Minimum number of dissertation credits required: 18 ~ Foreign language examination required? No
Credit Requirements: The department requires no minimum number of credits for a doctoral program, with the exception of dissertation credits and seminar. Registration for a one credit seminar course (ECE 793-Fall & 794-Spring) is MANDATORY for all students registered for credits (students paying program fee are exempt). This seminar credit does not count toward graduation requirements.
Residence Requirements: A doctoral candidate must spend the equivalent of at least one academic year of full-time graduate work (9 credits per semester) in residence at the University. The residency year must be either Fall/Spring or Spring/Fall sequence. During this year, the student must spend some part of each week physically on campus.
Language Requirement: Not required
Preliminary Comprehensive Examination: The Preliminary Comprehensive Exam consists of 3 parts; (1) a written part intended to examine the student's knowledge of basic material in the student's general field of study; (2) an oral examination to test in-depth knowledge in the student's specialized field of study; and (3) two breadth requirements to ensure that the student has a breadth of knowledge in Electrical & Computer Engineering. A complete description of the requirements are found in the "Ph.D. Preliminary Comprehensive Exam Policy" (Graduate Program Office, Marcus 205).
Final Oral Examination Results:The result of a Final Oral (Preliminary Comprehensive) Examination is forwarded to the office of Degree Requirements directly following the examination. A memo to the Graduate Program Office (ecegrad@ecs.umass.edu) from the student’s Committee Chair, will facilitate an official letter to the Graduate School that the student has passed this exam.
Doctoral Dissertation Committee: As soon as the student has passed 2 written and the Final Oral (Preliminary Comprehensive) Exam, the Doctoral Dissertation Committee is formed by the student and nominated to the Graduate Program Director by the student’s proposed Committee Chair). With the Graduate Program Director’s approval, the nomination and recommendation is sent to the Graduate Dean who makes the official committee appointment. The committee is composed of 4 graduate faculty members; the chairperson, 2 other members from the candidate's department, and 1 member from outside the candidate's department. [Only on rare occasions are committee members appointed outside of UMass 5-college campus. To initiate the process of naming an outside UMASS 5- college campus committee member, you must supply the Graduate Program Assistant with: 1) a letter of support from advisor with strong reasons of justification; 2) curriculum vitae of outside faculty member. To appoint a non-voting outside member, a curriculum vitae is needed.] The committee has been officially constituted when the Graduate Dean sends formal notification of its formation to each committee member, the Graduate Program Director, and to the student. Members of the Dissertation Committee must agree to not only assist in the supervision of the dissertation project, but also conduct the Final Oral Examination (Final Defense). Please remember that most faculty are on a 9-month contract and do not assume that committee members will be available during the summer months. The official paperwork to nominate your committee is done via the ECE Graduate Program Assistant. This is done after you have passed your final oral comprehensive exam (notification must be received from the student’s faculty advisor).
Dissertation Credit Requirement: The total number of dissertation credits (ECE 899) required are 18 credits. There is no maximum number of credits to which a student is limited; however, a student can register for only a maximum of nine (9) credits per semester. Doctoral candidates will not be recommended to the Board of Trustees for graduation unless they have the requisite number of dissertation credits and have met all degree requirements.
Dissertation Prospectus/Outline: After passing the Preliminary Comprehensive Exam, the Graduate Student must prepare a dissertation prospectus/outline describing the research to be conducted, analyzed, and presented in the dissertation. The cover sheet must be signed by each member of the Dissertation Committee to indicate approval of the topic and its plan of execution. The student presents the outline cover sheet to the ECE Graduate Office as soon as possible for signature by the Graduate Program Department Head. A copy of this cover sheet is kept in the student’s permanent ECE file. The student delivers the entire Prospectus/Outline to the Graduate Degree Requirements Office. The prospectus/outline must be received at least seven (7) months prior to the Final Oral Examination.
Announcement of Final Oral Dissertation Defense: All Final Oral Exams/Dissertation Defenses must be announced in the Campus Chronicle to allow interested Graduate Faculty and others to attend. The Office of Degree Requirements must receive written notification of the scheduling of a Final Oral Examination at least three (3) weeks prior to the date of the defense (up to 4 weeks during summer schedule). An examination cannot be held unless it has been publicly announced in the Campus Chronicle. The exam must be held on campus. All members of the Dissertation Committee must be present at the defense.
Final Oral Dissertation Defense Results:The result of the Final Oral Dissertation Defense is forwarded to the ECE Graduate Office (ecegrad@ecs.umass.edu) by the student’s Committee Chair directly following the examination. Receipt of this memo will facilitate an official letter to the Graduate School.
Dissertation: The dissertation must be typed in a prescribed format on acid-free paper. Refer to the handout entitled Typing Guidelines For Master's Thesis and Doctoral Dissertation, available in the Office of Degree Requirements. The dissertation must be approved & signed by all members of the dissertation committee and the Department Head. The original dissertation and one copy must be submitted to the Office of Degree Requirements. The Graduate School is the final and only arbitrator of what is an acceptable dissertation.
Degree Eligibility Form: The Degree Eligibility Form must be completed by all doctoral degree candidates and signed by the Graduate Program Director and the Department Head. The candidate should verify the accuracy of the information on this form with his/her permanent record. The completed form, along with all appropriate fees, signatures, and the Survey of Earned Doctorates and University Microfilms forms must be received by the Office of Degree Requirements by the posted deadline. Thesedeadlines are strictly observed and will not be extended. Degrees cannot and will not be awarded retroactively. Once you have completed your portion of the eligibility form, please submit to the Graduate Program Assistant for verification and processing, ideally at least 3-4 weeks prior to the deadline, s/he will then forward it to Degree Requirements where it will be held until your degree work is complete. NOTE: Degree eligibility forms are NOT routinely mailed to graduate students; they can be obtained from the ECE Graduate Office.