Environmental Health Sciences

Leaves of Absence & Readmission: Because of the continuous registration requirement, it is important for students to request leaves of absence in writing for any time that they will be away from the University. This may be for reasons of ill health, maternity or paternity leave, military service of other reasons deemed to be acceptable by the University. It is important to note that, if you do not officially request a leave of absence and do not register for a semester, not only must you apply for readmission to the University before registration is allowed, but you will also be billed for the missed semester before you are readmitted at the then current rate of payment. This means that if you failed to register in 2009 without applying for an official leave of absence, and you apply for a degree in 2010, the University will charge you for that 2009 semester at 2010 rates before they will readmit you. This payment is called a variable reinstatement fee and is not considered to be a tuition payment by the University. To request a leave of absence, you should first write a letter of intent to the Chair of the Department for approval, with a copy to the Academic Program Manager. For further details and information regarding leaves of absence and readmission, consult the GSAS Bulletin.

Program Time Limits: Students in the PhD program are allowed a total of 7 years to complete the PhD, including the MA. If Advanced Standing for an MA at a previous institution has been granted, the time limit becomes 6 years. Coursework must be completed within three years.

If a student finds that he/she cannot complete the degree within the allotted time period, a request for an extension of no more than one year at a time must be made in writing with the advisor and then submitted to the Chair of the Department and the Office of the Dean for approval. The student can expect to hear directly from the Graduate School regarding assignments of a new time limit. Required submission of the annual academic progress review described earlier serves the function of requesting an extension of the 7-year time limit including obtaining permission from GSAS. For more information see the GSAS rules on Satisfactory Academic Progress.

Annual Progress Report

All EHS PhD students are required to submit an end of the year academic progress report (PDF). Each student must meet with either their advisor or with the Director of Academic Affairs (Dr. Greg Freyer) and/or the Academic Program manager (Alysa Turkowitz) if there is no set advisor yet. Students should expect to hear from their primary and/or secondary advisors beginning in May to set up a review meeting.

In addition to the annual review, students are expected to obtain a grade of a B or higher in every course for which they are registered. If a student receives a grade below a B, this will be brought to the attention of the EHS Doctoral Committee and a review will take place to determine the circumstances behind the grade. If a student receives a second grade below a B they will be required to meet with the PhD Committee, and, if deemed appropriate, could be asked to leave the program.

Lab Rotations

Every student must complete 3 laboratory rotations. In general, all rotations are to be carried out with a faculty member who has a primary or joint appointment in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences. For students funded on the Training Grant, an outside faculty member on the Training Grant faculty is an acceptable alternative. If deemed beneficial to the student’s training, one rotation outside of the Department will be permitted with the approval of the Director of the PhD program.

Each rotation lasts approximately one semester, consisting of 12 weeks of work for at least 15 hours per week1. In collaboration with the faculty member, the student is expected to carry out a research project during this time. The purpose of the project is to familiarize the student with the research interests of that particular investigator. At the conclusion of the rotation, the student is responsible for writing a brief two-page summary of his/her laboratory experience which is reviewed by the laboratory head and returned to the Director of the Doctoral program (Dr. Greg Freyer) and the Academic Program Manager (Alysa Turkowitz), who keeps the document on file.

Students should begin rotations in the first semester. The three rotations will finish no later than the end of the second fall semester. Upon completion of the last rotation, the student will have identified an advisor, at which time a thesis project should begin to be formulated. The thesis project will become part of the Qualifying Examination. The Qualifying Examination must be completed after the 4th semester (spring/summer of year 2).

Please see the GSAS website for a list of potential faculty members to serve as mentors including their research interests.

Teaching Experience

All students must engage in a teaching opportunity during their graduate training. Teaching may consist of at least one of the following: 1) being a Teaching Assistant in an EHS course for a semester, 2) giving a minimum of one lecture per year in a graduate course, typically in a course taught by the student’s mentor, or 3) an equivalent effort that can be developed between the student, their advisor, and the Director of the PhD program.

For support with your teaching related efforts, please contact the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Teaching Center. Located at 301 Philosophy, the GSAS Teaching Center is the source for practical advice about most aspects of teaching, such as: course design, assessment, preparing a teaching philosophy, assembling a teaching portfolio, course management, and the innovative use of teaching. The Center can also be contacted by calling 212-854-1066 or emailing Teaching Center Director Steven Mintz.

¹This time span can be shortened if a student prefers to work more than 15 hours per week, however, once the number of hours has reached 180, the student has officially completed their lab rotation commitment time period.