Academic
Catalog August 2007 - August 2008 Undergraduate
and Graduate
This is the terminal degree in the profession of forestry, and it prepares you for a career in research and/or education. We offer three concentrations within this doctoral plan—ecosystem science, forest management sciences and economics, and forest social science.
For this 63-unit research plan, which involves completing a dissertation, we expect you to demonstrate your skill in generating original ideas; your considerable command of the literature; your skill at designing, analyzing, and interpreting research; your skill in scientific writing, including publication of research results in major professional refereed journals; and your basic skills in teaching. We expect you to be self-motivated and to largely direct your own research program with advice and counsel from your major professor and dissertation committee. We evaluate your work on the basis of the originality and quality of the new knowledge you generate.
We explain the general, coursework, research, and other requirements for this doctoral plan in the following sections.
For this academic plan, you must:
attend the seminar series in the School of Forestry and present two seminars
complete some teaching experience, regardless of the type of financial support you have
fulfill NAU’s residency requirements
For more information about residency and other requirements that pertain to this plan, see Doctoral Requirements.
pass the oral exam on your dissertation (dissertation defense)
You must complete the following 63 units, including 48 units of coursework beyond the bachelor’s degree and 15 units of dissertation credit:
FOR 690, 692, and 693 (7 units)
STA 570 (3 units)
3 units from STA 571, 572, 574, and 676; BIO 682; SOC 655; and FOR 603, or another graduate-level course with significant content in statistics
15 units in your area of concentration, chosen from the following:
ecosystem science:
FOR 500, 504, 515, 521, 544, 550, 551, 552, 553, 554, 563, 579, 580, 582, 604, 611, 620, and 625 and MAT 542 and 543
forest management sciences and economics:
FOR 500, 503, 524, 525, 541, 593, 603, and 633
forest social science:
FOR 515, 573, and 605; GGR 576 and 698 (when offered as Planning for Small Communities and Rural Areas); and POS 555, 658, and 659
Additionally, you can use FOR 506 and 695 as well as special topics courses offered by other departments in any of these concentrations with approval by your dissertation committee.
(Please note that you must take at least two of these courses at NAU and get your dissertation committee’s approval for any courses taken elsewhere.)
at least 5-7 units from the other two concentrations, with at least one course in each
13-15 units of electives, with no more than 9 units of 400-level courses
15 units of FOR 799, for the research, writing, and oral defense of an approved dissertation
(Please note that you can only count 15 units of dissertation credit toward your degree; however, you may end up taking additional units because you must enroll for FOR 799 each term while you’re working on your dissertation.)
In choosing courses, please be aware that:
At least 39 units must be 500- and 600-level courses.
No more than 24 units from a master’s plan can be credited toward degree requirements.
Your dissertation committee must approve all of your courses.
In addition to completing 48 units of coursework, you must demonstrate your independence, research skill, and experience in a discipline within forestry by choosing a problem and research area in consultation with your dissertation committee and then satisfactorily completing a dissertation.
Your dissertation research meets our standards when it is soundly based in the theoretical context of the subject, proceeds with a sound design that gives due attention to statistical adequacy, and concludes with findings and inferences set forth within an appropriate theoretical context. Your dissertation must demonstrate that you have mastered your field of specialization, carried out independent scholarly work, and contributed significant new knowledge. You must successfully pass an oral defense of your dissertation.
We also require that you demonstrate written and oral communication skills in English at a level that will allow you to effectively communicate your ideas and knowledge to a wide range of audiences. Part of this demonstration involves comprehensive written and oral exams designed to establish your competence in a breadth and depth of subjects within the larger field of forestry.
NAU policy for PhD programs includes a research competency requirement that must be satisfied before a student can be admitted to candidacy. In most departments, this is enforced as a requirement to demonstrate an ability to translate disciplinary literature from a foreign language into English. The School of Forestry has chosen to recognize FOR690 (Research Methods), STA570 (or equivalent), plus one graduate level course with significant content in statistics, as meeting this requirement.
For more program information, click here www.for.nau.edu.
Click here for information about Forestry graduate courses and faculty.