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The Doctoral Degree in Geography

Admission to Candidacy	Admissions Requirements	Advisors
Assistantships	Dissertation	Dissertation Committee
Doctoral Checklist	Doctoral Defense	Forms
Graduate School	Independent Study	Plan of Study
Preliminary Examinations	Program Requirements	Transferring Coursework

Admissions Requirements

Minimum requirements to be considered for admission to the Ph.D. in geography include 36 hours of graduate work in geography or an allied discipline, acceptable scores on the GRE Exam, strong letters of recommendation, and a personal statement that summarizes your background and interests in pursuing an advanced degree in geography.

Promising students who do not meet the formal requirements for full admission may, upon departmental recommendation, be granted provisional admission. Full graduate standing will be granted when the student satisfactorily completes prescribed courses or otherwise removes deficiencies as outlined by the Director of Graduate Studies or the Graduate School. All special conditions must be satisfied no later than upon the completion of 15 semester hours of graduate credit. A graduate student admitted provisionally is not eligible for appointment to an assistantship or fellowship until full graduate standing is achieved.

Program Requirements

The doctoral degree requires a minimum of 48 hours of graduate-level coursework; all but 6 credit hours must be at the 600-level and higher.

Required core courses are: GEO 750; GEO 760; GEO 761
Required cluster courses are:
- 6 credit hours of GIScience courses
- 6 credit hours of Urban/Regional courses
- 6 credit hours of Physical geography courses
- 6 credit hours of dissertation-related courses
15-21 hours of dissertation research

Students coming into our programs without an undergraduate degree in geography must complete 4 undergraduate courses in geography to help ground themselves in the discipline. One course in each of the following sub-disciplines is required, in addition to completing the advanced degree requirements:

Physical Geography: GEO 103; GEO 106
Regional Geography: GEO 104; GEO 344
Cultural Geography: GEO 105; GEO 301; GEO 306
Geographic Techniques: GEO 121; GEO 603

These courses may have been taken previously as part of an undergraduate program; if this is not the case, they may be taken at UNCG, in any other approved geography department, or in some cases by correspondence. Please consult the Director of Graduate Studies for more information or course approvals.

Advisors

The Director of Graduate Studies serves as the temporary advisor for all incoming graduate students. Students will meet with the Director before classes begin. The purpose of this initial meeting is to discuss your goals, help you plan a course of study, and to anticipate the timing of important graduate school and departmental deadlines. By the end of the first year, you will be expected to select a permanent advisor, with that advisor’s consent. You may request a change of advisor at any time. Please note that faculty committees do NOT normally meet during the periods between semesters or during the first or last week of any semester. Committee approvals of work/proposals may be significantly delayed if you fail to recognize this in your planning.

Plan of Study

Every graduate program undertaken, including the post-baccalaureate certificates, requires you to file a plan of study outlining all the courses you will take or have taken to meet the requirements of your degree. A preliminary form must be filled out and signed by the Director of Graduate Studies during your first year in the program. A final plan, which documents any changes that occurred must be signed and filed with the Graduate School when you apply for graduation.

Please note that each program undertaken requires a separate plan of study to be filed. See the appendix for forms.

Transferring Coursework

In some instances, work completed at other institutions may be counted towards your degree. If you propose the transfer of credit, it must be recommended by your dissertation committee before the Graduate School will credit the work to your program. The maximum amount of credits transferable is approximately 9 credit hours. The following conditions also apply:

Courses must have been taken at a recognized, accredited graduate school
Courses may NOT have been used to complete the requirements for another degree
Courses must have been taken within the 7-year time frame of the degree
A 3.0 or better grade must have been earned on all transfer credit
The credit must be recorded on an official transcript that is on file with the Graduate School
Transfer credits must be approved by the student’s dissertation committee and by the Dean of the Graduate School
Transfer credit must be necessary to meet specific degree requirements
A maximum of 9 credit hours may be transferred

Independent Study

An independent study consists of guided readings, research and individual project work completed under the direction of a member of the geography department. They offer students the opportunity to complete an in-depth study of an area in geography that is not covered by a regular course in the geography curriculum. These studies are not designed to substitute for regular coursework.

Eighteen hours of graduate coursework must be completed before a student is eligible to enroll in GEO 690 – Research Problems in Applied Geography or GEO 790 –Independent Geographic Research. Students must also have at least a 3.0 average in their graduate coursework and the prior approval of a faculty member to enroll – faculty must fill out a form granting you approval to register (forms generally available in the front office). No more than 3 credit hours of independent study may be earned in any given semester, and not more than 6 semester hours may count towards satisfying the minimum requirements for a master’s or doctoral degree.

Dissertation Committee

Your dissertation committee must be established no later than the completion of 18 credit hours of coursework related to your doctoral degree. At least 4 members of the graduate faculty comprise the dissertation committee. This committee helps you prepare your plan of study and guides the development of your dissertation. Of the 4 members, 2 (including the Chair), must be members of the graduate faculty; no more than 1 may be an adjunct graduate faculty member. The Chair must be from your major department. It is also strongly recommended that one member be selected from a minor area of study.

Preliminary Examinations

Upon the completion of 33 credit hours in your program of study, you are required to sit for a preliminary doctoral examination, which consists of both a written and an oral component. A request for the examination committee must be submitted to the dissertation committee a minimum of 4 weeks prior to the proposed exam date. The written portion is scheduled and prepared by the dissertation advisor, in consultation with the dissertation committee. Questions may cover any phase of coursework taken during your doctoral degree or any subject logically related and basic to an understanding of the subject matter of your dissertation. Following the written examination, an oral examination is scheduled as a follow-up exam; this should be scheduled within one month of the written examination. The complete dissertation committee must participate in the preliminary examinations. Unanimous approval is required to pass the examination; no more than one re-examination is allowed, and this is at the discretion of the dissertation committee.

Admission to Candidacy

When you have completed all coursework, passed the preliminary examination, and submitted a dissertation research outline approved by your dissertation committee, you may then make formal application in the Graduate School for admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree.

Dissertation

Before the preliminary doctoral examination is scheduled, and before beginning dissertation work, you must write a dissertation proposal in consultation with your advisor and the other members of your dissertation committee. The dissertation proposal should be concise and focused; a good model to follow is the NSF Dissertation Grant Proposal document (www.nsf.gov). The grant proposal has a 15 page limit; in no case should the proposal exceed 30 pages. It should include:

Title page - proposed title of dissertation; name of student; name and signature of 1st and 2nd readers, and the names of two reviewers; date of submission; a 50-100 word abstract typed (single spaced) stating concisely the nature of the problem to be pursued, objectives of the study, and data and methods to be employed
Introduction & Justification – A specific statement of the problem as a researchable issue, including its relationship to past and present research
Literature Review – Discussion of the pertinent literature and placing the proposal in context with this
Procedure – Discussion of research objectives and design, along with the data to be used
Timetable – A timetable for producing the product, including research, analysis, and writing phases
Bibliography – Listing of works that most clearly relate to the study as sources of theory, data or methodology

Your dissertation will be the result of a comprehensive investigation of a basic and significant problem within your major area of study. It must represent a significant and original contribution to knowledge, and highlight your ability to conduct independent research of high quality.

Doctoral Defense

When you have successfully completed all other requirements for the degree, the chair of your dissertation committee will, in consultation with the other committee members, schedule your final oral dissertation defense. The Graduate School will publish the dissertation title, date, time and location of the oral examination at least two weeks prior to the examination. The examination is open to all members of the University community who may wish to attend. The final oral examination is administered by the advisory/dissertation committee according to program guidelines. The examination is largely related to the dissertation field of study including courses taken here and elsewhere. Approval of the examination must be attested to by all members of the advisory/dissertation committee. The results of the examination are to be reported in writing to the Dean of The Graduate School.

Your degree requirements are not fulfilled until you make all the corrections required by your committee at the doctoral defense, your advisor reads and approves the corrections, and you submit the final corrected and formatted dissertation to the Graduate School. Please note that UNCG requires you submit an approval copy of your dissertation, followed by the final, corrected copy. These versions must be submitted by the deadlines set by the Graduate school (found in the university calendar). Please also note that the dissertation must follow strict formatting guidelines, available from the Graduate School. If your dissertation does not meet these guidelines, it will not be accepted and your graduation date will be delayed until you have revised the formatting accordingly. Dissertation Copies. One bound copy of the finished dissertation must be filed with the department. It is also customary to provide each committee member with a bound copy of the final dissertation.

Assistantships

A full-time student load per semester is 6 credit hours. Students receiving financial support from the University through are expected to enroll in a minimum of six semester hours in a graduate degree program. They must have been admitted to the University unconditionally and have maintained a B (3.0) average. Service hours may not exceed 20 hours per week in total. Full-time graduate students may not be employed for more than 20 hours per week inclusive of assistantship hours. A student who has a fellowship or service appointment will not work outside the University. Normally, a 20-hour assistantship will consist of one of the following: complete responsibility for one to two sections of a course (Ex. GEO 103); teaching two to three lab sections of a course (Ex. GEO 106L); serving as a technical assistant in a course (Ex. GEO 121); serving as a lab assistant in the research lab; some combination of technical assistance and lab assistance. Please note that assignments are made based on a balance of Departmental needs, student skills, and schedules.