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Anne Beamish, Director of Graduate Studies
2132 Regnier Hall
785-532-5950
Fax: 785-532-1086
phdinfo@ksu.edu
http://apdesign.k-state.edu/
https://apdesign.k-state.edu/academics/degrees-and-programs/phd-program/
Overview
Since the founding of the College in 1963, the faculty has based their relationships on the mutually held realization that the practice of any one of the design professions benefits from the interaction of their varied approaches to (re)shaping the built environment. The interdisciplinary doctoral program takes advantage of the diverse but interrelated nature of the college’s design and planning disciplines. The Ph.D. program represents the comprehensive nature of our professional community and reflects how our faculty and the profession interact in practice.
The Environmental Design and Planning Ph.D. at the College of Architecture, Planning and Design is an interdisciplinary research-based degree program, with the aim of contributing to a more livable and ecologically-sustainable society. Our doctoral students are members of the College at-large, rather than a particular department, allowing students to draw from the sizeable and wide-ranging knowledge of faculty from the university and all three of our departments:
- Architecture,
- Interior Architecture and Industrial Design, and
- Landscape Architecture and Regional & Community Planning.
This program is designed to prepare graduates to teach at the graduate level and/or conduct research. In addition to teaching, our graduates also are well-equipped to undertake research to inform design and/or planning for governmental, environmental, and planning agencies; developers; professional design firms; and international corporations that focus on environmental stewardship.
Areas of Emphasis
Our Ph.D. students undertake a wide range of research, but most topics are in one of the following interconnected areas:
- Design emphasizes the role of the designed environment in contributing to human well-being and provides opportunities, through practice and research, to explore issues that include pedagogy, neuroscience, perception, sustainability, history, and theory.
- Planning considers the theory and methods of public decision-making and the development of models and tools to understand and improve decision-making processes, both public and private.
- Sustainability explores ways by which the design and planning professions can better provide for the environmental and resource needs of people without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
- Place Making explores the importance of place in human life and considers ways by which design and policy might help to create robust, engaging, and supportive human environments.
Admission procedures
Previous Degrees. Applicants are normally expected to have earned a master’s degree in the design or planning fields, but applicants with a master’s degree in other fields may also be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Major Professor/Advisor. One member of the core Ph.D. faculty must accept mentorship responsibility for any student prior to their admittance to the doctoral program. Applicants are strongly encouraged to be in contact with Ph.D. faculty members with whom they share interests, and if possible, obtain a commitment from a faculty member to support their application.
Application Review Committee. Even with faculty commitment, the application must be reviewed and approved by the PhD committee before an offer of acceptance can be made.
Application Requirements
- K-State Graduate School application
- 3.0 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) in all higher education to-date.
- Transcripts: Include transcripts from any institution of higher education you have attended.
- Statement of intent: Statement of intent should be one to two pages and should include the prospective student’s background, research interests, objectives, and reason for applying to the program.
- Research Proposal: This is a short (approximately 5 page) proposal that outlines the student’s intended research. The proposal should be in standard form (i.e. Introduction (problem, importance, goals, research question); Background (literature review); Research Design (methodology and methods). The research will likely change after completing the coursework and consulting with the major professor, but the proposal will help us better understand the student’s interests.
- Evidence of Past Research: The “portfolio” should include the prospective student’s work, whether design projects, research projects, samples of written work, or other examples of creative and/or research efforts. We are particularly interested in seeing evidence of previous research and published scholarly writing.
- Letters of recommendation: Three letters of recommendation are required. At least two should be from academic references.
- GRE score report: Ph.D. applicants should have attained a score of 300 or better on the combined verbal and quantitative components of the GRE. Analytical writing should be 4.0 or above.
- TOEFL/IELTS report (international students): Prospective international students are required to have attained a minimal TOEFL score of 100, or a minimal IELTS score of 7.0. We accept TOEFL iBT’s new set of scores called MyBest scores.
- Financial statement (international students)
- Application fee (Domestic $90 and International $100)
PhD requirements
The PhD program requires four years of full-time on-campus study.
All doctoral students with a previous master’s degree are required to take a minimum total of 60 credit hours — a minimum of 30 credit hours of coursework in addition to 30 credit hours of doctoral research. The coursework must include: 2 mandatory ENVD courses (ENVD900 and 901), 2 research tool courses, 2 cross-disciplinary elective seminars, 1 APDesign seminar, 1 course outside of APDesign, and 6 credit hours of independent study or other coursework. All courses must be selected in consultation with the student’s major professor (committee chair).
In addition to the coursework and doctoral research, students will submit an approved dissertation proposal, complete a written and oral preliminary exam, submit an approved dissertation, and complete an oral dissertation defense.
Dissertation Research Proposal. The student will complete a written document about their proposed research and present their proposal to the committee. The student’s doctoral committee will then have the opportunity to discuss and provide written feedback. The committee must approve the proposal.
Preliminary examination. Students who have filed their program of study with the Graduate School and have completed at least 21 of the 30 hours of coursework with a grade point average of 3.0 or better, and who have an approved dissertation proposal are eligible to take the preliminary examination. The preliminary examination consists of both a written and oral exam. The purpose of the preliminary examination is to test the student’s breadth and depth of knowledge in the proposed field of specialization, as well as the student’s ability to explore problems on the boundaries of knowledge. Satisfactory performance in the examination is an indication that the student is prepared to perform independent work toward the doctoral degree. After passing the preliminary exam, the student advances to candidacy and becomes a doctoral candidate.
Writing the Dissertation. The PhD student will complete 30 credit hours of ENVD 999 (Dissertation Research). The dissertation will be a cohesive, original, and an independent contribution to scholarship. The research is to be performed under the guidance of the major professor and the supervisory committee and must be acceptable to them. The dissertation must follow guidelines outlined by the Graduate School.
Dissertation Defense. A final oral examination in defense of the dissertation will be conducted and evaluated by the doctoral committee. Two weeks prior to the dissertation defense the written dissertation will be available for review by the doctoral committee, other faculty, and graduate students. Other faculty and students are encouraged to attend the defense.
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