Engineering Seminar component – One credit hour

• SYEN 7101 - Research Methodology or
• SYEN 7118 - Research Ethics in Science and Engineering

Engineering mathematical foundations component – Six credit hours

As advised by student’s resarch advisor or track coordinator.

Track core courses: 12 credit hours.(required of students entering PhD program with Bachelors degree)

Program Electives: 12 credit hours

A list of the core courses for each of the four program tracks and examples of elective courses are presented below. Students must choose three of the four listed core courses under their chosen track, and four elective courses, usually from the ones listed under their chosen track. Student may, with their advisors’ permission, choose elective courses from other tracks as necessary to further their research.

Dissertation Research:

29 credit hours for students entereing the program with a Bachelor degree, and 41 credits for student’s entering the program with a Masters degree. 

Total hours required for the program:72 hours for students entering the PhD program with a Bachelors degree and 48 hours for student entering the PhD program with a Masters degree

Candidacy Exams

The program is designed so that the student is exposed to a breadth of knowledge through the program core and a depth of knowledge through the track core. Before a student begins formally dissertation research, he/she is required to pass the candidacy exam. The only exception is that the candidacy exams can be waived when the student is awarded a Master’s degree with thesis option in Engineering at UA Little Rock with a GPA of 3.5 or above and continues the Ph.D. program in Engineering Science and Systems with the same advisor. The candidacy exam will have a written and an oral component. The written component will test the student on the fundamental knowledge at the advanced undergraduate level, whereas the oral component will test the student’s ability to conduct research in his/her area of interest. A candidacy exam committee will be formed including three faculty members preparing the problems for the written exam. The candidacy exam structure is followed:

1. The student can take the candidacy exam as soon as possible. The student can take the exam no later than the 3rd semester he/she is in the program. The students who do not take the exams by the 3rd semester will be treated as having failed in their first attempt.
2. The student will have to officially declare his/her intention to take the candidacy exam at the begining of the semester in which he/she will take the exams for the first time.
3. The student will have to attempt both components in the same semester, and will need to pass each of the components separately. If the student fails to pass one or more components in the first attempt, he/she will have to retake those components in the next  semester. Failure to pass the exam in two attempts will result in dismissal from the program, pending review of the Engineering Science and Systems Governance Committee. This review will be completed and a decision conveyed to the student by the end of the academic year when he/she has taken the exam.
4. The students may contact the faculty members who prepare the problems for the written exam for necessary information such as syllabi and problem styles.
5. Decisions of the Track Candidacy Exam Committee will be supported by all the committee members present and will be any one of the following:
   1. Pass
   2. Pass with remedial course work
   3. Fail; in this case, the student will retake the oral component in the next semester on the same research topic; a new report will have to be submitted by the student prior to retaking the oral exam.

Proposal Defense

A candidate must present his/her research proposal to their Doctoral Dissertation Committee within two semesters after passing the candidacy exam or the first 9 hours taken for Doctoral Research Dissertation, whichever comes first.  At the completion of the proposal defense, the Doctoral Dissertation Committee will vote to either pass or fail the student. A students who fails the proposal defense will have to repeat the defense within a semester of their first attempt. If the student fails the proposal defense for a second time, s/he will be dismissed from the program, pending review of the Engineering Science and Systems Governance Committee.

Dissertation Defense

In order to complete the requirements for the doctoral degree, students will prepare and successfully defend a written dissertation in accordance with the format and procedures dictated by the Graduate School. Students must orally defend their completed doctoral research to their Doctoral Dissertation Committee. At the completion of the dissertation defense, the Doctoral Dissertation Committee will vote to either pass or fail the student. A majority vote is required to pass. If a student fails the exam, s/he may be dismissed from the program, pending review by the Engineering Science and Systems Governance Committee.

Students must submit the written dissertation and published papers to the Doctoral Dissertation Committee before the dissertation defense.

Doctoral Dissertation Advisor

A student admitted to the doctoral program must declare an advisor, with advisor’s approval, no later than the second semester that he/she is in the program. The advisor must be Engineering Science and Systems program faculty.

Doctoral Dissertation Committee

The Doctoral Dissertation Committee can be constituted once the student has declared his/her doctoral dissertation advisor, and no later than the second semester that the student has been in the program. The committee will include a minimum of five members and a maximum of seven members. At least four members have to be Engineering Science and Systems program faculty. The committee can have one or more external members who are not Engineering Science and Systems program faculty. The dissertation committee will primarily consist of faculty in the track specialty and include one member outside the track.  Any exceptions(s) will be subject to the approval of track coordinator and graduate coordinator.  If the dissertation advisor and the doctoral student are affiliated with different tracks, it is required that at least one Engineering Science and Systems program faculty in the committee belong to the student’s track.

Residency Requirement

After entering the ENSS program, a candidate must complete 18 hours on campus within four consecutive semesters, with optional summer semesters. Of these 18 hours, at least six are to be research credits.

Courses in the Engineering Science and Systems Doctoral Program

The catalog description of the program core, track core and elective courses, and the dissertation research courses that are part of the Engineering Science and Systems Doctoral Program, is provided in the “Systems Engineering,” “Computer Science,” “Information Science,” and “Information Quality” sections of this catalog. Other courses may be approved in consultation between the student and his/her Doctoral Dissertation Committee.

Up to fifteen credit hours may be granted to the student for completing equivalent graduate coursework at other institutions. Such credit must be exclusive of thesis or other exit project credits, be no more than 5 years old at the time of transfer, and must have a letter grade of B or better. In some cases students may be required to balance their transfer credit with a corresponding increase in research hours. Students interested in requesting a credit transfer should discuss the request with their doctoral dissertation advisor and appropriate track coordinator. The request must also be approved by the Engineering Science and Systems graduate coordinator and the dean of the Graduate School before the transfer of credit can be granted.

For a student with a M.S. Programs from UA Little Rock, all lecture credit hours earned in the M.S. program with a grade of B or above count towards the ENSS Ph.D.’s program.