Overview
The University's General Requirements for Graduate Study for The Doctoral Degree apply to all doctoral programs of the School of Engineering, with one exception: the foreign language competency is not required. The requirements for a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) of the school include:- A minimum of 53 semester hours of graduate work in a program of study prepared and approved in consultation with an advisor;
- For students admitted in Fall 2021 or later, the successful passing of a doctoral qualifying directed study course during the first or second semester of doctoral study (for full-time students) or before or as soon as completing 9 credit hours (part-time students);
- The successful passing of a comprehensive examination upon completion of the graduate coursework;
- The approval of a dissertation proposal submitted and presented by the candidate; and
- The approval and successful defense of the dissertation in an oral examination conducted as specified by university procedures.
Graduate Coursework
The student must complete graduate coursework consisting of at least 53 semester credit hours in a program of study prepared and approved in consultation with an advisor. If a student earned an appropriate master’s degree at Catholic U, he/she must complete at least 8 approved graduate courses beyond the master’s degree. If a student earned an appropriate master’s degree from another university, he/she must complete at least 10 approved graduate courses beyond the master’s degree. In general, the 10 graduate courses are grouped into electives (normally 4 courses) and doctoral core courses (normally 6 courses).Directed Study for Doctoral Qualification
(This policy is effective to the students who are admitted into the engineering doctoral programs in the Fall 2021 and after.) Full-time students in the doctoral degree programs of the School of Engineering should take ENGR 991 Directed Study - Doctoral Qualification (3 credits) in their first or second regular academic semester (the Fall or Spring semester) after matriculating in the program. Part-time students in the engineering doctoral programs should take ENGR 991 before or as soon as they complete 9 credits of graduate courses at Catholic University. If a student is admitted into the Ph.D. program after receiving a master’s degree in engineering from Catholic University, he/she is expected to take ENGR 991 in the first regular semester after matriculating in the Ph.D. program. A student can repeat ENGR 991 once, in the following regular semester, if they fail the first time. The student will not be allowed to continue their doctoral program if they do not pass ENGR 991 after two attempts. However, a student can request to transfer to the master’s program and can receive a Master’s degree after he/she satisfies the requirements for the Master’s degree. A student in this course will study a specific area under guidance of a faculty member. The student must select a faculty member (course advisor) for this course before registering for it. The course advisor will assign a study area to the student in consultation with the department chair and guide the student to study the assigned area. The student must submit a Directed Study - Doctoral Qualification Form and get approval from the course advisor and the department chair before registering for this course. The student should prepare and submit a written report and should also prepare a presentation and take an oral exam related to the study area before the end of the semester. The oral exam is conducted by a committee consisting of the course advisor and at least two other faculty members determined by the department chair. The committee will determine the grade of the student. This course has a Pass(P)/Fail(F) grade. At the end of the semester, the oral exam committee of the student will submit the final grade of the student to the dean’s office.Doctoral Comprehensive Examination
After the student completes a minimum required percentage of the graduate coursework set by the student’s program, he/she may request to take the doctoral comprehensive examination. Depending on the doctoral program, the examination may include a written and an oral portion. The student must fill out and submit the PhD Student Comprehensive Exam Form (see Section 3.6.1) to their department prior to the semester in which he/she plans to take the examination. Upon evaluation and approval of the student’s credentials by the department chair and the approval of the dean’s office the student will be granted permission to take the comprehensive examination and must register for either ENGR 998A – Comprehensive Exam with Classes or ENGR 998B – Comprehensive Exam without Classes. Currently the examination format varies from program to program. In general, the examination will be prepared to test the student’s comprehensive knowledge in three specified areas, each of which is covered in 1-2 doctoral courses. The comprehensive examination is marked pass or fail. If the student fails the examination, he/she may retake the examination only once after obtaining approval from the department chair. The student must retake the full comprehensive examination.Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Approval
After the student completes all graduate coursework as described in the Academic Advising Handbook and passes the Doctoral Comprehensive Exam, he/she is officially admitted to Candidacy. Working with the major professor, the candidate prepares a proposal for the dissertation using the Graduate Studies approved format. The major professor then assembles and proposes a group of 2-3 readers for the dissertation which must be approved by the department chair in advance of the public proposal presentation. The major professor and readers then constitute the doctoral dissertation committee. Guidelines for the composition of the dissertation committee are as follows:- The major professor must be a full-time, tenured or tenure-track faculty member within the School of Engineering.
- Normally, readers are selected from full-time, tenure-track faculty within the School. However, to take full advantage of research resources at Catholic U and within the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, some readers may be external members to the School. However, in these cases, the full committee (major professor and readers) may not comprise a majority of external members. All readers should be active researchers in the area of the dissertation topic. Curriculum vitae for external members including a list of publications in the last few years should be submitted to the department chair for review. Adjunct faculty are considered external faculty.
After the faculty approves the dissertation proposal, the candidate submits the Doctoral Dissertation Topic and Committee: Request for Approval Form. The candidate cannot begin work on the dissertation until its topic is approved by the vice provost and dean of graduate studies. The Office of the Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies only accepts proposals during the Fall and Spring semesters.