PhD

Doctor of Philosophy

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Your New Skills

The PhD track in Environmental Studies trains students for careers in the academic, public, private or nonprofit sectors. Graduates will have:

The ability to deal with real-world problems;
The ability to evaluate policy goals in the context of competing societal objectives;
Fundamental knowledge of the relevant environmental sciences to be intelligent users of scientific information;
The ability to integrate knowledge from multiple disciplines to define and address science and/or policy problems;
An understanding of the local, state, and federal decision processes that shape environmental issues;
The ability to think critically, creatively, and holistically about environmental issues;
The ability to work in interdisciplinary teams; and
Skill in public speaking and writing for non-specialist audiences.

Coursework and Other Requirements

The degree requires completion of 42 course credit hours as follows: 9 hours of a common core focused on science, policy and philosophy; 12-18 hours of a secondary core focused on developing substantive and methodological expertise; and 15-21 hours of electives chosen to broaden and deepen the graduate training. The PhD also requires passing the PhD Comprehensive Exam and 30 hours of dissertation credits for successfully preparing and defending the doctoral dissertation.
Secondary Core Curriculum emphases

Faculty Advisor

Because of the potential for individually tailoring one’s graduate degree work in ENVS, it is essential to establish and maintain a relationship with one’s faculty advisor. All graduate faculty members, if willing, are eligible to be ENVS faculty advisors.

Course Planning Sheet

PhD Course Worksheet

All PhD Students should consult the Graduate School Policies to learn the details about Minimum Registration Requirements, Dissertation Credit Hour Requirements, and Dissertation Requirements

Transfer Credit

Transfer credits from accredited institutions are accepted by CU Boulder only after approval by the faculty advisor and ENVS Graduate Director. A maximum of 21 transfer credits are accepted towards the PhD degree. Transfer credit is defined as any credit earned at another accredited institution, credits earned on another campus of the CU system, or credits earned as a non-degree student within the CU system. Students earning a master’s degree at CU Boulder may apply all 5000 level or above course work towards their PhD requirements with the approval of the ENVS Graduate Committee.

Time Limit

PhD degree students have 6 years to complete all degree requirements. Students who fail to complete the degree in this six-year period may be dismissed from their program with the concurrence of the advisor. To continue, the student must file a petition for an extension of the time limit with the Dean of the Graduate School.

Admission to Candidacy

During the semester in which a student plans to take the ENVS PhD Comprehensive Examination, an Admission to Candidacy application must be completed and approved by the faculty advisor and Graduate Director and submitted to the Graduate School by the posted deadline which is usually AT LEAST two weeks before the comprehensive examination. The Graduate Coordinator will also submit a Doctoral Exam report at this time that will inform the Graduate School about the date of the PhD Comprehensive Examination and the examination board composition.

Preliminary and Comprehensive PhD Examinations

The goal of the comprehensive examination in ENVS is to offer an academically rigorous exam that will test the student on the intellectual themes of the ENVS Graduate program. Please see Corlin Ambler for procedures for the Comprehensive Examination and Prospectus of the Dissertation.
Preliminary Exam description
Comprehensive Exam description

Doctoral Defense Committee

With the assistance of the student’s advisor and the Graduate Director, the student should have his or her doctoral defense committee approved by the Graduate School before proceeding with the PhD prospectus. The student should inform the Graduate Coordinator about the composition of the committee in order to be sure that it conforms to the Graduate School requirements. Please see below and the Graduate School [Policies]http://www.colorado.edu/graduateschool/policies/).

Application for Diploma (diploma card)

must be submitted during the semester in which the student plans to graduate. This deadline is posted by the Graduate School as well and must be completed whether or not you plan to attend the ceremony. The cards are available in the Office of the Graduate School on the third floor of Regent.

Dissertation Defense

After the dissertation has been accepted for defense by the student’s committee, a final examination on the dissertation and related topics is conducted. The following rules apply to the dissertation defense:

PhD students must be registered as full-time, regular degree-seeking students at CU Boulder, for a minimum of 5 dissertation hours during the semester in which they pass the final examination.
Students must notify the Graduate School of their final oral examination at least two weeks before their scheduled examination date. The examination must be scheduled no later than the posted deadline for the semester in which the degree is to be conferred. This information should be provided on the Doctoral Examination Report and Leaflet.
This examination is wholly or partly oral, the oral part being open to anyone.
The examination is conducted by a committee appointed by the chair of the major department and approved by the Dean of the Graduate School, which consists of at least five persons, one of whom must be from outside the student’s major department. Three of the members must be CU Boulder Graduate Faculty. The chair and outside member of the committee must have regular or tenured Graduate Faculty appointments. The other committee members must have either regular or special Graduate Faculty appointments. More than one dissenting vote disqualifies the candidate in the final examination. The committee chair and a majority of the committee must be present on the Boulder campus for the examination.
A student who fails the examination may attempt it once more after a period of time determined by the examining committee.

Doctoral Dissertation

A doctoral student writes a dissertation based upon original investigation and showing mature scholarship and critical judgment as well as familiarity with tools and methods of research. The subject must be approved by the student’s major department.

Every dissertation presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree must represent the equivalent of at least 30 semester hours of work.
The student is responsible for notifying the Graduate School of the exact title of the dissertation on or before the posted deadlines during the semester in which the doctoral degree is to be conferred.
The dissertation must comply in mechanical features with the specifications for theses and dissertations (http://www.colorado.edu/graduateschool/currentmenu.html) available in the Graduate School.

The final grade is withheld until the dissertation is completed. In progress (IP) grades are assigned during each semester until the defense is successfully completed and the final copy of the dissertation is accepted by the examination committee, at which time the final grade for all dissertation hours is submitted to the Graduate School.

In addition, the doctoral dissertation should meet the following conditions:

Be filed with the Graduate School by posted deadlines for the semester in which the degree is to be conferred.
One formal copy printed onto or copied onto Colorado thesis bond paper. The copy of the dissertation should be presented to the Graduate School in loose leaf, unbound, form. The copy will be kept by Norlin library. A separate copy is required by the ENVS Program and should be submitted bound to the Graduate Office.
An extra copy of the abstract (not to exceed 350 words) and title page on plain paper.
An approval page with original signatures from the chair of the student’s committee and at least one other committee member.
Payment of the thesis binding and microfilming fees and a signed agreement with University Microfilms International.
Submission of the Survey of Earned Doctorates Form.
Submission of the University of Colorado Norlin Library form with the student’s permanent address.

Graduation Forms and Information

The Graduate School has gathered all important information required for graduation at their Graduation Website. A student should consult this website starting the semester before graduation in order to avoid missing important deadlines that will delay graduation.