SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY AND A&M COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
P.O. BOX 10554
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA 70813

Major requirements of this program are outlined above, in terms of course-taking, practicum, and dissertation research and successful defense. Given the diversity of graduate programs, partly stemming from the need for flexibility to accommodate students' interests, the general requirements for this particular degree program may be considered as special, from the stand point of another institution. These general requirements are described in the Graduate Catalog of Southern University and A&M College. The following paragraph provides a summary of these requirements.

The general requirements for the Ph.D. program in Science/ Mathematics Education include:

a. Admission to the program as per the University's graduate admission policies.

b. In the absence of a Master's degree, twenty four (24) semester hours in the selected science/mathematics discipline are required for MS equivalency. A minimum of twelve (12) of these hours must be completed at Southern University and A&M College (Residency requirement).

c. A qualifying examination, in the selected science/ mathematics discipline, is required for admission to candidacy.

d. A Comprehensive examination, with content emphasis on education and educational research as applied to the selected science/mathematics discipline, is required of all candidates.

e. The required numbers of course credit hours for the Ph.D. in Science/Mathematics Education are respectively thirty three (33) beyond the Master's degree and sixty (60) beyond the Bachelor's degree. These numbers of credits include those for research courses.

In the past, a minimum of forty eight (48) hours of course and dissertation work had to be completed at Southern University (residency requirement). Current (multimedia, Internet, telecommunication) and future technological developments are expected to drastically change this practice. Emphasis in this new program will rather be placed on the substance of the knowledge content and skills acquired and on the demonstrated (as per refereed publications) research performance.

While it is not special for a Ph.D. degree, it should be noted that the research requirements are essential for this program. It is expected that dissertation research will lead to publications in refereed journals. Research and the related publications, as explained in Sections I and II, are central to the positive impact this program and its graduates are to have on the American educational enterprise.

Faculty members bear a great proportion of the responsibility for setting adequate standards and for upholding them in the process of attaining and maintaining quality in a program. (The rest of this responsibility is partly borne by the administration that has the authority to conduct thorough and objective evaluations and to allocate the budget based on the merit of programs and personnel). Graduate faculty members of this program will hold Ph.D. or Ed.D. degrees in Science/Mathematics, a science/mathematics discipline, or in fields closely related to the preceding ones. In addition, active and productive research, as attested to by refereed publications, is required before a faculty member chairs a dissertation Committee.