1. Admission to the program. (Apply online at Oklahoma State Graduate Application).
2. Satisfactory completion of courses on the approved plan of study. (The electronic plan of study is available online at Grad Student Resources). Doctoral candidates must file a plan of study prior to the completion of the 28th graduate credit hour of enrollment.
3. Passing written preliminary examinations.
4. Passing an oral qualifying examination. (Admission to doctoral candidacy form is available online at Grad Student Resources).
5. Conducting the research and writing necessary for a Ph.D. dissertation.
6. Passing a final examination or defense of the dissertation.
7. Submitting official copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College.
8. A diploma application should be submitted online for the semester in which the student intends to complete degree requirements. A diploma application is at Grad Student Resources.

• ECON 6013 Microeconomic Theory I (fall, even years)
• STAT 5253 Mathematical Statistics I (fall)
• AGEC 6403 Advanced Production Economics (fall, even years)
• AGEC 5303  Agricultural Market Policy & Organization (fall, odd years)
• AGEC 6103 Advanced Applications of Math Programming (spring, even years)*
• AGEC 6303 Advanced Agricultural Marketing (spring, odd years)
• AGEC 5233 Primary Data Analysis (fall, odd years)
• AGEC 6213  Advanced Econometrics (spring, odd years)
• AGEC 5990 Advanced Ag. Finance (spring, odd years)
• AGEC 6102 Teaching Practicum in Agricultural Economics

Total: 29 hours. *Prerequisite: a previous course in math programming. If none, AGEC 5113 is a prerequisite.

A two-hour teaching practicum (AGEC 6102) is required of all Ph.D. candidates. The practicum is designed to provide candidates with classroom teaching experience. It typically involves classroom lectures, leadership in course laboratory sections, or major teaching responsibilities. Credit may be earned by enrolling in AGEC 6102 with the professor responsible for the course or subject-matter area.

The number of credit hours in the Plan of Study depends on the advisory committee’s evaluation of the coursework and research needed to provide depth and breadth of preparation. A minimum of 93 semester credit hours is required (63 if the student has an M.S. or equivalent). Up to 30 of these hours (24 if the student has an M.S.) may be earned through dissertation research. Courses equivalent to those taken in a master’s program cannot be included in a Ph.D. Plan of Study. Either AGEC 5213 or AGEC 5113 (but not both) may be included if the M.S. degree was earned in the department. AGEC 5101 may be included and is required if the student has not written an M.S. thesis.

A Ph.D. student must complete at least 14 hours of 6000-level courses in addition to AGEC 6000 dissertation hours. At least 75% of the coursework in the plan of study must be 5000- and 6000-level courses, mutually exclusive of 4000-level courses (typically, 27 of 36 hours). A minimum of 15 dissertation hours (AGEC 6000) is required for doctoral students. If, with the committee's advice, a student chooses to receive 24 credit hours for thesis research, then 39 hours of coursework are required to reach 63 credit hours. Twenty-nine (29) of the 39 hours are used to meet core requirements, leaving 10 or more hours available to broaden the student’s training.

Written examinations for doctoral students assess the student’s comprehensive understanding and application of tools, concepts, and basic principles developed in the graduate program. Written comprehensive examinations are administered and evaluated by the Departmental Graduate Examination Committee after the completion of core requirements. The examinations are offered twice each year: once in Theory and once in Quantitative Methods.

A dissertation proposal is completed as soon as possible after the written comprehensive examination is completed. The student presents the proposal to the dissertation committee for approval.

The final oral examination, administered by the student’s advisory committee, concludes the doctoral program and is held upon completion of the student’s doctoral thesis.

Notes: C = core course; R = research hours. Examples of electives are found on the next page and in the section covering Graduate Minors in Agricultural Economics (next page).

There is overlap with the electives suggested for M.S. students. Refer to them in the Master’s Degree section of this handbook. Typical electives include, but are not limited to:

• AGEC 6222 Spatial Econometrics (spring, even yrs)
• AGEC 5703  Economics of Agricultural and Food Policy (spring)
• AGEC 5303 Agricultural Market Policy & Organization (fall, even yrs)
• AGEC 5403 Production Economics (spring)
• AGEC 5043 Advanced Farm and Ranch Management (spring)
• AGEC 5033 Commodity Futures Markets (spring, fall)
• AGEC 5073 Rural Economics Development (spring)
• AGEC 5053  Environmental Economics and Resource Development (fall)
• AGEC 5023 Quantitative Supply Chain Management in Agribusiness
• AGEC 5303 Agricultural Market Policy & Organization (fall, even yrs)
• AGEC 5203 Advanced Agricultural Prices (odd years)
• AGEC 5423 Agribusiness Management (fall)
• AGEC 5603 Advanced Agricultural Finance (spring)
• AGEC 5723 Planning & Policy for Development (fall)
• ECON 5033 Macroeconomic Analysis
• ECON 6643 Economic Development I
• ECON 6623 Economic Development II
  
• ECON 6903 Regional Economic Analysis and Policy
• ECON 6233 Time Series Econometrics
• STAT 5263 Mathematical Statistics II (spring)
• STAT 5063 Statistical Machine Learning with R
• STAT 5303 Experimental Designs
• STAT 5073 Categorical Data Analysis
• STAT 5053 Time Series Analysis
• STAT 5213 Bayesian Analysis
• STAT 5023 Statistics for Experimenters II
• FIN 5223 Investment Theory & Strategy
• FIN 5763 Derivative Securities & the Management of Financial Price Risk
• IEM 5023 Optimization Applications
  

Minor in Statistics for Ph.D. Students

Agricultural Economics doctoral students may earn a minor in Statistics by completing a minimum of 18 hours in statistics with no more than six transfer hours. The following courses are required: either STAT 5253 (Mathematical Statistics I) and STAT 5123 (Probability), or STAT 5263 (Mathematical Statistics II) and STAT 5223 (Inference). The 12 additional hours may be selected from STAT 5543 (Applied Regression Analysis) and from STAT 5000-6000 level courses, excluding STAT 5013 (Statistics for Experimenters I)

Minor Name: Agribusiness

Requirements for admission: Admission to a Master’s degree program

There will be no formal course requirements for admission, but students without prior undergraduate training in economics and business will be unable to meet the course prerequisites. The Agribusiness minor would be available only to students in a Master’s program. The minor can be nine to eighteen hours; see graduate minors at Academic Catalog.

The requirements for a minor in agribusiness include:

Must include AGEC 5423 Agribusiness Management
(AGEC 3333, 4990, 5000, 5010, 5990, and 6000 may not be included in the minor)
Students enrolling in courses listed at both the 4000 and 5000 levels must take the 5000-level version.
Minimum GPA: The student will need a minimum GPA of 3.0 in the courses used for the minor

Recommended courses include:

• AGEC 5013 Advanced Quantitative Methods in Agricultural Economics
• AGEC 5023 Quantitative Supply Chain Management in Agribusiness
• AGEC 5033 Commodity Futures Markets
• AGEC 5043 Advanced Farm and Ranch Management
• AGEC 5053 Environmental Economics and Resource Development
• AGEC 5073 Rural Economic Development
• AGEC 5113 Applications of Mathematical Programming
• AGEC 5213 Econometric Methods
• AGEC 5463 Advanced Agricultural Cooperatives
• AGEC 5513 Farm Appraisal
• AGEC 5603 Advanced Agricultural Finance
• AGEC 5703 Economics of Agriculture and Food Policy
• AGEC 5733 International Agricultural Policy and Development (even years)

Minor Name: Agricultural Economics

Requirements for admission: Admission to a doctoral program

There will be no formal course requirements for admission, but students without prior undergraduate training in economics or agricultural economics will be unable to meet the course prerequisites. The Agricultural Economics minor would be available only to students in a doctoral program. The minor can be nine to eighteen hours, see graduate minors at Academic Catalog.

Requirements: The requirements for a graduate minor in agricultural economics include:

At least 3 hours must be at the 6000 level (AGEC 3333, 4990, 5000, 5010, 5990, and 6000 may not be included in the minor). Students enrolling in courses listed at both the 4000 and 5000 levels must take the 5000-level version. Minimum GPA: The student must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher in the courses used for the minor.

Courses that a student may use for the minor include:

• AGEC 5013 Advanced Quantitative Methods in Agricultural Economics
• AGEC 5033 Commodity Futures Markets
• AGEC 5043 Advanced Farm and Ranch Management
• AGEC 5053 Environmental Economics and Resource Development
• AGEC 5073 Rural Economic Development
• AGEC 5101 Research Methodology
• AGEC 5103 Mathematical Economics
• AGEC 5113 Applications of Mathematical Programming
• AGEC 5203 Advanced Agricultural Prices (odd years)
• AGEC 5213 Econometric Methods
• AGEC 5233 Primary Data Analysis in Economic Research
• AGEC 5311 Agricultural Marketing: Concepts and Tools
• AGEC 5321 Agricultural Marketing and Economic Development
• AGEC 5331 Agricultural Marketing: Advanced Concepts
• AGEC 5403 Production Economics
• AGEC 5423 Agribusiness Management
• AGEC 5463 Advanced Agricultural Cooperatives
• AGEC 5513 Farm Appraisal
• AGEC 5503 Economics of Natural and Environmental Resource Policy
• AGEC 5603 Advanced Agricultural Finance
• AGEC 5703 Economics of Agriculture and Food Policy
• AGEC 5713 Rural Regional Analysis
• AGEC 5723 Planning and Policy for Development
• AGEC 6103 Advanced Applications of Mathematical Programming
• AGEC 6213 Advanced Econometrics
• AGEC 6300 Agricultural Marketing Seminar
• AGEC 6303 Advanced Agricultural Marketing (odd years)
• AGEC 6400 Seminar in Farm Management and Production Economics
• AGEC 6403 Advanced Production Economics
• AGEC 6700 Agricultural Policy and Rural Resource Development Seminar

The department requires a written Preliminary Examination and an oral Qualifying Examination for all students seeking admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree.

Purpose

The major purpose of the Preliminary Examination is to test the student's:

1. Ability to understand the various tools, concepts, and basic principles developed in the central core of courses;
2. Ability to integrate the tools, concepts, and basic principles as may be required to analyze and to develop solutions to economic problems; and,
3. Ability to apply the appropriate integrated set of tools, concepts, and basic principles to analyze economic problems in a clear and concise written form.

Structure and Content

The written portion of the Preliminary Examination shall consist of separate four-hour (4-hour) examinations in two major areas as follows:

1. The general area of "Economic Theory" covering such basic concepts as the theory of the firm, the theory of consumer choice, the theory of market price with emphasis on applications to the field of agriculture, and basic concepts of the theory of income and employment, monetary theory, theory of economic growth and development, economic policy and the history of economic thought with emphasis on application to the field of agriculture.
2. The general area of "Quantitative Methods" covering mathematical programming, methodology, statistics, econometrics, and primary data analysis with emphasis on applications to the field of agriculture.

Administration

The Departmental Graduate Examination Committee shall administer the written Preliminary Examination. This committee shall consist of at least three members of the Department of Agricultural Economics appointed by the head of the department. This committee may be assisted by other members of the department and faculty members of complementary departments in preparing and grading the examinations, either in part or in their entirety.

The Preliminary Examinations shall be administered twice each year with the three exam portions offered in one-week intervals. The first portion of the examination shall be administered on the Friday before spring semester classes begin and again on the Friday before summer session classes begin, with the two remaining portions offered on succeeding Fridays. Students must obtain approval from their major advisor to take the exams, and should notify the chair of the Graduate Examination Committee of their intention to participate. Students are ordinarily required to write all three of the scheduled examinations within one of the regularly scheduled examination periods. However, a student may be required to retake in a subsequent examination period any examinations that were previously failed.

The chair of the Graduate Examination Committee should solicit faculty members for exam questions, and should post notices and in other ways inform faculty and students of the time and place of the exams several weeks in advance.

Grading and Reporting

The Graduate Examination Committee will evaluate each written examination and report grades of Pass with Distinction, Pass, or Fail for each of the two exams. The chair of the Graduate Examination Committee will send a letter to the student (and a copy to the student's major advisor) advising the student of the committee's evaluation of each exam and other pertinent information.

A student who fails either portions of the exam three times, fails to qualify for a Ph.D. degree in agricultural economics. A student will not be permitted to take either of the two portions more than three times. However, an appeals process, designed to allow appropriate discretion in deserving cases, is afforded to students who believe that extraordinary personal circumstances significantly contributed to the failure. Such events must be highly unusual such as the death of immediate relative, a serious illness, severe financial distress, or personal crisis. A student who wishes to petition to take an exam for a fourth time will be given one week after notification of a third failure to submit the request. The student's written appeal to the committee must provide evidence showing how this circumstance was a factor in his/her performance on the exam. The Graduate Examination Committee will review and rule on the petition.

Qualifying Examination for Ph.D. Students

After the student has received a grade of Pass or Pass with Distinction on each of the two exams, the student’s Academic Advisory Committee will administer an oral Qualifying Examination. The Qualifying Examination is comprehensive, covering the entire area of the student’s graduate study. To be admitted to candidacy, a doctoral student must have

1. an approved Plan of Study on file with the Graduate College and
2. a dissertation proposal or outline approved by the student’s graduate advisory committee.

As part of fulfilling degree completion requirements, a Ph.D. student must successfully complete (grades of ‘SR’) at least 10 hours of dissertation (6000) coursework after being admitted to candidacy. If a student is admitted to candidacy prior to the end of the eighth week of a regular semester or prior to the end of the fourth week of an eight-week summer session, one-half of the dissertation credits taken that term can be counted toward this minimum hour requirement. Students with an approved plan of study on file at the Graduate College prior to December 31, 2008 may elect to use the former requirement (no less than six months in candidacy status prior to graduation) instead of the 10 (7) hour enrollment requirement. Upon fulfillment of the above criteria, and any other criteria appropriate to the specific program, the advisory committee chair should submit the form to the Graduate College. The results of the examination are reported to the Graduate College on the Application for Admission to Candidacy form. Before taking the Qualifying Examination, the student must have an approved plan of study on file in the Graduate College, and have the approval of their Academic Advisory Committee.

It is the responsibility of the student's Academic Advisory Committee to evaluate the student's "frontier" level of competency and familiarity with the literature in what is perceived to be the specialty areas of the student. It may be appropriate for faculty members who are not on the student's Academic Advisory Committee, but who have a similar specialty area, to participate in the oral examination. For students who have demonstrated strong performance in the written Preliminary Examination, the Academic Advisory Committee may choose to focus the oral qualifying examination on the dissertation proposal. The verdict of this evaluation must be reported to the Graduate College.

In case of failure to pass any part of this examination, the student will be notified in writing of the conditions under which another examination can be taken. A second examination may not be given earlier than four months after a failure.

If the results of the second examination are unsatisfactory, no other examination may be given without the approval of the Graduate Council.

Admission to Candidacy

A student must be admitted to candidacy at least six months before the commencement in which the Doctor of Philosophy degree will be received. Before being admitted to candidacy, the student must have passed the Qualifying Examination, and have an approved plan of study filed in the Graduate College.

A dissertation (doctoral thesis) is required of each doctoral candidate. The student’s Academic Advisory Committee must approve the subject of the dissertation and the dissertation is prepared under the direction of members of the committee or a special dissertation committee approved by the Academic Advisory Committee chair.

After completing the research, the student prepares a final draft copy (complete and legible) of the proposed dissertation and submits a copy, along with the abstract, to each member of the committee and to the Graduate College. The student’s dissertation adviser must approve the copy submitted to the Graduate College. The final draft copy must be submitted to the Graduate College no later than the stated deadline date.

The final examination is primarily a defense of the dissertation. If the defense is judged inadequate, the Academic Advisory Committee will make a re-examination decision. Examinations are open to all members of the graduate faculty and may be attended by anyone else who obtains the permission of the committee. The student is responsible for arranging with the specialist to announce the defense at least two weeks in advance to faculty and graduate students in AGEC and other appropriate departments in the University. (Typically, these will include some or all of the departments in Spears School of Business and in the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources).

The committee will notify the Graduate College immediately of results of the final examination. Following satisfactory completion of the final examination, the candidate will make any changes required by the committee and by the Graduate College and submit the dissertation in final form signed by the committee to the Graduate College.

The dissertation must follow specifications in the Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines. All dissertation copies must have the necessary approval signatures before submission to the Graduate College.

A draft of a publication from the dissertation must be submitted to your major professor before the final draft is signed.