Approved Program of Study
All doctoral students must have an approved Program of Study (see Program of Study for more information.)The ability to do independent research is an important part of the Program of Study and must be demonstrated by an original dissertation on a topic approved by the Director of the Doctoral Program in which the student is earning the degree. A dissertation is required of all candidates for a Ph.D. degree.
An approved Program of Study includes:
- Complete list of coursework
- Schedule with anticipated dates for:
- planned courses in required and elective subjects,
- the comprehensive examination(s) or equivalent,
- an approved dissertation proposal, and
- successful defense and completion of the dissertation.
Degree Requirements
The PhD degree requires a minimum of 18 semester hour credits of coursework completed in residence, exclusive of dissertation credits. Individual PhD programs at AU require additional semester credit hours, following the curriculum proposed by academic unit faculty and approved by the Faculty Senate Committee on Graduate Curriculum.
Comprehensive Examination(s) or Equivalent
The nature and scope of the comprehensive examination(s) or equivalent are determined by the PhD degree programs housed within specific academic units. Options other than a written exam may be used by a doctoral degree program to assess integration and synthesis of the body of knowledge accessed via the program curriculum, and related research, practicum, or internship experiences. The completed comprehensive examination(s) is typically read by two faculty readers from the academic unit and is rated “with distinction,” “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory” by each. In order to pass the examination, the student must obtain at least “satisfactory” on the examination from both readers. The faculty affiliated with a doctoral program may, however, elect to design a different system for grading comprehensive examinations in the academic unit.
A student who fails a comprehensive examination may apply to the Graduate Program Director for one additional attempt. If the Graduate Program Director approves the application, the retake of the exam should occur within six months of the date of the first attempt. Students who fail a retake attempt will be dismissed from the doctoral program. The Graduate Program Director will notify the Office of the Registrar of the outcome of all comprehensive exam attempts.
PhD Dissertation Committee
The appointment of the Dissertation Committee should be made well in advance of the defense of the dissertation proposal. All core Dissertation Committee members must hold the appropriate terminal degree. In consultation with the proposed Dissertation Committee Chair, the doctoral student solicits faculty for the committee and submits the names of the Chair and other committee members for approval by the Graduate Program Director. Once approved by the Graduate Program Director, the proposed membership of a Dissertation Committee is then approved by the Doctoral Council. If the status of any member of an approved Dissertation Committee changes, the doctoral student and the Graduate Program Director will recommend a replacement for approval by the Doctoral Council.
Customarily, the Dissertation Committee will have four or more core committee members, including the chair of the committee. The minimum number of core committee members, including the chair of the committee, is three. At least two of the core members must be full-time, tenure-line faculty members at American University and preferably from the program in which the student is enrolled. Qualified individuals, either outside the department or outside the University, may be invited to sit on a committee as external members once the minimum requirement of two internal full-time, tenure-line faculty from American University has been met. Together, the internal and external members form the core of the Dissertation Committee. Core members are charged with guiding the student and providing detailed feedback during the dissertation process.
The chair of the Dissertation Committee must be an AU faculty member who holds a tenured position. Untenured, tenure-line faculty may be appointed as co-chairs of Dissertation Committees, but must serve with a tenured faculty member. Adjunct faculty, term faculty, and faculty from other universities and emeritus faculty may not chair a Dissertation Committee but may serve on it. A Dissertation Committee chair who retires or leaves the University before the dissertation is complete may petition the Doctoral Council to remain on the committee as chair, as a co-chair, or as a member.
At the time of the final examination of the dissertation, at least one additional member will join the core of the dissertation committee as an outside reader for the final examination. The purpose of the outside reader(s) is to provide a review of the dissertation by a colleague with the appropriate terminal degree who is an expert in the subject matter of the dissertation. The outside reader should have no direct association with the student. An outside reader serves an advisory role, and the charge to the outside reader is to determine if the dissertation meets general standards in the field, not necessarily to critique the work in detail. Once the dissertation has been defended successfully, all committee members sign the dissertation approval form.
Advancement to Candidacy
Students advance to doctoral candidacy when they have completed all of the courses on their Program of Study, passed their comprehensive examination or equivalent, and defended successfully their dissertation proposal. Advancement to candidacy normally occurs by the end of the third year of study but may vary among doctoral programs. At the time of advancement to candidacy, students who have not petitioned for or received en passant degrees (e.g., MA,MS) will automatically be considered for such degrees. If a student advances to candidacy after the deadline to submit a petition for the degree in that term, the student will be considered for a degree in the following term. Students who do not advance to candidacy may receive a master’s degree according to the established guidelines in their graduate program.
Once doctoral students advance to candidacy, they will only need to register for dissertation continuing enrollment (899) for up to nine (9) credit hours per semester or a total of 18 credit hours per academic year. They will continue to register as full-time students until they defend their dissertations. AU doctoral students who have been admitted to doctoral candidacy must register and pay for dissertation continuing enrollment credit hours and related services during fall and spring semesters of the academic year, unless they have an approved temporary leave from the University.
Examination of Dissertation
Each doctoral candidate is required to defend orally his or her doctoral dissertation as a requirement in partial fulfillment of the doctoral degree. The requirement for a dissertation examination is separate from, and is not fulfilled by, a comprehensive examination(s). The dissertation examination will consist of a public presentation by the candidate on the research reported in the dissertation, followed by a formal, public examination of the candidate by the Dissertation Committee. The Doctoral Program Director is responsible for posting publically the announcement of the oral defense of the dissertation seven days prior to the date of the oral defense.
The Dissertation Committee has the following options:
- To accept the dissertation without any recommendations for changes and sign the appropriate form.
- To accept the dissertation with recommendations for minor changes and, except for the chair, sign the appropriate form. The chair then will oversee and approve all required changes to the dissertation. Upon the chair’s approval, the chair will sign the appropriate form.
- To recommend major revisions to the dissertation and to not sign the appropriate form until the candidate has made the required changes and submitted the revised dissertation to the Dissertation Committee for additional review and approval. Upon their approval, members of the Dissertation Committee sign the appropriate form for the revised dissertation.
- To recommend revisions and convene a second meeting of the Dissertation Committee to review the dissertation and complete the candidate’s examination.
- To evaluate the dissertation, including its examination, as unsatisfactory. If the candidate fails, the candidate can petition the Dissertation Committee chair and the Dissertation Committee for one retake.
Following the examination, the chair must inform the candidate of the outcome of the examination. The chair signs the appropriate form indicating which of the above alternatives has been adopted by the Dissertation Committee. A copy of this statement is to be included in the student’s file at the doctoral program office of the academic unit, and a copy is given to the student. The Doctoral Program Director will provide a copy of notice of the outcome of the examination to the Office of the Registrar.
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