Environmental Science and Policy
4400 University Drive, MSN 5F2
Fairfax, Virginia 22030-4444
Phone: (703)993-3187
Approved 8.15.11 by the ESP Executive Graduate Committee
Updated March 2015
PHD
GUIDELINES
AND
TIMELINES
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GRADUATE STUDENT SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
Department of Environmental Science and Policy
Ph.D. Students
1. During the first year after admission:
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Transfer of credit: Apply for transfer of credit for coursework taken before admission that
was not part of a degree program, if applicable. To be eligible, the coursework must be taken
within six years prior to first enrollment in the M.S. degree program, must be related to your
program of study, must be at the graduate level, and must have a minimum grade of 3.00 (A
or B). You will need to provide an official transcript of coursework to the Graduate Programs
Office. No more than half of your credits can be taken at another institution. Please complete
the “Graduate Transfer of Credit Request” form available on the Registrar’s website at
http://registrar.gmu.edu/forms/graduate/. Reduction of 30 credit hours: For students
entering the doctoral program with a master’s degree in a related field from a regionally
accredited institution, the number of required credits may be reduced up to 30 credits, subject
to approval of the program faculty and the Associate Dean for Student and Academic Affairs.
This form can also be found at the above Registrar’s site. Once you have completed the
form, please submit it to the Graduate Programs Office for review and approval.
Coursework Proposal: Another very important planning tool during this first period is, in
consultation with your advisor, to prepare a Coursework Proposal, laying out the sequence of
courses you will use to achieve your academic and research goals and to meet program
requirements. Any questions regarding this form can be directed to the Graduate Programs
Office in David King Room 3039. All forms must submitted to the Graduate Programs
Office for review.
2. Requirements before the end of the fourth semester (must be approved before you can
advance to candidacy):
Committee Formation: Before the end of the fourth semester of course work, in consultation with
your advisor, you MUST form a Dissertation Committee of at least four members. (Three of the
committee members must be from the George Mason graduate faculty. Graduate faculty are full time
tenure or tenure track faculty members or term faculty who have been graduate faculty status by the
Dean. The fourth member may be from George Mason or may be from outside the university
provided they hold a terminal degree in an appropriate field (PhD or equivalent) and the outside
member must provide a CV to accompany the “Committee Formation Form.” Non-GMU
committee members who have been approved as ESP affiliate faculty are considered to be preapproved outside specialists.) To formally establish this committee, please download the form on
the ESP website at http://esp.gmu.edu/academic-programs/graduate/forms-and-policies/forms/.
Once you have completed the form and have gotten signatures from all of your committee members,
please submit it to the Graduate Programs Office in David King, Room 3039. Once approved by the
Graduate Program Director, the form will be sent to the Dean of the College of Science for reveiw.
Program of Study: In consultation with your advisor and committee members, prepare a Program
of Study that is available at our website at http://esp.gmu.edu/academic-programs/graduate/formsand-policies/forms/. The Program of Study lays out the sequence of courses you will use to achieve
your academic and research goals and meet program requirements. Once you have your committees’
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signatures, please submit the form to the Graduate Program Office in David King, Room 3039 for
review by the Graduate Program Director. Once approved by the Graduate Program Director, the
form will be sent to the Dean of the College of Science for review for advancement to candidacy
with the packet as described below.
3. Advance to candidacy within six years from admission to the program: Advancement to
candidacy: Requirements to advance to candidacy are (1) completion of all coursework, (2)
completion of both oral and written qualifying examinations (3) submission of an approved Program
of Study with committee members signatures (4) submission of an approved dissertation proposal
(following completion of EVPP 998) (5) and a proposal signature page signed by all committee
members. The signature page is located on the ESP website at http://esp.gmu.edu/academicprograms/graduate/forms-and-policies/forms/. Once you have completed the above requirements,
notify the Graduate Programs Office in David King, Room 3039 to make them aware that the
paperwork to advance to candidacy should be initiated. Once all of these components are submitted
to the office, the paperwork is reviewed by the Graduate Programs Office and student is
recommended by the ESP Graduate Program Director for advancement to candidacy to the Dean of
the College of Science. The Dean’s Office will send an approval of advancement to candidacy letter
to you. All students must advance to candidacy within six years of first enrollment in the Ph.D.
degree program. The six year period begins when you were originally admitted to the PhD program.
The “Advancement to Candidacy and Non-Coursework Requirement” form is located at
http://registrar.gmu.edu/forms/ATC.pdf.
Dissertation Proposal – EVPP 998: Before you can enroll in dissertation research credits (EVPP
999), your dissertation proposal must be approved by your dissertation committee, defended, and
qualifying exams must be passed. The signature page for this proposal is located on the ESP
website. Registering for the Dissertation Proposal - EVPP 998: You may enroll in dissertation
proposal credit (EVPP 998) only after having an established dissertation committee and an approved
Program of Study. To register for the course, an email must be sent to the Graduate Coordinator at
espgrad@gmu.edu with your name, G#, Dissertation Chair’s name, and the number of credits for
which you wish to register. If you meet the qualifications for EVPP 998, you will be emailed the five
digit course record number (CRN). With this information, you may register online through
PatriotWeb. (This course has variable credit – you are required to register for the 3 credits the first
semester by using a pull-down feature in PatriotWeb).
Office of Research Integrity & Assurance: The Office of Research Integrity and Assurance
(ORIA) promote ethical and responsible conduct of research through serving as a resource for
researchers. The office provides policies, procedures, support, training and advice to aid researchers
with compliance related to federal, state, university, and local regulations with regard to research.
The office also identifies compliance risks and communicates those risks to the research community.
Finally, ORIA monitors and investigates instances of noncompliance to protect the university
research reputation.
Functions: The Office of Research Integrity and Assurance provides support for implementation of
research compliance programs. This includes: Responsible Conduct of Research Education, Conflict
of Interest, Research Misconduct, Human Subjects in Research, Animal Care and Use Program,
Export Controls. ORIA also supports four faculty committees that review and monitor research
activities to address the above programmatic needs. The Conflict of Interest Committee reviews
significant financial interests of research investigators. The Research Misconduct Committee
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reviews allegations of misconduct at the investigation stage. The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is
responsible for review of all research activities involving human subjects otherwise not exempt by
federal guidelines. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) review all research
with vertebrate animals. The office also works collaboratively with various other research support
and compliance offices on campus to ensure appropriate support for researchers and to eliminate
redundancies or inefficiencies in implementation of these requirements. Training and submission
forms can be found at http://oria.gmu.edu/.
Qualifying examinations: Upon completion of all coursework outlined in your Program of Study,
your next step is to take oral and written qualifying examinations. The oral exam is a continuation
of the written exam, with an eye for follow up on the written questions and on being prepared to do
the dissertation research, with no more coursework required. Then the Proposal itself is presented,
and defended, and there will be questions about the proposal itself. These are two separate items,
passing comps, and passing the proposal defense. They can be at the same meeting, or done in two
steps at separate meetings, depending on how much needs to be covered on the oral portion of the
exam. So the oral exam is follow up to the written. The ultimate goal is to be prepared to do the
doctoral research.
4. After Advancing to Candidacy – Registering for Research Credits, Format Review, and
Public Defense
How you will know you are eligible to register for EVPP 999 Research Credits: To enroll in
doctoral dissertation research (EVPP 999), you must FIRST have officially advanced to candidacy.
You will know you have advanced to candidacy if your student record indicates “PhD Advanced to
Candidacy” on the “Student Information” webpage in Patriot Web. Until the “class” on this
webpage has been changed by the Registrar’s office, you will be unable to register for EVPP 999
research credits.
Requesting Doctoral Dissertation Research Credits – EVPP 999: Registration for EVPP 999 can
only be done through the Dean of the College of Science. Your advisor is not allowed to give you
this controlled Course Record Number (CRN). To request this CRN, please email Melissa Hayes in
the College of Science at mhayes5@gmu.edu and copy the Graduate Program Manager at
sbloomqu@gmu.edu. Include in the “subject” line, “EVPP 999 Registration Request. In the body
give her your name, semester, advisor’s name, number of credits for which you wish to register,
and your G#.” Once you are emailed the course record number (CRN), you may then register online
through PatriotWeb. Registration for doctoral dissertation (EVPP 999) courses must be completed
before the “Last Day to Add a Course” for a course. Continuous registration is a University
requirement!
CONTINUOUS DISSERTATION REGISTRATION IS A UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENT:
Once you have advanced to candidacy, are conducting research, and working on your dissertation,
you are required to be continuously registered for dissertation credits (EVPP 999). You must
initially register for a minimum of three credits per semester. You must complete 12-24 credits of
EVPP 998/999 to graduate. Please look at the University catalog for your catalog year for details
regarding the total number of proposal and research credits or notify the graduate program office in
David King, room 3039 to clarify You may NOT move down to 1 credit of EVPP 999 until
AFTER you have completed all the required credits of EVPP 998/999. When you are eligible to
register for 1 credit, you must complete the “Doctoral Dissertation Research Full-Time Equivalent
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Status” (DDR) form available on the Registrar’s website. THIS REQUEST MUST BE DONE
EVERY SEMESTER when you become eligible. Different criteria may be applied for full-time
status for tuition, verification, and financial aid purposes. Please contact the Graduate Program
Office for any information regarding student-specific status.
Format review: Your dissertation format must be reviewed by the Theses and Dissertation
Electronic Text Coordinator, C201 Fenwick Library at 703-993-2222, at least one month prior to the
last day of classes in the semester that you plan to graduate and before your defense. The
Coordinator will sign the transmittal letter that you will submit with the final copies of your
dissertation as described below. You are solely responsible for coordinating the formatting
procedure with the Thesis and Dissertation Coordinator in Fenwick Library, C201. For more
information regarding this process, please see the “submission options” below.
ABSTRACT required for Public Defense Advertising: All defenses require you to submit an
abstract to the Graduate Programs Office at sbloomqu@gmu.edu two weeks before the public
defense. The format is located on the “form” webpage of the ESP website at
http://esp.gmu.edu/academic-programs/graduate/forms-and-policies/forms/. The Graduate
Programs Manager will send your abstract to the College of Science and the Department webmaster
to post on their respective websites.
Scheduling the date and time of your defense: You, the student, must coordinate the date and time
of your defense with all of your committee members. Once the date and time have been agreed upon,
you must then email the Graduate Programs Manager at sbloomqu@gmu.edu with the request to
reserve a room (preferably at least 2 weeks before the defense), on your choice of GMU’s three
campuses. Rooms fill up very quickly, so try to plan well ahead of time.
Defense of Dissertation: The student must present the completed dissertation in a public seminar
and defend the work before the dissertation committee. Awarding of the degree is contingent upon
approval of the dissertation by the dissertation committee, ESP Department Chair, and Dean of the
College of Science. The FINAL Dissertation Signature Page is located on the ESP website at
http://esp.gmu.edu/academic-programs/graduate/forms-and-policies/forms/. Please check the
University Catalog under the year you were admitted to the program to determine your time limits.
5. Scheduling graduation:
Filing for Graduation: Graduation information is provided on the Registrar’s website at
http://registrar.gmu.edu/students/graduation/. Please refer to this site since it is being updated
continuously. Please file your Intent to Graduate in Patriot Web. The Registrar’s office will work
with your department’s program to determine if you meet the requirements of the program. All
requirements for graduation must be met before the Degree Conferral date in the semester you
graduate. If you have any questions, please direct them to the Graduate Programs Office in David
King, Room 3039.
Registration: To be eligible for conferral of a degree you must be an active student in that semester
either by being enrolled for classes, enrolling in dissertation credits (EVPP 999), or through special
registration (SREG). The SREG from is available on the Registrar’s site at
http://registrar.gmu.edu/forms/graduate/.
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Submitting Your Dissertation – Timelines: All timelines and the entire submission process is
located on the UDTS website at http://thesis.gmu.edu/. Sally Evans is the UDTS coordinator and
eligible to be contacted through the website. Students have the option to submit dissertation through
the Mandatory Electronic Submission option. All dissertations will be placed in our Institutional
Repository, MARS. Students ARE required to hand in one hard copy to the UDTS office so the
Department of Environmental Science and Policy can have a copy for their library in the ESP
Conference Room.
Embargo Request: Because of the Mandatory Electronic Submission, Mason has introduced an
embargo policy which enables students to make their work available in MARS immediately, or to
delay availability of their work for 6 months, 1 year, or 5 years. All students must fill out and turn
in the Embargo Request Form, regardless of whether they plan on delaying the availability of
their work or not. Students who choose to delay the availability of their work for any period (6
months, 1 year, or 5 years) must obtain the signatures from their committee chair and from the
graduate dean of their college/school. Please be aware that not all colleges/schools will approve
embargo requests--it is up to the individual college/school. Both signatures must be present on the
form in order for us to delay the availability of a student's work; we will not embargo work that has
not been approved for embargo by both the committee chair and dean. As always, doctoral students
can still embargo their work through ProQuest for 6 months, 1 year, or 2 years. These options will
not change.
Documents should be submitted to the Theses and Dissertation Electronic Text Coordinator, Sally R.
Evans, C203 Fenwick Library at 703-993-2222, C201 Fenwick Library right next to Special
Collections & Archives. The best way to contact her is via email at http://thesis.gmu.edu/.
Submission dates are clearly posted the UDTS website.
6. Time Limits and Re-Enrollment
Time Limits: Please refer to the University catalog regarding your time limits at
http://catalog.gmu.edu/. Even though a student may take time off, the deadline ends from the date of
initial registration
Re-Enrollment: If you fail to register for two consecutive semesters, you will be required to
complete a “Graduate Application for Reenrollment” form available on the Registrar’s website at
http://registrar.gmu.edu/forms/graduate/. Please fax the form to the main office of the Department
of Environmental Science and Policy with attention to the Graduate Program Manager for review by
the Graduate Program Office and Graduate Program Director.
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Environmental Science and Policy
Graduate Committee Formation
Please submit by the end of the first year or by completion of 12 credits
Request to: _____ Form
_____ Amend
Name_____________________________________ G# ________________
Date ______________________________________ Admitted ___________
M. S. – [ ] Thesis or [ ] Individual Project
Chair ________________________________________________________________________
Printed name & Department
Signature
Date
Member______________________________________________________________________
Printed name & Department
Signature
Date
Member______________________________________________________________________
Printed name & Department
Signature
Date
Ph.D. – Dissertation Committee
Chair ________________________________________________________________________
Printed name & Department
Signature
Date
Member______________________________________________________________________
Printed name & Department
Signature
Date
Member______________________________________________________________________
Printed name & Department
Signature
Date
Member______________________________________________________________________
Printed name & Department/Organization
Signature
Date
Outside member ____CV attached
APPROVAL
____________________________________________________________________________
Graduate Program Director
Date
____________________________________________________________________________
Graduate Dean
Date
NOTE: All committee members outside of the University must submit a CV.
.
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VERY IMPORTANTANT WEBSITES TO BOOKMARK:
All program of study forms are located and downloadable on the ESP website at
http://esp.gmu.edu/academic-programs/graduate/forms-and-policies/forms/. These are used for
tracking your coursework and very helpful in monitoring your degree progress. It is also a
requirement for advancing to candidacy. Other required forms to move forward include the proposal
signature page, abstract template, and the final signature page.
For course selection, please download the documents at http://esp.gmu.edu/academicprograms/graduate/courses/
The Graduate Program Office is located in David King Hall, Room 3039. Go to the website at
http://esp.gmu.edu/academic-programs/graduate/graduate-advising/ to make an appointment with the
Graduate Program Director or Graduate Program Manager. For new students, if you are eligible for
the 30 credit reduction, please visit the Graduate Office to have the Program Manager help you to
put together your program of study based on the courses you wish to bring into the program. This
could cut time off of your coursework!
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