Handbook | Degree Certification | Doctoral Degree Requirements
b. Doctoral Degree Requirements
1. Credit Requirements:
The number of courses required prior to a student taking his/her Preliminary Comprehensive Examination is determined by the student's adviser/guidance committee/Graduate Program Director. The Graduate School requires no minimum number of credits for a doctoral program, with the exception of dissertation credits.
2. Residency Requirement:
A doctoral candidate must spend the equivalent of at least one continuous academic year of full-time graduate work (nine credits per semester) in residence at the University. The residency year must be either in a Fall/Spring or Spring/Fall sequence. During this year, the student must spend some part of each week physically on campus. Doctoral students enrolled in recognized off-campus programs may satisfy this regulation at their off-campus site.
3. Language Requirement:
No foreign language is required by the Graduate School; however, some departments do require language proficiency. Refer to the Graduate School Bulletin and program literature for foreign language requirements and competency levels.
4. Preliminary Comprehensive Examination:
The Preliminary Comprehensive Examination is prepared and administered by the candidate's department/program. Notification of the result of the examination should be forwarded to the Graduate Records Office.
5. Doctoral Dissertation Committee:
As soon as the student has passed the Preliminary Comprehensive Examination, the Doctoral Dissertation Committee is appointed by the Graduate Dean upon nomination and recommendation by the Graduate Program Director or Department Head/Chair. The Committee is composed of at least three (3) graduate faculty members: the chairperson, at least one other member from the candidate's department/program, and one member from outside the candidate's department/program. The committee has been officially constituted when the Graduate Dean sends formal notification of its formation to each committee member, the Graduate Program Director, and to the student. Members of the Dissertation Committee must agree to not only assist in the supervision of the dissertation project, but also conduct the Final Oral Examination. Selection of the committee is a matter of "academic judgement" which should be made by the Graduate Program Director and/or Department Chair and/or Adviser, and approved by the Graduate Dean. Students should be reminded that most faculty are on nine-month contracts and should not necessarily assume that committee members will be available during the summer months.
6. Dissertation Credit Requirement:
The total number of dissertation credits required varies, by department/program, from 10 to 18 graduate credits. See course number 899 in the Graduate School Bulletin under the appropriate program for the required minimum number of dissertation credits. There is no maximum number of credits to which a student is limited; however, a student can register for only a maximum of nine (9) credits per semester/session. Doctoral candidates will not be recommended to the Board of Trustees for the doctoral degree unless they have the requisite number of dissertation credits.
7. Dissertation Prospectus/Outline:
After passing the Preliminary Comprehensive Examination, the graduate degree candidate must prepare a dissertation prospectus/outline describing the research to be conducted, analyzed, and presented in the dissertation. The cover sheet must be signed by each member of the Dissertation Committee to indicate approval of the topic and its plan of execution. The Graduate Program Director or Department Head/Chair signs and forwards the prospectus to the Graduate Records Office. This copy must be received at least seven (7) months prior to the Final Oral Examination.
8. Announcement of Final Oral Examination:
All Final Oral Examinations/Dissertation Defenses must be announced In the Loop to allow interested Graduate Faculty and others to attend. The Office of Degree Requirements must receive written notification of the scheduling of a Final Oral Examination at least four weeks prior to the date of the defense. An examination cannot be held unless it has been publicly announced In the Loop . The examination must be held on the Amherst campus. All members of the Dissertation Committee must be present at the defense. (Note: All Graduate Faculty are invited to attend and cannot be excluded from a Final Oral Examination. Departments differ in allowing others to attend. Courtesy suggests that the Chair of the Committee, whose name is published In the Loop , be consulted by others attending the Defense, with the stipulation above.)
9. Final Oral Examination Results:
The result of a Final Oral Examination is forwarded to the Graduate Records Office directly following the examination.
10. Dissertation:
The dissertation must be typed in a proscribed style and format on acid-free paper. (Refer to the handout Typing Guidelines For Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations, available in the Office of Degree Requirements and on the Web at www. umass.edu/gradschool/students.students_typing_guidelines.htm.) The dissertation must be approved and signed by all members of the dissertation committee and the Department Head/Chair. The Graduate School is the final and only arbitrator of what is an acceptable dissertation. The original dissertation and one copy are required, and fees must be paid to cover binding and microfilming costs. Copyrighting the dissertation is required; however, registering the copyright is optional. The dissertation will be cataloged in the Library of Congress and in the W.E.B. Du Bois Library. Microfilm copies may be purchased from University Microfilms Library Services, 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103-1500 or online at www.umi.com. Publication by microfilm does not preclude the printing of the dissertation in whole or in part in a journal or as a monograph.
11. Degree Eligibility Form:
The Degree Eligibility Form (available in the Office of Degree Requirements) must be completed by all doctoral degree candidates and signed by the Graduate Program Director and the Department Head/Chair. The candidate should verify the accuracy of the information on this form with his/her permanent record. The completed form, along with all appropriate fees, signatures, and the Survey of Earned Doctorates and University Microfilms forms must be received by the Office of Degree Requirements by the posted deadline. (See Check List for Doctoral Degree) These deadlines are strictly observed and will not be extended. Degrees cannot and will not be awarded retroactively.
12. Requirements for a Joint Doctor of Philosophy Degree:
A joint Ph.D. program can be approved in the Graduate Council at the request of two cooperating programs, providing the following requirements are met:
A. Students will apply for admission to a single doctoral program of their choice.
B. Following residence on campus for at least one semester, a student interested in a joint degree will apply for admission to the second program, provided that the Graduate Council has approved the specific joint degree program.
C. If the student is admitted to the second program, the original admitting program will still be credited for that student and the transcript will read "Program 1" for the original admitting department, and "Program 2" for the second program.
D. When the student is accepted into the second program, the statute of limitations will automatically be extended by two years.
E. The requirements of the Graduate School and all requirements of both graduate programs must be met, including passing preliminary comprehensive examinations in both programs.
F. Only one dissertation and one dissertation defense are required. There must be at least one member of the dissertation committee from each program and the outside member must be from outside both programs.
G. A joint degree means one Ph.D. in Programs 1 and 2, not two separate Ph.D. degrees. Such joint degrees will not establish any new degrees and are not new programs. The spirit of the joint doctoral degree is to foster cooperation among degree-granting units. Each program involved in any given joint degree retains, through its Graduate Program Director, full responsibility for ensuring that joint degree students fulfill all course and examination requirements relevant to its own program. A joint Ph.D. degree will be awarded only when all requirements have been met for both graduate programs.
13. Five College Cooperative Ph.D. Program
A cooperative Ph.D. program is offered by Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The degree is awarded by this University, but in exceptional cases much of the work leading to it may be taken at one or another of the participating institutions. Departments authorized to offer the cooperative Ph.D. degree are: all departments in the biological sciences, Chemistry, Geology, Physics, and Astronomy.
An applicant must apply for the Five College Cooperative Ph.D. Program through the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts. The applicant must then secure the approval of the appropriate academic department at the University. The application then will be forwarded to the appropriate Five College institution for its evaluation. The letter of acceptance to the applicant is sent only by the Dean of the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts, not by the other cooperating institution.
Registration for the Five College Cooperative Ph.D. students is handled only through the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts. Degrees awarded in this program will be appropriately indicated on the diploma and the permanent record. All requirements for the Five College Cooperative Ph.D. degree are similar to those for the Ph.D. degree at the University except for the residency requirement. Residence in this program will apply to the institution where the dissertation work is done. The names of the Graduate Faculty at cooperating institutions are listed in the Graduate Bulletin at http://www.umass.edu/grad_catalog/.
