The Department of Mathematics offers three graduate degrees:
For each of these degrees, the rules and regulations
of the Graduate School apply subject to the amendments contained in this
document. Traditionally, appointments as graduate teaching assistant (GTA)
have supported graduate students in Mathematics. Although the Department
of Mathematics does not view such an appointment necessary for the successful
completion of a graduate degree, GTA will usually be offered only to students
enrolled in a degree program offered by the department.
I. General Regulations for Graduate Studies:
a. In order to keep the teaching assistantships or other forms of financial support from the Mathematics Department each GTA must enroll for at least nine credit hours of mathematics courses (6000 or above) per semester. Courses not labeled MATH/DSM may be counted against this requirement with departmental approval (chair). For other exceptions and the dropping of a course, departmental approval (chair) has to be obtained. This rule applies until the student has finished the required minimum course work for his/her program as outlined in the student's plan of study.
b. A departmental meeting will be held at the end of each Spring semester, in which the graduate students' progress and performance are discussed. Teaching assignments for Summer should be based on the results of this meeting
c. Time limits on the completion of M.S. degree and Ph.D. degree: The Department of Mathematics will support finanically graduate students only for a limited time. If a M.S. degree is not finished after three years, or a Ph.D. after seven years from the first enrollment in the program, the GTA appointment will be terminated at the end of the next academic year (that is, the 4th and the 8th year respectively). Time spent in the M.S. program will count for up to 2 years against the time permitted for the Ph.D. Students who excede these time limits, may continue their studies as regular graduate students, but will not receive benefits such as tuition waivers and in-state tuition if applicable.
d. No foreign language is required for the Ph.D. students.
II. General Rules for Preliminary Examinations:
a. All preliminary examinations are departmentally administered. The Graduate Program Officer (GPO) will coordinate, administer and record the preliminary examinations. He is responsible for keeping record of the examination outcomes.
b. All Ph.D. students must pass three preliminary examinations in order to obtain the Ph.D. degree.
c. A Ph.D. student must pass at least two preliminary examinations before the beginning of his/her third year of enrollment in the Ph.D. program. He/she must pass all three preliminary examinations before the beginning of his/her fourth year of enrollment in the Ph.D.program. Otherwise, the student will be excluded from the Ph.D. program.
d. If a student fails three preliminary examinations covering the same course work or fails four preliminary examinations in total, he/she will be excluded from the Ph.D. program. The failures of preliminary examinations of a Master student will be accumulated and counted against him/her if the student later switches from the Master program to the Ph.D.program.
e. Under normal circumstances, preliminary examinations will be given in December-January and April-May of each year. In general, each preliminary examination will be designed in such a way that a capable student would be able to finish it within four hours.
f. The Graduate School requires all Ph.D. students to pass the General Examination, which consists of two parts:
(1) the written examination, and
(2) the oral examination (the oral examination
is not the same as the dissertation defense).
The preliminary examinations may be counted as the written part of the General Examination as the committee (which consists of the major advisor and other faculty members) of the student deems appropriate.
III. The Preliminary Examinations Selection Process:
A graduate student will take three exams in order to satisfy the preliminary requirement. The topics for the exams are taken from the following groups and in any event no more than one exam can be taken from any group.
[a.] Real Analysis (7200-10)
Complex Analysis(7230-40)
[b.] Algebra (7310-20)
Matrices (7370-80)
[c.] Topology (7500-10)
Set Theory (7150-60)
Geometry (7110-20)
[d.] Numerical Analysis (any two from Advanced Numerical
Matrix Analysis (7600), Numerical Solution of PDE (7610), Optimization
Theory (7620))
Stochastic Processes
(7800-10)
ODE (7280-90)
PDE (7440-50)
Functional Analysis(MATH
7400/7410)