I.  General Requirements

General University requirements are included in the Graduate School's "Guide to Success" found online at: http://oregonstate.edu/dept/grad_school/current/success.html.

Students seeking a dual Doctor of Philosophy degree should see the section “Requirements for Dual Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Wood Science”.

II. Requirements of the Department

The Doctor of Philosophy program may include all courses beyond the bachelor’s degree level. There is no total credit requirement for the Ph.D., but the doctoral program must contain at least 36 credits of non-blanket numbered coursework. A single, double, or integrated minor must be specified.

A. Graduate Course Requirements

B. Program Requirements

• A level of work consistent with the degree.
• A maximum of 15 credits other than thesis credits of blanket numbered courses (50x/60x) for the entire program.
• Three years of full-time work beyond the Bachelor’s degree.
• Minimum of 36 credits of graduate work in residence.
• Transfer courses must have a grade of B or better.
• Without special permission from the Dean of the Graduate School, Ph.D. students may not have had all undergraduate and graduate training at Oregon State University.

C. Seminar Participation

All full-time wood science PhD graduate students are expected to register for and attend WSE 607, Section 2, each term that it is offered unless excused by the Department Head. All wood science PhD students must give at least two Graduate Seminar presentations as a requirement for their degree.

D. Qualifying Examination (Effective for new students entering Summer 2009)

PhD students must pass a qualifying exam to be eligible for the preliminary exam. The Qualifying Exam evaluates understanding of basic wood sciences per the SWST Basic Wood Sciences competencies (http://www.swst.org/accred_handbook.pdf), and tests ability to identify common wood products. Details of the test are found in the Student Information Section of the WSE Intranet.

The test will be offered one time each quarter. Students must pass the test prior to scheduling their preliminary exam and may take the exam a maximum of three times. The Qualifying Exam Committee will grade the exam and judge whether the student has passed or failed the exam.

E. Dissertation Requirements

The student must submit a satisfactory dissertation based on his/her research. The dissertation must be approved by the student’s graduate advisory committee and must meet Graduate School requirements. The student will provide one hard bound copy of the approved dissertation to be a permanent reference in the Department, which is in addition to the University requirement.

F. Preliminary and Final Examinations

All Wood Science doctoral students are required to pass both a preliminary and a final examination. The objectives of these examinations are to evaluate a candidate's understanding of fundamental subject matter in wood science and technology, and associated basic principles in his or her specialized area. The exams test the student's ability to recall, interpret and use facts and ideas, to communicate answers, and to think critically, logically, and originally.

Preliminary Exam: The preliminary exam evaluates the student's knowledge and understanding of subject matter areas. This exam has both written and oral portions. The written exam must be passed before the oral exam is administered. The major professor, in consultation with the student’s graduate committee, may choose either a traditional written exam or development of a research proposal.

The traditional written exam will consist of a series of questions developed by the doctoral committee. The student is given a specific time limit to complete the exam and return the responses to the major professor. The major professor will distribute all questions and student response to the entire committee. Each committee member evaluates the specific questions they posed and then responds to the major professor with either pass or fail. Students pass the written exam with no more than one vote of fail.

The development of a research proposal option may be chosen if there is evidence that the student has mastered the basics of wood science and his or her core area, has shown maturity in intellectual development, is planning a career that will involve numerous proposals, and has little experience with proposal writing. The major professor, in consultation with the doctoral committee, will select a topic for which the student will develop a research proposal. Any topic in wood science may be selected as long as it is not closely related to the research area that the student has selected for his/her dissertation or for a previous degree. At the discretion of the major professor, the student may be offered a list of potential topics developed by the doctoral committee from which one may be selected by the student, or the student may be asked to submit a list of potential topics from which the committee will pick one.

The proposal assignment will be given in writing and will include the topic, instructions about limitations on the use of outside resources (e.g., internet, discussions with other people, editing/writing help, etc.), document preparation guidelines such as length limitations and format, scope of what the proposal should include (e.g., background, objectives, project description, timeline, references, budget, budget justification, layperson summary, etc.), and any specific guidance on budget assumptions, equipment availability, etc. The student will be given a time limit for writing the proposal that usually will range from 2 to 4 weeks. The proposal will be delivered to the entire doctoral committee. Each committee member independently evaluates the proposal and responds to the major professor with either pass or fail. Students pass the written exam with no more than one vote of fail.

The oral examination will be given by the student's doctoral committee, typically within 3 weeks after the student has passed the written portion. It should be scheduled for a 3 hour period. The oral exam will not include a presentation by the student, nor will it be combined with other committee business to ensure that the committee and student are focused on the exam itself. Students should review core disciplinary materials in advance and may talk to committee members about potential areas of questioning. The committee judges whether the student has passed the exam and is advanced to candidate status following the requirements in the OSU Graduate Catalog.

Final Examination: A final presentation on the dissertation work and an oral examination covering the dissertation and knowledge of major and minor fields is required. The candidate will make a public presentation of the dissertation. This is open to faculty, staff, students, guests, and the public and targets a lay audience; it should be about 45 minutes long. Following the open presentation, the candidate will be examined in a closed session by the doctoral committee that should be scheduled for an additional 2.5 hours. During this examination the candidate is expected to defend his or her dissertation and to demonstrate satisfactory knowledge of wood science and associated fields. The examining committee judges if the candidate passes or fails the final examination and follows the proscribed procedures of the OSU Graduate Catalog.

III. Procedural Requirements

A. Student Advisory Committee

The student’s advisory committee consists of at least five members of the graduate faculty. These include the major professor, a departmental representative, one from the minor department (optionally two for a double minor of the principal fields of the integrated minor), and a Graduate Council Representative. The departmental representative is selected from the Wood Science & Engineering graduate faculty by the major professor and the student. This representative is a permanent member of the student’s advisory committee and has responsibility for ensuring that departmental requirements are met. The departmental representative is involved in planning the course program and the topic of thereport, and assuring that during the examination, a fair balance of questions is maintained on all coursework in the student’s program. The committee is selected by the major professor and the student with the approval of the Department Head. The Graduate Council Representative is selected by the student from an approved list provided by the Graduate Student.

B. Program of Study

A program planning meeting must be held with the student and the student’s advisory committee members. A Doctoral Program Meeting checklist is required (see the Graduate School’s “Guide to Success” found online at: http://oregonstate.edu/dept/grad_school/current/success.html). The approved program of study must be filed with the Graduate School by the fourth or fifth term of graduate study.

C. Research Plan

All Wood Science graduate students shall prepare a written research study plan or proposal with the guidance and direction of their major professor and committee. The plan shall be presented to the committee for approval by the end of four terms in residence. The approved plan shall be filed in the departmental office.

D. Performance Expectations

All students shall be evaluated annually by their major professor and/or committee on their progress toward completing the degree program. A written copy will be filed in the departmental office. For students employed as GRAs, this evaluation will normally be done prior to reappointment. The major professor and/or committee may require more frequent evaluations and additional means of assessing performance and ability.

Students are expected to maintain a 3.0 grade point average, both overall and on program of study classes to be satisfactorily progressing toward degree completion.