Oceanography Doctoral Degree Program

The doctoral degree is by nature and tradition the highest certificate of membership in the academic community.  As such, it is meant to indicate the presence of superior qualities of mind and intellectual interests and of high attainments in a chosen field.  It is not conferred merely as a certificate to a prescribed course of study and research, no matter how long or how faithfully pursued.  All requirements and regulations leading to the doctoral degree are devices whereby the student may demonstrate present capacities and future promise for scholarly work.  

The Ph.D. program in Oceanography consists of individually prescribed course work, presentation of a dissertation proposal, general examination, and completion and public defense of scholarly research. As the primary focus of School is scientific research within the field of oceanography, the great majority of the dissertation is expected to be the result of oceanographic scientific research.  Other material (e.g. educational research, policy development) may be included as part of the dissertation at the discretion of the supervisory committee.

PROPOSED NEW SECTION

1. Scope of the Ph.D. Thesis

Because of the creative and often collaborative nature of oceanographic research at the post-Master's level, there may be substantial variation among students in number of chapters and/or papers on which they are a lead or co-author. The following section is intended to provide guidance for the student and committee about minimum standards for graduation – in practice these standards are routinely exceeded, to the student's benefit in the next stage of their career.

Minimum standards for the Ph.D. thesis include a unified body of work consisting of

• The study that culminated in the master's thesis or published paper (one thesis chapter) that may be based on an idea/science plan provided by their adviser
• Student-led original work equivalent to two papers publishable in a peer-reviewed journal (two or more thesis chapters), at least one of which has been submitted for publication at the time of degree.

For students that are approved to prepare for the general examination without first completing a master's degree in the School of Oceanography, it is expected that each of these three chapters is student-led original work.

 The table at the bottom presents a summary calendar for completion of the doctoral degree.

1.    UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENTS

Students are responsible for being aware of the Graduate School requirements for the doctoral degree. Of particular note:

• Final quarter rules. The Degree Request must be filed according to posted quarterly dates and deadlines. The student must maintain registration through the end of the quarter in which the degree is conferred or, if eligible, pay the Graduate Registration Waiver Fee within 14 days following the last day of the quarter in which all degree requirements were met. See also the Final Quarter Timeline.
   
• Time limit. Completion of all work for the doctoral degree within ten years. This includes quarters spent On-Leave or out of status as well as applicable work from the master's degree from the UW or a master's degree from another institution, if applied toward one year of resident study.
   

2.    DOCTORAL SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE

PROPOSED CLARIFICATIONS AND CHANGES TO ALIGN BETTER WITH CURRENT GRADUATE SCHOOL POLICY

After successful completion of their final examination for their master's degree, the student's master's committee, in consultation with the option curricular group, evaluates whether the student is approved to continue to work towards a Ph.D. and take their general examination as described in the Student Guidance and Evaluation section. No student is considered to be admitted to the Ph.D. program until a faculty supervisor has been identified who agrees to work with that student. It is the student's responsibility to form the Ph.D. supervisory committee. This committee should be formed as early as possible in the student's program – in order to allow time to identify a suitable Graduate School Representative (GSR), it is suggested that the doctoral supervisory committee be established at least four months prior to the intended date of the General Examination. – but not later than four months before the Request for General Examination is presented for approval to the Dean of the Graduate School.

The supervisory committee must have at least four members including the GSR. The Supervisory Committee may have from four to seven members including the Graduate School Representative (GSR). The student in consultation with his/her adviser nominates the members of this committee; including the GSR. The supervisory committee for the Ph.D. often includes the members of the master's supervisory committee. The committee must include at least one Oceanography faculty member in an option other than that of the student. At least half of the committee present at examinations must be graduate faculty with voting status in the School of Oceanography at the time of their appointment to the committee. A majority of the committee present at examinations must be academic faculty members whose primary University appointment is in the School of Oceanography.  The adviser, GSR, and a majority of the commitee must be members of the Graduate Faculty. All but one member of the committee must be members of the Graduate Faculty. With the approval of the Graduate Program Coordinator, a supervisory committee may be formed with only two graduate faculty members with voting status in the School of Oceanography whose primary University appointment is in the School of Oceanography. In this case, both of these committee members must be present at all examinations.

Upon formation of the committee, the student needs to email a list of the committee members to the Graduate Program Advisor and Graduate Program Coordinator.  They will review its composition and officially request the Dean of the Graduate School to appoint the supervisory committee for the Ph.D. degree.

Members may later be changed or additional members added to the supervisory committee. Contact the Graduate Program Advisor. If, for whatever reason, a student is without an official supervisory committee, the Academic Affairs Committee will serve as a temporary supervisory committee.

For further information see Graduate School Policies 4.2.2 and 4.2.3.

3.    COURSE WORK

Satisfy all course work requirements.

4.    STUDENT GUIDANCE AND EVALUATION

Evaluation procedures are described here.

5.    DISSERTATION RESEARCH PROPOSAL

The student must present a dissertation research proposal to his/her supervisory committee prior to the general examination. The proposal is usually presented within two to six quarters of approval to proceed towards the Ph.D. in the case of students who have completed a master's degree in the School. For students entering with a master's from another university the proposal is usually submitted during the second or third year of residence.

The dissertation research proposal is commonly about five pages long and should provide enough information to determine the merit and feasibility of the project. The student should develop the proposal in consultation with the adviser, and should discuss the proposal with his/her supervisory committee as well. It often is useful to discuss the form and/or content of the proposal with more senior graduate students who have already passed their general examination.

6.    GENERAL EXAMINATION AND ADMISSION TO CANDIDACY

A general examination may be scheduled if:

• the student has completed 60 credits (some of these credits may be taken the same quarter of the exam)
• all members of the doctoral supervisory committee agree that the student's background of study and preparation is sufficient and have approved the student to schedule a general examination

Graduate students in Oceanography will normally take their general examination no later than the end of Autumn Quarter of the fourth year of residence.  If a student has not taken the general examination by the end of four years, that student shall not be eligible for any financial support administered through the School.

The general examination is scheduled by the student, with the approval of all of the supervisory committee members, through MyGradProgram at least three weeks before the proposed date for the examination.  Approval of the request for the general examination is confirmation that the Graduate School requirements have been met.  The Graduate School will send confirmation to the supervisory committee members of the time and location of the general examination. It is the student's responsibility to put the announcement on the School Events calendar two weeks in advance. 

The student will have circulated to the committee a thesis proposal at least two weeks prior to the examination.  It is strongly recommended that the student meet with the committee members in the weeks prior to the examination to clarify the examination's focus.  The student should be certain to discuss the examination with his/her adviser ahead of time, to decide on the specific format and to make clear the adviser's expectations of the student.

All supervisory committee members must be present at the examination, except if the committee consists of five or more members, one may be absent.  Under all circumstances the Chairperson, Graduate School Representative, and the out-of-option member must be physically present. Video conferencing for other committee members may be allowed following instructions set forth by the Graduate School. Changes to committee membership may be made in emergency situations.  Consult the Graduate Program Advisor, Coordinator or Director. More information from the Graduate School can be found here.

The general examination (a closed examination given by the student's doctoral supervisory committee and any interested graduate faculty) will normally be a searching oral examination of the student's ability to deal with the proposed dissertation research.  The examination usually begins with a short presentation by the student, covering the material in the proposal, and continues with questions and discussion.  While the examination tests mainly the student's preparation to carry out the proposed research, it shall also examine the student's background knowledge in his/her option, especially that relevant to the proposed research, and knowledge of the broad implications and application of their research.  Again, more senior graduate students who have already taken their general examination can provide useful perspectives from their experiences in preparing for and taking the examination.

Following the procedures adopted by other departments on campus, the general examination is concluded by asking the student and the adviser to leave the room.  The committee, led by the out-of-option faculty member, then discusses the adequacy of the thesis proposed and the student's performance in the examination. They will then present their summary to the student's adviser.  The whole committee will then continue the discussion and vote on the examination.  A written summary of the committee's recommendations will be placed in the student's file within one week of the examination.

A student is admitted to candidacy for the degree after the warrant certifying the successful completion of the general examination has been filed in the Graduate School.  The Chairperson of the supervisory committee should inform the Graduate Program Advisor of the outcome of the examination.

Upon completion of the general examination, students should register for OCEAN 800 Doctoral Dissertation rather than OCEAN 600.

If the student does not pass, the committee may recommend that the student undertake additional course work and/or require the student to reformulate the thesis proposal prior to retaking the examination, or it may recommend that the student withdraw from the University.  If the student believes he/she has been dealt with unfairly, the decision may be appealed to the Director, who in consultation with the Graduate Student Affairs committee, will evaluate the case and make a recommendation to the faculty, who shall decide the case.

7.    THE CANDIDATE’S CERTIFICATE

 A candidate certificate gives formal recognition to a successful completion of a very significant step towards a doctoral degree. Students who have passed a general examination and have completed all requirements for a doctoral degree, except a final examination and Graduate School acceptance of a dissertation, are awarded a candidate certificate. Candidacy is conferred on the last day of a quarter and certificates are issued by the Graduation and Academic Records office approximately 4 months after this date.

8.    DISSERTATION

The candidate must present a dissertation demonstrating original and independent investigation and achievement. A dissertation should reflect not only a mastery of research techniques, but also ability to select an important problem for investigation, and to deal with it competently.

The candidate should provide the members of the supervisory committee with drafts of the dissertation early in the quarter for which the degree is planned.  A specific schedule for dissertation submission should be worked out with the supervisory committee during the preceding quarter.

The student must be acquainted with the University requirements and formalities connected with the preparation of the dissertation at the proper time to receive the degree in a given quarter.  Instructions for the Preparation and electronic submission of the dissertation may be found here. While the UW itself has minimal requirements for only three pages: the Title Page, Copyright Page, and Abstract, the distributor (ProQuest/UMI) has particular requirements for the PDF file. 

9.    DOCTORAL READING COMMITTEE

When the supervisory committee believes the candidate is prepared to take the final examination, they must meet, discuss and approve the composition of the reading committee, consisting of at least three members of the supervisory committee. Email a list of members to the Graduate Program Advisor who will use MyGradProgram to inform the Dean of The Graduate School. At least one of the members of the reading committee must hold an endorsement to chair doctoral committees. The reading committee is appointed to read and approve the dissertation. It is the responsibility of a reading committee to (a) ensure that the dissertation is a significant contribution to knowledge and is an acceptable piece of scholarly writing; (b) determine the appropriateness of a candidate’s dissertation as a basis for issuing a warrant for a final examination and; (c) approve a candidate’s dissertation.

Since the reading committee gives the final approval for scheduling a final examination, it is recommended that they have sufficient time (4-6 weeks before the planned defense) to read and approve the dissertation.

For further information see Graduate School Policy 4.2.4.

10.  FINAL EXAMINATION

The final examination is an oral presentation and defense of the thesis.  At least three weeks before the proposed final examination date, the candidate should schedule the final examination (with the approval of all members of the doctoral supervisory committee) through MyGradProgram. If the candidate has met all requirements, a warrant authorizing the final examination is issued by the Graduate School.   The Graduate School will notify the supervisory committee members of the scheduled final examination.  It is the student's responsibility to have the announcement announced on the School Events calendar two weeks in advance.  A student must be registered at least one quarter after passing the general examination before a warrant is authorized.  The student must be registered during the quarter the degree is to be conferred.

All supervisory committee members must be present at the examination, except if the committee consists of five or more members, one may be absent.  Under all circumstances the Chairperson, Graduate School Representative, and the out-of-option member must be present. Video conferencing for other committee members may be allowed following instructions set forth by the Graduate School. Changes may be made in emergency situations.  Consult the Graduate Program Advisor, Coordinator, or the Director.

If the final examination is satisfactory, the supervisory committee members who participate at the examination sign the warrant and return it to the student's graduate program by the last day of the quarter (last day of finals week). Any members of a supervisory committee who participate at an examination but do not agree with the majority opinion are encouraged to submit a minority report to the Dean of the Graduate School. If an examination is unsatisfactory, a supervisory committee may recommend that the Dean of the Graduate School permit a second examination after a period of additional study.

11.  SUBMISSION OF DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

To graduate with a doctoral degree, students are required to submit an Electronic Thesis/Dissertation (ETD) and a Committee Approval Form to the Graduate School through the UW ETD Administrator Site. ETDs are distributed by ProQuest/UMI Dissertation Publishing and made available on an open access basis through UW Libraries ResearchWorks Service.

For the most recent policies and procedures regarding submission of your dissertation, see the UW Thesis and Dissertation page.

The dissertation must be submitted within 60 days of the final examination.

12.  PUBLIC SEMINAR

The candidate is expected to acquaint the members of the School with the results of his/her research in a public seminar. This may be conducted as part of the final examination, but must not interfere with the deliberations of the supervisory committee and other members of the Graduate Faculty who may be present at the examination.

13.  WAIVERS

A petition to waive any specific School of Oceanography requirement may be presented by the student to the Graduate Program Coordinator who, in consultation with the School's Academic Affairs Committee, shall recommend action for faculty consideration.

* It is the student’s responsibility to provide a summary for their student file.