The Ph.D. program requires the following steps (associated forms are available from the CSE office):
Basic course work
Selection of major and minors, and preparation of a program
of study
Preliminary Counseling Examination
Advanced course work
Selection of Supervisory Committee (Form 6-66: Recomme
ndation and Certification of Appointment
of Supervisory Committee)
Final Degree Plan (Form 4-66: Doctoral Degree
Plan)
Selection of dissertation topic
Qualifying Examination and admission to candidacy (Form:
Admission to Candidacy)
Dissertation
Dissertation defense (Form: Report on Thesis
or Dissertation and/or Final Examination)
Master's Degree in Operations Research, Mathematics,
Computer Science, or a related field (in the
case of direct admission without a previous Master's Degree the Baccalaureate
degree must be con
ferred prior to the time the student begins classes as a graduate
student, with a grade-point average
at least 3.40 on a 4.0 point basis in the student's junior and senior
years);
Official Graduate Record Examination General Test results,
with a quantitative score in the top 80th
percentile; and
If English is not a native language, a score of 600 or
above on the Test of English as a Foreign Lan
guage (TOEFL) or its equivalent.
The following courses must either be taken at SMU, or credited from another graduate institution:
Statistics
Mathematics (any two of the following)
Computer Science
Prior to the Preliminary Counseling Exam each student is required to select major and minor areas of concentration within the department and an minor area outside of operations research. The outside minor is usually taken in Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Business, Telecommunications, Economics, or Electrical Engineering. The courses taken to fulfill these requirements should form a coherent group and strengthen the major area of interest. Minimum semester hour requirements in the major and minor areas are:
A course must not be counted as satisfying more than one category. The minor requirements may be satisfied by transfer credit.
A complete list of all graduate courses to be taken by the student is the Program of Study (or Degree Plan). The Program of Study is submitted to the Department Chair before the Qualifying Exam, but after the appointment of the final Supervisory Committee.
In order to graduate, a student must have a GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. If at any point a student's GPA drops below 3.0, the student is placed on academic probation. The student then has one semester to raise his/her GPA back up to 3.0 or be dismissed from the program. For part-time students, one semester is taken to mean 6 credit hours. It is the policy of SEAS that courses in which an "Incomplete " is granted affect the GPA effective the semester in which the Incomplete was granted rather than when it is removed. Therefore, a student should consider him/herself to be on academic probation if the grade on currently completed work in the course in which the "I" was granted would cause the GPA to drop below 3.0.
A reading list to guide students in preparation for this exam may be obtained from the Department Office.
Since the goal of the Preliminary Counseling Examination is to detect weaknesses in the background of Ph.D. students, some students may be granted a conditional or partial pass. A conditional pass indicates that there are weaknesses in the background of the student which can be overcome by taking specific courses. In this situation the student need not retake the exam, but will be required to take one or more courses and achieve a grade of B or better. The student receiving a partial pass demonstrates a severe weakness in one or two sections but has demonstrated a mastery in the remaining one(s). This student is required to retake only the affected sections at the next test offering.
This exam will be administered near the beginning of the Spring and Fall semesters. (Preferably the 4th week of the semester.) Normally, a student is allowed two attempts at the exam. A third attempt may be allowed by the CSE faculty in exceptional circumstances.
SEAS rules require a student in a graduate degree program to be making "reasonable progress towards a degree." The counseling feature of the PCE is to identify any areas of weakness in those fundamental topics nominally considered as basic undergraduate and/or core introductory graduate-level material. To be considered to be making reasonable progress, the student should take the core courses CSE 5350, 5362, 6360, 6361, and 6371 as early as possible, and take the Preliminary Counseling Exam in the semester following completion of these courses.
A preliminary Supervisory Committee consists of the research advisor and at least two faculty members from the major or minor areas, whose role at this point is to approve a program of study. The Supervisory Committee remains in a tentative status until it is formally constituted prior to the Qualifying Exam. At that time the student and the dissertation director finalize the composition of the Supervisory Committee. Then the student obtains written consent of the members, a written endorsement of the department chair, and submits the list for certification by the Director of the Graduate Division (form: Recom mendation and Certification of Appointment of Supervisory Committee).
The Supervisory Committee must consist of at least five members with the following distribution (minimum numbers): major area,2; department minor,1; and outside minor,1. At least three of five members of the supervisory committee must be full-time faculty of CSE. The chair of the Supervisory Committee shall be a resident member of the department and is usually the dissertation research advisor. In case the dissertation advisor is outside the department, he/she shall be a member of the committee, but not the chair.
Membership of the Supervisory Committee may change at any stage based on the dissertation topic, faculty availability, and student's program direction. Any committee changes must be approved by the department chair before the QE and by the department chair and the Director of the Graduate Division after its formal constitution. (A new form has to be submitted with every change.)
The Qualifying Exam is intended to determine if the student has sufficient depth of knowledge in his/her chosen field to be able to perform original and significant research. The Qualifying Examination is administered by the student's Supervisory Committee. The results of the exam are reported to the Chair of CSE and the Director of the Graduate Division.
The Qualifying Exam may be scheduled any time during the year, and its format is left to the discretion of the Supervisory Committee. It typically involves take-home exams spread over 4 to 8 weeks. It is concluded by an oral exam where particular attention is given to the candidate's educational preparation for the dissertation research. The student will be notified in writing whether he/she passes or fails the QE. In the case of failure, the Supervisory Committee will also give a recommendation for either a re-exam or termination from the Ph.D. program.
The student must provide a written dissertation proposal to the committee. An oral exam is scheduled within two weeks following submission of the proposal. During the oral exam the student presents his/her dissertation proposal and will be examined to explore any weaknesses relevant to pursuing research in the fields needed for the proposal.
Upon passing both the oral and dissertation proposal portions of the Qualifying Examination, the student may be admitted to Candidacy to begin the dissertation research. The approval for admission is based upon (1) passing the Qualifying Examination, (2) the academic record of the student as attested by the grade-point average of 3.0 or better (4.0=A), (3) selection of a tentative title for the dissertation, and (4) his or her overall fitness as judged by his Supervisory Committee.
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