PhD Requirements
Minimum Requirements for the PHD Degree
Graduate College (this section is excerpted from A Handbook for Graduate Students and Advisors, a publication of the Graduate College.
1. Credit and Residence: Doctoral programs are divided into 3 stages as described below and must include a minimum of 96 credit hours. At least 64 of the credit hours, which may include thesis credit, must be earned as resident credit in courses meeting on the Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, or Springfield campus, or in courses meeting in other locations approved by the Graduate College.
Stage I. The master's degree or its equivalent: The equivalent is at least 32 credit hours at this University or 32 semester hours (or 48 quarter hours) of acceptable graduate work at another university. Each department has a procedure for evaluating a student's progress toward the doctorate. This evaluation, whether by examination or other formal review, should take place no later than the end of the second year after a student enters the doctoral program. The evaluation results in a decision as to whether or not a student is making satisfactory progress. This decision should be communicated in writing to the student.
Stage II. One or more additional years devoted to course work and research in preparation for the preliminary examination, and fulfillment of any special departmental requirements not yet satisfied. Passing the preliminary doctoral examination and completing any special departmental requirements marks the end of Stage II.
Stage III. Research and other activities culminating in an approved dissertation and final oral examination. Continuous registration, excluding summer sessions, should be maintained until a student has completed the credit requirement for the doctoral degree. Registration in 599 is also required for the term in which a student takes the final examination regardless of when the thesis will be deposited in the Graduate College or when the degree will be conferred. For this purpose only, "term" is defined as extending through the day prior to the first day of the following term.
2. Time Limits : Doctoral candidates normally must complete
all requirements within seven years of first registering in the Graduate
College. A candidate for the doctoral degree who has received a master's
degree elsewhere, however, must complete the requirements within six
years of first registration in the doctoral degree program on this campus.
If more than five years elapse between a student's preliminary and final
examinations, the student will be required to demonstrate that his or
her knowledge is current by passing a second preliminary examination
which is a prerequisite for admission to the final/dissertation examination.
3. Other: Procedures regarding preliminary and final examination and
dissertation preparation are provided in the Handbook.
Department
In addition to the above listed requirements set forth by the Graduate College, students wishing to earn their PhD degree within the Department of Veterinary Biosciences must meet the following requirements:
1. Courses required of all PhD students. The following courses or their approved equal are required:
a) MCB 450, Introduction Biochemistry, 3 credit hours (fall only) or
MCB 452 Biochemsitry, 3 credit hours and/or
MCB 501 Advanced Biochemistry, 3 credit hours (spring only)b) PATH 524, Biostatistics, 4 credit hours, or
Crop Science 440, Applied Statistical Methods, 4 credit hoursc) PATH 591, Design and Analysis of Biomedical Experiments, 4 credit hours), or
PATH 525, Statistical Techniques in Epidemiological Research, 4 credit hours, or
Crop Science 540, Design and Analysis of Biological Experiments, 4 credit hoursd) Veterinary Biosciences 590-Seminar, 1 credit hour. Prospectus and Thesis defense required. Seminar presentations to the department are encouraged; and may be repeated for credit.
2. Limited VB 592 credit hours. A limit of 12 credit hours is placed on VB 592 or equivalent courses. This limit includes such credits accrued during the MS degree.
3. Language requirement for international students whose first language is not English. Any language requirements must be completed before a student will be permitted to take the prospectus part of the preliminary examination.
a) Students whose first language is not English are required to take the English Placement Test administered by the Division of English as a Second Language (ESL). These students satisfy the Language Requirement when they have successfully completed all courses that are
1) Required by the Division of ESL, and
2) Required by the student's Graduate Advisory Committee.4. Selection of the Preliminary Examination Committee. The preliminary examination committee is selected by the student and his or her major advisor and/or research advisor,
and in accordance with the requirements and procedures noted in Appendix A of this document (also see Handbook; Section VII.7.). The committee membership may be the same as that of the Advisory Committee.5. The Preliminary Examination. This examination is composed of two phases: 1) a written and oral comprehensive examination phase, and 2) a written and oral research prospectus phase, in order. Both phases of the preliminary exam must be completed before the results of the Preliminary Examination are forwarded to the Graduate College. It is expected that both phases of this Examination will be completed in a timely fashion, and that no more than four (4) months will elapse between the two phases of this Examination.
The written and oral comprehensive examination must be taken prior to the beginning of the third year following entry into the PhD program. Both phases of this examination must be successfully completed, and a result of "Pass" sent to the Graduate College (see Attachment E, this document) prior to the initiation of formal thesis research. (Students commonly perform some preliminary work to determine the feasibility of their research projects.)
a) The Written and Oral Comprehensive Examination Phase. This phase of the preliminary examination should test the student's broad base of knowledge in his or her chosen discipline and area of endeavor.
1) The Written Exam. The major advisor will solicit written questions from each member of the Preliminary Examination Committee. A member may elect not to submit written questions. The written portion of the examination should be administered in such a time frame that the results of the examination could be returned to the student at least one week (five (5) working days) prior to the oral portion of the examination.
2) The Oral Exam. Student's Preliminary Examination Committee will administer the oral portion of the examination.
b) The Written and Oral Research Prospectus Phase. The student, with the assistance of his or her major advisor, research advisor and Preliminary Examination Committee, should define the boundaries of the doctoral research effort and incorporate these into a prospectus. The student to determine the feasibility of certain research projects, or to help define those boundaries may have performed some preliminary work. At the discretion of the major advisor, some, or all, of this preliminary work may be incorporated into the prospectus. The student's Preliminary Examination Committee will approve the research prospectus before formal thesis research is initiated. The Prospectus is an agreement between the Department and the student. Thus, once the Prospectus is approved, changes in it can be made only through the procedures specified below.
1) The Written Prospectus. The student will submit a written research prospectus describing the proposed thesis research to his or her major advisor and to each member of his or her Preliminary Examination Committee. The Prospectus should be given to the advisor and the Committee members at least two weeks (ten (10) working days) prior to the time of the Oral Prospectus (see below). The format of the prospectus should be established by the advisor and the other Preliminary Examination Committee members, but should contain (as a minimum) the following sections:
a. Review of Literature
b. Hypothesis or Hypotheses
c. Rationale
d. Research Methods
e. Budget
2) The Oral Prospectus. The prospectus will be presented orally, in the manner of a seminar, to the graduate committee. This portion of the preliminary examination will be open to the public, and all veterinary students, faculty and graduate students will be invited to attend.
3) Making Changes to an Approved Prospectus. Changes are classified as "minor" or "major." All changes are to be approved before the research is conducted.
4) Minor Changes: These changes may affect an aim or hypothesis, in full or in part. A written letter that justifies the change, and that describes anticipated effects of the change on specific aims and/or hypotheses must accompany these changes. The letter is to be signed by the major advisor and student and sent to the Director of Graduate Studies, who will either approve the proposed changes as "minor" or require that the procedure for making "major" changes be followed.
5) Major Changes: These changes require a formal meeting of the student's Advisory Committee also attended by the Director of Graduate Studies, or an appropriate representative appointed for that purpose by the Department Head. "Major" changes may require that the student give another seminar to the Department. Examples of "major" changes are; deletion or replacement of approved aims and/or hypotheses, insertion of new aims and/or hypotheses, substantive changes in approved protocols, especially if these have the potential for increasing the time necessary to complete the research. Based on recommendations of a meeting of the student's Advisory Committee, and a seminar, if so required, the Director of Graduate Studies will advise the Department Head regarding the rendering of a written decision for acceptance of the proposed amendments to the Prospectus.
7. Teaching requirements. Regardless of the source of financial support, each PhD student shall acquire some teaching experience.
The minimum teaching experience may be acquired by
1) Assisting in the laboratory of a 3-hour course for one semester.
2) Preparing and delivering a minimum of four (4) lecture/lecture discussions of different content.3) Preparing and delivering a minimum of four (4) seminars of differing content.
4) Assist as a tutor for one (1) semester in a course
5) Any combination of the above.
8. Completion of an approved thesis on original research. The thesis must present the results in enough detail so that a professional who was not involved with the research can confirm the results. Generally this requirement can be met by providing; graphs, tables, and data representative of those used in the analyses reported and discussed in the thesis. Furthermore, because both the MS and PhD degrees require a candidate to demonstrate original thinking, a concluding chapter of the thesis should state and develop hypotheses for studies that should be carried out as a follow-up to the work presented in the thesis, or that would advance the state of knowledge in the discipline.
9. Selection of the Final/Dissertation Examination Committee. The Final Examination Committee is selected by the student and his or her major advisor and/or research advisor, and in accordance with the requirements and procedures noted in Appendix A of this document (see also Handbook; Section VII.7.). The committee membership may be the same as that of the Advisory Committee.
10. Final/Dissertation Examination. The Final/Dissertation Examination (the thesis defense) consists of an oral defense of the dissertation by the candidate. In part, this will include a presentation of the thesis research in a departmental seminar. Results of this examination are reported as "Pass", "Fail", or "Decision Deferred" (see Attachment F, this document). A minimum of one (1) year should elapse between completion of the Preliminary Examination and the Final/Dissertation Examination.