Core coursework for all M.S. and Ph.D. students

• FISH 522 “Hot Topics in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences” (2 credits; offered Fall)
• QSCI 482 “Statistical Inference” (5 credits; offered Fall/Winter)
• FISH 521 “Professional Development” (4 credits; offered Winter)
• FISH 510-514 “5-teen (miscellaneous topics)” (2X; 2-5 credits each; offered Fall/Winter/Spring)

Mark’s requirements

There is a very good chance Mark will also require you to take the following courses (or their equivalent), if you haven’t done so already.

• FISH 549 “Best Practices in Environmental Data Science” (3 credits; offered Winter of odd years)
• QERM 514 “Analysis of Ecological and Environmental Data” (4 credits; offered Spring)

M.S.

• Minimum of 45 credits total at the 400-level or higher
• At least 18 credits must be in courses numbered 500 and above
• 18 credits must be numerically graded in department approved 400-level courses accepted as part of the major and in 500-level courses
• Minimum of 27 non thesis credits

Ph.D. 

• Minimum of 90 credits total at the 400-level or higher
• At least 18 credits of course work at the 500 level and above
• Numerical grades must be received in at least 18 quarter credits of course work
• The Candidate must register for a minimum of 27 credits of dissertation over a period of at least three quarters

Full-Time Enrollment

Full-time quarterly enrollment for graduate students is 10 credits during the academic year (autumn, winter and spring quarters) and 2 credits during the summer quarter. To hold an ASE appointment (RA, TA, or SA), graduate students must be enrolled full-time during the quarter of funding.

Final Quarter Registration

A student must maintain registration as a full- or part-time graduate student at the University for the quarter the master’s degree, the candidate certificate, or doctoral degree is conferred. A student who does not complete all degree requirements by the last day of the quarter must be registered for the following quarter.

Continuous Enrollment

During the academic year (autumn, winter, and spring quarters), students must maintain continuous enrollment by being registered full or part-time, registered in absentia, or have petitioned for on-leave status. Students are not required to go on leave or register during summer quarter (unless it is required for your RA or fellowship status). Failure to maintain continuous enrollment will result in being dropped from the University and reapplication will be required to resume studies. Students holding a teaching or research assistantship must be registered for the minimum credits required during their appointment period (a minimum of 10 credits during autumn, winter, and spring quarters, and 2 credits during summer quarter). For this purpose, courses being audited do not count toward the minimum enrollment requirement.

NOTE: If you are employed as a student hourly position during the summer, DO NOT register for any courses/credits.

M.S. Committee

When you are ready to officially form your committee, use this SAFS M.S. Committee Formation Form. Note the following:

• M.S. committee is 3 members minimum: PI (Mark) + two other people
• minimum of two members must be SAFS core faculty; this means that of the two people who aren’t your PI, one can be non-SAFS core faculty.

Ph.D. Committee

When you are ready to officially form your committee, use this SAFS Ph.D. Committee Formation Form. Note the following:

• Ph.D. committee comprises a minimum of 4 members:
  • Mark
  • GSR (Graduate School Representative) - this is a faculty member from UW but outside of SAFS (or QERM) whose role is to ensure that the policies of the grad school are followed and that the student is treated equitably
  • Two other people
• A minimum of two members must be SAFS (or QERM) core faculty

Requirements

Two quarters before you plan to take your final examination, please schedule a 30 minute appointment with the SAFS GPA (Sam Scherer). At this meeting, the GPA will review your transcript, check your Plan of Study and confirm that all of your milestones have been completed. If you fail to attend this meeting, your Request for M.S. Final Examination may not be granted, resulting in postponing your graduation quarter.

Request for M.S. Final Exam

The student must submit a complete, near-to-final draft of the thesis, which has been reviewed and approved by the committee chair, to all members of his or her committee at least four weeks prior to the Final Examination. After reading the draft and the supervisory committee agrees that you are ready for the Final Examination, please request the final exam via the MS Request for a Final Exam Form. Completion of this form verifies that your committee has read an entire near-to-final draft of your thesis and concurs that you are ready to sit for your final examination. The final version of the thesis is completed after the final examination, incorporating changes requested by the committee.

Timelines for reviewing & revision

It’s important to establish a timeline for the student and committee members to review, revise, and respond to any comments and concerns. To the extent possible, this should be addressed in writing (email) before the defense, although things may change following the defense itself. In general, students should offer committee members a minimum of two weeks to review and comment on any written material. That time window may need to be extended if there are multiple chapters, code, supplements, etc. In general, the graduate school’s deadline for thesis submission is 11:59 PM on the Friday of finals week. All of this should be factored in when scheduling your defense, which means defending during the last two weeks of a quarter may not be the best strategy.

Bypass requirements:

1. All M.S. coursework must be completed
2. A statement from the student that describes their current M.S. research and illustrates the scientific direction and rationale they will take in expanding it to merit Doctoral status. The statement should also include a plan for coursework that supports their Doctoral degree and satisfies program requirements, as well as a funding plan.
3. A letter from Mark confirming:
   • that the student’s research has progressed to the point of demonstrating competence at the Master’s level
   • the completed M.S. research is a considerable and meaningful base of work for the proposed Ph.D. research, and, the proposed Ph.D. research is a substantive and logical advance from the M.S. research; evidence for this should be outlined in the draft Doctoral dissertation proposal
   • guaranteeing space and financial support for the student for at least the first academic year of Doctoral study; and
   • Mark’s approval of the draft Doctoral proposal.
4. Current CV or resume;
5. UW transcript (unofficial);
6. A copy of the M.S. thesis proposal;
7. A draft doctoral dissertation research proposal that outlines each chapter of the Ph.D. dissertation, including methods, likely outcomes and significance. Importantly, this must demonstrate that the proposed body of proposed work would satisfy the requirements for a Ph.D. degree. (Note: This will not be the final dissertation proposal that will later be defended for the General Examination–you will still be expected to submit a formal dissertation proposal after your bypass application has been accepted.)
8. A letter or email (to safs@uw.edu) from each member of the student’s MS Supervisory Committee indicating that they have read the draft Doctoral proposal, confirm that it constitutes a sufficient basis for a PhD dissertation, as well as their approval to bypass the MS Degree;
9. A copy of a paper accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal; a manuscript that has been submitted (or deemed submittable) to a journal may also be acceptable, in which case letters from at least two M.S. committee members indicating that the manuscript is scientifically rigorous and publishable are required.

Milestones for students bypassing into PhD

1. Form M.S. committee
2. Submit plan of study for master’s and have first M.S. committee meeting
3. Submit M.S. thesis proposal
4. Get bypass application approved
5. Form Ph.D. committee
6. Submit plan of study for Ph.D.
7. Submit dissertation proposal
8. Qualifying exam
9. General exam
10. Final exam

Requirements

Two quarters before you plan to take your final examination, please schedule a 30 minute appointment with the SAFS GPA. At this meeting, the GPA will review your transcript, check your Plan of Study and confirm that all of your milestones have been completed. If you fail to attend this meeting, your Request for PhD Final Examination may not be granted, resulting in postponing your graduation quarter.

Request for Ph.D. Final Exam

A Final Examination may be scheduled if:
- A student passed a General Examination in a previous quarter
- A reading committee is officially established with the Graduate School (i.e., not all committee members need to provide a detailed evaluation of the written dissertation)
- The reading committee has read an entire draft of the dissertation (see below)
- The entire supervisory committee has agreed that the student is prepared and has approved the student to schedule a Final Examination.

Timelines for reviewing & revision

It’s important to establish a timeline for the student and committee members to review, revise, and respond to any comments and concerns. To the extent possible, this should be addressed in writing (email) before the defense, although things may change following the defense itself. In general, students should offer committee members a minimum of two weeks to review and comment on any written material. That time window may need to be extended if there are multiple chapters, code, supplements, etc. In general, the graduate school’s deadline for dissertation submission is 11:59 PM on the Friday of finals week. All of this should be factored in when scheduling your defense, which means defending in the last two weeks of a quarter may not be the best strategy.