Ph.D. in Nursing Program

Information, announcements and other resources relevant to the PhD Program are maintained on the Nursing PhD Program intranet website.

General Information 

The PhD program builds on previous nursing education and is designed with both post- baccalaureate (68 credits) and post-master’s degree (59 credits) points of entry. Candidates with a DNP will have an individualized plan of study based on their transcript and experience.  

The program consists of courses in nursing knowledge and theory development, nursing research designs and methodologies, grantsmanship and scientific writing, and cognates, a comprehensive examination, and a dissertation.  

Following a 3-year community equity-directed co-creative process grounded in design justice, the PhD Program revised its vision, mission, and programmatic objectives. These revisions were approved by the EMCON Faculty Assembly in April 2022. The new curriculum was launched in Fall 2023.  

Information, announcements, and other resources relevant to the PhD Program are maintained on the Nursing PhD Program intranet website.

Program Objectives

This program will prepare students to: 

Vision

The PhD program at the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing is recognized as a leader in the preparation of diverse, interdisciplinary, and collaborative research scholars and global leaders who generate, disseminate, and embody knowledge needed to transform the discipline, achieve health equity and social justice, and sustain human and planetary health.  

Mission

The PhD program at the UMass Amherst Elaine Marieb College of Nursing prepares diverse, interdisciplinary, and collaborative research scholars and global leaders capable of generating, disseminating, and embodying nursing knowledge needed to: 

Provide Transformative Nursing Leadership 

• Prepared to innovate and lead multidisciplinary and multi-sector collaborations in a variety of settings. 
• Combine principled high-quality integrative approaches to research and scholarship with creativity and a radical imagination. 
• Able to integrate philosophy, theory, history, humanities and the arts into research, scholarship, and praxis. 
• Committed to lifelong learning and organizing for change. 

Achieve Health Equity and Social Justice 

• Active in dismantling racism and systemic oppression  
• Reflexive about power and positionality, and accountable for their own actions and impacts 
• Practicing inclusivity and accessibility, and growing within communities of practice 

Sustain Human and Planetary Health 

• Recognize and articulate the interdependence of all beings with each other and the planet. 
• Nurture relationships with colleagues, communities, and the environment through acts of collective care, such as teaching and learning and mutual mentorship.  
• Promote health, healing, and sustainability. 

The University of Massachusetts is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) Commission on Institutions of Higher Education.