PhD Progress Rubric | Abeshu Hydrosystems Intelligence Lab

Policy note. This handbook is a living document and does not replace official NMSU, College of Engineering, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Graduate School, funding-agency, immigration, employment, or university policies. When conflicts arise, official policies and written funding/appointment letters take precedence.

How to Use This Rubric

This rubric describes developmental competencies a PhD student in the Abeshu Hydrosystems Intelligence Lab may build across four typical stages of the program:

End of Year 1
End of Year 2 (Qualifying Exam preparation)
Advancement to Candidacy (typically Year 3)
Dissertation Defense / PhD Completion

It is meant as a shared map, not a strict checklist, contract, or guaranteed timeline. Different students arrive with different backgrounds and progress at different rates. The rubric can be used in annual reviews and advisor-student conversations to identify strengths, areas for growth, and priorities. Expectations should be adjusted based on official program requirements, project needs, funding context, coursework, and student goals.

Research

Generating New Questions

Stage	Developing competency
End Y1	Capable of generating new questions related to the topic of initial research.
End Y2	Generates progressively more refined questions on the initial topic and begins generating questions outside the initial topic.
Candidacy	Generates a coherent suite of new, testable questions and hypotheses constituting the dissertation.
Defense	Consistently generates new, significant, and testable questions and articulates a vision for further research.

Conducting Rigorous Analysis

Stage	Developing competency
End Y1	Iteratively designs rigorous analyses to test specific hypotheses, with close advisor interaction; explores magnitude of uncertainty.
End Y2	Designs rigorous analyses with moderate advisor interaction; quantifies uncertainty and explores its sources.
Candidacy	Designs rigorous analyses including for imaginary hypotheses and results; designs secondary analyses to test robustness.
Defense	Independently designs and conducts hypothesis-driven analyses, formally quantifies uncertainty, and tests robustness with secondary analyses.

Critically Self-Evaluating Results

Stage	Developing competency
End Y1	Critically evaluates results when prompted by advisor or peer.
End Y2	Consistently evaluates results before moving forward and recognizes results that are not credible.
Candidacy	Evaluates results critically, recognizes unreliable findings, and designs secondary analyses to test robustness.
Defense	Evaluates results critically and independently designs robustness checks.

Communicating Results

Stage	Developing competency
End Y1	Communicates ideas clearly in writing, presents in lab meetings, is capable of poster presentation, and shows initial competency with scientific visualization.
End Y2	Effectively answers critical questions in lab settings, presents initial results in posters, and shows growing skill in scientific visualization.
Candidacy	Writes a clear dissertation proposal, defends it orally with compelling arguments, presents at scientific conferences, and is competent at scientific visualization.
Defense	Develops full manuscripts toward journal submission, presents dissertation synthesis orally, answers critical questions in dynamic settings, and consistently produces effective scientific visualization.

Teaching

Teaching Assistant Roles

Stage	Developing competency
End Y1	Capable of TA support in introductory undergraduate courses (for example: hydrology, Earth science fundamentals, introductory programming).
End Y2	Same as End Y1.
Candidacy	Capable of TA support in advanced undergraduate courses in the dissertation area (hydrology, hydroinformatics, water resources).
Defense	Capable of TA support in graduate courses in the specific dissertation area.

Guest Teaching

Stage	Developing competency
End Y1	Not yet expected.
End Y2	Capable of delivering an instructor-prepared guest lecture in the dissertation area.
Candidacy	Capable of designing and delivering original guest lectures or activities in the dissertation area.
Defense	Same as candidacy, with broader range.

Course Development

Stage	Developing competency
End Y1	Not yet expected.
End Y2	Not yet expected.
Candidacy	Not yet expected.
Defense	Capable of describing in detail the learning goals and structure of a new course.

Coursework

Stage	Developing competency
End Y1	Succeeds in introductory graduate coursework in the dissertation area.
End Y2	Excels in introductory graduate coursework in the dissertation area.
Candidacy	Excels in introductory coursework, succeeds in advanced coursework in the dissertation area, and succeeds in introductory coursework in adjacent areas.
Defense	Excels in advanced coursework in the dissertation area and succeeds in advanced coursework in adjacent areas.

Community and Professionalism

Respectful Community

Stage	Developing competency
All stages	Consistently adheres to NMSU and CEE community standards and treats advisor, peers, and collaborators respectfully.

Leadership

Stage	Developing competency
End Y1	Begins to take some leadership in lab activities.
End Y2	Consistently takes leadership in lab activities.
Candidacy	Shows positive leadership in the lab and demonstrates leadership in the CEE department and/or College community.
Defense	May begin to demonstrate leadership in scientific and professional organizations beyond NMSU (AGU sections, CUAHSI working groups, and related organizations).

This rubric is a living document and will be revised as the Abeshu Hydrosystems Intelligence Lab grows.

Last updated: 2026.

Acknowledgment: This document draws structural inspiration from the publicly shared graduate advising materials of Prof. Noah Diffenbaugh (Stanford). Content has been substantially adapted for the Abeshu Hydrosystems Intelligence Lab at NMSU.