Doctoral Program

 

Residency	Program of Study
Maximum Time Allowed	Publication Requirement
Transfer Credit	PhD Qualifying Exam
Advisory Committee	Comprehensive Exam
Committees for Comprehensive Exam, Dissertation, and Dissertation Exam	Doctoral Dissertation
	Dissertation Presentation and Defense

 

RESIDENCY
Residence at an approved university is required for at least three academic years, or their equivalent, after the candidate has begun graduate work.  At least one year of the three must be spent on the Columbia campus of the University of South Carolina and all of them must be within eight years of the date at which the degree is to be granted.

The year of residence on the Columbia campus after admission to a doctoral program can be fulfilled by successful completion of two consecutive semesters of 9 or more graduate credits per semester, or three consecutive semesters of 6 or more graduate credits per semester.  Enrollment in a summer term (both sessions) may be counted as equivalent to a semester, but enrollment in summer is not required to maintain continuity.  Of the 18 hours, only 12 may be Dissertation Preparation (899).

The intent of the residency requirement is to ensure that doctoral students benefit from and contribute to the complete spectrum of educational and professional opportunities provided on the campus of a comprehensive university.  When establishing residency, the student should interact with faculty and peers by regularly attending courses, conferences, and seminars, and utilize the library and laboratory facilities provided for graduate education. 

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MAXIMUM TIME ALLOWED
All work to be applied toward the Ph.D. must be completed within eight years prior to graduation.

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TRANSFER CREDIT
Transfer of credits from a previous graduate degree program must be approved by both the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Graduate School.  The credits must be dated within eight years. Based on recommendations of the student's Advisory Committee, a maximum of 9 semester credits with a grade of B or better may be transferred. The course work must be relevant to the current degree and have course content and level of instruction equivalent to that offered by the University's own graduate degree programs.

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ADVISORY COMMITTEE
During the first semester after enrollment in the Ph.D. degree program and prior to the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam, the student, in consultation with the student's advisor, must submit the names of the Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee consists of a minimum of four faculty members, one of which must be from outside the ME department. The student's advisor is typically the chairman of the committee. This committee guides the student's dissertation work and advises on the Program of Study. Typically, the student will ask those faculty members closely associated with the research topic to be members of this committee. Faculty members have the right to decline any invitation to serve on a particular committee. The Advisory Committee must be approved by the ME Chairman and by the Dean of the Graduate School.

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COMMITTEES FOR COMPREHENSIVE EXAM, DISSERTATION, AND DISSERTATION EXAM
A student’s Comprehensive Exam Committee, Dissertation Committee, and Dissertation Examination Committee are identical to the student’s Advisory Committee.

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PROGRAM OF STUDY
The Ph.D. degree requires a minimum of 60 graduate semester hours (including only 12 hours of dissertation preparation) beyond the Bachelor's degree. A student with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering or a closely related field must take at least 18 hours of graded graduate courses (half of which must be 700-level or above), and a student without a master’s degree must earn 48 graduate semester hours (42 or more hours must be graded graduate courses, half of which must be at 700 or above).

Prior to taking the Ph.D. qualifying exam, the student, in cooperation with the student’s Academic Advisor, must complete the Ph.D. Program of Study Form. This form lists courses to be taken, courses to be transferred to USC, and courses already taken at USC.

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PUBLICATION REQUIREMENT
An educational objective for Ph.D. students is that they have the ability to communicate their research results through oral presentations and written publications. Consistent with this objective, a Ph.D. student is required to submit, based on research performed while at USC, at least one peer-reviewed journal paper prior to graduation.

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PHD QUALIFYING EXAM
The purpose of the Ph.D. qualifying exam is for a Ph.D. student to demonstrate his/her qualification to pursue the Ph.D. degree program. The qualifying exam will have a written portion and an oral portion.

Each student will have an exam committee. The exam committee will be selected by the student’s advisor in consultation with the student, subject to the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee. The exam committee should consist of at least 4 USC graduate faculty, which may include persons from outside USC who have term appointments in the Graduate School Faculty. The exam committee conducts the exam and determines if the student is qualified to pursue the Ph.D. degree program.

A Mechanical Engineering tenure-track faculty member who is not part of the student's exam committee will be appointed by the Graduate Studies Committee to serve as the Graduate Studies Committee representative at the exam. This representative will observe the exam, ensure the exam is conducted according to the established procedure, and report the exam result and problems (if any) to the faculty.

The designated date of the exam must be reported to the Graduate Director at least 14 days before the exam.

A student, after being admitted to a Ph.D. degree program, will take the exam in the first spring semester after completing three graded graduate courses at USC or at an earlier time specified by the student’s exam committee.

If the exam committee determines that a student is not qualified to pursue the Ph.D. degree program, then the student cannot continue in the Ph.D. degree program but may apply for entrance into the M.S. or M.E. degree program in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.  A student may re-apply for the Ph.D. degree program (a) after completing an M.S. or M.E. degree or (b) after not being enrolled as a USC mechanical engineering student for two years.

See the Graduate Handbook for complete details.

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COMPREHENSIVE EXAM
The Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam consists of a written part and an oral part.  The examination is to be conducted by the student's Comprehensive Exam Committee.  The examination is to focus on the student's proposed dissertation work.  This written dissertation proposal will be considered the students written examination and will be delivered to the examination committee no less than 7 days prior to the oral portion of the exam. The oral portion of the examination will consist of a 30 to 45 minute presentation of the proposed work followed by questions from the attendees. The presentation is to be open to all members of the University community and guests. After questions are complete from the general audience all non-faculty guests will be asked to leave the room. The remaining faculty may ask question of the candidate on any subject related to the proposed work. The presentation is to be conducted during normal business hours and on a day that faculty are expected to be on campus.

Passage of the exam is required at least 12 calendar months prior to graduation. A student must pass the examination within 24 months (36 months for APOGEE students) after enrolling in the Ph.D. degree program. Any student who does not pass the examination within the specified time limit cannot continue in the Ph.D. program. A student may appeal to the Graduate Studies Committee for a 12-month extension. This appeal must include reasons for the student not completing the exam on time, the plan for the student to complete the exam within 12 months, and endorsement from the student’s dissertation committee.

See the Graduate Handbook for complete details.

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DOCTORAL DISSERTATION
The student must present a dissertation based on research that has been approved by the student's Dissertation Committee and the Dean of the Graduate School.  At the same time the candidate must submit an abstract of the dissertation.

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DISSERTATION PRESENTATION AND DEFENSE
The dissertation presentation is to be open to all members of the University community and guests.

Immediately following the dissertation presentation, the student must orally defend the dissertation before their Dissertation Examination Committee and other members of the ME Graduate Faculty. The exam will be interpreted as pass or fail. Students who fail the exam may be allowed to correct the dissertation and/or re-stand the oral examination, depending upon the decision of their Dissertation Examination Committee. A student who is not granted a re-examination or does not properly correct the dissertation may not receive a Ph.D. degree in ME.

For more information on the PhD program, please consult the ME Graduate Handbook.

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