graduate program : 
      about  student list  requirements  gsa  info and links 


Approved by the Faculty, April 11, 1994

This document serves as the official record of the requirements for graduate degrees in the department of Environmental Sciences. The Department generally offers two graduate degrees, the M.S. and the Ph.D.

M.S. PROGRAM

(1) Advisors - Upon arrival, each student will be assigned an advisor from his/her field of interest. This advisor may be replaced at any time by the student's choice for his or her research committee (major professor + at least two advisors from the department).

(2) Course Requirements - The Graduate School requires that each M.S. student complete at least 24 hours of coursework; in practice, most students accumulate more hours than the required. Courses offered under the same name and number and containing substantially the same material may be counted only once toward the coursework requirement for the Master's degree.

During each semester that a student is officially registered at the University of Virginia, he or she must be registered for a minimum of 12 hours of graduate credit; the 12 hours do not have to be in formal courses. Non-topical Research (EVSC 897- 898, 998-999) should be used to augment regular coursework to bring the total to 12 hours.

Undergraduate majors in Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia who desire to obtain a Master's degree in an accelerated program may petition the Dean of the Graduate School to count excess graduate level courses taken as an Undergraduate toward the graduate degree. Excess is defined as courses taken over and above the 120 hours required for the Bachelor's degree. All final decisions rest with the Dean; however, under no circumstances will courses be credited toward both the Bachelor's and Master's degrees.

(3) Area Requirements - All graduate students are required to take 4 courses - one from each of the disciplinary areas of the department, viz. Geology, Hydrology, Ecology, and Atmospheric Sciences. Any courses listed in the area at the 500-level shall meet this requirement (i.e. EVGE 5xx, EVHY 5xx, EVEC 5xx, EVAT 5xx). Courses offered in the EVSC-area or at the 700-level may be used to fulfill this requirement only with prior approval of the GARC. In addition, each student must register for EVSC 790-791, Department Seminar once during the Masters' candidacy (This course may be counted only once toward the M.S.). These requirements must be fulfilled prior to defense of the thesis.

(4) Committee Formation - Each student should form a permanent committee consisting of a major professor and at least two other department faculty at least one of whom must be from outside the student's area of specialization. Selection of individuals for this committee is dictated by the type of research to be conducted.

(5) Thesis Proposal - During, or as soon as possible after formation of the committee, preliminary discussions are held between the student and the committee members concerning the proposed research. This leads to a formal written proposal from the student including a literature review and experimental plan. After allowing the committee at least a week to read the proposal, an open meeting is held for the purpose of discussing the proposed research, making modifications, and, finally, approving the proposal. It is in the student's best interest to solicit committee input before the research is done.

(6) Thesis Defense - Clean, final copies of the thesis should be circulated to committee members at least two weeks prior to the defense. Announcements of the thesis defense should be circulated to all faculty and students one week before the defense. After the defense, suggested changes from the committee members and faculty should be made by the student under the major professor's supervision. Finally, the student must provide committee members with a final, clean copy of the thesis; the chairman receives a bound copy from the student. A copy of the signed title page should be deposited in the student's file to indicate successful completion and defense of the thesis.



Ph.D. Program

(1) Admission to Ph.D. Program for M.S. Students - A student getting an M.S. in our department who wishes to enter our Ph.D. program (either prior to or at the time of completion of the M.S. degree) must write a formal letter of application to the Admissions Committee stating that they want to enter the Ph.D. program and who their advisor would be. In addition, the M.S. committee of the student must write a letter in support of this request. All members of the committee must sign. If there is a member of the committee who does not think the student should enter the Ph.D. program, the letter should reflect this fact. Or, if the M.S. committee does not think a student should enter the Ph.D. program, the letter should state this fact. Upon receipt of the letter from the student and the letter from the student's M.S. committee, the Admissions Committee will take the appropriate action.

(2) Advisors - University of Virginia M.S. students continue to utilize their M.S. committee for course advice until a Ph.D. committee is formed. Students from other M.S. programs are assigned a temporary advisor as described earlier.

(3) Course Requirements - For the Doctor of Philosophy degree, a student must complete a minimum of 72 graduate credit hours including at least 54 credit hours in graduate courses other than Non-Topical Research (EVSC 897-898 or 998-999) and pay the tuition and fees associated with these courses. The 54 hours of coursework may be comprised of any combination of regularly scheduled courses or EVSC 993- 994: Research Problems. Part of the 54 hours will consist of the Core-Area Courses as described below. Students holding an M.S. from another graduate school, must complete at least 30 credit hours of graduate coursework other than non- topical research and pay the associated tuition and fees. Students who obtain their M.S. from the University of Virginia are normally allowed to count all graduate hours earned (except for Non-Topical Research) toward the Ph.D. In any event the M.S. plus Ph.D. hours must equal at least 54.

(4) Area Requirements - All Ph.D. students are required to fulfill the area requirement described in the M.S. program. In addition, Ph.D. candidates must pass one 700- level course in an area outside their area of specialization. For example, an ecology student could not use an EVEC 7xx course to fulfill this requirement. Use of EVSC 7xx courses may be appropriate, but approval of use of the course for this requirement from the GARC must be obtained before the fact.

(5) Committee Formation - The directive committee can be formed by the student at any time after entry and must be approved by the Graduate School. The committee consists of at least four faculty: three from the department (including one member of the department outside the student's area of specialization) and one Graduate Committee representative (from another department). Sometimes committee members (but not the Graduate School representative) may be chosen from other institutions (Note: this a graduate school rule that is sometimes interpreted differently by the Deans.)

(6) Comprehensive Examination - Within four semesters of entering the Ph.D. program, all Ph.D. candidates take a Comprehensive Examination. This examination consists of a written examination created by the student's committee (possibly in collaboration with other faculty members whose expertise is needed) administered over a 2-day period followed by an oral examination. The written examination is based in part on the student's coursework and in part on the general background that the committee thinks is necessary to address specifically the proposed area of the dissertation research. The aim of the examination is to require students to review all prior coursework, to test their ability to synthesize and interpret information in the critical intellectual fashion expected of Ph.D. candidates, and to judge the aptitude of the candidate for carrying out original scientific research. Copies of the examination questions along with the candidate's answers will be placed in the student's department file. Oral examinations normally will be scheduled within two weeks of the written examination. Oral examinations are open to all faculty but they are not normally open to other students. The examinations will be held at a convenient time during the year for the committee and the student and preferably should not be held during regular examination periods. An announcement must be distributed at least one week prior to the oral examination. The results of the written and oral examination will be announced immediately following the oral exam. The results will be pass, conditional pass, or fail. A conditional pass is accepted to mean pass, providing the student subsequently demonstrates elimination of inadequacies by means stipulated by the committee. In the event of a failure, the committee may elect to allow a single repetition of the examination.

(7) Dissertation Proposal - This consists of a written document circulated to the student's committee at least a week prior to the oral presentation. The latter is open to any student or faculty who wishes to attend. (See comments under M.S. thesis proposal.)

(8) Seminar - All candidates for the Ph.D. are required to deliver a Department-level seminar on the results of their thesis work sometime before the dissertation defense. The degree will not be conferred until this obligation is met.

(9) Dissertation Defense - (See comments under M.S. thesis defense.) This defense cannot be held within four months of presentation of the dissertation proposal. Because publication of research results is an important professional activity, conference of the Ph.D. will be approved by the department only after a manuscript arising from the thesis has been accepted as suitable for submission for publication by the committee at the time of the thesis defense. It is understood that the manuscript is to be submitted for publication as soon as possible.

NOTE: Questions or problems concerning application of the regulations to specific student programs should be directed to the GARC chairman or your advisor.

wsb4q@virginia.edu