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| Coursework |
39 Credit Hours Beyond the Master's Degree (minimum)
- School of Information Doctoral Seminars (6 hours)
- 3 hours - Intro to Doctoral Research & Theory I
- 3 hours - Intro to Doctoral Research & Theory II
- Research Methods (a minimum of 12 hours)
- 3 hours - Qualitative Methods
- 3 hours - Quantitative Methods
- 3 hours - Other Methods of Choice
- School of Information electives (12 hours)
- Electives from outside the iSchool (9 hours)
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| Committee Selection |
- Each doctoral student starts with a three-member committee of iSchool faculty members, including an initial advisor; membership on this committee is subject to change by choice of the faculty members or the student.
- To complete coursework and advance to candidacy, whatever committee is currently in place may be changed, but the Graduate School requires at least five committee members in order to advance to candidacy (http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/pdn/candidacy.html).
- Unless the student is in the ad hoc inter-disciplinary program, at least three members of the student's committee must be from the School of Information (including the primary supervisor of the dissertation).
- At least one member must be from outside the School of Information.
Changes to the Committee membership require consent of the student's advisor and consent of any new member. After admission to candidacy, committee membership changes additionally require a petition for approval by the Graduate School. See: http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/pdn/pdf/pet_change_comm_doct.pdf
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| Program of Study |
- Explains your background, research interests, and coursework selection
- Must be approved by your three-member committee. The committee will then report its approval of the program at a meeting of the iSchool Graduate Studies Committee.
- Should be submitted after you have completed 18 but no more than 27 hours of coursework
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| Qualifying Research Paper |
- The student, in consultation with his or her committee, determines the research paper topic, and this paper normally serves as the foundation for the student's dissertation proposal.
- The committee, including the external member, must formally agree that the qualifying research paper is of sufficient quality to merit the student's advance to the dissertation proposal stage of the doctoral program.
- The qualifying research paper should be written before the qualifying written and oral examinations since the paper often serves as a dissertation proto-proposal.
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| Qualifying Exam |
- An open-book written exam that lasts five calendar days, e.g., 9:00 a.m. Monday to 4:00 p.m. Friday, and a subsequent oral defense within two weeks after completion of the written exam
- Questions for qualifying exam will be driven, in part, by the topic of the research paper.
- Each of the three iSchool faculty members who serve on the committee writes one question, and the external committee member also writes one question. The advisor solicits the questions, assembles the examination in written form, distributes the exam to the student and the committee, and receives the student’s responses.
- The responses to the questions will generally be 10-12 double-spaced pages each and of publishable quality.
- The iSchool faculty members read and evaluate all four responses, while the external member may read only the response to the question written by that member or read all four at his/her preference.
- To pass the examination, the student's responses to all questions must be deemed adequate by all members of the committee.
- If not deemed adequate, the student may take another examination subsequent to the first attempt. Specific timelines are to be determined by the student's committee in consultation with the chair of the doctoral studies committee and with the GSC as a whole.
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| Dissertation Proposal |
- Candidates must defend a proposal to conduct original research
- Once the proposal is approved, it serves as a formal basis for finalizing the dissertation committee, applying for candidacy and proceeding with the dissertation under the terms of the approved proposal.
- Under exceptional circumstances, students may secure committee approval to apply for candidacy prior to gaining approval of their dissertation proposal
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| Admission to Candidacy |
- Upon successful completion of the Qualifying Exam and dissertation proposal, you may apply for candidacy; use the online system: http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/pdn/candidacy.html
- Once admitted to candidacy, a student has three years to defend and submit a final version of a dissertation to the Graduate School.
- Once you have been admitted to candidacy:
- You are required to continuously register for dissertation or treatise.
- For your first semester in candidacy you must register for INF -99R; for all semesters after the first one in candidacy you must register for INF -99W.
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| Dissertation |
- Defend dissertation under the direction of a supervising committee appointed by the dean of Graduate Studies.
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Annual Review
(Occurs every year from January through March; Applies to students not yet in candidacy) |
- A 3-4 page self assessment of activities and progress as well as current résumé
- Copies should be sent to committee members and Doctoral Studies coordinator
- Students should arrange a review session with committee
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The iSchool Doctoral Committee gratefully acknowledges the initiative of doctoral student Lisa Kleinman, who authored the first version of the above PhD Program Requirements Summary.
Last Modified: February 10 2008 08:39:46.
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