Course Work
A candidate for the doctoral degree must complete 72 hours of coursework beyond the bachelor’s degree. Forty-eight hours must be in graduate coursework approved by the student’s doctoral committee. Up to 24 hours of master’s-level coursework may be applied to the 48-hour requirement. In addition, 24 hours of FWF 600 – Doctoral Research and Dissertation – are required. A minimum of 6 semester hours must be taken in UT Knoxville courses at the 600-level, exclusive of dissertation hours.
Program of Study
All students in the program will be expected to complete the minimum number of credits within each of the numbered areas listed below. Specific courses to meet these requirements will be determined by the student’s graduate committee.
- Research Methods and Analysis – 9 credits in at least two of the following subject areas:
- Research/Experimental Design
- Statistics/Econometrics/Biometrics
- GIS/Remote Sensing
- Core Subject Areas – 33 credits to be determined by Doctoral Committee
- Professional Development – 5 credits
- Teaching – all students are expected to complete FWF 601 and assist in teaching a course during their tenure in the program (3 credits).
- Professional Communications – all students will be required to complete FWF 612 twice as part of their program of study. Part of the seminar requirement will consist of assisting in the development and conduct of FWF 512 (1 credit/semester x 2 semesters = 2 credits total).
- FWF 600 – 24 credits
Doctoral Committee
The doctoral committee is identified by the student and Major Professor and consists of at least four faculty members. At least two of the committee members must be from the School of Natural Resources and one member must be from an academic unit other than the school. Three of the committee members, including the Major Professor, must have been approved by the Graduate School to direct doctoral research. The committee should be formed during the first year of the student’s program.
Dissertation
During the first year, the student should develop a research prospectus that outlines the research problem to be addressed as part of their doctoral research. The prospectus will be presented to the student’s committee and the committee will approve the research topic and approach. All students will be required to complete, present, and defend a dissertation. The student should provide each member of the committee a copy of the dissertation at least two weeks prior to the scheduled defense. All students will be required to present a seminar on their dissertation as part of the degree requirements. The seminar can be part of the dissertation defense or presented before the formal defense.
