Doctoral Program - Advisory Committees, Examinations, and Dissertation

Role of the Advisory Committee in Program Planning

An Advisory Committee will be formulated for each student as outlined below.

1. Selection of the committee:
   • A major advisor will be recommended by the departmental graduate admissions committee.
   • Associate advisor(s) will be selected by the student in consultation with the major advisor by the end of the first semester.
   • As students interests become focused on a particular specialization, it may be appropriate for the student to request a change of major and/or associate advisor(s).
2. Role of the committee:
   • Plan the student's academic program (Plan of Study) consistent with the student's educational goals and the departmental guidelines.
   • Approve all plan of study changes.
   • Determine the make-up of the student's General Examination and make final decision whether the student has passed, taking into account the reader's comments.
   • The major advisor will present progress reports to the faculty.
3. Change of Advisors
   • It is required that the written consent of the dean of the Graduate School be obtained before any changes may be made in the membership of a duly established advisory committee. Forms for the request of a change of major and/or associate advisors may be obtained from the departmental secretary.

General Examination

The general examination shall be taken near the end of the course program but no later than November 1 of the academic year in which the student expects to complete all requirements for the degree. In any event, the examination shall be passed within five years of the beginning of doctoral study or within four years if the student entered with a master's degree in the same field. The supporting areas shall have been completed well in advance. Before arrangements for the examination may be made, the student shall call the Graduate Records Office to make sure all pre-examination requirements have been met. If they have, a permit to take the examination will be given to the student and a copy will be sent to the major advisor.

Ordinarily, not fewer than five faculty members, including members of the student's advisory committee, shall participate in the examination.

1. Content. The General Examination will cover:
   • specialization in depth;
   • area of concentration as it relates to the student's plan of study;
   • research methods;
   • other content deemed appropriate from within and/or outside the department (i.e., related or supporting area(s) of study).
2. Format. The General Examination.
   The General Examination will consist of a monitored written portion followed by an oral portion. The written portion will consist of no more than four (4) hours of questions per day and shall be completed within a one-week period. Only in the related or supporting area may a paper be assigned in lieu of a written question. The student shall write for a minimum of fourteen hours, which are to be divided as follows:
   • four to six (4-6) hours: program and specialization in depth;
   • four to six (4-6) hours: area of concentration as it relates to the student's program ;
   • two to four (2-4) hours: research methods;
   • optional: two (2) or more hours in other content deemed appropriate inside or outside the department (i.e., supporting areas).

Members of the advisory committee will speak personally to each faculty member being requested to write an examination question as to the committee's intent regarding the question. Students may discuss the question with the faculty members writing questions only if the faculty member has agreed to this and communicated this to the advisory committee.

The oral portion will be scheduled after the written portion has been completed. At least a one week notice of the oral exam will be given and all exam readers, whether members of the advisory committee or not, will be invited to attend.

The advisory committee makes the final decision regarding the student's performance on these examinations. The committee may choose to use multiple readers for given questions. The readers are encouraged to use the marking system of High Pass, Pass, Low Pass, or Failed.

In order to allow for advanced planning on the part of the students and the faculty and to have a full complement of faculty to draw upon for the written and oral portions of the General Examination, the written portion of the examination will be routinely administered during the ninth week of either semester of the academic year. The oral portion should also be completed during the academic year and occur no later than three weeks after the written portion.

Role of the Advisory Committee in the Dissertation

The student's advisory committee also serves as the student's dissertation committee. Any changes in the advisory committee must have the written consent of the Dean of the Graduate School. Forms for change of advisor may be obtained from the departmental secretary.

1. Role of the committee:
   • Guide the student through all stages of the dissertation.
   • Give final approval of dissertation prospectus and final dissertation manuscript.
   • No fewer than five members of the faculty, including all members of the candidate's advisory committee, shall participate in the final examination unless approval for a lesser number has been secured in advance from the Dean of the Graduate School.
2. Selection of the Committee:
   • Student will request a major advisor.
   • Associate advisors are selected by the student in consultation with the major advisor.
3. Make-up of the Committee:
   • The committee will consist of at least three members.
   • The major advisor and at least one associate advisor must be full-time faculty members with a primary appointment in the department's Speech Pathology and Audiology division. Exceptions to this policy may be made by a majority vote of the graduate faculty in Speech Pathology and Audiology.

The Dissertation Prospectus

Before preparation of the dissertation is well underway, the student shall file a prospectus of the proposed research, using a special form provided by the Graduate School and following guidelines contained thereon. Failure to file the prospectus early may result in wasted effort on a dissertation if changes are required in the project. At the latest, for any particular commencement, the prospectus must have been submitted to he Graduate School Area Review Committee by November 15 and have been approved by the Executive Committee by January 15 of the academic year in which the student expects to receive the degree. At the latest, irrespective of any commencement, the prospectus must have been approved by the Executive Committee at least three months prior to the deposit of the dissertation at the Graduate Records Office.

Prior to seeking Graduate School approval of the prospectus, the departmental guidelines outlined below must be followed.

1. The prospectus must be prepared in written form and must be approved by the Advisory Committee.
2. At a minimum, the prospectus should include the first three chapters of the proposed dissertation, i.e., introduction and statement of the problem, review of the literature, and experimental design. In some instances, on advice of the candidate's advisory committee, it may be necessary to complete a pilot study as well. In such cases, the results of the pilot study should be included in the prospectus.
3. After the prospectus is completed, the candidate, with the assistance of the major advisor, will schedule a two-hour prospectus presentation and defense. All faculty and graduate students are invited to this prospectus presentation. The invitation should be posted no later than one week prior to the scheduled time. Two copies of the prospectus should be filed with the departmental secretary. Steps A, B and C must take place prior to (1) submission of prospectus to the Graduate School; and (2) the initiation of the dissertation in order to insure sufficient time to incorporate appropriate faculty suggestions. The student must have passed the General Examination prior to the prospectus presentation.
4. The presentation will be chaired by the candidate's major advisor. The usual procedure is for the candidate to take no more than 30 minutes to present the prospectus, and then to invite questions from the candidate's advisory committee. After the committee had completed its questions and comments, further questions and comments will be solicited from the rest of the faculty and graduate students.
5. After all comments and questions have been solicited, and the candidate has had an opportunity to respond, the advisory committee will meet to discuss the suggestions, comments and criticisms offered during prospectus presentation. All interested faculty are invited to remain for this discussion.
6. There are four possible consequences to this latter meeting:
   • The candidate is told to proceed.
   • The candidate is advised to make certain minor modifications and then proceed.
   • The candidate is advised to make major modifications. In this instance, the advisory committee is re-convened after the candidate informs the major advisor that the modifications have been completed. The major advisor then calls a meeting of the advisory committee, at which time the candidate presents the revised prospectus. All interested faculty are invited to attend. Recommendations for a possible pilot study would be included in this step. The advisory committee then votes whether or not the candidate should proceed with the proposed project or to select another topic.
   • The candidate is advised to select another topic and present another prospectus. In this case, the entire sequence of events is followed again.

Summer Policy

The various aspects of the graduate student's program are normally carried out during the fall and spring semesters of each academic year. Departmental faculty are on nine-month appointments and are not on duty during June, July and August. During this period they may be on vacation, engaged in additional teaching, conducting research, consulting, writing, or any number of personal and/or professional activities. During these months the faculty are not obligated or available for their usual academic responsibilities.

Students who anticipate that faculty will be available during June, July and August, for advising, planning of general examinations, participation in the planning or reading of prospectuses or dissertations, participation in oral dissertation defense, or similar activities should verify with their major advisors and all other faculty members involved that they will be available and agree to participate in such activities during this period. Such verification, including the specific dates of availability, should be obtained in writing from the participating faculty members. Otherwise, these activities will be conducted during the period of the spring and fall semesters.

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