The purpose of the doctoral program in geography is to expose students to advanced theories and techniques in contemporary geographic research. Following this exposure, students are expected to conduct original research that withstands the scrutiny of a community of scholars. The Ph.D. in geography is designed to be a three academic year program. However, there may be variations between individual students.
The K.S.U. Graduate College requires a minimum of 60 credit hours for the Ph.D., of which at least 30 must be for work on the dissertation. Of the remaining 30 hours, the department requires the completion of a minimum of 24 credit hours in letter-graded (A-F) coursework numbered 6/7/80000. In particular:
The doctoral program operates through an advisory committee chaired by the student's advisor. The student must consult with the advisory committee to design the student's course program, examinations, and dissertation research. The graduate faculty will meet at least once a year to review the progress of each student.
When the Advisor believes the dissertation is ready for preliminary approval, it will be circulated among the members of the committee. The Advisor will allow a minimum of 10 days to read the dissertation and will then convene the dissertation committee (without the candidate) for the purpose of evaluating it. The Graduate Faculty Representative must be notified of this meeting and invited to attend (and vote) on the readiness of the dissertation for final defense. Recommended revisions will be noted by the Advisor and communicated to the candidate, and when in the opinion of the Advisor and the candidate, the appropriate revisions have been made, the Advisor will inform the Graduate Coordinator and the Chair.
Please note that due to recent difficulties in locating Graduate Faculty Representatives on short notice, a request must be made to the College to provide a Graduate Faculty Representative well before this first meeting is scheduled.
The examining committee will consist of the Dissertation Committee plus the Graduate Faculty Representative. The Graduate Faculty Representative may also serve as moderator, or if a separate moderator is desired, he/she will be selected by the Dissertation Committee from the members of the Graduate Faculty outside of Geography who have been approved to direct dissertations.
When the dissertation committee has met and has agreed to proceed to the final examination, the advisor will designate the time and place of the final oral defense and notify all members of the examining committee. The oral defense is open to any member of the University wishing to attend. The defense should be scheduled to allow a minimum of ten days for all of the examination committee to look over the dissertation; this is in addition to the ten-day period preceding the dissertation committee meeting. In the absence of the advisor, the oral defense may not be held. If it is a matter of long term absence or enduring illness of the advisor, the Chairperson/Director of the department/school, in consultation with the appropriate Dean, should make appropriate arrangements for a substitute.
The dissertation must be in final form prior to the final oral defense. If, in the opinion of more than one member of the examining committee, the dissertation is not in acceptable final form the oral defense will not be held. This is to be determined by vote prior to the final oral examination and without the candidate or others being present. If a negative vote occurs, the candidate may be called in to provide clarification. A rescheduling of the oral defense, if necessary, will occur when, in the opinion of the Advisor and the student, the dissertation has been modified to incorporate the suggested changes. The dissertation must be acceptable, with no more than one dissenting vote, before the rescheduled final oral can be held. If the dissertation is not in suitable form at this second scheduled oral, the Dean will be notified, and all further action is then the responsibility of the Dean.
The final oral defense will be open to the University community. Notification of the time and place of the defense should be made public, with an abstract available to familiarize other members of the Graduate Faculty with the methodology and findings.
The candidate will open the defense with a 15-minute presentation of his/her findings, after which the members of the examining committee will question the candidate in order to be determined by the Moderator. Typically, there are two rounds of questioning, with the length determined in consultation with the committee. Following questions by the examining committee, the Moderator may open the examination to appropriate questions from others present. Questions dealing with the substance, meaning, and usefulness of the research in the dissertation are of greatest propriety. Comments dealing with grammatical minutiae should be written out and privately submitted to the advisor.
If it is deemed necessary to discontinue the defense, the Moderator may recess the defense until a time mutually agreeable to the Moderator, the Advisor, the Candidate, and the Dean.
When the questioning has run its course, the Moderator will adjourn the defense and the room will be cleared of everyone except the members of the examining committee. Parliamentary procedure will be observed to determine the success or failure of the candidate, with the Moderator acting as Chair without a vote. The candidate should be evaluated both (a) upon the overall quality and significance of his/her dissertation, and (b) upon the oral defense of his/her findings. A candidate passes the final oral defense if he/she passes with no more than one dissenting vote.
Doctoral candidates will submit their dissertation in electronic format. A .checklist. and a .how-to. create Electronic Theses and Dissertations is found online at: http://www.library.kent.edu/page/10239. The department requests two paper copies of the dissertation for its library.
Fall, Year 1
Three graduate level courses, one of which may be cognate 9 cr
Spring, Year 1
Three graduate level courses, one of which may be cognate 9 cr
Permanent advisor must be selected by Week 6
Fall, Year 2
Two graduate level classes or research hours, one of which may be cognate 6 cr
Colloquium (if credits are otherwise less that 8) 2 cr
Spring, Year 2
Two graduate level classes or research hours, one of which may be cognate 6 cr
Colloquium (if credits are otherwise less that 8) 2 cr
Comprehensive exams should be completed prior to Year 3
Fall, Year 3
Dissertation I 15 cr
Spring, Year 3
Dissertation II 15 cr
Thesis must be defended by Week 10 for May graduation
If you have not completed your dissertation after your 6th semester, you must continually be enrolled in Dissertation II - including summer- until you have successfully defended your dissertation.
Students on funding are required to be enrolled in at least 8 credits each semester. All graduate students are required to attend all colloquia during their residence, and must enroll in colloquium for one of their semesters in residence. You may enroll in colloquium more than once, although it will count towards your credit hours required for graduation only once.
All Ph.D. students must complete their comprehensive exams within four years of the start of the program. Failure to do so can result in dismissal from the program. Students can not register for Dissertation I until comprehensives are completed.
Although the office routinely registers students for dissertation, it is your responsibly to make sure you are registered continuously and have your bursar.s account paid on time. Sometimes a student is registered but due to non-payment of tuition, is dropped from enrollment. The College of Arts and Sciences requires continuous enrollment or you may be dropped from the graduate program or charged late fees to re-enroll.