remain for the full question period, are encouraged to attend this initial presentation. The question session that follows will be moderated by the major professor, and normally all Guidance Committee members will actively participate. However, all persons attending may ask questions and offer comments. Following the session, the student's Guidance Committee will meet to determine whether the proposal must be revised and presented again. A student may present and defend a proposal only twice.

When approved by the student's committee, the proposal becomes a written understanding that sets forth the committee's expectations and the student's obligations. A dissertation that deviates significantly from the approved proposal may be found unsatisfactory. Students can contact the University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (UCRIHS) before beginning any research that involves Human Subjects. If you are dealing with Human Subjects in any way you must gain approval from this committee before starting your research.

If chemical or biological hazards are involved, proper safety measures must be employed.
Reference http://www.orcbs.msu.edu/

The Dissertation

The dissertation must be written documentation of research that makes an original contribution to knowledge. The research is performed under the guidance of the major professor and the Guidance Committee and must be acceptable to them. The student, however, is responsible for the quality and design of the research, including any field work, statistical analysis, and graphics. The dissertation must be organized, typed, duplicated, and bound according to regulations prescribed in the Graduate School Guide to the Preparation of Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations. An abstract not exceeding 600 words must be included.

Not later than six weeks before the end of the last semester and at least three weeks before the final oral examination, the student is required to submit the dissertation and abstract to the major professor, members of the Guidance Committee, Graduate Secretary, and the Dean of the College of Social Science. The Graduate Secretary must be notified at least 3 weeks prior to the final oral examination so that required paperwork can be completed. The student should, however, check the appropriate MSU Schedule of Courses and Academic Handbook for exact deadlines. The dissertation must be in completed form, typed with complete illustrative material and acceptable to the major professor. At this stage, it should be bound only by spiral, or other loose types, of binding.

The final oral examination in defense of the dissertation will be conducted and evaluated by the Guidance Committee, which may be supplemented with a Dean's Representative appointed by the Dean of the College of Social Science. Other interested faculty and students may attend and participate but not vote. According to University guidelines, both the dissertation and the student's performance on the oral defense must be approved by a positive vote of at least 75% of the voting examiners, and with not more than one dissenting vote among the MSU regular faculty members of the Guidance Committee. At least two weeks advance notice of the examination (and availability of the completed dissertation) will be given to all faculty.

Before being questioned by members of the committee, the candidate will present an uninterrupted, professional oral summary of the dissertation that shall be no more than 30 minutes in length. An oral examination period shall follow. Three hours will be allocated for the entire dissertation defense. Following its conclusion, the Examination Committee will decide whether the candidate has defended the dissertation satisfactorily. The student will be considered as having "passed" the Dissertation Defense provided that no more than one member of the Examination Committee (Guidance Committee plus, where provided, the Dean's representative) votes to fail. If the student fails the defense, it may be repeated, but no sooner than three months from the time of failure, and not more than once.

After the Guidance Committee has reviewed and approved the dissertation and the student has passed the oral defense, the student should incorporate into the dissertation recommended changes and corrections before having it permanently bound. One copy of the abstract must be bound with the dissertation. One bound copy of the dissertation and abstract be provided to the Department for its possession. Not later than two weeks before commencement the student must submit to the Office of the Graduate School one unbound copy of the dissertation and abstract. The student should, however, check the appropriate MSU Schedule of Courses and Academic Handbook for exact deadlines for submission of the dissertation. Students should also consult the Graduate School Guide to the Preparation of Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations for further information on preparing and submitting the dissertation.

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Calendar of Progress Toward the Ph.D. Degree

Middle of second semester	Advisor chosen
End of second semester	Guidance Committee chosen Guidance Committee Program Report on file
End of sixth semester	Comprehensive Examination completed Dissertation Proposal defended

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Academic Advising and Committee Structure for Doctoral Students

The Department of Geography is committed to the policy that graduate students have a right to the best advice regarding program planning, research, selection of courses and faculty, and general degree requirements, with the understanding that students are responsible for consulting their advisors before making program decisions.

Incoming Ph.D. students are assigned to the Graduate Program Coordinator until an advisor is selected by the student. The student's advisor shall be selected no later than the middle of the second semester following entry into the program. The advisor shall be a member of the Geography regular faculty with a Ph.D. in Geography.

The doctoral program Guidance Committee consists of at least four regular Michigan State University faculty. The professor with whom the student works most closely is known as the major professor or advisor. Generally, the major professor is the chairperson of the student's Guidance Committee and the dissertation advisor. The additional members of the Guidance Committee are chosen by the student in consultation with the major professor. Members may be from an academic unit other than Geography but at least half of the committee must be composed of faculty from Geography. The composition of the committee must be approved by the Chairperson of the Department and reported to the Graduate Secretary and the Dean of the College of Social Science. Persons eligible to serve as Guidance Committee members include all regular Michigan State University faculty and, in some cases, emeritus faculty. Persons who are Specialists and Administrative Professionals may be included on the Committee but do not count toward the minimum of four (or more) members required. They are, in essence, 'extras.' Changes in the constitution of the committee must be approved by the Department Chairperson and the Associate Chairperson, and a Doctoral Program Changes form must be submitted to the Graduate Secretary. The Guidance Committee should be formed no later than the end of the second semester following entry into the program.

Ph.D. students changing from an advisor who has already been designated and approved must first convene a meeting of the current and prospective advisors and the Graduate Supervisor to discuss the matter. The student shall be responsible for finding a meeting time and place that is convenient for all the above persons. The Department Chairperson shall be notified of this meeting, by the student, at least 5 days in advance.

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