Chemical Engineering Graduate Handbook: Requirements & Procedures

For students graduating with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering.

For students graduating with a bachelor’s degree in some related field of study other than chemical engineering.

The student must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00/4.00 in each of five categories in coursework at Ohio University since entering the Chemical Engineering graduate program. The categories are (1) chemical engineering courses, (2) chemical engineering graduate courses, (3) courses listed on the student’s course of study, (4) graduate courses, and (5) all courses. The course of study is described in sections 1.E. and 1.F.

The student must maintain satisfactory, timely progress in his or her research. This includes, but is not limited to, meeting procedural requirements.

Students are required to take a minimum of 21 credit hours of courses at the graduate level excluding seminar, thesis, research, special project hours, or courses taken to make up undergraduate deficiencies. The following courses must be included: CHE 5000, CHE 6100, CHE 6200, CHE 6300, CHE 6400, and ET 6020.  These account for 15 of the 21 required credit hours. The remaining 6 credit hours (minimum) are made up of elective courses. The elective courses are listed on the student’s course of study and must be approved by both the student’s thesis advisory committee and the departmental graduate committee. The thesis advisory committee may require more than 6 credit hours of elective courses. Additional procedural details are given in Section 1.E.

A Master’s Thesis must also be completed. Students are required to take a minimum of 41 hours of thesis credit (CHE 6950). If a student does not have an advisor, the student will take CHE 6940 (Research in Chemical Engineering) instead of CHE 6950. Any students with an advisor must not take ChE 6940.

CHE 6940 (Research in Chemical Engineering) instead of CHE 6950 (thesis). All students with an advisor must not take ChE 6940 or 8950. All PhD students are expected to serve once as a full-TA (teaching

Students must also register for 1 credit hour of seminar (CHE 6000) each term that they are enrolled until they have successfully defended the M.S. thesis (with the exception of Summer or Internship terms). CHE 6000 credit hours do not count toward the minimum credit hours required. Students are expected to present one CHE 6000 seminar if they have not done a full-length presentation at a board meeting or national meeting during their time in the program.

Students are required to take a minimum of 31 credit hours of courses at the graduate level excluding seminar, thesis, research, special project hours, or courses taken to make up undergraduate deficiencies.& The following courses must be included: CHE 5000, CHE 6100, CHE 6200, CHE 6300, CHE 6400, and ET 6020. These account for 15 of the 31 required credit hours. The remaining 16 credit hours (minimum) are made up of elective courses. The elective courses are listed on the student’s course of study and must be approved by both the student’s advisor and the departmental graduate committee. The advisor may require more than 16 credit hours of elective courses. Additional procedural details are given in Section 1.F.

A Special Project must also be completed. As part of the Special Project requirement, students are required to take a minimum of 10 credit hours of research credit (CHE 6940).

Only part-time students with significant and/or continuing industrial experience are eligible to elect Option B.

1. A GPA of 3.00/4.00 in each of five categories in coursework at Ohio University since entering the Chemical Engineering graduate program. The categories are (1) chemical engineering courses, (2) chemical engineering graduate courses, (3) courses listed on the student’s course of study, (4) graduate courses, and (5) all courses. The course of study is described in sections 1.E. and 1.F.
2. No grade less than C (2.00/4.00) is acceptable in any coursework used to satisfy any graduation requirement.
3. No more than six years from the time of admission to the program can be taken to complete requirements for the M.S. degree.

The student must propose to the departmental graduate committee both a preliminary thesis topic and a thesis advisor. The student's first three choices of thesis topics and advisors must be submitted, in writing, to the departmental graduate committee chairman during the first term of non-OPIE (Ohio Program of Intensive English) graduate study. (Non-OPIE graduate study is defined as any term in which letter-graded non-OPIE graduate courses are taken.) The choice of thesis topic and advisor must be approved by the departmental graduate committee.

The student must develop and submit for approval a course of study (form available online through the department Web site). The course of study must consist of a list of the courses that the student intends to take in order to satisfy graduation requirements. A tentative course of study must be approved by the thesis advisor and submitted to the departmental graduate committee during the first term of non-OPIE graduate study. A final course of study, along with the formal research proposal, must be approved by the thesis advisory committee and submitted to the departmental graduate committee no later than the end of the third term of non-OPIE graduate study. Both the tentative course of study and the final course of study must be approved by the departmental graduate committee.

Changes to the course of study require approval by the thesis advisory committee and the departmental graduate committee. A written explanation including courses dropped, courses added, and reasons for the changes must accompany the request for a change. Because alternate courses may not be accepted by the thesis advisory committee and/or the departmental graduate committee as counting toward the course requirements, students must submit the revised course of study at their earliest opportunity.

A thesis advisory committee will be formed consisting of the student's thesis advisor and at least three additional faculty members. A form for this purpose is available online, and it must be submitted to the chair of the departmental graduate committee at least 28 days prior to the oral presentation of the Research Proposal (see I.E.4).

The four required members of the committee must have graduate faculty status at Ohio University, and the following guidelines must be followed:

1. The thesis advisor must have graduate faculty status in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
2. At least one member of the committee must have graduate faculty status in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and be a full-time, permanent employee of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
3. The Dean of the Russ College of Engineering and Technology will appoint a committee member (the “College Representative”) who has graduate faculty status at Ohio University in a department outside of the Russ College and who does not hold graduate faculty status in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. The student may suggest someone for appointment.

The advisory committee may include one additional member with associate graduate faculty status at Ohio University. Other such individuals may be invited to attend the research proposal and thesis defense and to comment on the student’s work, but they shall not be members of the thesis advisory committee.

It is the responsibility of the student to obtain the consent of the advisory committee members to serve on the committee and to submit to the graduate committee chair the formal research proposal and course of study after they have been approved by the thesis advisory committee.

Subsequent changes in the makeup of the thesis advisory committee must be made by petitioning the graduate committee. Written approval must be obtained from any advisory committee member to be removed, any advisory committee member to be added, and the thesis advisor prior to submitting a petition. The merits of a petition to modify the makeup of the advisory committee will be evaluated using the following guidelines:

1. Additions to the advisory committee may be made routinely. This will not be the case if the intention of the addition is understood by the departmental graduate committee to be to dilute the impact of current advisory committee members.
2. Substitutions for advisory committee members who are leaving the university, retiring, taking sabbatical, or otherwise expecting to be unavailable to participate in the research will normally be granted. Students are advised to implement this substitution immediately upon learning of the current advisory committee member's unavailability.
3. Substitutions for advisory committee members who will be temporarily unavailable at the time of the oral defense will be denied.
4. Substitutions made in order to avoid technical disagreements between the student and a current advisory committee member will be denied.

The student will prepare a written formal research proposal. After he or she has prepared the written proposal, the student will give an oral presentation of his or her proposal before the thesis advisory committee.

The objective in preparing a formal research proposal is to demonstrate to the advisory committee and to the departmental graduate committee that the student has a clear understanding of the research to be performed and a realistic and consistent plan to carry out the research. The length of the written proposal is expected to be approximately 10 to 20 double-spaced typewritten pages. Students are advised to review college and university policies on plagiarism. The oral presentation should take approximately 20 to 30 minutes. Visual aids should be used. See also Section IV, "Guidelines for the Formal Research Proposal."

The form (available online) naming the thesis advisory committee members must be submitted to the graduate chair at least 28 days prior to the oral presentation. It is best to complete this form in consultation with the advisor and/or the graduate chair. A copy of the written proposal must be in the hands of each of the advisory committee members no later than 14 days prior to the oral presentation. Each member of the thesis advisory committee must be informed of the date, time, and place of the oral presentation no later than 14 days before it is to take place.

The formal research proposal, along with the course of study, must be approved by the thesis advisory committee and submitted to the departmental graduate committee no later than the end of the third term of non-OPIE graduate study. The formal research proposal must be approved by the departmental graduate committee.

The student must meet with the majority of the thesis advisory committee at least once in each calendar year. The oral presentation of the Formal Research Proposal counts as one such meeting. The Thesis Defense counts as one such meeting. If additional meetings are required, the student will prepare a one- to two-page summary of research progress and a one- to two-page summary of academic and procedural progress for each one. The student will provide the progress summaries to each member of the thesis advisory committee and to the chair of the department graduate committee. The department may provide a form for the academic and procedural progress report.

A written thesis must be prepared describing the student's completed research work, and it must be defended orally before the thesis advisory committee. An electronic thesis prepared according to university guidelines is required. Students are advised to review college and university policies on plagiarism. All theses will be subject to screening for plagiarism by the College and must be formally submitted to the Dean’s office for this purpose prior to submission to the thesis committee. The student is personally responsible for good literary style, proper grammar, and accurate spelling. Students who may have difficulty with English construction (including, but not limited to, non-native speakers) may be required to seek professional help outside the department from the Academic Advancement Center, the OPIE program, or other sources. Members of the thesis advisory committee have the right to refuse to review the technical content of the thesis if it does not meet accepted standards of English construction.

The form (available online) to schedule the time of the oral defense must be submitted to the graduate program assistant at least 28 days prior to the oral defense. It is suggested that this form be completed in consultation with the graduate chair.

The completed thesis, in "final" form, must be in the hands of each of the advisory committee members at least two weeks prior to the oral defense. "Final" form in this context refers to thesis quality; changes in the content of the thesis may still be required by the thesis advisory committee. Each member of the advisory committee must be advised of the date, time, and place of the oral defense no later than two weeks before it is to take place. Every member of the thesis advisory committee must be present at the oral defense. The thesis must be approved by both the thesis advisory committee and the departmental graduate committee.

Approval by the advisory committee will not occur if either the thesis advisor, the College Representative, or any two of the advisory committee members do not approve the thesis.

The student must select an academic advisor before he or she has completed 15 credit hours of letter-graded coursework. The advisor will help the student to choose a course of study and to develop plans for a research project. The choice of advisor must be submitted, in writing, along with the course of study, to the graduate chair and must be approved by the advisor and by the departmental graduate committee. The advisor may be changed at a later date by submitting a revised choice to the graduate chair. It will be considered customary for the graduate chair to serve as the advisor in the absence of alternate intentions of the student. Once the student selects a special project, it will be considered customary for the faculty member who is directing the special project to become the student's advisor. Written notification of this change must be submitted to the graduate chair and approved by the departmental graduate committee.

The student must develop and submit for approval a course of study (forms are available on the Web). The course of study should consist of a list of the courses that the student intends to take in order to satisfy graduation requirements. The course of study must be approved by the student’s advisor and submitted to the graduate chair by the time the student has completed 15 credit hours of letter-graded courses. The course of study must be approved by the departmental graduate committee.

Changes to the course of study must be approved by the student’s advisor and the departmental graduate committee. A written explanation including courses dropped, courses added, and reasons for the changes must accompany the request for a change. Because it is possible that alternate courses may not be accepted as counting toward the course requirements, students must submit the revised course of study at the earliest opportunity.

A written research project report must be prepared by the student and approved by the student’s advisor and the departmental graduate committee. Students are advised to review college and university policies on plagiarism. The research project is less extensive than a thesis but still represents a substantial amount of work corresponding to 10 credit hours of coursework.

For students graduating with a master’s degree in chemical engineering or a field closely related to chemical engineering.

For students graduating with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering who desire to bypass the M.S. degree and meet the following three criteria: (1) for students required by university or departmental policy to submit such results, a score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exceeding 80 (Internet-based) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS) scores of at least 6.5 for each band, or the equivalent as defined by Ohio University; (2) an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0/4.0 or equivalent as determined by Ohio University.

The student must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00/4.00 in each of five categories in coursework at Ohio University since entering the Chemical Engineering Ph.D. program. The categories are (1) chemical engineering courses, (2) chemical engineering graduate courses, (3) courses listed on the student’s course of study, (4) graduate courses, and (5) all courses. The course of study is described in section II.E.

In addition, the Direct-to-Ph.D. student must complete the required M.S. courses (CHE 5000, CHE 6100, CHE 6200, CHE 6300, CHE 6400, and ET 6020) with an average of at least 3.3/4.0 and no grade below 2.67/4.00.  A Direct-to-Ph.D. student who does not meet this requirement will be transferred from the Direct-to-Ph.D. option to the M.S. program and must complete the M.S. before continuing to the Ph.D.

The student must maintain satisfactory, timely progress in his or her research. This includes, but is not limited to, meeting the prescribed deadlines for procedural requirements.

Additional courses beyond the M.S. program, consisting of at least 9 credit hours (6 hours for students entering before 2015) of course work at or above the 7000 level are required. This excludes seminar, dissertation, and research credit hours. At least 3 of these credit hours (at least 2 for students entering before 2015) must be Chemical Engineering courses. Students must complete CHE 5000 and ET 6020. Students must complete a minimum of 51 credits of CHE 8950 (Dissertation).

Students must register for 1 credit hour of seminar (CHE 6000) each term that they are enrolled until they have successfully defended the Ph.D. dissertation (with the exception of Summer or Internship terms). Students are expected to present one CHE 6000 seminar if they have not done a full-length presentation at a board meeting or national meeting during their time in the program.

Students must take at least 21 credit hours at the graduate level plus 9 additional credit hours at or above the 7000 level. This excludes seminar, thesis/dissertation, and research credit hours. The following courses must be included: CHE 5000, CHE 6100, CHE 6200, CHE 6300, CHE 6400, and ET 6020. These account for 15 of the 30 required credit hours of course work. The remaining 15 credit hours (minimum) consist of 6 credit hours of elective courses plus the 9 credit hours of 7000-level courses. Students must also complete a minimum of 51 credit hours of CHE 8950 (Dissertation).

The elective courses are listed on the student’s course of study and must be approved by both the student’s dissertation advisory committee and the departmental graduate committee. At least 3 of the credit hours at or above the 7000 level must be Chemical Engineering courses. Additional procedural details are given in Section II.E.

Students must register for 1 credit hour of seminar (CHE 6000) each term that they are enrolled until they have successfully defended the Ph.D. dissertation (with the exception of Summer or Internship terms). Students are expected to present one CHE 6000 seminar if they have not done a full-length presentation at a board meeting or national meeting during their time in the program. If a student does not have an advisor, the student will take CHE 8940 (Research in Chemical Engineering) instead of CHE 8950 (Dissertation). For a direct-to-PhD student without an advisor before passing the qualifying exam, the student should take CHE 6940 (Research in Chemical Engineering) instead of CHE 6950 (thesis). All students with an advisor must not take ChE 6940 or 8950. All PhD students are expected to serve once as a full-TA (teaching assistant). The student must first pass the Ohio University SPEAK TEST with a score of 230 or above before serving as TA

Students must take at least 21 credit hours of courses at the graduate level plus 6 additional credit hours at or above the 7000-level.  This excludes seminar or thesis/dissertation or research credit hours. The following courses must be included: CHE 5000, CHE 6100, CHE 6200, CHE 6300, CHE 6400, and ET 6020. These account for 15 of the 27 required credit hours of coursework. The remaining 12 credit hours (minimum) consist of 6 credit hours of elective courses plus the 6 credit hours of 7000-level courses. Students must also complete a minimum of 51 credit hours of CHE 8950 (Dissertation).

The elective courses are listed on the student’s course of study and must be approved by both the student’s thesis advisory committee and the departmental graduate committee. At least 2 of these credit hours at or above the 7000-level must be Chemical Engineering courses. The dissertation advisory committee may require more course work. Additional procedural details are given in Section II.E.

Students must register for 1 credit hour of seminar (CHE 6000) each term that they are enrolled until they have successfully defended the Ph.D. dissertation (with the exception of Summer or Internship terms). Students are expected to present one CHE 6000 seminar if they have not done a full-length presentation at a board meeting or national meeting during their time in the program.

1. A Ph.D. dissertation must be completed.
2. A cumulative GPA of at least 3.00/4.00 in each of five categories in coursework at Ohio University since entering the Chemical Engineering Ph.D. program. The categories are (1) chemical engineering courses, (2) chemical engineering graduate courses, (3) courses listed on the student’s course of study, (4) graduate courses, and (5) all courses. The course of study is described in section II.E.
3. No grade less than C (2.00/4.00) is acceptable in any coursework used to satisfy any graduation requirement.
4. No more than seven years from the time of admission to the program can be taken to complete requirements for the Ph.D. degree.

The qualifying exam for the Ph.D. program usually will be administered twice per year, usually one in early January and one in late June. Students with a chemical engineering degree that had the necessary courses for the qualifying exam must take the exam the first time it is offered, unless in the judgment of the graduate chair their previous coursework did not sufficiently cover the exam subjects or they arrive to campus late.

Students entering the Ph.D. program without sufficient previous coursework must take the qualifying exam the first time it is offered following the first offering, in sequence, of the needed remedial courses.

The qualifying exam is meant to measure the adequacy of the student's technical preparation as well as his or her aptitude and ability for continuing graduate education toward the Ph.D. degree. The exam may be taken a maximum of two times. Five undergraduate junior-level chemical engineering core courses are tested, namely thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, mass transfer, and reaction engineering. Students who earned a grade of A/A- at Ohio University in any of these courses will automatically waive it. Students can petition the graduate committee for equivalent grades from other universities. Courses must match exactly. Thermodynamics must be a two-semester course.

If a student in the Traditional Ph.D. Option fails to pass the qualifying exam on the first attempt, he or she must take it a second time, the very next time it is offered.

A Direct-to-Ph.D. student who fails to pass the qualifying exam on the first attempt may either (1) take it a second time the very next time it is offered or (2) complete the M.S. degree and retake it later. Under the second scenario, the student is acceptable to the Ph.D. program only after passing the qualifying exam on the second attempt and completing the M.S. degree.

The student must propose to the departmental graduate committee both a preliminary dissertation topic and a dissertation advisor. This short proposal must be in writing and must be made during the first term of graduate enrollment following admission at the Ph.D. level. The choice of dissertation topic and advisor must be approved by the departmental graduate committee.

The student must develop and submit for approval a course of study (forms available online). The course of study consists of a list of the courses that the student intends to take in order to satisfy graduation requirements. A tentative course of study must be approved by the dissertation advisor and submitted to the graduate chair during the first term after admission to the Ph.D. program.

A final course of study, along with the formal research proposal, must be approved by the dissertation advisory committee and submitted to the graduate chair no later than the end of the fourth term after admission to the Ph.D. program. For the case of students switching from the M.S. program to the Direct-to-Ph.D. program, the deadline is the fourth term after admission to the M.S. program. Both the tentative course of study and the final course of study must be approved by the departmental graduate committee.

Changes to the course of study require approval by the dissertation advisory committee and the departmental graduate committee. A written explanation including courses dropped, courses added, and reasons for the changes must accompany the request for a change. Because alternate courses may not be accepted as counting toward the graduation requirements, students should submit the revised course of study to the graduate chair at the earliest opportunity.

A dissertation advisory committee will be formed consisting of the student's dissertation advisor and at least four additional faculty members. A form for this purpose is available online, and it must be submitted to the graduate chair for approval from the graduate chair at least 28 days prior to the oral presentation of the Research Proposal (see II.E.5). It is suggested that this form be completed in consultation with the advisor and/or graduate chair.

The five required members of the committee must have graduate faculty status at Ohio University, and the following guidelines must be followed:

1. The dissertation advisor must have graduate faculty status in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
2. At least two members of the committee must have graduate faculty status in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and be full-time, permanent employees of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
3. The Dean of the Russ College of Engineering and Technology will appoint two committee members (the “College Representatives”) who have graduate faculty status at Ohio University in a department other than the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. One College Representative must be from outside the Russ College and must not be associated with the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering or the biomedical engineering program. One College Representative may be from the Russ College and must not be associated with the department or the biomedical engineering program. The student may recommend individuals for appointment.

The advisory committee may include one additional member with associate graduate faculty status at Ohio University. Other such individuals may be invited to attend the research proposal and dissertation defense and to comment on the student’s work, but they shall not be members of the dissertation advisory committee.

It is the responsibility of the student to obtain the consent of the advisory committee members to serve on the committee and to submit to the graduate chair the formal research proposal and course of study after the formal research proposal and course of study have been approved by the dissertation advisory committee. The formal research proposal requires the approval of the departmental graduate committee.

Subsequent changes in the makeup of the dissertation advisory committee must be made by petitioning the graduate committee. Written approval must be obtained from any advisory committee member to be removed, any advisory committee member to be added, and the dissertation advisor prior to submitting a petition. The merits of a petition to modify the makeup of the advisory committee will be evaluated using the following guidelines:

1. Additions to the advisory committee may be made routinely. This will not be the case if the intention of the addition is understood by the departmental graduate committee to be to dilute the impact of current advisory committee members.
2. Substitutions for advisory committee members who are leaving the university, retiring, taking sabbatical, or otherwise expecting to be unavailable to participate in the research will normally be granted. Students are advised to implement this substitution immediately upon learning of the current advisory committee member's unavailability.
3. Substitutions for advisory committee members who will be temporarily unavailable at the time of the oral defense will be denied.
4. Substitutions made in order to avoid technical disagreements between the student and a current advisory committee member will be denied.

The student will prepare a written Formal Research Proposal. After he or she has prepared the written proposal, the student will give an oral presentation of his or her proposal before the dissertation advisory committee.

The objective in preparing a Formal Research Proposal is to demonstrate to the advisory committee and to the departmental graduate committee that the student has a clear understanding of the research to be performed and a realistic and consistent plan to carry out the research. The length of the written proposal is expected to be approximately 10 to 20 double-spaced, typewritten pages. The oral presentation should take approximately 20 to 30 minutes. Visual aids should be used. See also Section IV, "Guidelines for the Formal Research Proposal."

The form (available online) naming the dissertation advisory committee members must be submitted to the graduate chair at least 28 days prior to the oral presentation.

A copy of the written proposal must be in the hands of each of the advisory committee members at least 14 days prior to the oral presentation. Each member of the thesis advisory committee must be informed of the date, time, and place of the oral presentation at least 14 days before it is to take place.

The Formal Research Proposal, along with the course of study, must be approved by the dissertation advisory committee and submitted to the departmental graduate committee no later than the end of the fourth term of non-OPIE graduate study. The Formal Research Proposal must be approved by the departmental graduate committee.

The student must meet with the majority of the dissertation advisory committee at least once in each calendar year. The oral presentation of the Formal Research Proposal counts as one such meeting. The Dissertation Defense counts as one such meeting. If additional meetings are required, the student will prepare a one- to two-page summary of research progress and a one- to two-page summary of academic and procedural progress for each one. The student will provide the progress summaries to each member of the thesis advisory committee and to the chair of the department graduate committee. The department may provide a form for the academic and procedural progress report.

A comprehensive exam will be administered by the student’s dissertation committee. Its tenured or tenure-track chemical engineering professors will all serve as judges. Other committee members will not be judges. There must be at least three judges and one of them must be a graduate committee member who helps to maintain exam format consistency. If the two requirements are not satisfied, the graduate chair will add an extra judge. Students are advised to review college and university policies on plagiarism and the department supplemental guidelines for the comprehensive exam (available online). The exam must be taken by the end of the sixth term of study following admission to the Ph.D. program. For the case of students switching from the M.S. program to the Direct-to-Ph.D. program, the exam must be taken by the end of the sixth term of study following admission to the M.S. program.

Upon request of the student, the student’s dissertation advisor will assign one of the judges as the Exam Supervisor to administer the exam. The person will provide the student a topic on which the student is to develop a research proposal with a timeline and a budget. The topic will be narrowly defined and will be in a research area closely related to the student's research, but not part of the dissertation. The responses should be as detailed and specific as possible.

The student will then have two weeks to prepare an oral report that responds to the assignment. If the oral report is satisfactory, a more detailed written report will then be due two weeks after the oral report is presented. If the written report is satisfactory, the student will have passed the exam. Students have two chances to pass the exam. The second attempt will consist of a new topic.

The oral and written portions of the exam will be evaluated using the following criteria.

1. The response must demonstrate an ability to synthesize information from several sources and to generate a solution to an open-ended problem.
2. The proposal must be thorough and detailed enough to demonstrate its workability.
3. The proposal should be technically correct and represent state-of-the-art techniques.

Very detailed guidelines are described in a document for download from our departmental web site’s graduate program document download page.

A written dissertation must be prepared describing the student's completed research work and defended orally before the dissertation advisory committee. An electronic dissertation prepared according to university guidelines is required. Students are advised to review college and university policies on plagiarism. All dissertations will be subject to plagiarism screening by the College and must be submitted to the Dean’s office for screening prior to submission to your committee. The student is personally responsible for good literary style, proper grammar, and accurate spelling.

Students who may have difficulty with English construction (including but not limited to non-native speakers) may be required to seek professional help outside the department from the Academic Advancement Center, the OPIE program, or other sources. Members of the dissertation advisory committee have the right to refuse to review the technical content of the dissertation if it does not meet accepted standards of English construction.

The form (available online) to schedule the time of the oral defense must be submitted to the graduate program assistant at least 28 days prior to the oral defense. It is suggested that this form be completed in consultation with the advisor and/or the graduate chair.

The completed dissertation, in "final" form, must be in the hands of each of the dissertation advisory committee members no later than two weeks prior to the oral defense. "Final" form in this context refers to dissertation quality; changes in the content of the dissertation may still be required by the dissertation advisory committee. The dissertation must be approved and accepted, in writing, by both the dissertation advisory committee and the departmental graduate committee.

Approval by the advisory committee will not occur if either the dissertation advisor, one of the College Representatives, or any two of the advisory committee members do not approve the dissertation.

Direct-to-Ph.D. students who fail to meet the procedural requirements described above will be placed in the M.S. program and must complete the M.S. before continuing to the Ph.D.

Students in the Direct-to-Ph.D. option must register for CHE 6950 “Thesis” rather than CHE 8950 “Dissertation” as needed to meet university enrollment guidelines until they pass the qualifying exam. Note that a minimum of 51 credit hours of CHE 8950 are required, so students should not delay these procedural requirements.

The graduate chairman or his or her delegate will notify the student of the student's probationary status both verbally or via e-mail and in writing via U.S. or university mail within one week after the beginning of the term following the deficiency. A copy of each piece of correspondence will be maintained in the departmental student files.

The probationary period will normally extend for one term only. For the case of GPA deficiencies, summer will not be counted toward this limit.

During the probationary period the student will be ineligible for any financial support originating from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering or the Russ College of Engineering and Technology. This includes but is not limited to departmental assistantships and Stocker Associateships and Fellowships. Externally funded support may also be withdrawn or reduced.

A petition to revoke the probation or modify the terms of the probation must be submitted to the graduate committee chairman within the first two weeks of the term during which the probation is first applied. If the graduate committee does not act upon the request during or before the third week of the term, the petition will be automatically granted. It is the responsibility of the petitioner to both submit the petition to the graduate chairman and to receive the decision of the graduate committee within the allotted time periods. Appeals beyond the departmental graduate committee can be made to the chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and then to the Dean of the Russ College of Engineering and Technology.

A petition to extend the probationary period for an additional term must be submitted to the graduate committee chairman on or before the first full day of classes for that term. It is the student's responsibility to know whether or not the deficiencies causing the probation have been corrected. If the graduate committee does not act upon the request on or before the third full day of classes, the petition will be automatically granted. It is the responsibility of the petitioner to both submit the petition to the graduate chairman and to receive the decision of the graduate committee within the allotted time periods.

The merits of a petition to extend the probationary period, revoke the probation, or modify the terms of the probation will be evaluated using the following guidelines:

1. Probation due to GPA deficiencies may be extended if significant progress toward correcting the deficiency is achieved.
2. Previous personal hardship or other extenuating circumstances may warrant granting the petition. The personal impact of withdrawal of support will not be considered. Students with ongoing personal hardship should consider a leave of absence.
3. Failure to meet the guidelines or procedures for reasons that are deemed to be beyond the control of the student will be accepted as grounds for granting the petition.
4. Ignorance of the procedures and requirements set forth in this document will not be considered to be grounds for granting a petition.