Ph.D. Advising Guide: Introduction

This guide is meant to provide direction and help with planning a Ph.D. program; however, one should be aware that it is not prescriptive. Students have a lot of flexibility in designing a program to meet their needs and to satisfy the requirements of the degree. Beyond the required core courses, the suggested courses are based upon past experience and are not necessarily the norm. Each student and committee can continue to maintain autonomy and design a program to best fit the needs of the student by selecting other courses and other minors.

The Graduate School Handbook and the department's Graduate Program Handbook should each be carefully studied. This guide does not repeat the procedures and policies specified in those documents and is intended to aid program planning phase of a doctoral program.

A student pursuing a Ph.D. is expected to develop an individualized program with the aid of their adviser and committee. If the student has a Master's degree, then the courses from that degree program are considered in developing the doctoral program. The OSU Admissions Office referral form should be reviewed to see if 45 credit hours was granted for the Master's degree. If not, the adviser and student must complete a form to transfer the appropriate credit, attach an official transcript, submit these to the Chair of the Graduate Studies and Research Committee (who forwards it with signature to the Graduate School) and the hours are officially approved by the Graduate School. This procedure should be concluded prior to the program planning meeting so that everyone involved is certain as to which courses are applicable to the doctoral program.

The program planning (candidacy examination) committee will want to assure that the doctoral student has breadth and depth in such areas as those core competencies required by the Master's degree policy. Further, the committee will want to provide other competencies to aid the student in achieving current and future career goals. No complete listing of courses required for the doctorate has been compiled since each program will be individualized to meet the needs of the student and will vary greatly between individuals. The doctoral program will include a minimum of 135 quarter hours beyond the baccalaureate degree. Generally, the program encompasses 45 hours of Master's course work, 65-75 hours of doctoral course work, and 20-30 hours of dissertation research.

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