HELP 2009-2010 University Catalog Information Technology, PhD Print-Friendly Page

Banner Code: VS-PHD-INFT

School: The Volgenau School of Information Technology and Engineering 

Department: Interdisciplinary Programs 

The general doctoral requirements of Mason apply to this program.

When the term “information technology (IT) and engineering” is used at Mason to describe the school and its activities, it is intended to mean information technology and the branches of engineering most closely associated with information use and management. These aspects of technology are emphasized in this geographic region, and the relevance of the IT doctoral program has grown with the increasing dependence of the nation’s commerce on the effective use of information. Our focus on the science and technology of information processing complements and enhances the more traditional approaches to engineering that are more strongly based on the physical and material sciences.

Course Work

The PhD in Information Technology Program offers courses designated IT in the Course Descriptions section of this catalog.

Admission Requirements

Students are selected on the basis of scholarship and potential from among applicants with appropriate degrees from institutions of high standing. Generally, a master’s degree in an information technology-related area, such as engineering, computer science, operations research, statistics, mathematics, physical sciences, economics, and psychology, is required for admission to the program.

In addition, well-qualified students without an appropriate master’s degree may apply directly to the PhD program. Such students will have to complete the equivalent of an appropriate Mason master’s degree as part of their program of study. In some cases, it may be possible to obtain transfer credit for graduate course work taken elsewhere, subject to meeting requirements for transfer credit imposed by the university. (The description here assumes that a student has already received an appropriate master’s degree.)

An undergraduate GPA of 3.00 and a graduate GPA of 3.50 scale are basic requirements for applicants. The admission process involves submitting the following materials: application for admission, undergraduate and graduate transcripts from previous colleges and universities attended, GRE test results when available or if required by the specific concentration, three letters of reference, a résumé, a short statement of career goals and aspirations, and a self-assessment of past background. Translations of international credentials must be provided if they are not in English. In some cases, applicants will be required to have documents evaluated by an external agency. An applicant’s entire background is examined before an admission decision is made.

Students who wish to be considered for Mason’s President Scholarship, which provides a stipend and tuition support for three years, must submit GRE scores with a score of at least 1,200 with their application. One President Scholarship is awarded per PhD program per year.

To ensure a common ground of fundamentals, students should have a background in such topics as calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, discrete structures, probability, and statistics. In addition, students entering the PhD in Information Technology Program must have a sound working knowledge in computing as demonstrated by examples of programs or applications developed and tested in at least one high level programming language environment. Because much of the course work within this program requires computational proficiency, experience with a variety of languages and computer hardware is useful as is an understanding of computer architecture. Highly qualified students who do not present evidence of appropriate course work may be admitted and then required to take appropriate articulation courses.

Plan of Study

The program is made up of a breadth requirement (assessed via qualifying exams) and specialized course work (assessed via the comprehensive exam), followed by preparation of a dissertation. Generally, students have already obtained a master’s degree in a field appropriate to IT, which prepares them for the qualifying exams.

Under the guidance of the doctoral supervisory committee, students prepare a tentative plan of study. The plan lists the intended courses and expected timing. The plan should also contain the intended dates of the qualifying and comprehensive exams, and a tentative subject of the dissertation research.

Qualifying Exams

To satisfy the breadth requirement of the PhD degree, students must pass a set of written qualifying exams designed to test fundamental knowledge. These exams correspond to a set of disciplines related to the individual master’s programs in the Volgenau School. Each exam is based on a reading list posted on the school’s web site. The qualifying exams are not associated with specific courses, although some courses may help students prepare for these exams. The qualifying exams are offered twice a year at specified locations on campus, typically near the beginning of the fall and the spring semesters. Each exam is allocated two hours. The exams are graded on a pass or fail basis.

Students must indicate which exams are being requested through an appropriate form signed by the student and the supervisor and submitted to the office of the senior associate dean.

Each student must pass a set of four different exams in two consecutive offerings of the exams. Four exams must be attempted in the first offering. Thus, the following passing scenarios are allowed: (1) pass all four on the first attempt, (2) pass three in the first attempt and one in the next, (3) pass two in the first attempt and two in the next, (4) pass one in the first attempt and three on the second, and (5) pass all four on the second attempt. The exams attempted on the second offering need not be the same as in the first. A student who fails to pass the qualifying exams under any of these scenarios is subject to termination from the program.

Students must take the qualifying exams within two years of enrolling in the program, unless fewer than 24 credits of course work have been completed in that time. Otherwise, the exams must be taken no later than the first opportunity after completion of 24 credits. If a student enters the program without a master’s degree, these time limits are measured from the date when the student completes the equivalent of an appropriate Mason master’s degree.

Advanced Emphasis Requirement

Students must include in the plan of study a well-defined set of advanced courses in a focused area. Successful completion of this requirement should enable the student to do basic or applied research in a significant contemporary area in IT.

The doctoral supervisory committee and the Volgenau School senior associate dean for graduate studies and research must approve the plan of study. These approvals must occur before a student completes courses in the area of concentration or specialization. There is no guarantee that courses taken before this approval will be accepted.

Students must take a set of 24 credits of graduate-level course work independent of the qualifying exams they take. That is, if a student takes a qualifying exam related to OR 541, then OR 541 cannot be counted as 3 credits of specialty course work. A GPA of 3.50 is required in these 24 credits. The plan of study may include a maximum of 3 credits of directed reading course work. At least 12 of the 24 credits must be in courses numbered 700 or higher, and these 12 credits cannot include directed reading, project, or thesis courses.

The following courses cannot be included in any plan of study: any INFS 500-level courses; IT 500 and 599; OR 540;  and SYST 500. Exceptions must be approved in advance by the senior associate dean.

Each PhD student is allowed to designate an emphasis from among the titles of the MS degree programs offered by the Volgenau School. For more information, see department sections. 

Doctoral Supervisory Committee

On admission to the program, students are assigned a temporary advisor. Students are responsible for working with the temporary advisor until they choose a dissertation director and an advisory committee. Students should make this selection as soon after admission as possible. This is especially important for students who have completed a considerable amount of graduate work elsewhere.

Students work collaboratively with the program director and faculty to form the dissertation committee, with the understanding that some areas of research may be impossible to support due to available faculty expertise. Program personnel will facilitate the formation of the dissertation committee to the extent possible, but there can be no guarantee of successful formation.

The doctoral supervisory committee includes the dissertation director, who must be a member of the Mason graduate faculty, and at least three other people from the Mason graduate faculty. The dissertation director and chair of a PhD in IT dissertation committee must have at least a 50% appointment in the Volgenau School. This rule does not apply to a co-director, provided that the chair and other co-director satisfies the “at least 50% rule”. At least three committee members must be from the Volgenau School and at least two of the departments of the Volgenau School must be represented on this committee.

In addition, industrial representatives and faculty members from departments outside the school are highly desirable, but not required, on the committee. The doctoral supervisory committee administers the comprehensive exam, dissertation proposal presentation, and the dissertation predefense and defense. Permission for the comprehensive exam and dissertation defense are requested from the Volgenau School senior associate dean on the basis of a written request and plan that has been approved by the supervisory committee.

Comprehensive Examination

The comprehensive exam is an oral exam taken after students have satisfactorily completed all course work requirements in their approved plan of study. To initiate the exam process, the student meets with the dissertation advisor to prepare a permission form, which has to be approved by the entire supervisory committee, to be forwarded to the senior associate dean for final approval. The exam committee consists of the doctoral supervisory committee plus any outside examiners considered appropriate. The permission form should contain the following items: a) a one page description of the intended area of research; and b) a reading list on which the student will be examined. The reading list should include articles and/or books that cover the fundamentals, state-of-the-art, and tools needed to perform research in the intended area. This exam is to be taken at a designated place on campus. 

The objective of the comprehensive exam is to allow the exam committee to assess the student’s readiness to complete doctoral research in an area of concentration. The result of the comprehensive exam is a grade of pass or fail with recommendations for removing any deficiencies. Students must pass the comprehensive exam and dissertation proposal defense before being advanced to candidacy. The comprehensive exam must be attempted for the first time no later than one year after completing all course work requirements. 

Students who fail the comprehensive exam may request a re-exam within 60 days of receiving notice of the exam result. The request should be made in writing to the senior associate dean. A student may request a new exam in a different format if the intended area of research has changed, but the request must comply with the rules specified above. If the student fails again, or does not request a re-exam within 60 days, the student will be dismissed from the PhD program. Appeals on any of the two attempts must be submitted in writing to the senior associate dean within 15 days of the date the decision was communicated to the student.

Dissertation Proposal Presentation

Near the end of the course work, doctoral students prepare a written dissertation proposal, which is presented to the doctoral supervisory committee. Students may enroll in IT 998 Doctoral Dissertation Proposal to complete this effort. During the term the student expects to present the dissertation proposal to the committee, the student should enroll in IT 990 Dissertation Topic Presentations. After successfully completing this requirement, the student is formally admitted as a candidate for the PhD degree. The application for candidacy is submitted to the senior associate dean on a standard form.

Dissertation & Final Defense

With the concurrence of the advisory committee, students proceed with the doctoral research, during which time they must be continuously enrolled in IT 999 Doctoral Dissertation. Students must complete a minimum of 24 credits from among IT 990, 998, and 999, with a minimum of 12 credits of IT 999. When the central portions of the research have been completed to the point that students are able to describe the original contributions of the dissertation effort, they submit the written dissertation to the supervisory committee and schedule an oral predefense to the committee. The predefense is to be held no sooner than one month after members of the committee have copies of the dissertation. Once the committee believes the student is ready, a final public oral defense may be scheduled no sooner than one month after the conclusion of the predefense so that the announcement is posted for at least two weeks. The entire dissertation committee must be present at the defense, unless an exception is approved by the senior associate dean in advance of the defense.

Following satisfactory evaluation of the oral defense of the dissertation by the supervisory committee, the student must prepare, with supervision from the dissertation director, a final publishable dissertation that represents a definitive contribution to knowledge in IT. This document must meet format guidelines specified by the Guide for Preparing Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Projects. If the candidate successfully defends the dissertation, the dissertation defense committee recommends that the final form of the dissertation be completed and the Volgenau School faculty and the graduate faculty of Mason accept the candidate for the PhD degree.

If the student fails to successfully defend the dissertation, the student may request a second defense, following the same procedures as for the initial defense. There is no time limit for this request, other than general time limits for the doctoral degree. An additional predefense is not required, but students are strongly advised to consult with the committee before scheduling a second defense. If the student fails on the second attempt to defend the dissertation, the student will be dismissed from the program.