Doctoral Candidacy

Admission to Candidacy

Students are advanced to doctoral candidacy after completion of the following.

1. The student has passed the comprehensive examination. The examination consists of both written and oral sections. The written section will include questions from the student's area of concentration as defined by the area core requirements. The faculty on the examining committee will be all faculty whose research or teaching lies within the area(s) being tested. The written sections of the examination must be successfully completed prior to the oral section. The written examination is given in September, February and June. The oral section is scheduled one week after the written sections. The written and oral sections of the examination, if not successfully completed, may be repeated only once.
2. Upon successful completion of the comprehensive examination, the student can be advanced to doctoral candidacy. The student and the supervising professor should recommend to the graduate adviser the names of the five faculty and two alternates whom they would like to have appointed to the dissertation committee. The student should contact the graduate secretary for assistance in completing the necessary paper work for advancement to candidacy. Only after the student has been advanced to candidacy and has the approval of the supervising professor, will the student be permitted to register for dissertation hours.

Dissertation

Under the supervision of the Supervising Professor and the Dissertation Committee, the student will prepare a written dissertation proposal and make an oral presentation of it to the Dissertation Committee and other interested persons. Interested students, faculty and especially GSC members are encouraged to attend the proposal presentation; however a quorum of the GSC is not required. At least one week prior to the scheduled presentation, the student is required (1) to send a copy of the proposal announcement to each GSC member along withan attached four to five page summary of the proposal; (2) to post notices of the proposal presentation, and (3) to submit two copies of the complete dissertation proposal to the Graduate Adviser's Office. The proposal will include an appropriate literature survey, extensive methodology, and preliminary results. The proposal should be presented toward the end of the student's second year of doctoral study.

The dissertation is required of all candidates and must be an original contribution to scholarship based on independent research in the major area. It is expected to be a significant contribution to the body of the current research. Writing of the dissertation will be supervised by the Dissertation Committee which is appointed by the Graduate Dean and will include the Supervising Professor, and at least two other members from the Exercise Science faculty. At least one member must be from outside the Graduate Studies Committee.

Once the Dissertation Committee is appointed, the Graduate Studies Committee requires the Committee to meet at least once a semester to review the student's progress. Following the meeting a progress report must be filed with the Graduate Adviser. It is the responsibility of the Supervising Professor to ensure that these requirements are fulfilled.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of the Dissertation)

The candidate must present a formal seminar on the dissertation research as a part of the final oral examination. All interested faculty members and graduate students will be encouraged to attend the formal seminar and to ask questions about the candidate's research. Evaluation of the candidate's performance will be decided by members of the Dissertation Committee. It is the responsibility of the student and the supervising professor to schedule the formal seminar through the office of the Graduate Adviser.

Time Limits

All course work to be included in the program of study must at the time of admission to candidacy have been taken within the previous six years. Once advanced to candidacy, the doctoral program must be reviewed by the Committee on Graduate Studies if the degree has not been completed within three years from the date of admission to candidacy. At this time the Committee may recommend additional course work, further examinations, or termination of candidacy. The program is also subject to review by the Graduate Dean.