Teaching Requirements

Each student in the PhD program is required to teach a statistics or mathematics course for at least one semester, or serve as a discussion TA for courses such as STAT 400, STAT 107, or STAT 207 for at least two semesters at a 50% appointment each.

International students who wish to be considered for a Teaching Assistantship must first satisfy English proficiency requirements for graduate admission. Additionally, they are required to submit the results of an accepted test as evidence of spoken English language proficiency. Some students may qualify for an exemption. Test scores must be submitted directly from the testing agency and must be dated within two years of the proposed admission term. Acceptable tests and their minimum scores are as follows: TOEFL iBT, with a minimum Speaking sub-section score of 24, and IELTS Academic Test, with a minimum Speaking sub-section score of 8. International students who have not taken or passed one of these tests may opt to take the Oral English Assessment Interview (OEAI), with more information available on the Department of Linguistics website.

University policy regarding appointing non-native English-speaking teaching assistants is available on the Office of the Provost website.

Thesis Advisor

Soon after passing the qualifying examination, the student should find a faculty member who will agree to be the student's thesis advisor. The student and advisor will then plan a course of study, including course work, outside reading, and original work, leading to the preliminary examination. Emphasis can be on, for example, mathematical statistics, computational statistics, applied or theoretical probability, methodology, or statistical applications in another discipline.

Annual Review of PhD Candidates

The Graduate Committee of the Department of Statistics conducts an annual review of each candidate's progress toward completion of the PhD degree. Any candidate whose progress is not satisfactory is subject to dismissal from the program. The following guidelines, in addition to the course requirements, will be used in measuring a candidate's satisfactory progress. The student must:

•  Take the Qualifying exam in the Fall semester after the first full year. A student receiving a passing score on the exam becomes a PhD candidate and maintains regular progress towards the PhD degree. A students who does not achieve a passing score will have one of two possible outcomes: (1) near passing, allowed to make a second attempt the following year, or (2) terminal non-passing score.
• Pass the preliminary exam by the end of January of the fourth year of study

Departmental Seminars

The Department of Statistics sponsors seminars where researchers from academia or industry discuss their recent research. Each student enrolled in the PhD program is expected to attend the seminars. Participation in the seminar series is one aspect given consideration by the Graduate Committee in its annual review of the student's performance.