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The School of Agricultural Sciences offers a graduate program leading to the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree. This degree is designed to provide students with an interdisciplinary doctoral education in the physical, biological and social sciences that enhances, regulates and sustains agriculture, food and forestry producers, industries and agencies. This degree will prepare Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences graduates to teach and conduct research and outreach at universities and community colleges, and for careers in the corporate, private and government sectors.

Requirements

Each doctoral student in the School of Agricultural Sciences must successfully complete a common core of research methodology courses, including a two-semester sequence of graduate level statistics courses for four to five credit hours each, followed by a three to four credit hour graduate level experimental design course. Students also will be required to take a three-credit hour course in Research and Teaching Communications, two semesters of graduate seminar, and 24 hours of dissertation credits. There will be an additional minimum of 20 credit hours of structured courses appropriate for each student’s area of emphasis. The student’s graduate advisory committee must approve these courses. Emphasis areas include: Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Systems Technology, Agricultural Education, Animal Science, Crop Science and Environmental Management, Forestry, and Horticulture.

All Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences students in the program will be required to teach or assist in teaching at least two courses within the School of Agricultural Sciences while in the program. This requirement is regardless of the form of stipend of the student, i.e. if a student is on a research assistantship throughout their tenure in the program, they will still be required to teach or assist in teaching courses.

There is no minimal credit-hour requirement beyond the core, the area of emphasis, and the Graduate School’s residency and dissertation requirements. A student in consultation with their major professor will prepare a program of study, including courses in the student’s area of emphasis, by the end of the second semester of residency. This plan of study, when approved by the student’s advisory committee, will be filed with the Director of Graduate Studies for the School.

Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences Candidacy

By the end of the second semester in residence, students must have chosen an area of emphasis and formed a graduate advisory committee to approve their coursework and oversee their dissertation research. The graduate advisory committee will consist of at least five graduate faculty members, with the majority from within the School of Agricultural Sciences and no more than three members from one program. The committee chair will be the student’s major professor and must be a member of the School of Agricultural Sciences faculty.

To be admitted to candidacy, the student must have completed the Graduate School’s 24-credit hour residency requirement within four calendar years, plus the core and emphasis area coursework that was approved by their graduate advisory committee. This should take the student three to four semesters, depending on whether they had any graduate-level research methodology courses during their Master’s degree. At this time, they will take both written and oral preliminary examinations designed and administered by the student’s graduate advisory committee. These exams will each have two parts. One will focus on the student’s knowledge of the research methodology core and the second part will focus on the student’s chosen area of emphasis. If the preliminary examinations are not passed, a student must wait a minimum of three months for the second and final attempt to pass the exam.

• Agricultural Economics
• Agricultural Systems Technology
• Agricultural Education
Animal Science
Biotechnology
Crop Science and Environmental Management
Forestry
Horticulture
Plant Pathology
Renewable Energy