The Graduate School Bulletin
Doctoral Degree Requirements
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Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Education
Doctor of Musical Arts
Summary of Requirements for Doctoral Degrees
Admission Requirements
Advisory/Dissertation Committee
Minor
Research Competence
Plan of Study
Language Requirement
Residence Requirement
Time Limits
Transfer Credit
Preliminary Examinations
Admission to Candidacy
The Dissertation
Final Oral Examination
The degree of Doctor of Philosophy is conferred upon those students who have completed, with high distinction, a prescribed period of intensive study and investigation in a single field of learning. Candidates must master the methods of study in the chosen field and demonstrate familiarity with what has been done and with the potentialities for further progress in the field. They must also demonstrate capacity for original and independent study or creative work and must present evidence of such investigation in a scholarly dissertation.
A Ph.D. may be earned in consumer, apparel, and retail studies; counseling and counselor education; curriculum and teaching; economics; educational research, measurement and evaluation; English; exercise and sport science; geography; history; human development and family studies; information systems; music education; nursing; nutrition; and psychology.
The major premise of the Doctor of Education degree program is that it is an all-University degree. This places special responsibility on the academic schools and departments to combine their efforts with the schools offering this program, to the end that the doctoral students receive depth in subject matter as well as professional development. Therefore, the program is purposely flexible, allowing the candidates to develop under careful advisement a course of study best suited to their ability, personality, experience, and major professional goal. It is expected that each candidate will make a significant contribution through the medium of research culminating in a scholarlydissertation.
An Ed.D. may be earned in counseling and development, educational leadership, and exercise and sport science.
The Doctor of Musical Arts degree program is a performance degree offered only in the School of Music. The requirements of The Graduate School stated below apply to the Doctor of Musical Arts; however, due to the highly specialized nature of the degree, the student should consult the Director of Graduate Study in the School of Music for specific requirements and procedures.
Summary of Requirements for Doctoral Degrees
- Satisfaction of all requirements for admission to a doctoral program, including the removal of any deficiencies identified at the time of admission.
- An approved advisory/dissertation committee, to be filed in The Graduate School.
- An approved plan of study, to be filed in The Graduate School.
- Satisfactory completion of any language requirement or approved option.
- Satisfaction of the residence requirement.
- Satisfactory completion of any diagnostic qualifying examination that may be required by the major department or school.
- Satisfactory completion of all course requirements in the student's approved program of study.
- Satisfactory completion of the preliminary written and oral examinations and any additional work that may be required as a result of these examinations.
- An approved dissertation topic, to be filed in The Graduate School.
- Admission to candidacy upon the satisfaction of the above requirements (formal application to be made in The Graduate School).
- Submission of a dissertation acceptable to the advisory/dissertation committee.
- Satisfactory completion of the final oral examination.
- Acceptance of the dissertation by The Graduate School.
- Filing of an application for graduation with The Graduate School by the end of the first week of classes of the term in which the degree will be granted and payment of the graduation fee.
- Payment of all accounts owed in the University. Diplomas and transcripts of students owing money to the University will be held until the account is cleared.
The above requirements must be met by the deadlines stated in the Calendar of Events. Detailed explanations of these requirements follow. Some programs may have additional requirements not listed above but explained in additional materials supplied by the major department or school.
Admission to the doctoral program is distinct and separate from any previous admission to The Graduate School. For this reason, a student who has been admitted to a master's degree program must reapply for doctoral study by notifying the Graduate School Office of the desire to be considered for admission to the advanced program. Admission to study for the doctorate normally follows completion of the master's degree or its equivalent course work, but some departments will consider admission directly from an undergraduate program in the case of exceptionally well-qualified applicants. Applicants who hold the master's degree or its equivalent however, are not automatically eligible for admission to doctoral study.
In addition to satisfactory qualifying examination scores and recommendations (explained in the application materials), final approvals of the major department or school and of the Dean of The Graduate School are required.
Advisory/Dissertation Committee
The advisory/dissertation committee, consisting of at least four members of the graduate faculty, shall assist the student with the preparation of the plan of study and shall guide and examine the doctoral dissertation. This committee will be appointed by the Dean of The Graduate School upon the recommendation of the major department head or dean and must be mutually acceptable to the student and all committee members.
Of the four members, two, including the chair, must be Members of the graduate faculty and no more than one may be an Adjunct graduate faculty member. The committee chair must be from the major department, and it is recommended that where appropriate, one member be selected from the minor area of study. If at any time the advisory/dissertation committee decreases in number to fewer than four members, additional members of the graduate faculty must be appointed by the Dean of The Graduate School to bring the number to at least four.
The student must request the appointment of this committee no later than upon completion of the first 18 semester hours of graduate courses. Any subsequent changes in the advisory/dissertation committee must be reported to The Graduate School for approval.
Certain doctoral programs may permit, encourage, or require a minor, which is a formalized curricular sequence of advanced work in one or more areas outside the major field but cognate to it. The student should ask the chair of his advisory/dissertation committee if a minor is appropriate or required in his case. The minor must consist of at least 12 hours of study. The student's advisory/dissertation committee approves the minor, and it must appear on the doctoral plan of study.
For information concerning the doctoral minor in educational research and methodology, see page 137; in information technology, see page 197; and in statistics, see page 217.
Competence in research is required of all doctoral students. Whereas the specific requirements will vary from field to field and according to the student's professional objective, the plan of study must provide for mastery of techniques of research that not only are appropriate to the particular field of study but also will help prepare the prospective holder of the doctorate to continue his intellectual and professional growth.
A plan of study for the doctoral degree must be outlined by the student and the advisory/dissertation committee at the earliest practicable time following admission of the student to The Graduate School, preferably at the end of the first semester of residence or not later than the completion of 18 semester hours. The plan must indicate the major and minor fields of study; the specific courses the student is expected to complete as a minimum requirement; and all specific core, seminar, language, and research requirements of the major department. In all programs, no more than one quarter of the course work credited to the degree, exclusive of the dissertation, may be at the 500-level. A record of all graduate work the student has taken must accompany the proposed program. It is at this time that the advisory/dissertation committee evaluates the student's qualifications to be recommended for further study in The Graduate School, further preparation for such study, or withdrawal. The committee may propose prerequisite course work to be taken if it believes the student shows weaknesses that might be corrected by additional formal study. No more than 15 semester hours of independent study may be included in the plan of study, exclusive of the dissertation.
The plan of study must be submitted to the Dean of The Graduate School for approval. The Dean reserves the right to refer any or all plans of study to the Graduate Studies Committee for review and recommendation.
Copies of the approved plan of study must be filed in the student's permanent folder in The Graduate School, in the department's files, with the chair and each member of the advisory/dissertation committee, and with the student. Any subsequent changes in the plan of study or in the subject of the dissertation must be reported to The Graduate School for approval.
Each candidate for the doctorate must show either a satisfactory reading knowledge of at least one modern foreign language relevant to the student's major area of study, or, where approved, a satisfactory mastery of research skills at an appropriate level of competence.
The language or languages used to satisfy a language requirement must be approved by the student's major advisor and must be from among those languages approved by the Graduate Studies Committee. French, German, and Spanish are most frequently used.
The language requirements must be passed prior to the preliminary examinations, and prior to admission to candidacy.
A student whose native tongue is a language other than English may use English, but not the native language, to satisfy a language requirement. When English is offered, the examination will be administered by the Department of English or by the student's major department in consultation with the Department of English. A statement certifying the candidate's proficiency in English must be filed in The Graduate School before the preliminary examinations may be taken.
Doctoral candidates are expected to satisfy a residence requirement, which provides them the opportunity for an extended period of intensive study and intellectual and professional development among a community of scholars.
The basic requirement is two consecutive full-time semesters (minimum of 6 hours per semester) of graduate work on this campus after admission to a doctoral program. Consecutive semesters are either fall/spring, spring/summer, or summer/fall with the two sessions of summer school counting as one semester. Undergraduate courses taken in support of a graduate program cannot count towards residence.
Advanced degrees awarded from UNCG indicate that our students have current, usable knowledge in their field; therefore, all requirements for the doctorate, including the dissertation, must be completed within seven academic years from the date of the first enrollment for study following admission to the doctoral program. Post-master's (or equivalent) credit that is to be applied to the student's doctoral program must be no more than seven years old when the degree requirements are completed. This means that all course work to be credited to the student's doctoral program must fall within a seven-year period of time beginning with the date of first enrollment following admission to the program. If credit to be transferred was earned before enrollment at this University, the seven-year period of time commences with the beginning date of the term in which the transfer credit was earned.
The seven-year time limit does not apply to students who are admitted directly to a doctoral program upon completion of the baccalaureate. In this case, the time limit is ten years.
In some instances, work done in other institutions may be counted toward the degree, particularly work culminating in a master's degree from a regionally accredited institution and representing an appropriate area of study. If the student proposes the transfer of credit from another recognized graduate school, the work for which credit was received must be covered by the preliminary examination, and the transfer must be recommended by the student's advisory/dissertation committee before The Graduate School will credit the work to the student's doctoral program.
In no case will more than one third of non-dissertation course credit hours beyond the master's degree be transferred to a Doctor of Philosophy or Doctor of Musical Arts program. This is also the normal maximum limit allowed for transfer toward the Doctor of Education degree. For the student who has completed more than 18 semester hours on a sixth-year or post-master's program, the question will be reviewed by the student's advisory/dissertation committee and the Dean of The Graduate School. In no case will more than 24 semester hours be accepted in transfer to a Doctor of Education degree program.
The following conditions apply to transfer credit for doctoral programs:
- All credit offered in transfer must have been taken at a recognized, accredited graduate school.
- Such work must have been taken within the time limit described above.
- The student must have earned a grade of B (3.0) or better on all transfer credit. In a four-letter grading system, only credit earned with either of the top two grades is transferrable.
- The credit must be recorded on an official transcript placed on file with The Graduate School.
- The credit must be approved both by the student's doctoral advisory/dissertation committee and by the Dean of The Graduate School.
- The credit must be necessary to meet specific degree requirements.
Hours only, not grades, may be transferred from other institutions. Quarter-hours do not transfer as semester hours. A fraction of an hour of credit will not be transferred. See sample below:
| 2 | quarter hours transfer as 1 semester hour. |
| 3-4 | quarter hours transfer as 2 semester hours. |
| 5 | quarter hours transfer as 3 semester hours. |
| 6-7 | quarter hours transfer as 4 semester hours. |
| 8 | quarter hours transfer as 5 semester hours. |
| 9-10 | quarter hours transfer as 6 semester hours. |
Students must secure approval from their doctoral advisory/dissertation committee and the Dean of The Graduate School in advance of registration at other universities. In general, however, not less than two-thirds of the total non-dissertation credit hours of doctoral degrees must be completed in residence courses at UNCG.
In order to ensure that the courses fall within the time limit permitted, the transfer credit will be accepted finally and posted to the transcript only at the time of completion of the degree requirements.
When a student has removed any provisions or special conditions which may have been attached to admission, completed a minimum of ¾ of the course work contained in the program of study, passed any foreign language requirements, and completed the research skill requirements, that student is then eligible to take the preliminary examinations. Individual departments may have additional requirements. Each doctoral student is required to pass the doctoral preliminary examinations which consist of both a written and oral examination. The written part is scheduled and prepared by the dissertation advisor with the assistance of the advisory/dissertation committee. The questions may cover any phase of the course work taken by the student during the period of this graduate study or any subject logically related and basic to an understanding of the subject matter of the major and minor areas of study. Any transferred course work is subject to examination at the time of the preliminary examinations. The oral examination should be scheduled within one month following the written examination.
Unanimous approval is required for passing the preliminary examination. Approval may be conditional, however, upon the satisfactory completion of such additional work as may be required by the committee. However, if the student does not pass the preliminary examination, at least one semester must elapse before re-examination is permitted. No more than one re-examination will be allowed. If the student fails to pass the examination on the second attempt, The Graduate School will send the student a letter of dismissal.
The complete advisory/dissertation committee of at least four must participate in the holding of the preliminary oral examination.
When a student has completed all major and minor required courses, has passed the preliminary written and oral examinations, satisfied any language or skill requirements, and submitted a dissertation research outline that has been approved by his dissertation advisor and advisory/dissertation committee, that student may then make formal application in The Graduate School for admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree.
The dissertation is the product of a thorough investigation of a basic and significant problem or question within the major area of study. An appropriate plan of research must be developed and executed by the student under the general guidance of the chair and the advisory/dissertation committee. The dissertation requirement is designed to develop the capacities of originality and generalization in the candidate. It should foster and attest to the development in the candidate of ability in scientific inquiry, understanding, and mastery of the techniques of scholarship, and the art of exposition within the field of specialization. The advisory/dissertation committee, with such other professors as may be appointed by the Dean of The Graduate School, shall examine the dissertation; and no dissertation shall be accepted unless it secures unanimous approval of the advisory/dissertation committee.
Please note that the process for submitting the dissertation to The Graduate School has two components: submitting the signed approval copy and submitting the final copy. Be sure to note the specific instructions and deadline dates affiliated with each step. These dates are available in the Calendar of Events.
Students file the dissertation electronically via the online submission system available on The Graduate School's website. In final form, the dissertation must comply with the rules prescribed by the Graduate Studies Committee in the "Guide for the Preparation of Theses and Dissertations." The approved electronic submission must be uploaded by the deadline date as specified in the Calendar of Events. Publication of the dissertation by UMI Dissertation Publishing/ProQuest Information and Learning is required by The Graduate School. The candidate must pay the associated publishing fee.
Dissertation hours vary according to the program but are never less than 12 semester hours, normally taken in units of three semester hours. For a complete explanation of requirements affecting dissertation registration, see the Policy on Continuous Enrollment on page 14.
The doctoral candidate who has successfully completed all other requirements for the degree will be scheduled by the chair of the advisory/dissertation committee, in consultation with the other committee members, to take a final oral examination. The Graduate School will publish the dissertation title, date, time and location of the oral examination at least two weeks prior to the examination. The examination is open to all members of the University community who may wish to attend. The final oral examination is administered by the advisory/dissertation committee according to program guidelines. The examination is largely related to the dissertation field of study including courses taken here and elsewhere. Approval of the examination must be attested to by all members of the advisory/dissertation committee. The results of the examination are to be reported in writing to the Dean of The Graduate School.