Graduate Student Handbook, School of Biological Sciences

5 – Degree Requirements

School of Biological SciencesGraduate StudiesAdditional ResourcesGraduate Student HandbookDegree Requirements

5.1 – Introduction

With the assistance of your thesis advisor you are expected to establish a research advisory committee and submit a Program of Study (which outlines your planned coursework to complete your degree) to the graduate school by the end of your first fall semester if you are an MS student or end of your first spring semester if you are a PhD student. You should also begin to develop a research proposal modeled after federal grant proposal formats (such as NSF, USDA, and NIH). Typically, MS students present this proposal to their research advisory committee during the second semester and PhD students by the beginning of the fifth semester.

5.1.1 – Degree Forms

  • Students are responsible for preparing all forms and paperwork required for completion of their degree, such as the Program of Study form, program change forms, and exam scheduling forms. The SBS Graduate Coordinator is available to assist with completion of these forms.
  • All forms required for a degree program must be submitted to the SBS Graduate Coordinator, who will directly submit them to the Graduate School.
  • Students should also direct questions about degree programs and forms to the SBS Graduate Coordinator rather than to the Graduate School. This is to help protect Graduate School staff from being overwhelmed (The Graduate School has a relatively small staff who must administer all of the graduate students and their degrees on all WSU campuses).

5.2 – Thesis Advisor

Normally the thesis (i.e., major) advisor for a degree program is identified before admittance into the program and the award of a TA or RA. The thesis advisor is the graduate student’s primary contact concerning all matters related to their program of study and thesis research. The advisor assists in selection of the thesis committee, development of a program of study, and thesis research proposal, and is responsible for guiding, facilitating, and monitoring the student’s academic and professional growth, reviewing program changes, and arranging for graduate student support. The student should consult with their advisor before registering for courses each semester.

5.2.1 – Change of Advisor

Under certain circumstances a student may wish to change graduate advisors during the course of study. If such a change is feasible, the student should discuss this matter with their current advisor, the new advisor, and/or the Associate Director for Graduate Studies, including how ownership of generated research data is handled. A request to change the committee need to be done by filling out the Committee Change Form. The Dean of the Graduate School ultimately approves the change.

5.3 – Advisory Committee

The Masters or Doctoral Advisory Committee is decided jointly by the student and thesis advisor. The committee consists of the faculty advisor, who serves as chair, and other faculty in the area of the student’s research interest.

5.3.1 – Size

  • The advisory committee for an MS student must include at least three current WSU faculty members.
  • The advisory committee for a PhD student must include at least three members of the current WSU Faculty of the Graduate School.

5.3.2 – Composition

For MS students:

  • All members of the advisory committee must hold a degree of comparable level to the degree sought by the student.
  • Two of the members of the advisory committee must be current members of the Faculty of the Graduate Schoolfootnote 1.
  • Two of the members must be graduate program facultyfootnote 2 in the student’s master’s degree program.
    • At least one of these two members must be a member of the Graduate Faculty.

For PhD students:

  • All doctoral advisory committee members are normally expected to hold a Ph.D.
  • At least two of the members must be a member of the Faculty of the Graduate Schoolfootnote 1.
  • At least two of the members must be in the graduate program facultyfootnote 2 in the student’s doctoral degree.

5.3.3 – External Committee Members

  • External advisory committee members must hold a degree comparable to that sought by the student and have special knowledge that is particularly important to the student’s proposed program.
  • A brief rationale must be provided on the Program of Study form for any committee member who is not a member of the SBS Graduate Faculty. A CV of such an external faculty member must be submitted with the POS form to the Graduate School.
  • A student may add an advisory committee member who is not WSU faculty. The student will need to submit an External Committee Member Request Form along with a current CV of the external member to the Graduate School.

5.3.4 – Roles

The advisory committee guides the student’s research and approves a program of study. The program of study must include those courses needed to fulfill curriculum requirements. The program of study must also include courses to correct any deficiencies (e.g., organic chemistry, calculus) as identified by the advisory committee. The committee also administers the thesis proposal defense and final examination for MS students and the preliminary, dissertation proposal defense, and final examinations for PhD students.

5.3.5 – Meetings

Scheduling of PhD and MS advisory committee meetings to discuss a student’s progress in their degree program is left to the discretion of the student, their thesis advisor, and their advisory committee. Nonetheless, it is strongly recommended that the student meet with their committee at least once per year.

5.3.6 – Conflict-of-Interest Policy

When forming their advisory committee, students should avoid to the extent possible situations that may constitute or may be construed as a conflict of interest (COI). COIs can occur between the student and a faculty member on the advisory committee or between faculty members on the advisory committee. If a COI among faculty on the same advisory committee is unavoidable, then SBS policy requires that the number of committee members with conflicts not exceed the number of committee members without conflict. In addition, the committee members without conflict must all be members of the SBS Graduate Faculty.

Examples of student-faculty COIs:

  • a new faculty member, who was recently a WSU graduate student, serving on the advisory committee of a former graduate student peer.
  • a faculty member, who is the employer or supervisor of a staff member pursuing a graduate degree, also serving on that staff member’s advisory committee.

Examples of COIs between faculty members:

  • a non-tenure track faculty or staff member serving on the same advisory committee as their employer or supervisor
  • advisory committee members whose impartiality may be impacted because of close professional or personal relationships that are separate from their WSU faculty or staff roles, such as domestic partnership or shared financial interests, like co-owning a company

5.4 – Program of Study

All students should become familiar with the Graduate School course requirements as outlined in the Graduate School Policies and Procedures. Forms for submitting MS and PhD paperwork are available online. Form filing deadlines are summarized here (on the SBS website). The student plans the course program with the help of their thesis advisor and advisory committee.

5.4.1 – Program of Study

The Program of Study (POS) must be completed using this Program of Study form. Students should submit their POS to the Graduate School via the SBS Graduate Coordinator by the end of their second semester.

The Graduate School requires that MS students submit their POS no later than the semester prior to the semester they plan to graduate. PhD students must submit their POS no later than their 3rd semester of study. However, note that SBS expects MS students to submit a POS during their first semester, and PhD students to submit a POS before the end of their 2nd semester.

To ensure within-semester processing, programs of study must be submitted to the Graduate School by October 1 for Fall semesters and by March 1 for Spring semesters.

5.4.2 – Research Credits

A flexible number of credits is allowed for research and thesis each semester. Students, with their advisor’s approval, should register for BIOLOGY 700 or BIOLOGY 800 to bring their credit load to 10 or more credits each semester. (Important: Failure to enroll in at least 10 credits will result in loss of the tuition waiver for teaching and research assistantships and the student will be billed by the university for the full amount of tuition.)

The thesis advisor is responsible for setting expectations each semester a student is enrolled in research credits and provides an S or U grade at the end of the semester based on the student’s performance in meeting those requirements. Note that two successive U grades may result in dismissal from the graduate program upon recommendation of the student’s thesis advisor. In extenuating circumstances, faculty may use the X grade to indicate continuing progress toward completion of those requirements. An X grade should be changed when the faculty member determines that the student has successfully met the requirements for that semester; X grades should be changed by faculty no later than the semester of the final exam.

5.4.3 – MS Degree Programs in the SBS

Thesis MS in Biology and Plant Biology

Core course requirements:

A minimum of 21 credits of 400-level (maximum 6 credits) and 500-level graded course work is required for the thesis MS degree program. Timelines and deadlines for the thesis MS degree program.

SBS course requirements:

A minimum of 9 graded credits from the School of Biological Sciences (courses with prefix BIOLOGY) is required for the thesis degree programs in Biology and Plant Biology. As a part of the graded credits from the school, MS students are expected to enroll in

  • the 2 credit-hour grant writing course BIOLOGY 582 (Professional Communication in Biology — Grant Writing)
  • the teaching in biology course BIOLOGY 585 (Professional Development & Training for College & University Teaching)

At the discretion of the Associate Director for Graduate Studies, students may use comparable courses already taken at other universities to satisfy these course requirements.

Seminar attendance course:

MS students are expected to enroll in the seminar attendance course BIOLOGY 500 section 2 every semester. In Pullman, the thesis advisor is responsible for setting expectations and grading for this course. Many students satisfy this requirement by attending the weekly SBS Seminar in Pullman (Mondays 3:10–4:00), but some attend other regular seminars approved by their thesis advisor. MS students may waive this requirement for no more than one semester during their degree program.

Thesis proposal defense & public presentation:

Thesis MS students must orally defend a written proposal of their thesis research to their Advisory Committee and give a public presentation of their thesis proposal. This requirement is internal to SBS and does not require a scheduling form.

Ideally, the proposal defense will occur by a student’s second semester of study. The format, extent, and expectations of the proposal must be discussed with the student advisory committee. For example, the proposal may follow the form of a grant proposal to an external funding agency. It is the committee’s responsibility to approve the proposal and schedule the oral defense. The defense exam and public presentation can occur in different semesters, but the student must enroll in 2 credits of BIOLOGY 501, section 2 the semester of their proposal defense meeting. The public presentation can be scheduled as part of a regular weekly seminar (such as Blunch) or another time, but it must be announced to all SBS faculty, graduate students, and postdocs.

Grading (pass/fail) of the oral proposal defense exam will be guided by a rubric that can be found on the SBS website in the Graduate Studies/Helpful Resources section. This will be filled out by the students’ Advisory Committee. Upon passing the proposal defense, the student’s Thesis Advisor will (via email) provide a copy of the written proposal to the Graduate Coordinator and will verify that the student passed the exam.

Final exam:

During the semester they intend to graduate, MS students will also present a public seminar to the school based on the student’s thesis research while enrolled in one (ungraded) credit of BIOLOGY 500, section 1. The examination portion will be restricted to the students’ Advisory Committee members.

Normative timeline for Thesis MS degree:
  • Year 1, Fall: coursework, assemble thesis committee, file program of study
  • Year 1, Spring: continue coursework, begin research, research, proposal defense and presentation
  • Year 1, Summer: continue research
  • Year 2, Fall: complete coursework, complete data analysis
  • Year 2, Spring: write and defend thesis, graduate
MS thesis general guidelines:

It is generally expected that a MS thesis consists of at least two chapters including (a) an introduction that puts the work in a broader context and summarizes the main results and (b) a second chapter that is considered a publishable piece of work based on the student’s original research conducted at WSU.

Non-Thesis MS in Biology

Core course requirements:

A minimum of 30 total credit hours are required; 26 of these credits must be graded, and a minimum of 17 hours must be at the 500-level.

See Graduate School timelines and deadlines.

The student must complete 4 credits of BIOLOGY 702 (Master’s Special Problems, Directed Study and/or Examination), 2 of which must be taken in the semester of the final exam.

SBS course requirements:

A minimum of 12 graded credits from the School of Biological Sciences (BIOLOGY prefix) is required for the non-thesis degree program in Biology.

The program must include at least some course work from all 3 areas of the SBS core curriculum (ecology, evolution, and physiology). The levels of coverage of each core area will be determined and approved by the student’s Advisory Committee.

As part of the graded credits from the school, non-thesis MS students are expected to take one credit (but not more than 6 credits) of advanced topics seminar (BIOLOGY 589) and the teaching training course (BIOLOGY 585).

Final exam/balloting meeting:

In the final semester, the students will arrange for their Advisory Committee to hold a final exam/balloting meeting, scheduled through the Graduate School, to determine whether the student has satisfactorily met all the requirements of the program. The student is not allowed to attend this meeting. Students must register for a minimum of 2 of the 4 required credits of BIOLOGY 702 for the term in which the balloting meeting is scheduled. Non- thesis MS students are exempt from the general requirement to present a seminar to the school.

5.4.4 – PhD Programs in the SBS

The School of Biological Sciences offers PhD degrees in Biology and in Plant Biology. Requirements are the same for both degrees.

Core course requirements:

A minimum of 21 credits of 400-level (maximum 6 credits) and 500-level graded course work is required for the degree. Up to 50% of these credits may be transferred credits from another university (e.g., for students with an MS) undergraduate School regulations and approval of the student’s academic advisor. Timelines and deadlines for the PhD program.

SBS course requirements:

A minimum of 9 graded credits from the School of Biological Sciences (courses with prefix BIOLOGY) is required for the thesis degree programs in Biology and Plant Biology. As a part of their 9 graded BIOLOGY credits, PhD students are expected to enroll in

  • the 2 credit-hour grant writing course BIOLOGY 582 (Professional Communication in Biology — Grant Writing)
  • the teaching in biology course BIOLOGY 585 (Professional Development & Training for College & University Teaching)

At the discretion of the Associate Director for Graduate Studies, students may use comparable courses already taken at other universities to satisfy these course requirements.

To satisfy a breadth requirement, PhD students are required to take an additional 6 graded credits outside the student’s main research area; these courses will be determined and approved by the student’s Advisory Committee.

Seminar attendance course:

PhD students are expected to enroll in the seminar attendance course BIOLOGY 500 section 2 every semester. The thesis advisor is responsible for setting expectations and grading for this course. Many students satisfy this requirement by attending the weekly SBS Seminar in Pullman (Mondays 3:10–4:00), but some attend other regular seminars approved by their thesis advisor. PhD students may waive this requirement for no more than two semesters during their degree program.

Dissertation proposal defense & public presentation:

PhD students must orally defend a written proposal of their dissertation research to their Advisory Committee and present a public seminar of their dissertation proposal. The proposal defense can occur before a student’s preliminary exam but not later than one semester after advancing to candidacy. This requirement is internal to SBS and does not require a scheduling form. The defense exam and public presentation can occur in different semesters, but the student must enroll in 2 credits of BIOLOGY 501 section 1 the semester of their proposal defense meeting. The public presentation can be scheduled as part of a regular weekly seminar (normally the SBS Monday seminar) or another time, but it must be announced to all SBS faculty, graduate students, and postdocs.

The format of the written proposal is at the discretion of the students’ Advisory Committee. For example, the proposal may follow the form of a grant proposal to an external funding agency. It is the committee’s responsibility to approve the proposal and schedule the oral defense.

Grading (pass/fail) of the oral proposal defense exam will be guided by a Proposal Defense rubric (Word Doc) that can be found on the SBS website in the Graduate Studies/Helpful Resources section. This will be filled out by the student’s Advisory Committee. Upon passing the proposal defense, the student’s Thesis Advisor will (via email) provide a copy of the written proposal to the Graduate Coordinator and verify that the student passed the exam.

Normative timeline for PhD degree (5 years with MS, 6 years without):

Suggested timeline for PhD students towards graduation

Year 1 (semesters 1 & 2)
  • Preparation for Year 1, Summer: Choose courses for fall; Get into contact with advisors
  • Fall: Coursework and Research
  • Spring: Coursework, Dissertation Research, Establish Advisory Committee, Program of Study, Dissertation; Topic, and 1st committee meeting, Submit Program of Study
  • Summer: Dissertation Research, Discuss Topic for Research Proposal and Start Writing
Year 2 (semesters 3 & 4)
  • Fall: Coursework, Dissertation, Research
  • Spring: Wrap-up Coursework, Dissertation Research, Preliminary Exam, Discuss Dissertation Proposal
  • Summer: Dissertation Research and Write Dissertation Proposal
Year 3 (semesters 5 & 6)
  • Fall: Dissertation Research, Complete Dissertation Proposal defense
  • Spring: Dissertation Research, Committee Meeting
  • Summer: Dissertation and Research
Year 4 (semesters 7+)
  • Fall: Dissertation Research, Committee Meeting, Discuss with Advisory Committee Timeline for Graduation;
    • Dependent on how research progressed: write thesis, prepare for final exam, and defend.
    • NOTE: after a preliminary exam you currently have up to 4 years till you need to defend
  • Graduation
Exit seminar:

Normally during the semester they intend to graduate, PhD students will present a public seminar to the school based on the student’s dissertation research while enrolled in one (ungraded) credit of BIOLOGY 500, section 1. A student’s doctoral final examination can be scheduled separately from their public exit seminar.

PhD Thesis general guidelines:

It is generally expected that a PhD thesis will consist of at least four chapters including:

  • an introduction that puts the work in a broader context and summarizes the main results and
  • three additional chapters that are considered publishable pieces of work based on the student’s original research conducted at WSU.

5.4.5 – Recommended Courses

SBS courses

5.5 – Doctoral Preliminary Examination

An oral preliminary doctoral examination is required for advancement to PhD candidacy. While concentrating on the area of interest as defined by the student’s research topic, no topic is excluded from the oral preliminary exam.

This examination will be formally administered through the Graduate School. Only the students’ Advisory Committee may participate in the exam.

Preliminary examinations will be scheduled only for graduate students whose programs of study have been approved by the Graduate School, the Associate Director for Graduate Studies and the Student Advisory Committee, and only after most of the course work is completed (6 or fewer graded credits remaining to complete).

The preliminary exam should normally be scheduled no later than the end of the fourth semester for PhD students with an MS degree, and no later than the end of the sixth semester for PhD students without an MS degree.

Forms for scheduling the preliminary examination are available at the Graduate School forms page online and must be submitted at least 10 working days before the examination date.

The outcome (pass/fail) of this examination will be guided by a rubric that can be found on the SBS website in the Graduate Studies/Helpful Resources section. This will be filled out by the graduate student’s Advisory Committee.

Failure of the preliminary examination makes it uncertain whether a candidate is qualified to complete the PhD degree program. If a preliminary examination is failed, the examining committee may conclude:

  1. that the candidate is unqualified and should not continue in their PhD degree program in SBS or
  2. that the candidate may be qualified and should be allowed to retake the preliminary exam. The second exam must be taken no earlier than three months after the first preliminary exam and no later than one year after the first exam. Failure of the second exam will result in dismissal from the SBS graduate program.

Although not required by SBS, a written preliminary examination may be given prior to the oral examination if requested by the student or the Advisory Committee. Unlike the dissertation proposal defense, this is a general knowledge examination based on questions provided by the student’s Advisory Committee. To help ensure consistency, the following requirements for written exams apply:

  1. The student must schedule a meeting with their Advisory Committee at least two months prior to the date of the written examination to discuss the exam format and committee expectations.
  2. The format of the written exam will be decided upon by the Advisory Committee. The exam may be open- or closed book. The committee may choose to assign a review paper, if its content does not overlap extensively with that of the dissertation proposal. A description of the agreed format of the exam will be placed in the student’s file. The student’s thesis advisor is responsible for administering the written exam.
    1. In the case of a closed- or open-book exam, the committee will inform the student of the general topic areas that should be studied prior to the exam. Questions from each committee should be given to the student’s thesis advisor (who is also chair of the Advisory Committee) in advance. The advisor can request revisions of questions. The exam should take place over no longer than 5 consecutive business days and take no longer than 4 hours per committee member to answer questions.
    2. In the case of a review paper, the student will have at least two months to complete the review paper, which shall be formatted as a journal article manuscript.
  3. After the written exam, the students will consult the Advisory Committee about their performance. If the student passes the written portion of the exam, they will be required to take the oral preliminary exam within 30 calendar days. If the student fails the written exam, the student must retake the exam within 90 days.

5.6 – Thesis-MS and PhD Final Oral Examination

Final examinations for the thesis-MS and PhD degrees will follow existing Graduate School regulations (see Graduate School Policies and Procedures). All graduate students must satisfactorily pass a final oral examination in defense of their thesis research.

After preliminary approval of the thesis by the Advisory Committee, the final examination will be scheduled through the Graduate School via the Graduate Coordinator. Copies of the thesis must be provided to each member of the Advisory Committee, Thesis Advisor, and the school at least 20 business days before the oral examination. An abstract should be placed in Owen Science and Engineering Library.

Only the student’s Advisory Committee can participate in the oral examination. Questions asked during the final examination usually relate to the thesis research but are not limited to the thesis. Passing or failing of this examination will be guided by a rubric that can be found on the SBS website in the Graduate Studies/Helpful Resources (BROKEN LINK) section. This will be filled out by the graduate student’s advisory committee. Upon completion of the oral examination, a signed copy of the thesis must be presented to the Graduate School within five working days. Copies of the thesis will also be presented to the school and the thesis advisor.

5.7 – Dissertation/MS Thesis

5.7.1 – Outline of Final Dissertation/Thesis

Students are expected to meet with their Advisory Committee one semester prior to anticipated graduation to outline the thesis or dissertation outline for their committee. This outline will serve as an agreement between the students and their Advisory Committee as to the content expected in the final thesis or dissertation. However, it is recognized that some content may change during the final writing stages of the thesis or dissertation, and in such cases, the student should work with their committee to approve a revised outline prior to scheduling their defense.

5.7.2 – Dissertation/Thesis Formatting

For information on formatting the theses please refer to the graduate school’s Dissertation/Thesis Submission Guidelines. All theses and dissertations should also generally adhere to the following guidelines for the reference section as approved by the individual candidate’s Advisory Committee:

  1. A complete draft of the MS thesis or PhD dissertation must be provided to the student’s Advisory Committee at least 10 business days (Business days exclude weekends and university holidays) prior to when the student plans to have their committee sign their thesis or dissertation defense scheduling form. This means that if the student plans on meeting the Graduate School deadline of 10 business days prior to their defense, they must give a complete draft at least 2 weeks prior to that deadline for the faculty to read and review the draft.
  2. The format for each chapter may follow the format for the journal to which the manuscript has been or will be presented (i.e., no consistent format is required between chapters).
  3. Full citation for each reference (i.e., including all the authors and the title of the article) must be given throughout the thesis, but otherwise each chapter may follow the format of a particular journal.
  4. Use a consistent form of citations throughout the thesis or dissertation with the student selecting the format of a particular journal that gives the complete citation.

5.8 – Timing of MS Theses and PhD Dissertation Defenses

Thesis and dissertation defenses will take place during Fall and Spring semesters of each academic year. Only under unusual circumstances can a defense be held during Summer, and only with prior approval of the student’s Advisory Committee early in the preceding Spring. Many faculty in the school have nine-month appointments and research programs that keep them away from campus during summer, and many professional meetings and symposia take place at that time. Consequently, it may be impossible to find sufficient time during summer for the committee to read the draft thoroughly, provide comments, allow sufficient time to incorporate comments into a version suitable for defense, and identify a date for the final exam. As such, students should not assume that committee members will be able to convene for a defense during summer and should plan accordingly. Students need to find a day when everyone is available and allow a minimum of two weeks for all members of the committee to read and comment on the penultimate draft.

Note: advisory committee members shall only sign the Scheduling Examination form after they have had time to read the thesis and agree that the work is defendable.

Before scheduling the final exam date:

  • The student is responsible for completing the Scheduling Examination form and obtaining the advisory committee signatures. The form should then be forwarded to the academic coordinator for review by the chair or director (in the academic program, department, or school) and final submission to the Graduate School.
  • The Scheduling Examination form must be submitted to the Graduate School no later than 10 business days prior to the proposed date of the examination for a first attempt. If a student is attempting the final exam for a second time, the Scheduling Examination form must be submitted no later than 15 business days prior to the proposed date for the exam.

5.9 – Graduation

After the candidate has passed the final exam, the student will have 10 business days to make any requested changes to the dissertation. For details on this process please also look at the current Graduate School Policies (Chapter 7 for MS Degree Requirements and Chapter 8 for Ph.D. requirements).

Students are encouraged to apply for graduation and their degree the semester before they plan to graduate and obtain the appropriate packet of information regarding procedures and deadlines for thesis defense and graduation. Failure to meet deadlines could require enrollment for an additional semester.

See the Graduate School deadlines page for more information.

5.10 – Extension Requests

Occasionally, a student may not complete their degree within the time frame of their guaranteed assistantship funding from the School of Biological Sciences or within the time frame required by the Graduate School due to a variety of circumstances. In the former case, the student must request a funding extension from the SBS Graduate Programs Committee (GPC); in the latter case, the student would need to request a degree extension from the Graduate School. Funding and degree extensions are separate, including the processes required to request an extension. The following sections describe the processes for requesting extensions in each case.

5.10.1 – Extension Requests for SBS Funding

As outlined in section 3.1 SBS in Pullman aims at providing Teaching Assistant support for set periods of time for MS or PhD students. If a student needs TA support beyond these periods, they must submit a funding extension request to the GPC via the Graduate Coordinator.

Funding extension requests are only considered for one semester at a time. Extension requests for Spring semester assistantship funding are due at the latest by September 15 and extension requests for Fall semester assistantship funding are latest due by March 15 annually.

The request for an extension of funding must include the following:

  1. Justification for the funding extension request, outlining the extenuating circumstances that led to the delay in graduation beyond the normative timeframe.
  2. A timeline for completion of the degree program
  3. A letter of support from the student’s Thesis Advisor agreeing that the plan and timeline for completion is reasonable.

5.10.2 – Graduate School Degree Extension Requests

The Graduate School (see Graduate School Policies and Procedures) allows a maximum of 6 years to complete an MS degree. The maximum time allowed to complete a PhD is 10 years, but the Graduate School also requires that the doctoral degree be completed within 4 years of passing the preliminary examination (as of fall 2024, otherwise 3 years if preliminary exams were taken earlier; Most degree extension requests are due to the requirement of finishing the PhD degree within 3 to 4 years, respectively, of passing the preliminary.) If a student requires more time to complete their MS or PhD degree, they must submit a degree extension request to the Graduate School.

The Graduate School allows for up to three-degree extensions. The process of requesting the first-degree extension is relatively routine. Requests for the second– and third-degree extensions are considerably more involved, including requiring a vote of approval by the SBS Graduate Faculty. Detailed procedures for requesting first, second-, and third-degree extensions are described in Chapter 6F of the current Graduate School Policies and Procedures manual and must be followed closely.

Graduate degree extensions are approved for one year (two semesters).

Footnotes

  1. footnote 1: The Faculty of the Graduate School or Graduate Faculty consists of faculties of graduate programs of academic colleges that have placed the administration of their graduate program under the Graduate School. An appointment to the Faculty of the Graduate School applies only to the membership of graduate advisory committees. The membership of the Faculty of the Graduate School includes Graduate Faculty, Associate Graduate Faculty, and Auxiliary Graduate Faculty.
  2. footnote 2: Each WSU department or school has its own Graduate Faculty or Graduate Program Faculty. All tenured and tenure-track SBS faculty are also SBS Graduate Faculty. SBS career-track faculty and faculty external to SBS may become members of the SBS Graduate Faculty. Requirements for SBS Graduate Faculty status are described in the SBS graduate program bylaws.
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