Joint Ph.D. Degree Programs

Entrance Requirements

A student may apply to the joint program as a new student or as a current student from one of the individual programs. Admission must be approved by the Graduate Chairs from both departments. Students entering the joint program are expected to meet the admission requirements for the Agricultural Economics PhD program and the Statistics PhD program. Students without these requirements can be provisionally accepted into the joint PhD program but must remove any deficiencies within the first year. This provisional status will be removed when all provisions are satisfied.

Supervisory Committee

Equal numbers of faculty from each department must serve on the Committee. This Committee consists of two advisors and two readers, where each department needs to be represented by an advisor and a reader. A faculty member cannot serve as both an advisor and a reader. The Committee composition needs to be approved by the Graduate Chairs from both departments

Program of Studies

The following courses must be included on the Program of Studies:

• Statistics: All core courses from the MS in Statistics program; 15 additional credit hours of 900-level courses, excluding STAT 997 and STAT 999
• Agricultural Economics: ECON 957, 958, 959, 973, 974, and 983; two courses from the AECN 901 offerings and two courses from the AECN 902 offerings

Dissertation

The dissertation will be developed under the supervision of the advisors on a topic approved by the student’s Supervisory Committee. Students are expected to make meaningful research contributions to both Agricultural Economics and Statistics.

Examinations

Students need to pass the following exams:

• The PhD Qualifying and PhD Comprehensive Exams required for a Statistics-only major and for an Agricultural Economics-only major
• The Final Oral Exam over the dissertation research

Entrance Requirements

A student may apply to the joint program as a new student or as a current student from one of the individual programs. Admission must be approved by the Graduate Chairs from both departments. Students entering the joint program are expected to meet the admission requirements for the Agronomy and Horticulture PhD program and the Statistics PhD program. Students without these requirements can be provisionally accepted into the joint PhD program but must remove any deficiencies within the first year. This provisional status will be removed when all provisions are satisfied.

Supervisory Committee

Equal numbers of faculty from each department must serve on the Committee. This Committee consists of two advisors and two readers, where each department needs to be represented by an advisor and a reader. A faculty member cannot serve as both an advisor and a reader. The Committee composition needs to be approved by the Graduate Chairs from both departments.

Program of Studies

The following courses must be included on the Program of Studies:

• Statistics: All core courses from the MS in Statistics program; 15 additional credit hours of 900-level courses, excluding STAT 997 and STAT 999
• Agronomy and Horticulture: AGRO 992 (enrolled in twice)

Dissertation

The dissertation will be developed under the supervision of the advisors on a topic approved by the student’s Supervisory Committee. Students are expected to make meaningful research contributions to Agronomy, Horticulture, and Statistics.

Examinations

Students need to pass the following exams:

• The PhD Qualifying and PhD Comprehensive Exams required for a Statistics-only major
• The PhD Comprehensive Exam for a Agronomy and Horticulture-only major with requirements determined by the Supervisory Committee
• The Final Oral Exam over the dissertation research

Entrance Requirements

A student may apply to the joint program as a new student or as a current student from one of the individual programs. Admission must be approved by the Graduate Chairs from both departments. Students entering the joint program are expected to meet the admission requirements for the Animal Science PhD program and the Statistics PhD program. Students without these requirements can be provisionally accepted into the joint PhD program but must remove any deficiencies within the first year. This provisional status will be removed when all provisions are satisfied.

Supervisory Committee

Equal numbers of faculty from each department must serve on the Committee. This Committee consists of two advisors and two readers, where each department needs to be represented by an advisor and a reader. A faculty member cannot serve as both an advisor and a reader. The Committee composition needs to be approved by the Graduate Chairs from both departments.

Program of Studies

The following courses must be included on the Program of Studies:

• Statistics: All core courses from the MS in Statistics program; 15 additional credit hours of 900-level courses, excluding STAT 997 and STAT 999
• Animal Science: ASCI 861U, ASCI 861V, ASCI 861W, ASCI 862U, ASCI 931, and ASCI 944/STAT 844
• Electives: Two 800-level and/or 900-level relevant courses that total at least 5 credit hours and exclude Doctoral Dissertation (e.g., STAT 999 and ASCI 999)

Dissertation

The dissertation will be developed under the supervision of the advisors on a topic approved by the student’s Supervisory Committee. Students are expected to make meaningful research contributions to both Animal Science and Statistics.

Examinations

Students need to pass the following exams:

• The PhD Qualifying and PhD Comprehensive Exams required for a Statistics-only major
• The PhD Comprehensive Exam for an Animal Science-only major with requirements determined by the Supervisory Committee
• The Final Oral Exam over the dissertation research

Entrance Requirements

This joint program allows a student to earn an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in the fields of Statistics and Economics. Students obtaining this degree are expected to make meaningful research contributions in both fields. The student’s program is overseen by a four-person Supervisory Committee that is comprised of two faculty members from each department. This committee is co-chaired by a faculty member from each department. The committee also consists of two readers with one reader from each department. A faculty member cannot serve as both a reader and a co-chair of the committee.

Supervisory Committee

A student may apply to the joint program as a new student or as a current student from one of the individual programs. Admission must be approved by the Graduate Chairs from both departments. As a general guide, students considered for the program should demonstrate backgrounds of sufficient strength to warrant entrance into the Ph.D. programs of both departments.

Students entering the joint program are expected to have intermediate level training in Economics (both macroeconomics and microeconomics) and adequate mathematical background, including three semesters of calculus, a course in linear algebra, and a course in mathematical statistics.

Ph.D. qualifying exam

Students are required to pass the Ph.D. qualifying exams of both departments.

Program of Studies

The program of study must consist of at least 90 credit hours. The following courses must be included, unless credit has been granted for equivalent courses taken elsewhere:

• Statistics: 810, 821, 822, 823, 825, 850, 882, 883, 950, 980, 982, 983, and 984. Students may substitute 981 for 984 if desired.
• Economics: 911A, 911B, 912A, 912B, 917, 918, 919, 920, and at least two 900-level Economics courses in a field other than econometrics.

Ph.D. comprehensive exam

The Statistics component of the exam is a dissertation proposal that is presented in an open forum. This is followed by an oral defense conducted by the Supervisory Committee. The Economics component of the exam involves the completion of an original research paper in a field other than econometrics that is in the form of a journal article. An oral defense of that research paper is given by the Supervisory Committee. This oral defense is not limited to the research paper but also examines the student’s breadth of understanding of that field. The Supervisory Committee gives a Pass/No Pass grade for all components of the exam.

Dissertation

The dissertation is developed under the supervision of the co-advisors on a topic approved by the student’s Supervisory Committee, and it is expected to make an original contribution to both Statistics and Economics.

Final oral exam

After the dissertation is completed, the student takes a final oral exam. For this exam, students present their dissertation research to the university in an open forum. This is followed by an oral defense conducted by the student’s Supervisory Committee. This committee gives a Pass/No Pass grade.

Entrance Requirements

A student may apply to the joint program as a new student or as a current student from one of the individual programs. Admission must be approved by the Graduate Chairs from the School of Natural Resources (SNR) and the Department of Statistics. Students entering the joint program are expected to meet the admission requirements for the Natural Resource Sciences PhD program and the Statistics PhD program. Students without these requirements can be provisionally accepted into the joint PhD program but must remove any deficiencies within the first year. This provisional status will be removed when all provisions are satisfied.

Supervisory Committee

Equal numbers of faculty from SNR and the Department of Statistics must serve on the Committee. This Committee consists of two advisors and two readers, where SNR and the Department of Statistics need to be represented by an advisor and a reader. A faculty member cannot serve as both an advisor and a reader. The Committee composition needs to be approved by both Graduate Chairs.

Program of Studies

The following courses must be included on the Program of Studies:

• Statistics: All core courses from the MS in Statistics program; 15 additional credit hours of 900-level courses, excluding STAT 997 and STAT 999
• SNR: At least 15 hours of Natural Resource Sciences courses as determined by the Supervisory Committee

Dissertation

The dissertation will be developed under the supervision of the advisors on a topic approved by the student’s Supervisory Committee. Students are expected to make meaningful research contributions to both Natural Resource Sciences and Statistics.

Examinations

Students need to pass the following exams:

• The PhD Qualifying and PhD Comprehensive Exams required for a Statistics-only major
• The PhD Comprehensive Exam for a Natural Resources Sciences-only major with requirements determined by the Supervisory Committee
• The Final Oral Exam over the dissertation research