University of Windsor - Graduate Calendar, 1998-2000

Graduates of recognized colleges or universities may apply for admission. In general, admission to graduate study is granted only to those students who have good academic records and who are adequately prepared to undertake graduate work in their field of specialization. In particular, an applicant for admission to a graduate program leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy must have either a Master's degree or an honours Bachelor's degree, or the equivalent; his or her academic standing should be unquestionably superior.

Possession of the minimum requirements does not ensure acceptance.

Applications will be received from students in their final undergraduate or Master's year, but acceptance will be conditional until a satisfactorily completed record is submitted.

Candidacy: Admission to graduate study does not imply admission to candidacy for a degree. Admission to candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy is granted by the Executive Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, upon recommendation of the program concerned, when a student has satisfied the requirements for candidacy of the College of Graduate Studies and Research and of the program, as these may be specified in program listings in the calendar. Admission to candidacy is normally to be regarded as recognition that a student has given adequate evidence of superior capability and achievement in graduate study. A student may not be admitted to candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy before passing a comprehensive examination in the field of specialization.

1.5.2 PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

Residence: Residence requirements are intended to provide for each student an adequate contact with the University, with the faculty in the field of specialization, and with the library, laboratories, and other facilities for graduate study and research. Every student in a program leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy must be registered in a full-time program of study for a minimum of three calendar years, normally in succession. Credit for one of these years may be given for the time spent in proceeding to a Master's degree in this University.
Credit for no more than one-half of the required courses for a program taken at another university may be given at the discretion of the College of Graduate Studies and Research, upon recommendation of the program coordinator.

A full-time residence year indicates that a student is in full-time work under the direction of a faculty member at the University of Windsor. Persons who teach more that three hours a week or who demonstrate in laboratories to such an extent that the total time spent in preparation, demonstration and working exceeds ten hours a week cannot qualify for residence credit.

Time Limit: A student admitted to a Ph.D. program requiring full-time attendance for three years must complete all requirements for the Ph.D. within seven consecutive years.

A student admitted with one year's advanced standing (e.g., holders of Master's degrees) must complete all requirements within six consecutive years.

If an extension of the time limit becomes necessary, the student should address a petition to the Executive Dean of Graduate Studies and Research giving reasons for the request and plans for the completion of the work. A student who exceeds the time limit may be required to take additional qualifying examinations or additional course work, or both.

Course of Study: Course requirements are specified in the program listings. Planning and direction of the student's course of study are the responsibility of the program coordinator or a designated departmental advisor. A specific program of study should be worked out at the time of the student's first registration, in consultation with the program coordinator or an advisor.
Since in several programs only a few courses listed will be offered each year, students are advised to ascertain from the program coordinator or an academic advisor which courses will be offered in any given year.
Training in methodology may be required, at the discretion of the program. It is expected that students working toward the degree of Doctor of Philosophy will maintain a superior average in all course work.

Normally, graduate credit will be given only for A or B standing in a course. Concerning credit for C grades, see 1.4.3.

After consultation between student and professor and authorization by the latter's program coordinator, a graduate course may be recorded INC (Incomplete) when:

1) The student has completed the class work but is unable to take the end of course examination because of illness or other acceptable reason, or

2)
(a) the student is unable to complete the work for the course because of illness or other acceptable reason, and

(b) the student has done satisfactory work in the course, and

(c) in the opinion of the professor, the student can complete the normally required work of the course without repeating the course in class.

Committees: Research undertaken as part of a doctoral program is normally directed and supervised by a doctoral committee. The program coordinator will recommend the appointment of members of the doctoral committee, whose appointments must be approved by the Executive Committee of the College Council of Graduate Studies and Research.

Within the first term of registration at doctoral level, each student will be assigned a committee consisting of a research advisor from the program, two other faculty members in the program, and one from another program at the University of Windsor. Additional members may be added with the approval of the program coordinator and the Executive Committee of the College Council of Graduate Studies and Research. This committee will, from time to time, review the student's progress.

The doctoral committee is also charged with conduct of the final examination of the doctoral candidate (see below).

For the defense of the dissertation (final oral examination), the committee will be supplemented by an independent, external examiner who, as an expert in the field in which the candidate's research is carried out, will appraise the dissertation and ordinarily will also be present at the final oral examination.

The external examiner will be recommended by the doctoral committee, subject to the approval of the program coordinator and the Executive Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. The external examiner must not be involved in the preparation of the dissertation before it is submitted to him or her for final evaluation.

If the research involves human ethics, animal care, or biohazards, the supervisor of the dissertation is responsible for obtaining prior approval from the
respective committees governing the above topics. (Consult the Office of Research Services.)

1.5.3. THE DISSERTATION

A dissertation embodying the results of an original investigation in the field of specialization is required of all candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Before beginning the dissertation, the candidate should submit a prospectus, outlining the problem proposed. Copies of this prospectus should be filed with the doctoral committee not later than four weeks after the student is admitted to candidacy. At the same time, the candidate will be required to validate a document supplied by the program, a Copyright License, authorizing the University to make a single copy of the prospective dissertation, or substantial parts of it, at any given time at the request of a library user at this University or a library user at another university for actual cost of reproduction only.

The regulations of individual programs should be consulted for details of their dissertation procedures. The general format is prescribed in the Procedures to Follow in Preparing a Thesis or Dissertation, which may be obtained from the Assistant to the Executive Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. Within the dissertation, the student should use forms approved for scholarly publication in the field of specialization and approved by the program coordinator. Final checking of the general format of the dissertation is the responsibility of the Office of Graduate Studies and Research, but the student should consult the doctoral committee for instructions as to the internal form of the dissertation.

Copies of a Ph.D. dissertation are to be provided to all members of the doctoral committee and two copies to the Office of Graduate Studies and Research, including one copy to be transmitted to the external examiner, at least four weeks before the expected date of defense. No changes may be made to the composition of the doctoral committee between these deadline dates and the defense except under the most extraordinary circumstances and with approval of the Executive Committee of Graduate Studies and Research. The oral presentation should be completed at least three weeks prior to the Convocation for which the candidate has applied to receive the degree. A public notice of defense must be received in the Office of Graduate Studies and Research and posted in the academic unit at least one week in advance of the oral presentation.

A doctoral committee shall notify the Office of Graduate Studies and Research whether, in its view, notice of defense is to be posted, but the decision to proceed shall be contingent upon the report of the external examiner to the Executive Dean of Graduate Studies and Research.
The candidate will present the dissertation at a public defense. The Chair of a Ph.D. defense will be the Executive Dean of Graduate Studies and Research or designate, such as the Executive Dean of a College or senior member of graduate faculty from outside the program, to be named by the Executive Dean of Graduate Studies and Research at the time the defense is publicly announced. The chair is non-voting. Questions will be permitted from the general audience at the discretion of the chair. The general audience may remain until the defense is completed and the committee begins its deliberations on the outcome. These deliberations are held in camera.

The minimum basis for acceptance of a Ph.D. dissertation shall be positive unanimity less one vote providing the dissenting vote is not by an external examiner who is present at the defense, and the chair of the defense determines that the examination by the external examiner has been fair to the candidate. Unless an examining committee is unanimously negative, a candidate may resubmit the dissertation once, after a minimum period of three months and before a maximum period of twelve months. The second decision shall be final.

Three copies of the corrected dissertation must be deposited with the Assistant to the Executive Dean for transmission to the Leddy Library at least two weeks prior to Convocation.

The candidate must also submit at this time three copies of an abstract of no more that 350 words and three copies of a vita, which will be bound with the dissertation. The abstract will be published in Dissertation Abstracts International. The title page of the dissertation, or a separate page immediately following the title page, must bear the Universal Copyright Convention symbol ©, the full name of the author, and the year the doctoral degree was granted. Arrangements for binding the dissertation and payment of fees connected with binding and microfilming should be made with the Assistant to the Executive Dean. At such time as the program coordinator gives approval, the Office of Graduate Studies and Research will transmit the original copy of the dissertation to the National Library, accompanied by Form NL/BN91, supplied by the Office and validated by the candidate, which authorizes the National Library to produce single microform copies for a nominal sum to cover costs, in response to a written request from an individual, a research institute, or a library.

If approved, the physical dissertation becomes the property of the University. Two copies, the original (after return from the National Library) and one other, will be filed in the Leddy Library, and a third copy in the academic unit.

After the granting of the degree, and at such time as the program coordinator gives approval, the University will have the dissertation microfilmed. One microfiche copy will be deposited in the Leddy Library and will be available for interlibrary loan. The availability of the dissertation in fiche form will be announced by the published abstract sent to various libraries.

Dissertation Requirements Synopsis:

1) Dissertation format must be as prescribed by Procedures to Follow in Preparing a Thesis or Dissertation.

2) Copies of the dissertation must be provided to all committee members and two copies to the Office of Graduate Studies and Research at least four weeks before the oral presentation prior to the Convocation at which the candidate has applied to receive the degree.

3) Copies of an abstract (no more than 350 words) and a vita are to be filed, one to be bound with each copy of the dissertation.

4) Public notice of defense must be received in the Office of Graduate Studies and Research and posted in the academic unit at least one week in advance.

5) Following successful defense, the candidate will deposit three copies of dissertation, abstract, and vita in the Office of Graduate Studies and Research for binding and distribution (two for the Leddy Library, one for the academic unit).

6) The candidate will validate Form NL/BN91, supplied by the Office of Graduate Studies and Research, authorizing the National Library to produce single microform copies. The title page of the dissertation, or separate page following, must bear the Universal Copyright Convention symbol ©, full name of author, and year doctoral degree was granted.

7) Fees for above are to be paid at time of deposit of the Dissertation in the Office of Graduate Studies and Research.

Examinations: In addition to the usual examinations on course work, there are three types of special examinations which may be required (see individual program regulations) in the program leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy:

1) Qualifying Examinations: A qualifying examination is one in which the student is asked to demonstrate a reasonable mastery of the fundamentals in the major subject; it is designed to test the student's preparation for advanced graduate work. If such an examination is required, it must be administered and passed within one year after a student enters a graduate program.

2) Comprehensive Examinations: The comprehensive examination is one in which the student is asked to demonstrate a reasonable mastery of the field of specialization; it is designed to test the student's command of knowledge and ability to integrate that knowledge, after completion of all or most of the graduate course work. Normally, this examination is completed at the end of the second year of graduate study and is a prerequisite to admission to candidacy.

3) Final Examinations: Traditionally, the final examination of a doctoral candidate is an oral defense of the dissertation. A program may, however, permit as a substitute for this oral examination the delivery of a public lecture by the candidate for members of the faculty and graduate students, on the subject of the research. In any case, the passing of this examination is taken to require a sufficient degree of attainment that grading is not necessary. Candidates who are found to lack a suitably high level of achievement may be required to repeat this examination. External examiners shall be invited to this examination, whatever form it may take.

©1997 University of Windsor
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