Transportation and Urban Infrastructure Systems (PhD), Program Information

Program Faculty

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Department Chair

Anthony A. Saka, PHD, PE, PTOE, PTP 

Professor

 

Graduate Program Director

Young Jae Lee, PHD

Professor

Center for Built Environment and Infrastructure Studies (CBEIS) 

Tel: (443) 885-1872; Fax: (443) 885-8324

Email: youngjae.lee@Morgan.edu

 

Program Faculty

Anthony A. Saka, PHD, PE, PTOE, PTP 

Professor

 

Mansoureh Jeihani, PHD, PTP

Professor

 

Young Jae Lee

Professor

 

Celeste Chavis, PHD, PE

Associate Professor

 

Samira Ahangari, PHD

Lecturer

Program Description

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The 36-credit PhD program in Transportation and Urban Infrastructure Systems targets highly motivated students who have already obtained a master’s degree in transportation related fields and desire to pursue career paths in transportation and infrastructure related education, consulting, research, or administration. Students holding graduate degrees in non-transportation related fields may be required to take additional remedial courses to strengthen their foundation in mathematics and/or transportation engineering.

Program Objectives

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Upon completion of the program, students will have gained a broad technical and interdisciplinary background that will have enhanced their skills in identifying and tackling critical and complex transportation and urban infrastructure problems. Specifically, upon completing the doctoral program, students will be expected to:

 

1. Examine and explain the historical and political contexts of landmark transportation policy-decisions, and contemporary local and global transportation and urban infrastructure issues and priorities; 

2. Apply mathematics, systems theory, principles of engineering, planning, and/or management in solving complex problems;  

3. Design independently and execute high-level research; and 

4. Communicate effectively and function on a multi-disciplinary team, particularly in scholarly settings.

 

The students’ learning outcomes are as follows. 

 

1. Ability to identify, formulate, and solve broadly defined technical or scientific problems by applying knowledge of mathematics and  science, and/or technical topics to areas relevant to the discipline;

2. An ability to formulate or design a system, process, procedure or program to meet desired needs;

3. An ability to develop and conduct experiments or test hypotheses, analyze and interpret data and use scientific judgment to draw conclusions;

4. An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences;

5. An ability to understand ethical and professional responsibilities and the impact of technical and/or scientific solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts;

    6. An ability to function effectively on teams that establish goals, plan tasks, meet deadlines, and analyze risk and uncertainty;

    7.  An ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.

General Requirements

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1. Candidates for the PhD degree must complete a minimum of thirty-six (36) graduate credit hours (including 9 hours of dissertation related research and seminars) of study beyond the master’s degree

2. Form a doctoral advisory committee comprising at least four tenured or tenure-track faculty members, no later than the second year of enrollment, that will approve the student’s program of study and guide the student’s research activities;

3. Fulfill the minimum residency requirement by taking at least 9 credits of coursework in two consecutive semesters or 6 credits of coursework in three consecutive semesters at Morgan State University;

4. Pass the doctoral candidacy examinations, administered by the Department and dissertation committee, on the core subjects, declared concentration, and two minor areas pertinent to transportation and urban infrastructure; 

5. Develop and defend a dissertation proposal; and 

6. Complete and successfully defend a dissertation based on timely and original research in a relevant area of transportation and/or urban infrastructure.

 

In order to maintain a good academic standing and remain in the program, the student may not have grades lower than B in any of the required core courses or more than 20 percent of the required minimum coursework.

Admission

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To be eligible for admission to the Doctor of Philosophy Program in Transportation and Urban Infrastructure Systems, an applicant must: 

 

• Have earned a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university, preferably in a transportation related area. 

• Have earned a master’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university, preferably in a transportation related area; with a G.P.A. of 3.0 or better. 

• Possess an undergraduate cumulative grade point average (G.P.A.) of 3.0 or better to be considered for regular admission. Students who possess a cumulative undergraduate G.P.A. of between a 2.5 and < 3.0 may be considered for conditional admission, if there is persuasive evidence for success in the doctoral program.  Post-bachelor’s undergraduate credits will not be used to enhance G.P.A. requirements for admission to graduate study. 

• Submit an application for admission to the School of Graduate Studies.  All required documents must be submitted as directed by the School of Graduate Studies prior to program review and admission decision.  

• Provide test scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores. Test scores may not be more than 5 years old prior to the date of application.  These scores must be delivered by ETS to the Morgan State University School of Graduate Studies.  

• Use the application system to arrange for three letters of recommendation to be placed with the application.  These letters must be from officials or faculty members of institutions previously attended who are acquainted with the applicant’s ability for graduate study or from employment supervisors where applicable. 

• Submit a typed exposition regarding the candidate’s personal, academic, and professional plans and the reasons for selecting Morgan State University. 

• Submit a resume or curriculum vita documenting current and previous professional activities, and planned career goals

 

Meeting the minimum eligibility requirements and submitting all the required documents does not guarantee that an offer of admission will be made to the applicant.  The decision of the Program Admissions Committee involves a review and analysis of all the elements of the application as well as the availability of faculty mentors and/or research positions in the program.  The committee then recommends to the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies that an offer of admission should be made based on that review.

Candidacy

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Students achieve candidacy by successfully completing the required coursework, passing the qualifying examination, and defending a dissertation research proposal.  Prior to achieving Candidacy, the student must enroll in TRSP 993  : Pre-Doctoral Candidacy to maintain full-time status, if the required coursework has been completed. 

Thesis/Dissertation Completion

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The students must form a PhD advisory committee comprising at least four tenured or tenure-track faculty members, no later than the second year of enrollment that will approve the student’s program of study and guide the student’s research activities. They must pass the doctoral candidacy examinations administered by the Department and dissertation committee on the core subjects, declared concentration, and two minor areas pertinent to transportation and urban infrastructure. Then they must develop and defend a dissertation proposal as well as complete and successfully defend a dissertation based on timely and original research in a relevant area of transportation and/or urban infrastructure.

Additional Requirements

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Up to four eligible courses (not exceeding 12 credits) taken from other accredited institutions may be accepted for transfer toward the Ph.D. program, provided the courses have not been used to satisfy the requirements for another program.

Academic dishonesty is a very serious offense in the School of Engineering. Under no circumstance(s) shall a student use the original words or ideas of others without appropriately citing the source. Any student found culpable of academic dishonesty will be asked to withdraw from the Program, and referred to the appropriate School of Engineering and University authorities for additional disciplinary actions which may result in expulsion from the University. The student has the right to appeal the action taken by submitting in writing to the School of Engineering Judicial Committee to request for a hearing on the academic fraud allegation(s) within the same semester by emailing soesss@morgan.edu. 

Program Course Requirements

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PhD Transportation & Urban Infrastructure Systems 36 credits

Suggested Curriculum Sequence

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• Transportation and Urban Infrastructure Systems (PhD), Curriculum Sequence