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C. Advanced Course Requirement
Beyond the remedial courses, a minimum of 52 credit hours is required. These hours are
distributed as follows:
• 500-level chemistry classroom courses: 21 credit hours with a letter grade
• CHEM 529 or 530 (Seminar): 2 credit hours with a letter grade
• COMM 575 and CHEM 555 (Proposal writing): 5 credit hours with a letter grade
• CHEM 595 (Dissertation): 24 credit hours
Students may substitute up to 6 credit hours of classroom courses at the 300-level and above
from other departments for the 500-level chemistry classroom courses. Additional 500-level
courses from other departments may be used in place of the 500-level chemistry classroom
courses, upon approval of the student’s advisory committee. The student’s advisory committee
must approve their course plan. A GPA of “B-” or lower during any semester will place the
student on academic probation.
i. COMM 575 & CHEM 555 - Research Proposal Writing
All Ph.D. students are required to complete both COMM 575 and CHEM 555 in a sequence,
no later than the end of their third year. In the first semester, students will register for COMM
575 during which students will learn the basics of proposal writing in a more structured
course environment. During the second semester, students will register for CHEM 555,
under their research advisor, to develop an original research proposal required for their
candidacy examination (see below). Students are required to present a 45-minute public
seminar on the proposal, as a partial fulfillment of CHEM 555. Proposal seminar will not
satisfy the graduate seminar requirement (CHEM 529/530).
Upon completion of all the course requirements of CHEM 555 (submission of a written
proposal, presenting a 45-minute public seminar and defending the written proposal), a
grade letter will be assigned by the student’s research adviser. Student must complete these
requirements within the semester that he/she registered for CHEM 555. When assigning a
course grade for CHEM 555, student’s research advisor may take into consideration the
assessment report of the oral defense by the Graduate Advisory Committee.
ii. CHEM 529/530 - Graduate Research Seminars
Every student must present at least two departmental seminars. One seminar may be based
on any chemistry-related topic, and must be given before the beginning of their fourth
semester. A second seminar must be based on the student’s Ph.D. research and must
include detailed research findings and interpretation. The second seminar must be given
after the student becomes a Ph.D. candidate and during the penultimate semester before
the thesis defense is attempted. It is the student’s responsibility to inform his/her committee
members and the chemistry faculty members of these seminars and to make sure the
seminars are posted on the NMT Calendar at least 2 weeks before the presentation. A
majority of the advisory committee members must be in attendance at the seminars.
Graduate students must take CHEM 529/530 for a letter grade in the semester they are
presenting a seminar. They must also audit CHEM 529/530 in semesters when they are not
presenting. Attendance at all departmental seminars is mandatory for all graduate students.
D. Grade Point Average
The Graduate College requires that a 3.00 average be maintained in all graduate work
attempted at New Mexico Tech. A grade of "C" or higher must be obtained in order to receive
graduate credit in a given course, but all grades will be included in calculating the overall grade
point average. Any course with a grade below ‘C’ must be repeated before graduation.