Doctoral Degree Program
in Oceanography

Students in Boat Photo General Requirements

The Ph.D. degree in oceanography is not awarded upon the completion of any specific number of courses or at the end of any specific period. Candidates must demonstrate that they have competence in the subject matter of the core courses and in their field of special interest and that they are capable of doing independent scholarly research leading to a dissertation which should be a contribution to the science of oceanography. The candidate for the Ph.D. degree will usually take 18 semester hours of formal course work in areas related to the student's specialty, in addition to the general M.S. requirements, as well as 24 semester hours of dissertation (OCE 6980).

If a student is working toward the Ph.D. degree without completing the M.S. degree, the M.S. minimum course requirement of 33 semester hours must be fulfilled.

Students completing the Florida State M.S. degree must be readmitted to the Ph.D. Program upon a favorable majority vote of the faculty. Each Ph.D. student must register in the department as a full-time student, taking at least twelve semester hours for each of three semesters. Two of these semesters must be consecutive. (See FSU catalog under Doctoral Degree Residence, for details.)

A graduate student registered for an individual study course must attend at least one conference a week on the campus.

The University requires that a student's Ph.D. program may include no more than 9 semester hours of course work on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis in courses where letter grades are routinely given. Also, no more than 5 semester hours of Supervised Research (OCE 5910) and 5 semester hours of Supervised Teaching (OCE 5940) may be applied toward fulfilling the course requirements. The Board of Regents funds a maximum of five hours of Supervised Research and five hours of Supervised Teaching per graduate student per degree program.

There is no department-wide language requirement for the Ph.D. degree; the student's advisory committee may require demonstration of foreign and native language skills useful in the student's special area of study.

Only courses numbered 5000 or above are normally to be taken by graduate students. A graduate student's committee or department may, however, permit the student to take specified 4000 level courses in the degree program. Such 4000 level courses may be credited toward a graduate degree.

The department requires that each student preparing for the Ph.D. degree attain a grade of A or B in the introductory survey 'core' courses (see Course Requirements). Course credit may be transferred from another department or institution as a substitute for an oceanography core course if approved by the FSU instructor of that particular course, and so requested by the student's advisor and according to the rules set by the University.

Any student deficient in the core courses must complete these courses or their equivalent promptly, with a grade of A or B.

The student may register for Dissertation (OCE 6980) only after passing the Ph.D. Preliminary Examination.

All requirements for the degree must be completed within five calendar years from the date the student passes the Preliminary Examination. Four to seven years are normally needed to complete the course work and research for the Ph.D. degree.

Any degree-seeking student with at least a B.S. or B.A. degree may apply to enter the Ph.D. program. Admission to the Ph.D. program is granted upon a favorable majority vote of the faculty.

Sponsorship

For a student to be admitted to the department, he or she must be sponsored by a faculty member who will be his or her major professor. The major professor will supervise the student's degree program and be the student's major source of intellectual and financial support. Prospective students are encouraged to contact individual faculty members to discuss the possibility of sponsorship.

Compensation

A student who receives an assistantship is guaranteed a stipend and tuition during the first year. For an out-of-state student, this compensation amounts to at least $21,444. This amount is adjusted regularly for inflation. After a student passes the doctoral preliminary examination, the stipend increases by 6.6%. In addition to Departmental Teaching and Research Assistantships, Florida State University offers various modes of financial assistance.

Supervisory Committee

The department has an established procedure for following the progress of each student's work. The student must choose a supervisory committee by the end of the student's fourth academic semester in residence. The composition of the committee must be as follows:

  1. The committee must consist of at least five faculty members, three of them must have docoral directive status;
  2. One of these must be an oceanographer whose work lies outside the student's specialty area;
  3. Two of the members should be familiar with the student's area of specialization;
  4. Two of the members must be from the Oceanography Department;
  5. One member (The Representative of the College) must be a faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences from outside the Oceanography Department;
  6. The major professor and at least two other members including the Arts and Sciences representative must have doctoral directive status;
  7. The Chair of the Department must approve all committees.

The student must complete the University Doctoral Supervisory Committee form, which lists all the members of the committee along with their initials indicating their approval, and submit the form to the Academic Coordinator (333A OSB).

The committee will assess the student's progress by means of annual conferences and examinations to the Department Chair. The first report from the committee is due one year after the preliminary exam is passed. The reports will be made available to the student and the academic dean.

Course Policy

Core Courses

The Department of Oceanography requires students to complete at least one core course outside their own discipline. The core courses are:

At the discretion of the student's advisory committee, OCE 5009 (Advanced General Oceanography) may be substituted for one core course.

Course Requirements

In addition, the following courses are required for students specializing in these respective areas; these requirements may in some cases be modified by agreement among the student, the major professor, and the student's supervisory committee according to the student's background and research interest.

Ph.D. Preliminary Examination

As required in all Ph.D. programs at Florida State University, each student must pass the preliminary examination for admission to Ph.D. candidacy. The first attempt of the exam can be taken as early as the third academic semester, but no later than the fifth academic semester in residence after admission to the Oceanography Ph.D. program. The student should register for Preliminary Doctoral Examination (OCE 8964) at the beginning of the semester in which the exam is scheduled. If the exam is delayed or if the committee requires it to be retaken, the student doesn't need to re-register for OCE 8964. In the event of non-satifactory exam and according to FSU policy, a student may be re-examined only once. The second exam, if necessary, must be taken within two semesters of the first attempt.

The preliminary examination will have both a written section and a subsequent oral section. It must be announced to all Oceanography faculty and to the student's committee at least two weeks before the written portion. The full Oceanography faculty must be solicited for written examination questions. The solicitation will include a list of the student's current and completed coursework (in the degree program), the names of the student's major professor and Ph.D. committee members, and the proposed topic of the dissertation. The student's committee will screen questions and prepare and administer the examination. The oral examination, given after the written examination, must be announced and be open to the full Oceanography faculty. Examination results must be reported to the Chair of the Department and to the Academic Dean. Passed examinations must be reported to the Registrar. Examination questions, scores, and answers must be placed in the student's folder.

A folder containing copies of all written preliminary examination questions, identifying the authors of the questions, will be kept on file in the department office. The folder will be open to the students and faculty.

A student must be admitted to candidacy (i.e., passed student's preliminary examination) at least six months prior to the granting of the Ph.D. degree.

A student who has passed the preliminary examination is considered a candidate for the doctoral degree and is eligible to register for dissertation credits. Dissertation credits may be retroactively added for the semester in which a preliminary exam was completed.

All requirements for the degree must be completed within five calendar years from the time the student passes the preliminary examination or the student's supervisory committee will require that a new preliminary examination be passed. However, it is the intent of the department that the student complete the Ph.D. degree program in no more than five years from the date of first registration.

Dissertation Hours

The student must register for dissertation credits each term in which a substantial amount of work is being done on the dissertation. A student who has completed the required coursework and continues to use campus facilities and/or receive faculty supervision but who has not made a final dissertation submission shall register for a minimum of two hours of dissertation per term. The exact number of hours shall be determined by the major professor based on the proportion of faculty/staff time, facilities and other resources needed to support the student.

Dissertation Prospectus

A dissertation prospectus should be submitted for consideration by the committee before the end of the semester following the successful completion of the preliminary exam. The prospectus, outlining briefly the research proposed by the student, is the basis for the subsequent dissertation and must be discussed with the committee. A written copy, dated and with signatures indicating committee approval, must be placed in the student's departmental file before the end of the second semester following the preliminary exam.

Dissertation Defense

Registration shall be required in the final term in which a degree is granted and shall consist of a minimum of one semester hour of dissertation credit, even if the student has completed the requirements for the degree in previous semesters. This is to reimburse the university for the administrative costs of manuscripts clearance and final degree clearance procedures.

Prior to the defense of dissertation, the student should register for OCE 8985 (Dissertation Defense) and sign up for graduation at the Registrar's Office. A student not defending during the anticipated semester will have to sign up for graduation again at the beginning of the following semester; but does not need to register again for Dissertation Defense. A copy of the university guidelines for writing and typing the dissertation may be obtained from the Manuscript and Final Clearance Advisor in the Graduate Office (408 Wescott).

The student must submit the dissertation to the committee at least two weeks before the announced defense. Individual committee members, at their discretion, may demand up to four weeks to review the defense copy. This defense copy should be complete and must be legibly typed. The student should meet with each committee member prior to the defense to discuss the defense copy. An additional copy, approved by the student's major professor for this purpose, must be placed in the office of the Academic Coordinator (333A OSB) at least two weeks before the defense; simultaneously, the student must prepare and post a flyer announcing the date, time, and place of the defense.

At least two weeks prior to the date of the examination in defense of dissertation, the major professor will present an announcement of the dissertation title and the date and place of the examination to the Office of Graduate Studies and Research.

The defense seminar (required of all Ph.D. candidates) will be open to the public and is designed to give the student an opportunity to present the dissertation research and to respond to criticism. The subsequent defense examination will be administered by the student's committee, and open to all of the departmental faculty. After the dissertation has been successfully defended, the student will prepare a final copy of the dissertation acceptable to the committee. This corrected version will be signed by the student's committee and the Department Chair.

The student must submit three copies of the dissertation (on 50% rag, 20 pound bond) to the Manuscript and Final Clearance Advisor and two copies (on Xerox paper) to the Department of Oceanography of which one will be sent to the Marine Lab Library. The copies that are submitted to the Clearance Advisor will be bound; one copy will be sent to the student's major professor and two copies will be placed in the University Library.

A written critique of the conduct of examination in defense of dissertation should be submitted by the Representative-at-Large from the graduate faculty to the Academic Dean and the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, within one week after the date of defense.