Ph.D. Degree
College of Graduate Studies requirements:
- Minimum of 78 credits beyond the Bachelor’s degree, 52 credits must be in courses numbered 500 or above
- 39 of the 78 credits must be in courses other than 600 level (Doctoral Research and Dissertation)
- 100 and 200 level courses may not be used
- 300 level courses may be used only in topic areas supporting the research.
Department of Geography requirements
All students must complete the following courses (or have completed equivalent classes in other programs) with grades of “B” or better:
- GEOG 591, History & Philosophy of Geography (Fall semesters)
- STAT 431, Statistical Analysis
- GEOG 507, Spatial Analysis and Modeling (Spring semesters, STAT 431 is pre-req)
- Two 3-credit geography seminars at the 500 level (eligible courses include GEOG 508, GEOG 535, GEOG 540, GEOG 550, GEOG 584, all courses offered as 3-credit GEOG 501 (Seminar), most courses offered as GEOG 504 (Special Topics) – inquire at the dept office for specific cases)
A minor is required in a field outside of Geography, consisting of not less than 12 credits earned in a field related to the individual's interests in Geography.
Other Requirements for Graduation
Pursuant to the Graduate College guidelines, students should assemble a graduate committee and file a graduate Study Plan (a list of coursework agreed upon by the graduate committee) within their first year in the program. A student’s graduate committee is typically comprised of three faculty from the Department of Geography and one external member of the UI graduate faculty.
Advancement to Candidacy
Students may not register for Dissertation Credits (GEOG 600) until they advance to candidacy by passing the preliminary exam and obtaining committee approval of their dissertation proposal.
Preliminary exams MUST be taken no later than the 4th semester or upon completion of 24 credits after enrolling in the program. Preliminary exams consist of written questions contributed by each committee member, followed by a comprehensive oral exam.
Upon successful completion of the preliminary exam, the written dissertation proposal must be orally presented to the department, defended by the student and approved by the student’s graduate committee.
Entrance Requirements
Applicants must satisfy these minimum requirements:
- Masters degree from an accredited institution
- Acceptable GRE scores (most of our students have a combined verbal/quantitative score of at least 1150)
- All applicants whose native language is not English are required to take the TOEFL and score better than 550 (paper-based) or 213 (computer-based).
Additionally, admission into the program is dependent on the availability of a geography faculty member to serve as major advisor in the topic area of the student’s research emphasis. Students are encouraged to contact directly those faculty members whose research interests overlap with their own. It is especially important for Ph.D. students to identify faculty members whose research expertise is a good match with their interests.
Deficiencies
All students in the graduate program must have a basic background in both human and physical geography, as evidenced by at least two courses in human geography and two courses in physical geography, with a “B” or better grade in all courses used to demonstrate proficiency in geography.
The transcripts of students entering the program with prior degrees in fields other than geography will be evaluated for deficiencies in these areas. You may be asked to provide course descriptions or syllabi for some courses on your transcript if necessary. Any coursework required to remove the deficiencies should be taken as early in the student’s program as possible. Students should also be advised that the required coursework includes courses with math prerequisites.
University of Idaho General Catalog
2011-2012 Academic Year More