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Graduate Student Handbook
This handbook is intended as a supplement to the Graduate Student Handbook prepared by the IIT Graduate College. It contains BCPS Department-specific information to help students proceed through their studies at IIT.
Examination Procedures
Examinations are used by the department, along with academic and research performance, to determine how students are progressing in their studies. The sections below explain the timelines for graduate students in the M.S./Ph.D. programs to take qualifying and comprehensive examinations and an overall structure to the format of the examinations. They do not address examinations for any Professional Master's degree programs. In order to maintain good standing in the graduate program, it is essential that students follow the timetables.M.S. Comprehensive/Ph.D. Qualifying Examination
This examination will be a written examination offered twice a year during the first full week of October and first full week of March (it can be offered on weekends if the examination committee chooses). The details of the material covered on the examination and the specific format of the examination will be left up to the committee but the following guidelines will be followed:
- The examinations for each program will be designed so that students must demonstrate a mastery of the discipline at the level expected at the end of the first year of full time (16-24 credit hours) graduate study. The examination committee for each discipline will give students a written set of expectations for the examination.
- Depending on the disciplinary requirements, exams on sub-areas may be part of the examination. For example, the Chemistry exam could consist of passing two disciplinary examinations at the required level.
- Students preparing for this examination will be given access to copies of at least three previous examinations. The copies will be held in the Departmental office and students will be permitted to photocopy as many as they would like.
- The grading will be done blindly, using code letters or numbers in place of students' names.
- The results of the examinations will be reported as FAIL, M.S. PASS or Ph.D. PASS. Students passing at the Ph.D. level are judged qualified to continue in their studies with or without first obtaining an M.S. The students will be advised by their faculty advisors on whether the M.S. is advisable.
- Exams will be graded and results reported within 2 weeks of the examination. Exam Committee Chairs will report the results to the Departmental Examination Coordinator who will be responsible for filing the 303 Master's Comprehensive/Ph.D. Qualifying Examination forms and formally notifying the students of the results.
- All students will be able to take this examination up to 4 times if they so choose. For full-time students, the 4 opportunities must be taken before the end of the fourth semester of attendance in the program. For part-time students, the 4 opportunities must be consecutive and be taken after admission to regular status but before completing 32 credit hours of study. Students declining an opportunity to take the examination will lose that opportunity.
Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination
This is an oral examination which can be taken at any time during the course of the academic year. The student is responsible for scheduling the time and completing the 301 Appointment of Ph.D. Committees form. The Comprehensive Examination will have the following structure:
- The committee will consist, as per University guidelines, of 3 faculty members from the Department and one faculty member outside the department, chosen by the student in consultation with the research advisor. This committee may, in effect, be the student's thesis committee.
- A written research proposal for the student's thesis work or an alternative topic approved by the student's advisor will be presented to the examination committee at least 4 weeks prior to the date of the oral examination. The proposal should be prepared according to the guidelines in the appendix and include the official DRAFT cover page (see appendix). In order for the examination to proceed as scheduled, the student must collect signed cover pages and comments from a majority of the committee members. A final written proposal must be given to the committee one week prior to the examination and must include the official FINAL cover page (see appendix).
- An oral presentation of the research proposal, followed by defense of the proposal. The comprehensive examination is open to all IIT faculty and BCPS students. It will consist of a 30 minute talk by the student during which questions by the examiners shall be limited to those of clarification. The chairman of the committee will have the option of terminating the talk after 40 minutes. A period of general questions from the audience will follow. At the end of this period, the general audience will be asked to leave. As this is a comprehensive examination, the committee will then be able to ask questions from all areas of the discipline. In reaching their decision, the committee should include all relevant information (performance in course work, research ability, etc.) in their deliberations.
- The result of this examination will be PASS or FAIL. The student may repeat the examination one time only in the immediately following semester. This examination must be passed by the full-time student no later than the sixth semester of enrollment (48-60 credit hours). For the part-time student, this examination must be taken for the first time before completing the equivalent of the sixth full-time semester of course work and should it need to be repeated, must be taken the following semester.
- Exam results will be reported immediately after the examination to the Department office and then transmitted to the Graduate College.
Final Oral Examination and Dissertation Defense
This examination can be taken at any time during the course of the academic year. The student is responsible for scheduling the time and completing the 301 Appointment of Ph.D. Committees form. The Comprehensive Examination will have the following structure:
- The committee will consist, as per University guidelines, of 3 faculty members from the Department and one faculty member outside the department, chosen by the student in consultation with the research advisor.
- A copy of the Dissertation will be given to each member of the committee at least 2 weeks prior to the date of the examination. The dissertation should be prepared according to detailed guidelines provided by the Graduate College and must be approved by the IIT Thesis Examiner before final submission.
- An oral presentation of the research, followed by defense of the dissertation. The final oral examination is open to all IIT faculty and BCPS students. It will consist of a 50 minute talk by the student during which questions by the examiners shall be limited to those of clarification. The chairman of the committee will have the option of terminating the talk after 60 minutes. A period of general questions from the audience will follow. At the end of this period, the general audience will be asked to leave.
- The result of this examination will be PASS or FAIL. The student may repeat the examination.
- Exam results will be reported immediately after the examination to the Department office and then transmitted to the Graduate College.
Academic and Research Advising
One of the most important decisions made by a graduate student will be the selection of a research advisor. For this reason, it is important that the choice not be done hastily but after careful gathering of information about faculty members and their research activities.Departmental Academic Advisors
The department does not expect students to choose a research advisor until after the first or second semester of full-time study and thus has assigned specific faculty members to serve as Academic Advisors to all students who have not yet selected a research advisor. The Academic Advisors for the current academic year are:
Name Program Office & Phone Prof. Benjamin Stark Biology 182b LSB
(312) 567-3488benjamin.stark@iit.edu Prof. M. Ishaque Khan Chemistry 390 LSB
(312) 567-3431khan@iit.edu Prof. Nick Menhart MBB 352 LSB
(312) 567-3123menhart@iit.edu Prof. Liam Coffey Physics 150 LSB
(312) 567-3136coffey@iit.edu Academic Advisors will help the student fill out their initial 401 Program of Study form and course registration forms each semester.
Research Advisors
Once chosen, the Research Advisor will perform the functions listed above as well as guide the student's research program. A student must have a Research Advisor who is a BCPS Faculty member. Students may choose to have a co-advisor from another department or from outside IIT. Co-advisors from another IIT department may serve as the extra-departmental member of the Ph.D. Committee. An outside IIT co-advisor should be included on the Ph.D. Committee as an additional member and cannot fulfill the requirements for the Graduate College as one of the 4 official members.Financial Support
The Department offers a limited amount of support in the form of Teaching Assistantships and Tuition Scholarships for students in all three disciplines and the Kilpatrick Fellowship for Chemistry students. In addition, individual faculty members may have Research Assistantships available and there may be other opportunities in research laboratories in the Chicago area.Teaching Assistantships
Students may apply, in writing to the Department Chair, for Teaching Assistantships. Assistantships are awarded on a semester-by-semester basis before the beginning of classes. Students recieving a full Teaching Assistantship will be expected to work the equivalent of 20 hours per week, hold 2 office hours per week (to be posted) and spend 1 hour per week tutoring in the Educational Technology Center.Tuition Scholarships
Students may apply, in writing, to the Department Chair for Tuition Scholarships. A full Tuition Scholarship is 8 credit hours of tuition per semester. These Scholarships will be awarded on a semester-by-semester basis before the beginning of classes.Kilpatrick Fellowship in Chemistry
This fellowship is awarded annually, beginning in June to a student who has been selected by the Graduate Admissions Committee. Students are nominated for this award by their advisors during the Spring semester. A student may be awarded this fellowship more than once.Appendix
Comprehensive Examination Written Proposal Guidelines
The proposal will consist of a written document not to exceed 20 double-spaced pages in length excluding tables and figures.As a minimum, it should consist of:
- Summary/Abstract - Brief description of the overall project
- Objectives - Concise statements of the goals of the research outlined in the proposal
- Background/Significance - Describe why the proposed research is worth doing. Summarize any previous work in the field. Present any preliminary results. Indicate the impact that probable outcomes of the research might have.
- Research Plan - Describe the steps required to complete the proposed research. This should be in sufficient detail for the examiners to evaluate the feasibility and suitability of the proposed research plan.
Additional requirements may be specified for a student's particular discipline. Details will be provided by the student's academic advisor.
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