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Aug 27, 2024
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2024-2025 Graduate Catalog
Doctor of Philosophy - Civil and Environmental Engineering
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Plan Description
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering & Construction (CEEC) at UNLV offers a number of program degree options leading to the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) - Civil and Environmental Engineering. Specific areas of emphasis that are currently available include Construction, Geotechnical, Structural, Transportation, and Water Resources/Environmental. Two subplans are available (1) Post-Master’s subplan and (2) Post-Bachelor’s subplan.
For more information about your program, including your graduate program handbook and learning outcomes please visit the Degree Directory.
Plan Admission Requirements
Application Deadlines
Applications available on the UNLV Graduate College website.
All domestic and international applicants must review and follow the Graduate College Admission and Registration Requirements.
(a) Graduate College Admission Requirements
- Completed application in the Application Portal and non-refundable application fee.
- Bachelor’s Degree – You must hold a four-year baccalaureate from a regionally accredited institution or an approved equivalent.
- Post-Master’s tracks require a regionally accredited Master’s degree.
- Grade Point Average – You must have a minimum overall grade point average of 2.75 (4.00=A) for the bachelor’s degree or a minimum 3.00 (4.00=A) for the last two years (60 semester credits).
- All applicants are required to submit an unofficial transcript from each postsecondary institution attended, showing all degrees and coursework, the dates awarded, and grades received. Official transcripts required upon admission.
- Credentials not in English must be accompanied by an English translation certified as true by a university official, an official representative of a United States embassy or consulate, the United States Information Service, the United States Education Foundation, or an approved professional translating service. Notarized copies of originals or translations are not considered official.
(b) Department Admission Requirements
Admission to the program leading to the Ph.D. in Engineering in the field of Civil and Environmental Engineering is open to those students completing the following requirements:
- The applicant must have a regionally accredited Master of Science in Engineering degree or equivalent with a major in civil engineering or a closely allied field. Students with non-engineering backgrounds will be required to complete a set of coursework requirements that will ensure successful completion of the Ph.D. specialization.
- Applicants must have a minimum post-baccalaureate GPA of 3.20 on a 4.00 scale (4.00=A) or equivalent.
- The applicant must submit a Statement of Purpose (SOP) not exceeding two pages. Applicants should indicate their area of specialization (construction, geotechnical, structural, transportation, and water resources/environmental) and highlight their reasons to pursue a Ph.D. degree.
- A short resume (no more than 2 pages) must be submitted.
- In addition, three letters of recommendation (LOR) must be submitted from individuals familiar with the applicant’s knowledge, skills and abilities. The LOR documents must be created using official letterheads (e.g. academic advisor, academic faculty, professional supervisor). Also, applicants must provide professional email addresses of those sending an LOR.
- Applicants are required to take GRE General Test and submit the scores to the University of Las Vegas, Nevada (code 4861). Successful applicants generally have a combined verbal and quantitative GRE score of at least 300 and analytical writing score of at least 3.
- Applications are reviewed by the faculty in the specialty areas and the Graduate Coordinator.
Additional Requirements for the Post-Bachelor’s Subplan
- The applicant to this subplan must have earned a regionally accredited Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree or equivalent with a major in civil engineering or a closely allied field.
- The applicant must have a minimum baccalaureate overall GPA of 3.20 on a 4.00 scale (4.00=A) and GPA of 3.5 for the last 60 credits.
Students are accepted into a degree program as described in the Graduate Catalog. The faculty and corresponding sub-disciplines and sub-plans within the described programs are subject to change at any time.
Subplan 1 Requirements: Post-Master’s
Total Credits Required: 42
Elective Courses - Credits: 24
Complete 24 credits of advisor approved electives, including at least 9 credits in one of the following concentrations.
Water Resources/ Environmental
(Optional) Graduate Internship and Seminar Courses - Credits: 1 - 3
Students that opt to engage in Curricular Practical Training (CPT) must take 1 credit of CEE 793. This course can be taken a maximum of 3 times during their studies. However, the credits will not be counted towards the degree.
CEE 798 can be taken to a maximum of three credits. However, credits will not be counted towards the degree.
Dissertation Proposal Preparation - Credits: 6
Dissertation – Credits: 12
Degree Requirements
- Complete 24 credits of advisor-approved elective graduate-level coursework.
- Doctoral students who have not completed CEE 700, or its 3-credit equivalent, or did not write a thesis as part of their Master of Science studies, will be required to complete CEE 700. The CEE 700 course will be counted towards elective credits. In addition to CEE 700, all students must successfully complete a minimum of 21 credits of approved graduate-level coursework beyond the degree of Master of Science in Engineering. For students who have completed CEE 700, or equivalent, during their Master of Science studies, a minimum of 24 credits of approved graduate-level coursework is required.
- A Doctoral Advisory Committee composed of at least five members of the UNLV graduate faculty is to be formed for the student. At least three of the committee members must be from tenured or tenure-track faculty of the CEEC Department and the fourth member from a related field. The fifth faculty member, the Graduate College Representative, is recommended by advisor/advisee and appointed by the Graduate College. It is strongly recommended that the Doctoral Advisory Committee collective expertise reflects the dissertation topic. The committee chair must be a tenured or tenure-track CEEC faculty from the area of expertise chosen for the dissertation topic.
- In addition to the coursework requirements,
- A dissertation research proposal preparation (CEE 794) consisting of at least 6 credits is required with one of the outcomes being a research proposal defense.
- A dissertation research (CEE 799) consisting of at least 12 credits is required with one of the outcomes being manuscripts written for a specific indexed conference or journal. Dissertation credits may not be used towards program elective credits.
- At least 50% of the courses (600 and 700 level) within the total coursework must be from the College of Engineering.
- At least 50% of the courses within the total coursework must be 700 level.
- Students must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.00. A course in which a grade of less than C was earned will not be considered for use toward the degree.
- Students must take the doctoral qualifying exam including a written component prepared by the student’s Doctoral Advisory Committee. The committee shall provide the examination to the CEEC Department Graduate Coordinator who will administer the written qualifying exam for the CEEC Department on scheduled dates.
- Students who have not passed the qualifying exam by their second attempt will be terminated from the Ph.D. program.
- After passing the qualifying exam in one area of specialty, if the student moves to another area of specialty by changing the advisor; they must retake the qualifying exam in that new area of specialty.
- After passing the qualifying exam, the doctoral student must pass a preliminary exam consisting of the preparation of a written proposal for the dissertation research followed by an oral defense of the proposal. The proposal must be approved by the student’s Doctoral Advisory Committee.
- All requirements for the PhD are met upon the satisfactory completion of the proposed research, the submission of a satisfactory dissertation, and the successful oral defense of the dissertation before the Doctoral Advisory Committee.
Graduation Requirements
The student must submit and successfully defend their dissertation by the posted deadline. The defense must be advertised and is open to the public.
After the dissertation defense, the student must electronically submit a properly formatted pdf copy of their dissertation to the Graduate College for format check. Once the dissertation format has been approved by the Graduate College, the student will submit the approved electronic version to ProQuest. Deadlines for dissertation defenses, format check submissions, and the final ProQuest submission can be found here.
Students may apply for graduation up to two semesters prior to completing their degree requirements. All required forms must be submitted to the graduate college via the Grad Rebel Gateway.
Subplan 2 Requirements: Post-Bachelor’s
Total Credits Required: 60
Required Course - Credits: 3
Elective Courses - Credits: 39
Complete 39 credits of advisor approved electives, including at least 9 credits in one of the following concentrations.
Water Resources/ Environmental
(Optional) Graduate Internship and Seminar Courses - Credits: 1 - 3
Students that opt to engage in Curricular Practical Training (CPT) must take 1 credit of CEE 793. This course can be taken a maximum of 3 times during their studies. However, the credits will not be counted towards the degree.
CEE 798 can be taken a maximum of three credits. However, these credits will not be counted towards the degree.
Dissertation Proposal Preparation - Credits: 6
Dissertation - Credits: 12
Degree Requirements
- Complete CEE 700 and 39 credits of advisor-approved elective graduate-level coursework.
- A Doctoral Advisory Committee composed of at least five members of the UNLV graduate faculty is to be formed for the student. At least three of the committee members must be from tenured or tenure-track faculty of the CEEC Department and the fourth member from a related field. The fifth faculty member, the Graduate College Representative, is recommended by advisor/advisee and appointed by the Graduate College. It is strongly recommended that the Doctoral Advisory Committee collective expertise reflects the dissertation topic. The committee chair must be a tenured or tenure-track CEEC faculty from the area of expertise chosen for dissertation topic.
- In addition to the coursework requirements,
- A dissertation research proposal preparation (CEE 794) consisting of at least 6 credits is required with one of the outcomes being a research proposal defense.
- A dissertation research (CEE 799) consisting of at least 12 credits is required with one of the outcomes being manuscripts written for a specific indexed conference or journal. Dissertation credits may not be used towards program elective credits.
- At least 50% of the courses (600 and 700 level) within the total coursework must be from the College of Engineering.
- At least 50% of the courses within the total coursework must be 700 level.
- Students must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.00. A course in which a grade of less than C was earned will not be considered for use toward the degree.
- Students must take a doctoral qualifying exam including a written component prepared by the student’s Doctoral Advisory committee. The committee shall provide the examination to the CEEC Department Graduate Coordinator who will administer the written qualifying exam for the CEEC Department on scheduled dates.
- Students who have not passed the qualifying exam by their second attempt will be terminated from the Ph.D. program.
- After passing the qualifying exam in one area of specialty, if the student moves to other area of specialty by changing the advisor, they must retake the qualifying exam in the new area of specialty chosen by the student.
- After passing the qualifying exam, the doctoral student must pass a preliminary exam consisting of the preparation of a written proposal for the dissertation research followed by an oral defense of the proposal. The proposal must be approved by the student’s Doctoral Advisory Committee.
- All requirements for the PhD are met upon the satisfactory completion of the proposed research, the submission of a satisfactory dissertation, and the successful oral defense of the dissertation before the Doctoral Advisory Committee.
Graduation Requirements
The student must submit and successfully defend their dissertation by the posted deadline. The defense must be advertised and is open to the public.
After the dissertation defense, the student must electronically submit a properly formatted pdf copy of their dissertation to the Graduate College for format check. Once the dissertation format has been approved by the Graduate College, the student will submit the approved electronic version to ProQuest. Deadlines for dissertation defenses, format check submissions, and the final ProQuest submission can be found here.
Students may apply for graduation up to two semesters prior to completing their degree requirements. All required forms must be submitted to the graduate college via the Grad Rebel Gateway.
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