Overview of the Program
Tulane requires 48 credit hours of graduate coursework (typically comprised of 16 courses each carrying 3 credit hours) as part of the Ph.D. requirements. For students entering with a Master’s degree, the RCSE graduate committee may approve up to 24 credits of graduate coursework toward the Ph.D. total—this classwork can be earned in SSE or externally. To maintain maximum flexibility in tailoring an interdisciplinary program to the RCSE Ph.D. student, required coursework will be limited to research and writing skill augmentation, as well as typical registration (e.g., dissertation research) required when a student reaches candidacy. To support this tailored program and to rapidly transition decision-making away from the RCSE graduate committee in these matters, we have chosen to institute a very early dissertation committee composition (end of the first semester of matriculation). The Ph.D. student will be required to submit a full program of study (including classwork) approved by their dissertation committee to the RCSE graduate committee by the end of the 2nd full semester of matriculation.
Degree Requirements
A synopsis of general requirements is outlined below. Detailed RCSE departmental procedures can be found in the RCSE graduate handbook. Prospective students are also encouraged to examine overarching School (SSE) guidelines for graduate degrees.
General Course Requirements
All students must complete 48 graduate credit hours in order to obtain the degree, over the course of 4 semesters.
- PhD students can transfer up to 24 credit hours from previous graduate-level coursework to the degree. The RCSE Graduate Advisor and Department Chair must approve all transfer credits.
- Students hoping to transfer graduate credits should prepare and submit the paperwork at the start of their second semester at Tulane. SSE will only transfer credits when the student has completed one semester (it is at that point that a Tulane transcript is available).
- RCSE Ph.D. students will be anticipated to be supported through fellowship, scholarship, or other of the various kinds of assistantships. Hence, they will be required under SSE rules to be registered for at least nine hours of graduate credit until admitted to candidacy to maintain full-time residence status. These nine hours of graduate credit, following SSE standards, may be a combination of course work and research or solely research credit.
- Academic graduate electives from other departments (see approved courses list here) can be applied to the degree up to a limit of 12 credit hours. All other courses must originate from RCSE. If a class is not on the approved list, a student may petition the Graduate Advisor for it to be accepted as an elective.
- Note that Ph.D. students must register for credits during the summer due to health insurance reasons
- Unless students have been exposed previously to the material offered, thesis committees will strongly urge students to take two introductory technical course offered by RCSE—the existing RCSE 6800 Introduction to River Science and Engineering, and RCSE 6805 Introduction to Coastal Science and Engineering.
Dissertation Research Credits
Students must enroll in 3 credits of Dissertation Research (RCSE9990) over two successive semesters (6 credits total). Typically, students do this is the 3rd and 4th semesters. The student may register for more Dissertation Research credits if desired in previous semesters; however, these credits do not count toward the 48 course credits necessary for the degree. Dissertation Research credits are an additional and different type of credit, and they bring the total credits up to 24+6=30. Note that if all other credit requirements are met, the student can enroll in ONLY 3 hrs of Masters Research to maintain enrollment, i.e. this maintains full time enrollment (because course credits are costly this can save money).
Research Seminar
PhD students must enroll in three semesters of the 1 credit Seminar course (RCSE7010 ). The goal of this is to expose students to state-of-the-art research topics and methodologies in concert with the departmental seminar series.
Technical Writing Requirement
PhD students must enroll in the 3 credit Technical Writing course (RCSE 7020) that is offered each Fall. Generally students take this class in their third semester.
Quality of Work Requirements
- Students must maintain a GPA > 3.0 in order to complete the program. Any students with a GPA below this threshold will be placed on academic probation.
- Students must earn a grade of B- or better in any individual class for the class to count toward the 24 hour credit requirement. If a grade below B- is received, the course will not count toward the requirement. If a student receives one B- grade, the student is immediately considered for probation by the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs in consultation with the appropriate department/program. If a student receives two grades of B-, or one grade less than B-, during his/her tenure in the School of Science and Engineering, the student is placed on probation and considered for dismissal by the Associate Dean in consultation with RCSE’s graduate committee. The terms of the probation are to be worked out by RCSE’s graduate committee in consultation with the Associate Dean. The above guidelines will be applied to all graduate students (master and doctoral degree candidates).
Oral Qualifying Examination and Prospectus
- PhD students must undertake a general (preliminary or qualifying) examination by the beginning of the third academic year of study (5th semester). Following SSE guidelines, a student who fails to take the test within a reasonable length of time will be judged not to be making adequate progress towards the degree and will be advised by RCSE not to continue graduate study. Prior to scheduling the examination, the student will give an in person preliminary dissertation prospectus presentation to their committee where they outline the proposed topic of original research, a background of the state of knowledge of the topic, and the progress to date in their work.
- Following successful completion of the oral qualifying examination, the student will prepare a dissertation prospectus that focuses on the individual novel research projects that will result in dissertation chapters and eventual peer-reviewed publications. This document will be approved by the dissertation committee for submission to SSE, at which point the student will be advanced to candidacy. Preliminary drafts of this prospectus will be produced in the required RCSE 7020 Technical Writing course.
Additional Dissertation Requirements
At the time of submission of dissertation for approval by the committee, a Ph.D. student will be required to have submitted at least one, and preferably two manuscripts for peer-reviewed publication as supervised by their dissertation committee.
Admissions
Recommendations for admissions to the departmental Ph.D. program will be made by the RCSE graduate committee in consultation with the full faculty of RCSE and subject to approval by the SSE Associate Dean for Graduate Programs. RCSE admissions requirements will follow SSE guidelines that require (1) an undergraduate degree before enrolling in a relevant subject, (2) an undergraduate GPA of B or better, or with an otherwise certifiable equivalent record of academic achievement. Students will not be required to submit a score on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test. However, students whose first language is not English will be required to submit an official score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam.
Transition from the RCSE Resident or Non-resident M.S. Program
Final decisions about transitioning active M.S. students to the Ph.D. program without completion of the degree will be made by the RCSE graduate committee in consultation with the student’s primary advisor and full thesis committee. Credits earned to date in the M.S. level programs will be transferred toward Ph.D. credit fulfillment as long as they qualify along grade standards (above a B-).
For any inquiries or more information, please contact RCSE Graduate Advisor Dr. Mead Allison email: meadallison@tulane.edu.
