Doctor Of Environment Management (D.Env.M.)
ADMISSIONS
The application process and materials for doctoral programs are
different than all other MSU programs. The process is described
in detail below. Additional information is available in the Doctoral
Application booklet.
You can get the Doctoral Application booklet by:
Admission Requirements
Applicants must
meet the University's graduate admissions criteria and submit
the following for consideration:
-
A completed
and signed application for doctoral study
-
A personal
essay describing your view of the relevance of doctoral study
to your scholarly development, and your areas of potential research
interest. Please also indicate any program faculty with
whom you might work and with whom you have already communicated.
-
Official transcripts
of undergraduate and any graduate work
-
GRE scores;
TOEFL scores if necessary
-
Three letters
of recommendation from college/university faculty or professional
colleagues who can attest to your potential for advanced study
and research
-
Application
fee of $60
These materials will be reviewed by an admissions committee composed
of at least three faculty.
Either before or immediately following admission, students must
complete any required examinations to assess competence and/or
other prerequisite knowledge identified for the program.
Examination results may require that students take courses
beyond the standard requirements for the degree. In addition,
faculty may recommend supplementary coursework for students
without sufficient undergraduate or master's preparation. A
formal work program (plan of study) will be developed by each
student and his/her Graduate Program Coordinator. The work
program must be approved by the Office of Graduate Admissions & Support
Services in order for the student to matriculate.
Financial Aid
Several kinds
of financial aid are available to graduate students who meet all
admission requirements A limited number of graduate assistantships,
including full tuition waivers, are available on a competitive
basis for full-time D.Env.M. students. Applications for
assistantships are included in the application packet you will
receive from the Office of Graduate Admissions & Support Services
Basic Degree Requirements
Students with a bachelor's degree will be required to take a minimum
of 72 semester hours for the doctorate: 12 semester hours of required
core courses, 24 semester hours of elective courses, and 36 semester
hours of research project and dissertation, which includes a 6-semester
hour, year-long seminar (Research Project In Environmental
Studies) where a student develops research skills by working
with one of several ongoing resident research groups. Following
successful completion of the research seminar, a student must
then complete a minimum of 24 semester hours of dissertation research.
Up to 24 credits of previous graduate work may be applied towards
the doctoral program when appropriate. Other requirements will
include a doctoral qualifying examination and dissertation defense.
Residency
Doctoral program policies approved by the MSU Graduate Council
require a year of full-time residency, defined as registration
for 9 credits per semester. For a student with a graduate
assistantship, full-time study is 6 semester hours per semester.
An alternative experience, outlined by the graduate coordinator and
approved by the program coordinator and the Graduate Dean, may
fulfill the residency requirement. The program provides a specially
designed residency experience for the student who is both working
and engaged in graduate study. As an alternative experience,
students will be placed in an intensive one-year research seminar
linked to one of several ongoing research communities comprised
of faculty and students working on related research. These research
communities, linked by common interests; that include common space
and equipment, structured meetings and seminars, and by electronic
methods, create a support system of peers and mentors that is
commonly lacking in part-time, non-residential graduate programs.
The immersion in a team research project for a year with regular
peer and mentor support and feedback satisfies the intent of residency.
Retention
It is essential that all students make continuing and regular
progress toward their degree. Students are expected to maintain
an overall 3.2 (out of 4.0) grade point average in all courses.
Students take a written qualifying exam appropriate to their course
of study no sooner than completion of the first 27 credits of
course work at MSU. This exam will be developed and graded
by the student's dissertation committee. Students also have
to pass an oral examination and defense of their research plans
prior to starting research and gaining admission to candidacy
for the degree.
Full-time students are required to complete all core courses (12
course hours and 6 hour research seminar) and 3 elective courses
(minimum 9 semester hours) within the first 3 years following
matriculation. Following completion of regular coursework, 12
credits of dissertation research must be completed within 2 years.
Once research has started, students must register each fall and
spring semester for 3 credits of dissertation research until the
dissertation is successfully defended. Research credits
also can be generated during the summer.
Degree Candidacy
In order to advance
to candidacy, the student must pass the retention requirements,
and prepare and defend a dissertation research proposal.
The research proposal will be presented and defended as part of
an oral qualifying exam before an interdisciplinary examining
committee no sooner than completion of 20 course credits and no
later than completion of 36 course credits. The examining committee
may accept the research proposal, accept the proposal with modifications,
reject the proposal pending significant changes and a second oral
defense, or reject the proposal completely. A student whose defense
is rejected will be granted one additional opportunity to defend.
Following acceptance of a research proposal, the student is expected
to register for a minimum of 3 credits of dissertation research
with her/his principal research coordinator for consecutive semesters
until the dissertation has been defended.
Dissertation
Each doctoral
dissertation in the Environmental Management program will address
an environmental problem in an integrative, interdisciplinary,
original and unique manner. The dissertation must include
the discovery of new knowledge relevant to the environmental problem,
integration of new and prior knowledge and finally application
of this knowledge to the solution of the problem. The dissertation
must communicate the discovery, integration and application effectively
in a form that can be readily disseminated to the environmental
management community.
It is expected
that a student will select a principal research coordinator, dissertation
committee and develop a research proposal prior to completion
of coursework. The dissertation committee will generally
be multidisciplinary, reflecting the nature of the interdisciplinary
research. The committee must include at least 3 members
of the Montclair State University Doctoral Faculty and must include
a 4th member from outside the university. Committee
members from outside the university must be approved according
to existing Graduate School policy.
Final Defense:
A public defense of the dissertation must be completed in
accordance with current Graduate School policy, following which
the dissertation committee can approve the dissertation, approve
with modification, or reject. It is expected that all dissertations
will be published in one or more national/international peer reviewed
journals.
DEADLINES
The deadline for receipt of all application
materials, including applications for doctoral assistantships is
February 15th for admission in the following Fall semester, and
October 15th for admission for the following Spring semester.
|
