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Admissions
- Students complete application, submit fees and fulfill all other University &
School
admission requirements (TOEFL, etc).
- At a minimum, students submit official transcript of their highest degree; some
programs
may require additional documentation of the applicant's prior academic records.
- A minimum of 3 letters of recommendation/reference forms are required; those
providing
references must be informed as to whether or not the applicant has waived access to this
information (FERPA).
- Normally, a standardized assessment of academic aptitude or ability is required
(e.g.,
GRE General, Miller Analogy Test, etc.).
- If interviews are required, they are scheduled by the program; applicant interviews
may
be conducted by teleconferencing.
- Applicants must normally have a GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4-point scale to be
eligible
for admission.
Curriculum Requirements
- For programs with the Bachelor's degree as prerequisite, normally 75 semester hour
credits will be required for the PhD.
- For programs with the Master's degree as prerequisite, normally a minimum of 60
semester
hour credits will be required for the PhD.
Residency
1. All programs must establish a suitable residency requirement.
Transfer Credit
1. The SHP Transfer and Application of Prior Credit policy applies. Each program's
application of this policy will affect the minimum number of credits necessary to complete the
program (see Curriculum Requirements above).
Advisement
- When students matriculate, they will be assigned an academic advisor from their
program
who, ideally, would also serve as their Research Advisor. Normally, the research
advisor becomes the dissertation chair, following passage of the candidacy exam.
Grading
- The majority of courses in Ph.D. programs span one semester and students are
issued a performance grade at the end of the semester.
- For courses that span more than one semester (e.g., dissertation courses), a
student may be issued an IP grade at the end of the first enrollment semester. When a
student
is issued an IP, the IP policy delineated in the SHP Grading Policy (Academic Policy
3.0),
goes into effect.
Candidacy
- Eligibility for the candidacy exam will be based on completion of a minimum number
of
credits, for which there may be distribution requirements (e.g., research,
specialization,
etc).
- The candidate's research advisor normally will have been identified prior to the
candidacy exam.
- Successful completion of the candidacy exam will be documented by the Program
Director/Track Coordinator to Office of Student and Alumni Affairs , signed by the
research
advisor and Program Director/Track Coordinator. Documentation will change the grade to
Pass,
when the candidacy exam is credit-bearing.
- The candidacy examination passing criteria are set by each program.
- Students may not enroll in dissertation courses until candidacy is successfully
completed.
Enrollment During Candidacy/Dissertation Phase
- All PhD candidates, who have not filed for a leave of absence or matriculation
continued, must maintain active enrollment in applicable coursework each fall and spring
semester while in their dissertation phases.
Dissertation Committee
- Selection of the candidate's dissertation committee must precede developing the
proposal.
- Dissertation committees shall consist of a Chair from SHP (normally the Research
Advisor) and at least one other full-time University faculty holding full-title rank.
The
committee consists of a minimum of three members and normally no more than five members.
- Committee membership must be approved by the dissertation chair and be documented
via
submission of a form to Office of Student and Alumni Affairs , signed by all committee
members. Non-University faculty can serve on a dissertation committee; outside members
must be
approved by the committee chair and a copy of their current CV must be filed with Office
of
Student and Alumni Affairs at the time of signature or have adjunct status at the
University.
- Replacement of a committee member must be approved by the dissertation committee
chairperson. If it is the chairperson, the Program Director/Track Coordinator will
identify
the replacement chairperson.
- The Office of Student and Alumni Affairs is notified when there is a change in
committee membership.
Readers
- Readers may be selected from within or outside of the University. The combined
composition of the
committee and readers, if the program requires a reader for the proposal, must have the
majority from the University.
- Readers are selected by the dissertation committee chair with approval from the
Associate Dean for Research, or designee. The dissertation chair is responsible for
contacting
the reader(s) and assuring that the dissertation proposal or dissertation readers will
not
have read the dissertation proposal prior to being selected as a reader.
- The reader's(s') responsibilities are to read the proposal or dissertation,
provide constructive feedback, actively participate in the public and private session
with the
candidate and vote on the outcome of the defense. Readers may contact the candidate or
dissertation chair as needed throughout their time as reader(s). However, the student
may not contact the reader(s).
Dissertation Proposal and Dissertation Format
- All dissertation proposals, dissertation drafts and approved dissertations shall be
formatted in accordance with the requirements specified by the program.
- The dissertation draft and all accompanying materials (appendices, photos, etc)
must be
created in a standard, cross-platform computer-readable and editable format.
Dissertation Proposal Hearing and Data Collection
- Students cannot schedule or present their official dissertation proposal until
after
they have passed the candidacy examination. The draft dissertation proposal must be
submitted
to the dissertation committee chair and Research Dean's Office at least four weeks in
advance
of the hearing.
- The proposal hearing may be open to the public but must be open to the SHP
community of
faculty and students. The SHP community of faculty and students will be notified of the
hearing at least 4 weeks prior to the hearing. The dissertation committee chair will
arrange notification and meeting logistics.
- After the proposal, presentation, and discussion, generally 1 ½ hours, the
committee and
any assigned readers will meet privately with the candidate for further feedback. The
committee and any readers will then meet privately to set guidelines for completion of
the
proposal.
- The revised proposal will be sent to the committee for review and approval. The
committee chair will decide if additional meetings are necessary.
- Successful completion of the proposal hearing/defense will be documented by
submission
of a form to the Office of Student and Alumni Affairs , signed by all committee members.
The
chair of the dissertation committee is responsible for the completion of the form.
Submission
of the approved form will change the grade to a Pass (if applicable for the program),
otherwise the chair of the dissertation committee will submit the grade according to SHRP
grading procedures
- Normally, a candidate is allowed only two proposal hearings/defenses. Therefore, if
the
candidate is not successful, he/she may attempt the proposal hearing/defense one
additional
time after making the revisions required by the committee. If candidates significantly
change their question or methods, the dissertation committee chair will request a second
defense for the new proposal.
- Candidates cannot initiate data collection until they have received: (a)
appropriate
review board approvals (human subjects or animal studies), (b) any other applicable
approvals
to conduct their research such as institutional approval to conduct research and approval
to use the resources of an institution, (c) the approval by the dissertation committee.
Dissertation Defense
- All dissertation defenses normally will be scheduled at least 4 weeks in advance of
the
defense date, or as stated in the program/track guidelines, by the chair of the
dissertation
committee. Copies of the dissertation must be submitted prior to scheduling the
defense.
A copy will be available in the Office of Student and Alumni Affairs for SHP faculty review.
In
order to graduate, the defense must be held at least one month prior to the
anticipated
graduation date.
- Two readers will be assigned by the dissertation committee chair with approval from
the
Associate Dean for Research, or designee. Generally, these individuals will not have
been
readers of the proposal.
- All dissertation defenses will be open to the public. Notification and circulation
of
the dissertation defense will be coordinated with the Dean's office and the committee.
The SHP academic community will be notified of the defense 4 weeks in advance of the
defense,
or as stated in the program/track guidelines, as well as others deemed appropriate to
be
invited by the dissertation committee or candidate. After the public presentation, the
committee and readers will meet privately both with and then without the candidate.
After
successful defense, candidates will make revisions required by the committee, if any, and
then
submit for final editing according to the agreed upon style guide to the Research Dean's
Office. This process will be completed in less than 10 days. Editorial changes resulting
from
this review will be made by the candidate.
- Successful completion of the dissertation defense will be documented via submission
of a
copy of the signed dissertation cover sheet to the Office of Student and Alumni Affairs .
The
candidate is responsible for completion of the form with the original going to the
Office of
Student and Alumni Affairs with a copy to the Dissertation chairperson.
- Unsuccessful candidates will meet with their dissertation committee to determine
next
steps. They will be allowed one more defense.
Post Dissertation Requirements
- After the dissertation committee signs the dissertation signature page and an
original
of the signature page is provided to the Office of Student and Alumni Affairs ,
the
post dissertation process begins. This means that the committee will sign two originals:
one
for the Office of Student and Alumni Affairs and one for the bound copy.
- After all approvals, candidates must submit the dissertation and the abstract to
the
Office of Student and Alumni Affairs in the format required by the program and as
an
unbound document with a check for binding of at least four copies. The bound copies will
be
distributed to the candidate, Library, department and committee chair by Office of
Student
and Alumni Affairs . As a courtesy, candidates normally provide committee members copies
of
their final document.
- An electronic copy of the data file and data dictionary in the format required by
the
program must be submitted to the dissertation committee chairperson as well as the Office
of
Student and Alumni Affairs.
- The "Continuing Review - Submission of Closure of Study" form and its
closure approval from the IRB must be obtained and given to Office of Student and
Alumni Affairs .
- Candidates must submit all copies and clearance as well as be cleared of all
graduation
requirements by the Registrar's Office, before receiving their diploma. Student's
wishing to walk in the annual May commencement ceremony, must have successfully defended
at
least one month before the May graduation date and be cleared to graduate. Graduates
who
do not complete all requirements in time for the May ceremony are eligible to attend the
next
commencement.
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