Graduate Program Info

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Graduate Program InfoGrad Core Course Overview
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Acronyms People

• Department Chair
• Joan Strassmann top person in issues related to
  academic requirements, space, and just about
  everything else in Rices strong chair system
• DGS Director of Graduate Studies
• Ken Whitney coordinates all issues related to
  graduate education
• Me former DGS knows many rules
• Dept. Coordinator
• Laura Johnson she is the person who handles all
  the paperwork related to your degree
• Department Administator
• Lee Wilson payroll, research accounting
• Administrative Coordinator
• Diane Hatton supplies, scheduling, web page
• RGS Research and Graduate Studies
• In charge of graduate education

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Major hoops

• Requirements
• Forming a committee
• Yearly reviews of progress
• Achieving candidacy
• Defending
• Thesis approval

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Admission Requirements

• Completed course work in physics, mathematics
  (including calculus), and chemistry (including
  organic chemistry)
• These requirements do not preclude admission of
  qualified applicants who have majored in areas
  other than biology. Deficiencies should be made
  up during the first year of residence some may
  be waived at the discretion of the students
  faculty advisor and the department chair.

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Formal Requirements I old rules

• 1) Exam to demonstrate proficiency in ecology or
  take Bios 322, 324, 325, 329 or 336
• 2) Exam to demonstrate proficiency in
  evolutionary biology or take Bios 321 or 334
• 3) 2 courses from Bios 561, 562 or 432
• 4) 2 courses from Bios 563, 568 or 433

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Formal Requirements I new rules

• New rules began in 2006
• Bios 569 core course in EEB
• Older students (pre-2006) can opt for the new
  rules or the old rules
• New students can only opt for the new rules

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Formal Reqs II - shared

• Bios 585/586 departmental seminar
• Bios 491 graduate teaching
• twice

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Graduate teaching

• Does not affect your pay an educational
  requirement
• Typically arranged among the student, advisor and
  instructor (who may be the advisor)

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Other course requirements

• Your committee (see next slides) can require you
  to take other courses. These may include courses
  in the EEB Dept or courses in other depts at Rice
  or courses at other institutions. I have never
  known a committee to require a course at an
  institution that did not allow Rice students to
  take courses without additional payment.

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GPA

• You must maintain at least a B average in courses
  that are required for the degree
• You must maintain an overall average of a B-

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Committees

• minimum size of four
• At least three members of EEB graduate faculty
• This includes Professors, Associate Professors,
  Assistant Professors, and Faculty Fellows
• Huxleys can be members with the approval of RGS
• At least one member of the graduate faculty from
  another department at Rice
• they can be an adjunct in our department so long
  as their primary appointment is in another dept.
• you can have additional members from within Rice
  or from outside universities with approval of the
  dept. chair but they do not count towards the
  minimum four

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Committees

• Committee chair must be a member of the EEB
  graduate faculty but need not be your advisor.
  But, it has been in every case I am aware of.
• The dept. chair has the ability to approve
  committee members that fall outside of the
  general criteria
• Officially the dept. chair appoints each
  students committee but in every case since Ive
  been here, this recommended committee has been
  that suggested by the advisor and student
• Dept. chair approves all changes to the committee

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Committee forming logistics

• Talk to your advisor for ideas
• Ask prospective committee members if they are
  willing to serve
• Tell Laura who is on your committee!
• Outside member ideas?
• Common choices are stats folks, BCB folks, CAAM
  folks, and ESCI folks

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Annual review of progress

• Written report turned into Laura
• In late fall semester date will be given soon
• Short verbal presentation
• 15 minutes, all students present on one day
• Late fall semester this year
• Meeting with the committee
• Last year Siemann (then DGS), Kohn and Whitney
• This year Whitney (now DGS), plus 2 more
  appointed by the dept. chair
• Discussion of student progress, opportunity to
  discuss issues that are limiting student progress
  towards degree including issues with advisor

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What comes from review

• Satisfactory or unsatisfactory rating
• Summary of committee evaluation
• Unsatisfactory result can lead to dismissal from
  program if not improved
• With annual reviews and detailed feedback has not
  ever happened but take this process seriously

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1st year students

• First year students should be making demonstrable
  progress towards selecting a thesis topic.
• At least one of the projects should involve the
  graduate student in the conceptual development of
  the idea.
• The student should have good familiarity with the
  literature related to their intended thesis
  topic.
• They should have some idea of who they would like
  to have serve on their committee.
• The student should either have already begun
  collect data or should have made sufficient
  progress to ensure that they will be able to
  collect potentially publishable data no later
  than the beginning of their 2nd year fall
  semester.

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2nd year students

• Second year students should have collected data
  that is potentially publishable.
• They should have formed their committee and had
  at least one committee meeting.
• They should have a firm thesis topic and a
  tentative outline of what the sub-topics will be
  that will form the chapters of the thesis.

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3rd year students

• Third year students should have collected data
  that will be publishable in a reputable
  peer-reviewed journal.
• They should have attended at least one national
  meeting.

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4th year students

• Fourth year students should have passed their
  candidacy exam.
• They should have a firm thesis outline with clear
  descriptions of chapters and a plan that shows
  how these chapters will translate into
  publications.
• They should have presented at a national meeting.
  
• They should have a time table for the completion
  of their degree. This does not mean that this is
  a commitment by the student to be finished by
  that date, but they should have a general target.

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Is a student close to graduating?

• Before a student leaves this department with a
  PhD, this committee would like to see a thesis
  will produce a minimum of two first authored or
  sole authored papers that will be publishable in
  reputable peer-reviewed journals.
• Ideally, some papers should be submitted or
  published.
• Also, two papers should be considered a minimum
  with at least three a more realistic goal if the
  students career goal includes research.

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Candidacy

• Before you can take your candidacy exam you must
  have completed all required coursework (and if
  your committee thinks you are ready). Exceptions
  must be approved by the Dept. chair (Joan
  Strassmann).
• The format of the exam varies by committee. Can
  be long (2 or 3 hours), can be short (1 hour),
  can be oral (every case for last 8 years), can be
  written (has happened before), or both (?). Can
  be strongly focused on the proposed thesis work
  (some). Can be a broad test of knowledge (some).
  May be proceeded by a talk by the candidate
  (typical).
• Laura will give you the form you need for the
  exam.

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Automatic masters

• You can choose to receive an MS after you achieve
  candidacy if you file a form with RGS

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Defense

• Must be scheduled at least 2 weeks in advance
• Publicly posted 2 weeks in advance (Laura does
  this)
• Complete copy of the thesis has to be made
  available in the dept office at least 2 weeks
  before the defense
• Get form from RGS on or before day of defense

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Defense

• Public defense of the thesis
• Examination by the committee
• pass student does not need to register while
  working on thesis revisions. Up to 6 months to
  complete revisions. If not done by then then
  another defense must be done.
• fail do over.
• 2nd fail discharged.
• When thesis is approved, cover page will be
  signed by all committee members must be
  unanimous.
• Thesis gets turned into RGS done!

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Time Limits

• PhD Degree 10 years or 16 semesters
• Candidacy before the beginning of the 9th
  semester
• Are these fixed? No you can petition for
  exceptions but be aware of these horizons because
  petitions can be denied...
• You cannot defend in the same semester in which
  you achieve candidacy.

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Other issues
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Summer Salary

• 9 months of your salary comes from the department
  or from your advisors research or start-up funds
  (currently 16,000 for 9 mo)
• Cost of living adjustments are not automatic
• when they happen they typically kick in at the
  start of fall semester.
• Summer salary comes from your advisors research
  or start-up funds
• Is not guaranteed depends on the availability
  of funds, progress towards degree, and is
  entirely at the discretion of your advisor
• Usual time for this to be arranged is in mid- to
  late-spring semester
• Up to 3 months
• If you do not receive summer salary, you will not
  get a paycheck for up to 3 months.

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Problems

• DGS (Ken Whitney) is one person who handles
  issues between advisees and students. If a
  solution cannot be mediated easily, it passes to
  the Dept. chair, then to the EEB grad review
  committee and then Graduate Council.
• Dept. coordinator (Laura Johnson) is another
  person who is a resource for personal problems.
• University has resources to help students with
  personal problems as well.

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Payroll problems

• Dept. administrator (Lee Wilson) handles payroll.

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What if my advisor doesnt work out?

• You can switch advisors but it is not easy.
• You need to have your new advisor be willing to
  accept you.
• Your old advisor cannot prevent you from
  switching
• Word of warning your advisor can refuse to
  continue as your advisor. If you cannot find
  another advisor you cannot remain in the program.

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Pop Quiz

• How much do you know about the EEB faculty and
  their research?

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Core course

• This is a new course
• Some things will likely go wrong
• Web page