Joint PhD Approval Process

A joint Ph.D. program can be approved at the request of two cooperating programs, providing the requirements listed below are met. Such joint degrees will not establish any new degrees and are not new programs. However, the addition of this option will be subject to Graduate Council and Faculty Senate approval. 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 degree will be awarded only when both Graduate Program Directors are satisfied that all requirements have been met.

1. The requirements of the Graduate School and all requirements of both graduate programs must be met, including preliminary comprehensive examinations in both programs.
2. 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.
3. Students will apply for admission to a single doctoral program of their choice. 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.
4. If the student is admitted to the second program, the original admitting department will still be credited for that student, and the transcript will read "Program 1" for the original admitting department, and "Program 2." FTE credit will stay with Program 1.
5. When the student is accepted into the second program, the statute of limitations will automatically be extended by two years.
6. A joint degree means one Ph.D. in x and y, not two degrees.

Approval Process:

The cooperating programs must submit to Faculty Senate a proposal that describes the need and inherent value of a joint degree option for these programs. The proposal should:

1. provide an outline of requirements with core courses, elective courses, and milestones for each of the separate degrees
2. describe whether any additional requirements are necessary to earn this joint PhD
3. specify a plan for completion of these requirements, and
4. explicitly address the topic of how the requirements for the preliminary comprehensive examination in both programs will be met.

Proposed CCMS Prompts:

1. Joint PhD
   1. Title
   2. Proposed Starting Date
2. Curriculum Outline
   1. Provide a curriculum outline of core courses and elective courses for each of the separate degrees.
3. Core Requirements:
   1. Describe how core requirements from each program will be met.
   2. Describe whether any additional requirements are necessary to earn this joint PhD.
4. Preliminary Comprehensive Examination Requirements
   1. Describe how the requirements for the preliminary comprehensive examination and advancement to candidacy will be met in both programs.
5. Cooperating Programs
   1. Provide arguments from cooperating programs which discuss the need and inherent value of the joint degree.

Source: Sen. Doc. No. 26-043