University of South Florida

• Time Limits
• Residency and Learning Structures
• The Doctoral Committee
• The Ph.D. Program Structure
• Tools of Research
• Plan of Study
• Performance Standards
• Transfer of Credit
• Doctoral Qualifying Exams

Time Limits

In order to promote student progress and assure the fair distribution of limited university resources, a number of time limits apply to graduate study. These are important, so be sure you are familiar with them.

• All graduate course work counted toward the Ph. D. must be completed within seven years of admission (five years, for students under the 1999-2001 and later catalogs.)
• Financial aid for doctoral students (assistantships, fee waivers, etc.) can be granted for a maximum of six semesters beyond the master's degree.
• All degree requirements must be completed within five years of the time you complete the qualifying examinations (usually taken after all course work has been completed.)

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Residency and Learning Structures

Doctoral study is as much a socialization process as it is an intellectual enterprise. In order to adopt the values, canons, and norms of a community of scholars, it is essential for students to engage in sustained contact with other individuals who hold them, articulate them, and modify them. Because of the unique nature of program purposes and the ways in which scholarly activity is conducted, alternative models must be adopted to assure that the social dimensions of doctoral study receive adequate attention.

In some instances, individual students or a small group of students working under a faculty member's mentorship is appropriate. In many other cases, because students admitted into doctoral study often already have considerable professional experience and have professional goals similar to their doctoral student colleagues, their cohort is one of the most important sources of learning. In such cases, cohorts provide social and personal support as well as practical help, such as accessing and sharing literature, sharing class notes when an absence cannot be avoided, and assisting in the refinement of research questions and approaches.

Doctoral students in the department must be assured that the social and mentorship configuration of their program responds to the demands of the profession and the nature of scholarly enterprise in their field.

Residency Structures:
Doctoral study is much more than an aggregation of courses satisfactorily completed plus a dissertation. Courses, or alternative structures, have their own identity and value but there must be a continuity of experience for students that connects them. Further, the nature and value of scholarship and collegial work are learned in a scholarly community where they are experienced. Doctoral study is a process that requires deep personal commitment. Therefore, doctoral study must assure adequate time for students to be integrated into an inquiry- oriented community.

In order to achieve these goals, the department requires students to spend a substantial portion of their programs in full-time study at the University. Doctoral students must spend at least two consecutive semesters of full-time residency on the Tampa Campus. Full time residency requires enrollment in a minimum of nine semester hours each semester. It is understood that students should be engaged in no more than half-time employment outside of the Ph. D. program during the residency period. Students must declare semesters of residency at the outset of their programs.

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The Doctoral Committee

After you are admitted, you will meet with the Coordinator of Graduate Studies in the department or your assigned advisor to begin planning your program of studies. You will be helped to choose a major professor, who must be a fully credentialed member of the Graduate Faculty. (The list of credentialed faculty is available from the COE Graduate Advising Office, EDU 311.)

Major Professor:
The major professor is your advocate, your academic mentor, and a representative of the University. As Chair of your Doctoral committee, the major professor is the executive and accountable officer of that group. Your MP has the responsibility and authority to make final decisions on academic, logistical, technical, and interpersonal issues that may surface during the life of the committee. The MP is responsible for negotiating the replacement of a committee member if, in the joint opinion of the MP and the student, the member's continued participation is counter-productive to the completion of the degree. The Major Professor can, upon the request of the student, be changed by the Associate Dean for Programs.

The duties of the MP include assisting in organizing the Doctoral committee, convening and chairing the committee, supervising the design and evaluation of the qualifying examination, supervising the dissertation preparation, and conducting the affairs of the committee consistent with college and university policy.

Doctoral Committee:
The doctoral committee is the student's principal link to the graduate school. Your committee has the dual task of assisting you in the completion of your program and assuring that you meet standards of excellence established by the institution.

The committee is comprised of four members in addition to your Major Professor. Members must be credentialed as Full or Associate members of the Graduate Faculty. At least two members must be from outside of your major department (or program area) and may come from other colleges within USF. At least one of these members should represent a cognate area in which you are interested. Generally, one member is selected from the Department of Social and Psychological Foundations of Education.

The responsibility of committee members includes meeting with you as necessary to discuss your program and dissertation, participating in writing and evaluating the qualifying examination, participating in the preparation and defense of the dissertation proposal, and participating in the final defense of the dissertation.

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The Ph. D. Program Structure

Consistent with college and university guidelines, all Ph.D. programs in Education have several common elements. Although there is some variation among programs, the general structure of a program is shown here.

SPECIALIZATION: 51 HOURS (48, for students under the 1999-2001 and later catalogs.)

• Dissertation Hours 30 (24, for students under the 1999-2001 and later catalogs.)
• Major Emphasis Hours 21
• Curriculum Studies 3
• EDG 7667 Anal of Cur & Ins or EDG 7692 Issues in Cur & Ins

COGNATE: 12 HOURS (As determined by committee.)

MEASUREMENT/STATISTICS/RESEARCH DESIGN: 11-12 HOURS

• EDF 6407 Stat Anal Educ I 4*
• EDF 7408 Stat Anal Educ II 4*
  and Select one of the following:
• EDF 7410 Des Sys Study in Educ 4
• EDF 7437 Adv Educ Meas 4
• EDF 7484 Stat Anal Ed Res IV 3
• EDF 7493 Sys Approach for Prog
• Plan, Eval, Design 4

FOUNDATIONS: 8-9 HOURS

• One appropriate 7000 level course from each of the following areas:
• Philosophical/Historical/Social Foundations
• Educational Psychology

  TOTAL SEMESTER HOURS: 78-80 (for students admitted 1999 and later)

*In addition to the 3-4 hour statistics/research requirement, you must take 8 hours of statistics (6407 and 7408) and pass a research tool examination (NOTE: The research tool examination is not required of students under the 1999-2001 and later catalogs.) if statistics is used as one of your research tools. (See "Tools of Research" below.)

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Tools of Research

Before being admitted to candidacy, you must complete two research "tools". This requirement helps assure that you have the research skills necessary to complete your dissertation. You may fulfill the tool requirement by completing two of the following:

• Pass a reading test in one foreign language. (See section "Tools of Research" in the USF Graduate Catalog.)
• Pass a reading test in a second foreign language.
• Earn a grade of "B" or better in EME 6930, Programming Languages for Education, or a computer course designated by the College of Engineering as a language. Different programming languages (e.g. BASIC, Logo, Hyperscripting, Pascal) are taught in different sections of EME 6930 and in different Engineering courses. The student and his/her Doctoral Committee may decide which language is more appropriate and notify the Coordinator of Graduate Advising, either on the program of study when it is filed, or subsequently by memo from the Major Professor. In the absence of such notification, the Coordinator will accept only EME 6930: BASIC Tool as satisfying this course requirement. The semester hours for this course will not be counted in the total hours required for completion of the student's program of study, but the grade will be computed into the student's graduate GPA.
• Earn a "B" or better in EDF 6407 and EDF 7406, and pass the statistics tool exam.

Plan of Study

Early in your studies, you and your Major Professor will design a program of studies and submit it to your committee members for approval. It will then be forwarded to the Coordinator of Graduate Advising and, upon approval, will be a contract of sorts between you and the University. The program must be on file by the end of the second semester of your coursework, or before you have completed 15 hours -- whichever comes first. Especially in the case of interdisciplinary programs, you need to establish your committee and form your program of studies as quickly as possible.

Performance Standards

You must maintain a GPA of 3.0. Grades below "C" will not be accepted toward the degree, but will be included in the computation of your overall average.

Transfer of Credit

You may transfer up to eight (8) semester hours or three courses from another graduate school. Transfer courses must be completed at an accredited graduate school with a grade of "B" or better. You may count twelve (12) semester hours of graduate credit earned at USF before your admission to the doctoral program toward your degree.

Doctoral Qualifying Exams

The purpose of the exam is to evaluate your ability to apply and synthesize the knowledge acquired during graduate study.

Eligibility:

Examination Options:
Two options exist for the IT student's examination. One is twelve hours in length (spread over three days) and integrates work in the specialization area, cognate area and foundations area (Note: There must be a foundations faculty member on your committee in order to choose this option.) The second is comprised of two subtests: an eight hour portion covering the specialization area and cognate and a four hour section provided and evaluated by faculty in the Psychological and Social Foundations area.

Admission to Candidacy:
You will be formally admitted to candidacy for the degree when you have completed the qualifying examination, the tools of research and all planned coursework.

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