Policies & Requirements Handbook
Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree
Admission to Doctoral Study
In some departments the requirements for admission to graduate study and for admission to doctoral study are identical, while other departments require the completion of a master's degree or its equivalent as a prerequisite for admission to doctoral study. Admission to doctoral study does not include any implication concerning "Admission to Candidacy for the PhD degree." (See Admission to Candidacy for the PhD Degree, and also special departmental requirements in the section, Departmental Degree Programs and Course Offerings.)
Major Field
Only one major department of graduate study is permitted for the Doctor of Philosophy degree. The overall form and content of each student's program are the responsibility of the faculty of the department. To carry out this responsibility, the department must ensure that each student has a major advisor who, in consultation with the student, plans a program of study and research in accord with school and departmental guidelines. The advisor may prescribe additional courses both within and outside the department that are essential and/or appropriate to the student's program.
Some doctoral programs may include approved Areas of Concentration used to define and describe the student's training and expertise within the broader discipline. Such an Area of Concentration is added to the transcript upon the granting of the degree.
Credit Requirements
The minimum requirement for the PhD degree is met by six terms of registration as a graduate student for 12 or more credits per term or the equivalent number of credits in a reduced load. This minimum of 72 credits may be earned in formal course work, directed study, independent study, and/or thesis and dissertation research. No more than 24 credits may be accepted for a master's degree awarded by another institution to meet the minimum credit requirement. If the student has completed work elsewhere beyond the master's degree, up to 12 additional credits may be accepted at the time of admission for a total of no more than 36 credits. No more than 24 credits may be accepted for a previously earned PhD degree in recognition of master's degree work (see Transfer Credits).
Graduate students already enrolled may, when approved in advance by their department and the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies, spend a term or more at another graduate institution to obtain training or experience not available at the University of Pittsburgh and transfer those credits toward the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Pittsburgh. In all cases, at least three terms, or 36 credits, of full-time doctoral study or the equivalent in part-time study must be successfully completed at the University of Pittsburgh.
Graduate students pay full tuition and are certified to be in "full-time study" for each term in which they are registered for nine or more credits. In general, credits may be earned by either full-time and/or part-time graduate study, but some departments have specific regulations regarding part-time study.
Doctoral students who have completed all credit requirements for the degree, the comprehensive examination, and are working full time on their dissertations, may register for "Full-time Dissertation Study," which carries no credits or letter grade but provides students full-time status. Students so enrolled are assessed a special reduced tuition fee. These students are still responsible for the full-time computer and network, security/transportation, student health service, and activity fees.
A student who has completed the 72 credits required for the PhD, but has not fulfilled other requirements, must register for an appropriate number of credits in each term that he or she is using University facilities or faculty time, and must register for at least one credit or "Full-time Dissertation Study" in the term of graduation.
Course Requirements
The form and content of graduate degree programs are determined by the faculty of each department. In every case, the student's advisor may prescribe additional courses in accord with specific needs of the student beyond the general group of courses required by the student's major department. No course numbered below 1000 may be applied toward a graduate degree.
Students must achieve the minimum GPA established by their departments, in no case less than 3.00, to be eligible to undergo the preliminary examination, to take the comprehensive examination, to be admitted to candidacy for the PhD degree, and to be graduated.
Foreign Language and/or Other Tools of Research
The requirement of proficiency in the use of foreign languages or other tools of research is at the discretion of individual departments. The foreign language departments have the capacity to evaluate foreign language proficiency and will be available to so certify.
Preliminary Examination
The preliminary examination should be designed to assess the breadth of the student's knowledge of the discipline, the student's achievement during the first year of graduate study, and the potential to apply research methods independently. Students who have full graduate status should be evaluated formally by approximately the end of the first year of full residence. The nature of the examination and the time when it is given are determined by each department. The examination is used to identify those students who may be expected to complete a doctoral program successfully and also to reveal areas of weakness in the student's preparation. Examination results must be reported promptly to A&S Graduate Studies (5141 Sennott Square) but no later than the last day of the term in which the examination occurs. In some programs, the preliminary doctoral exam may be combined with a master's comprehensive examination. A student on provisional, inactive, or special status or on probation is not eligible to take the preliminary exam.
Comprehensive Examination
The comprehensive examination should be designed to assess the student's mastery of the general field of doctoral study, the student's acquisition of both depth and breadth in the area of specialization within the general field, and the ability to use the research methods of the discipline. In some programs, the comprehensive examination is combined with the proposal overview or prospectus meeting. It should be administered at approximately the time of the completion of the formal course requirements and should be passed at least eight months before the scheduling of the final oral examination and dissertation defense. In no case may the comprehensive examination be taken in the same term in which the student is graduated. Examination results must be reported promptly to A&S Graduate Studies (5141 Sennott Square), but no later than the last day of the term in which the examination is administered. A student on provisional, inactive, or special status or on probation is not eligible to take the comprehensive exam. There is a seven-calendar-year limit on the PhD comprehensive examination for students entering graduate study programs in fall 1999 or later. (Ten-year limits on PhD comprehensive examinations apply for doctoral students enrolled prior to fall 1999.) If the student has not completed all requirements for the doctoral degree within these time limits on the comprehensive examinations, the comprehensive examination for the PhD must be retaken in order to graduate.
Doctoral Committee
Upon the successful completion of the comprehensive examination, the student and his/her advisor should propose a doctoral committee for approval by the Department Chair. The doctoral committee shall consist of at least three Graduate Faculty members from the student's department of graduate study, including the graduate advisor, and one Graduate Faculty member from another department of the University or from another university. (A list of the University's Graduate Faculty is available online at <www.ir.pitt.edu/gradfac/homepg.htm>.) If a member of the Graduate Faculty from another university is selected, she or he must be approved in advance by the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies. This person should be selected on the basis of contributions he or she can make by virtue of the particular areas of scholarly interest or expertise relevant to the dissertation topic. In addition, a scholar with special competence in the area of research of the dissertation may be appointed as an official member of the doctoral committee. A request for approval of a member from another university should include a cover letter stating the justification for the appointment and a current curriculum vitae. Many departments require a committee of five members.
This committee has the responsibility to monitor and review the progress of the candidate's research and the authority to require supplementary research or the rewriting of any portion or all of the dissertation. It conducts the final oral examination and determines whether the dissertation meets acceptable standards.
The membership of the doctoral committee may be changed whenever it is appropriate or necessary, subject to the approval of the Department Chair and the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies.
Each student must prepare a written dissertation proposal for presentation to the doctoral committee at a formal dissertation overview or prospectus meeting. The overview requires the student to formulate a thoughtful plan and permits the doctoral committee members to provide guidance in shaping the conceptualization and methodology of that plan. The doctoral committee must unanimously approve the dissertation topic and research plan and sign the student's application for doctoral candidacy before the student may be admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree. Approval of the proposal does not imply either the acceptance of a dissertation prepared in accord with the proposal or the restriction of the dissertation to this original proposal. If the research proposed in the overview or prospectus involves human subjects, that proposed research must be approved by the University Institutional Review Board (IRB) before it may be carried out.
Admission to Candidacy for the PhD Degree
After completion of the overview, the student should, in consultation with his/her major advisor, file the application for admission to candidacy for the Doctor of Philosophy degree. To qualify for admission to candidacy, students must have achieved full graduate status, satisfied the requirement of the preliminary evaluation, completed formal course work with a minimum grade point average of 3.00, passed the comprehensive examination, and received approval of the proposed subject and plan of the dissertation from the doctoral committee following an overview or prospectus meeting of the committee. Students are informed of admission to candidacy by written notification from the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies. When the topic has been accepted and the proposed doctoral committee has been approved by the Department Chair and the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies, the student will be informed of admission to candidacy and of the membership of the doctoral committee.
Admission to candidacy must be at least eight months before the defense of the dissertation in order to provide an opportunity for the members of the doctoral committee to review, criticize, and monitor the proposed research.
Meetings of the doctoral candidate and his/her dissertation committee must occur at least annually from the time the student gains admission to doctoral candidacy. During these meetings, the committee should assess the student's progress toward the degree and discuss objectives for the following year and a timetable for completing degree requirements. A record of such meetings must be maintained in the student's file in the department.
Dissertation
Each student must write a dissertation that presents the results of a research project carried out by the student. An appropriate research project involves a substantive piece of original and independent research grounded in an appropriate body of literature. It presents a hypothesis tested by data and analysis and provides a significant contribution or advancement in that field. It is the responsibility of the student's doctoral committee to evaluate the dissertation in these terms and to recommend the awarding of the doctoral degree only if the dissertation is judged to demonstrate these qualities.
Characteristics that a dissertation should demonstrate are: the establishment of a historical context for the presentation of an innovative and creative approach to the problem analysis and solution; a clear understanding of the problem area as revealed by analysis and synthesis of a broad literature base; a well-defined research design; clarity in composition and careful documentation; results of sufficient merit to be published in refereed journals or to form the basis of a book or monograph; sufficient detail so that other scholars can build on it in subsequent work; and the preparation of the author to assume a position within the profession.
If the dissertation is the result of a collaborative research effort, the project should be structured in such a way that the student's dissertation results form a clearly identified piece of work in which the student has supplied the unquestionably major effort. The contributions of the student and the other collaborators must be clearly distinguished.
Published articles authored or co-authored by the student and based on research conducted for the dissertation study may be included in the dissertation. The published work must be logically connected and integrated into the dissertation in a coherent manner, and sufficient detail must be presented to satisfy the characteristics of a dissertation. The student should be the sole or primary author of the published work. If the published articles were co-authored, the contribution of the student must be clearly delineated in the introduction so the committee can ascertain that the student's own work satisfies the requirements of a dissertation. The ETD Format Guidelines gives instructions on incorporating articles into the dissertation. Journal articles may be used only in the appendix and only if necessary.
For details on the preparation and submission of electronic theses and dissertations go to the Web page at <www.pitt.edu/~graduate/etd/>.
Language of the Doctoral Dissertation
The language in which doctoral dissertations are written shall normally be English. Exceptions may be granted for graduate students in foreign language departments but only for sound reasons of scholarship. Permission shall never be granted on the grounds of inadequate command of English. A student who wishes to write a dissertation in a foreign language shall apply formally to his/her Department Chair for permission. The application must be approved by the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies at the time of admission to candidacy. For approval, (1) the application must be recommended for approval by the department, (2) all members of the doctoral committee must have an adequate command of the language, and (3) the student must have demonstrated full proficiency in English to the satisfaction of the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies. Dissertation abstracts shall in any case be in English. The final oral examination must be conducted in English.
Application for Graduation
Each candidate for graduation must file an official Application for Graduation form in 5141 Sennott Square early in the term in which graduation is expected (see Academic Calendar) and must be registered for at least one credit at the University during that term.
Final Oral Examination
Each candidate for a doctoral degree must provide a suitable number of copies of the dissertation, as designated by his/her doctoral committee, for review and use during the final oral examination.
One copy of the dissertation must be submitted to each member of the doctoral committee at least two weeks before the date set for the final oral examination. The final oral examination in defense of the doctoral dissertation is conducted by the doctoral committee and need not be confined to materials in or related to the dissertation. All members of the doctoral committee must attend the examination. Exceptions can be made only with the permission of the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies. Any member of the faculty of the University may attend and participate in the examination. At least four weeks before the final examination, the chair of the doctoral committee must provide the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies with a typewritten notice, listing the title of the dissertation and the time and place for its defense, for announcement in the University Times. Other qualified individuals may be invited by the committee to participate in the examination. Only members of the doctoral committee may be present during the final deliberations and may vote on the passing of the candidate. A report of this examination and a report on approval of the dissertation, signed by all members of the doctoral committee, must be sent to the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies for approval. The report on the approval of the dissertation may be signed concurrently with or subsequently to the report of the final oral examination. If the decision of the committee is not unanimous, the case is referred to the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies for resolution. The chair of the doctoral committee should ensure that the dissertation is in final form before requesting signatures of the members of the committee.
When the examination is completed, the candidate must upload a corrected/approved ETD and submit to the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies one copy of the ETD Approval form plus three copies of a typewritten abstract of the dissertation signed by his/her advisor and prepared for publication in accord with instructions furnished by A&S Graduate Studies (5141 Sennott Square). Each candidate must execute an agreement with University Microfilms International for the publication of the dissertation on microfilm and for publication of the abstract in Dissertation Abstracts, respond to the Survey of Earned Doctorates, and present an ETD Processing Fees Receipt when the dissertation is deposited in 5141 Sennott Square.
Other Regulations
Graduation
Candidates are expected to appear in person at commencement exercises to receive their degrees; however, diplomas will be mailed.
Editorial Assistance
A student preparing a dissertation or other written work as part of academic requirements may, when appropriate, use the assistance of professional editors, provided that (1) he or she receives the approval of the research advisor or professor of the course in which written work is being submitted, (2) editorial assistance provided be limited to use of language and not to subject matter or meaning, and (3) all editorial assistance be described and acknowledged in the report.
Publication of Theses and Dissertations
Advisors should exercise responsibility in approving publication research topics that will not endanger long-term research projects or the safety or welfare of informants. Dependent upon the circumstances and the research point at which the danger is recognized, the Office of the Provost may authorize a delay in publication of a dissertation for up to a maximum of one calendar year. Similarly, publication may be withheld for a maximum of six months if required for filing a patent application.
Any thesis or dissertation may be published, either by the University or through an outside agency, provided due credit is given to the University. No form of publication, however, shall relieve the student of his/her responsibility for supplying the proper abstract and uploading the ETD.
The doctoral candidate is required to execute an agreement with the University Microfilms Inc. for the publication of the dissertation on microfilm.