Doctoral Milestones
The first two years of the Ph.D. program are structured by coursework and preparation for comprehensive examinations. Students are strongly encouraged to explore dissertation possibilities early on in the program. To earn a PhD, students must pass the following milestones
After electing field and subfields early in the first term of study, students will meet with the faculty advisers representing their field and primary subfield. This meeting’s aim is to structure a program that best serves the student’s interests and ensures that the degree requirements are met in a timely and stipulated manner. At this meeting, the acceptance of course credits from previous graduate studies is also discussed.
Held with the student’s field and primary subfield advisers, the review serves the following purposes:
- To identify any necessary adjustments to the student’s original plan of study
- In exceptional circumstances, to signal that a student’s performance points to a reconsideration of his/her doctoral status.
The annual review should be scheduled near the end of each academic year. The student is responsible for scheduling this meeting, and should be fully aware that many professors may be unavailable after the end of the term. Failure to schedule this meeting in a timely manner may lead to the review being undertaken without student participation.
It is expected that the two faculty advisers will solicit comments from those faculty with whom the student has taken coursework during the year, especially in relation to courses in which the student did not perform adequately (i.e., received a G, I or lower than B grade).
At the end of the third and later years, the student must undergo an annual evaluation of their progress toward the dissertation. As stated in the Regulations Governing Graduate Study at the University of Pittsburgh, “meetings of the doctoral candidate and his/her dissertation committee must occur at least annually from the time the student gains admission to doctoral candidacy. During these meetings, the committee should assess the student’s progress toward the degree and discuss objectives for the following year and a timetable for completing degree requirements.
The student’s dissertation committee, or academic advisers if a dissertation committee has not been approved by the end of the third year of studies, will undertake the evaluation. Unjustified failure to make sufficient progress toward the dissertation will be grounds for suspension of funding and, possibly, dismissal from the program.
The comprehensive examination is designed to assess the student’s mastery of two general fields of doctoral study. Unless an exception is granted by the Doctoral Program Director, Comprehensive Examinations are taken in May following a student’s fourth semester, after the student completes all required courses and earns at least 72 credits (including advanced standing credits). In addition, all incomplete grades must be removed by meeting the requirements to complete the courses; even if the course is viewed by the student as not being relevant to his or her degree program.
Two Comprehensive Exams must be taken, corresponding to two of the four PhD fields (Public Policy, Public Administration, International Development, International Affairs). Students may change their chosen fields up until the registration for the Comprehensive Exams in the spring term of their second year. Each exam will be 60-hour take-home exam that require responses to three questions out of a pool of up to nine potential questions. Answers are limited to 2,000 words per question (not including references or footnotes). During the 60-hour period, students cannot communicate with others about the exam questions. Students’ evaluation in comprehensive exams will be based on their mastery of the relevant literatures only.
Faculty will provide reading lists for each field that will be used to clarify expectations about the literatures that students are expected to master. The lists must be of reasonable length as determined by the field committee in consultation with the PhD program director. The PhD program director will provide incoming students with the most updated readings lists for all fields. No changes can be made to reading lists within 6 months of the comprehensive exam date.
During the third year of studies, and before admission to candidacy for the PhD degree, the major academic adviser (i.e., committee chair) proposes, for the approval of the director of the school’s doctoral program and the dean, a committee of four or more persons, including at least one from another department in the University of Pittsburgh or from an appropriate graduate program at another academic institution, to serve as the dissertation committee. The majority of the committee, including the major adviser, must be full or adjunct members of the Graduate Faculty. This committee must review and approve the proposed research project before the student may be admitted to candidacy. A published Graduate Faculty Membership Roster is updated three times a year. Only a GSPIA faculty member is eligible to serve as the chair of the committee.
This dissertation committee has the responsibility to advise the student on his/her research and has the authority to require high-quality research and/or the rewriting of any portion or the entire dissertation. It conducts the final oral examination and determines whether the dissertation meets accepted standards.
The student must meet with his/her dissertation committee at least once a year (see Annual Dissertation Progress Evaluation above).
The membership of the dissertation committee may be changed whenever it is appropriate or necessary, subject to the approval of the Doctoral Program Director and the Dean.
When a dissertation committee member leaves the University, the member must be replaced unless the dissertation is almost complete or the member has an essential role on the committee. In the latter case, the dean’s approval should be obtained. When the chair of a committee leaves and cannot be conveniently replaced, a co-chair must be appointed from within the department, and the restructured committee requires the approval of the dean and either the department chair or the director of the school’s doctoral program. If the defense takes place within a few months of the chair’s departure, the requirement of the co-chair is usually waived.
Retired faculty members may remain as members or chairs of committees if they are spending considerable time in Pittsburgh or the vicinity and are still professionally active. Retired faculty who meet these criteria may also be appointed as a member or as a co-chair (but not chair) of a newly formed committee. Retired faculty who leave the Pittsburgh area and/or do not remain professionally active should be replaced on committees and the revised committee approved by the dean and either the department chair or the school’s director of doctoral programs.
The completed and signed Dissertation Committee Approval Form and/ or the Change in Dissertation Committee Form should be submitted to the Office of Student Services for posting and filling.
All coordination between Dissertation Committee members is the responsibility of the student.
Immediately after passing the comprehensive examinations, and establishing the dissertation committee, the students should meet with the chair to discuss the development of a dissertation proposal, which outlines the goals and objectives, theoretical argument, policy implications, literature, research design, and timetable for the dissertation research.
The student will submit the Announcement of Dissertation Proposal Meeting Form, available from the Office of Student Services, to the Doctoral Program Director ten days prior to the proposal meeting. The announcement will be sent to the faculty and graduate student email lists. Proposal defense meetings are open to all faculty and students.
There must be a minimum of three members present for the meeting to be convened, and the absent member is required to submit a written evaluation of the proposal to the Committee Chair. Under no circumstances can the meeting be held without the Chair. If the Committee accepts the proposal, all Committee members will sign the Approval of Dissertation Proposal Form, available from the Office of Student Services. The completed and signed form is then submitted along with a copy of the approved proposal to the Ph.D. Program Director, who has final approval. According to University guidelines, only after the proposal has been accepted as final by the Doctoral Program Director does the student advance to candidacy. The signed and completed form is to be returned to the Office of Student Services for posting and filing.
The Dissertation Committee must meet a minimum of once a year; however, students are strongly encouraged to schedule more frequent committee meetings.
An appropriate dissertation should be a substantive piece of original and independent research grounded in an appropriate body of literature. The characteristics which a dissertation should demonstrate are:
At the oral defense, the student will be asked to explain and justify dissertation research and to assess its relation and contribution to the literature and policy in the field. The final oral examination in defense of the doctoral dissertation is conducted by the dissertation committee and need not be confined to materials in and related to the dissertation. Any member of the Graduate Faculty of the University may attend and participate in the examination. The date, place, and time of the examination should be published well in advance in the University Times. Other qualified individuals may be invited by the committee to participate in the examination. Only members of the dissertation committee may be present during the final deliberations and may vote on the passing of the candidate. A report of this examination, signed by all the members of the dissertation committee, must be sent to the Office of Student Services for posting and filing. If the decision of the committee is not unanimous, the case is referred to the dean for resolution. The chair of the dissertation committee should ensure that the dissertation is in final form, i.e., all required changes have been made, before requesting signatures of the members of the committee.
After approval of the dissertation, all candidates are required to publish the document electronically via d-scholarship. For access to more information on ETD and training, go to www.pitt.edu/~graduate/etd/training.html.
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