Total Credit Hour Requirement: 60 Credit Hours
Doctoral Advisory Committee
As is the tradition in Ph.D. programs, the Ph.D. plan of study for each student is guided by the student’s doctoral advisory committee, which is selected during the student’s first year of attendance. The doctoral advisory committee members will be chosen from the full list of faculty members associated with the program with a minimum of three committee members. The primary contact for the Ph.D. student is the chair of the doctoral advisory committee, who also serves as the chair of the student’s dissertation committee. The student’s doctoral advisory committee guides all aspects of the student’s program and is responsible for approving when the student is eligible to take the preliminary examination and the prospectus defense. (* This may vary based on concentration-specific requirements)
Doctoral Dissertation Committee
The Doctoral Dissertation Committee is selected after the student has successfully completed the preliminary examination. This committee will recommend the student to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree. Committee members will guide the student during the dissertation process and judge the acceptability of the dissertation. The committee will also judge the acceptability of the validation defense of the dissertation.
The Doctoral Dissertation Committee will consist of a minimum of three members. The doctoral dissertation committee chair must hold an earned research doctorate and be graduate research faculty or the equivalent. The Doctoral Dissertation Committee may consist of some or all of the same individuals from the student’s Doctoral Advisory Committee, or the student may select a committee of new individuals to constitute the Doctoral Dissertation Committee.