Health Education Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Health Behavior & Health Education Degree Plan Checklist

Transcription

1 Health Education Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Health Behavior & Health Education Degree Plan Checklist The purpose of this document is to provide a comprehensive list of all requirements to complete the PhD program in Health Behavior & Health Education (HBHE) at The University of Texas at Austin. Each PhD student will work with his/her supervising professor to develop a customized program of study based on his/her research interests. Please feel free to contact Dr. Alexandra Loukas, coordinator of the HBHE program with questions (alexandra.loukas@austin.utexas.edu). Application Process Application deadline: December 15 th (to be considered for funding) Rolling admission is accepted until June 1st, but the applicant is unlikely to receive financial support *Students may only begin the program in the fall semester Prerequisites: A master's degree or the equivalent from an accredited college/university Completion of a minimum of three hours of coursework from each of the following areas: psychology, human biological sciences, health education and/or health promotion, statistics and/or research methods The student will complete the following steps to confer a PhD in HBHE: 1. Complete the online application ( Use this link ( to check the status of your application. 1a. Submit test scores of Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL), if an international student. 1b. Submit transcripts. 1c. Develop and submit supplemental materials (e.g.., statement of purpose, resume or curriculum vita, and three letters of recommendation). 1d. If you are an international student, you will also need to complete the Certification of Financial Responsibility Form I-20/DS-2019 ( ). 2. Contact Phillip Salazar (khegradinfo@austin.utexas.edu), our Graduate Coordinator, to confirm that your application is complete and under review. Your application will first be reviewed by the HBHE faculty and then by the graduate school before institutional and degree program acceptance can be secured Review the expertise of the HBHE faculty and contact faculty members who are aligned with your research interests ( It is recommended, but not required, that you schedule a personal interview. Note: Final acceptance and continuation in the program are contingent upon sponsorship by a member of the HBHE faculty who will serve as the student's adviser, as well as good standing in the department.

2 Establishment of the Program of Studies Upon admission, the HBHE faculty will review the student's prior coursework and research experience and, in conjunction with the student, establish a program of study including coursework within and outside of the department. Under the leadership of the student's adviser, the HBHE faculty will monitor the student's progress. Students are expected to complete the core course requirements during the first year and a half of study (see sample curriculum, Appendix A). By the end of the second year in the program, the Graduate Studies Committee will have approved the program of study. Program Requirements (based on an annual review) Review Criteria: Grade point of at least 3.0. Including a grade of B or higher in all coursework. Any grades lower than a B are subject to further review. At least one (1) abstract or proposal submitted to a professional conference Present research results at professional conferences Progress toward publishing research in peer-reviewed journals Advancement to Candidacy Comprehensive Examination and Candidacy Review At the end of the spring semester, students having completed their second year of coursework and having submitted a first-authored presentation at a professional conference will prepare to take a comprehensive exam requiring the student to discuss health theories and design a research study. The exam is conducted in a take home format. Students will develop a comprehensive review of literature on a specific topic and design a corresponding research study. At the close of the review, the Committee will inform the student of its decision: a) Advance to candidacy. This decision means that the Committee will recommend that the student be advanced to candidacy immediately. Currently the Graduate Studies Committee chair and Graduate Advisor finalize advancement to candidacy. The Graduate Coordinator will facilitate the preparation and submission of application for doctoral candidacy and will notify the student of the results. b) Advance to candidacy with conditions. This decision means that the HBHE faculty will recommend that the student be advanced to candidacy, but will require that the student to meet certain conditions. c) Continue in program without advancement. This decision prevents the student from advancing to candidacy until the student meets specified conditions. The imposition of conditions intends to help the student strengthen areas of concern to the faculty. Conditions may take several forms (e.g., additional course work, additional involvement in research projects, additional courses in other departments). In case of a recommendation to retake the written exam, the Committee will make specific suggestions to the student about how to strengthen areas of weakness. Graduate Studies Committee policy permits students one retake. d) Drop from program. This decision will carry the recommendation that the student be asked to leave the program. The student may request a degree audit, from the Graduate Coordinator, to determine if a second masters may be awarded for the completed coursework.

3 2. File the Application for Doctoral Candidacy by logging in to UT Direct using the following address: This will require the establishment of a dissertation committee. Once this paperwork is approved, the degree must be completed within two years. A review of progress, conducted by the Graduate Studies Committee, will determine if the student is permitted to have additional time to complete the dissertation. 3. Propose a dissertation study to the Doctoral Committee. In conjunction with the adviser, schedule a meeting of the committee to present the proposal. Please note that the committee must have the written proposal for at least 14 days prior to the meeting date. 5. Upon approval of the proposal, complete application for the Institutional Review Board for approval of the research study, if this has not already been completed as part of the pilot testing. Dissertation Steps to take to complete the dissertation process can be found at the graduate school website ( Please note the dates annually change. 1. Register for Dissertation (_99W) during your final semester. 2. Submit the online Doctoral Degree Candidate Form. The form can be completed and submitted online from ~January 14 th* (the first day of classes) until ~March 25 th* (the midpoint of the semester). After the midpoint, any student who fails to complete the online Doctoral Degree Candidate form must contact a degree evaluator in the Graduate School to request individual access. Students who do not submit a Doctoral Degree Candidate form by April 23 rd* will not be eligible to receive their degree in the spring. 3. Schedule your Defense/Final Oral Examination. Give your committee a copy of your dissertation at least two weeks before you plan to defend so each member can examine it. Then fill out the Request for Final Oral (.pdf) form. Secure signatures of your committee on this form indicating each of them agrees to attend the defense on the date shown, and submit the form to the Graduate Adviser in your department/program for his/her signature. 4. Submit the Request for Final Oral (.pdf) form to the Graduate School at least two weeks in advance of the defense. This is how your Defense/Oral Examination is officially scheduled. 5. At the defense, the Committee Certification of Approved Version (see Format Guidelines -.pdf) should be signed by all members of your committee (any not attending will need to sign this page before the dissertation is submitted). 6. Make any required/requested revisions to the dissertation, check it carefully for grammar, spelling, punctuation, content and format (see Format Guidelines -.pdf), then convert the final approved version of the dissertation into one.pdf file. Additional information on converting the word or.rtf version of your dissertation to.pdf (including a link to an online.pdf converter) is available at the Electronic Thesis and Dissertations (ETD) site. (Some students have reported difficulty using the online.pdf converter. DO NOT WAIT until the last day to try to convert your dissertation or treatise or you may not be able to meet the deadline.) For assistance with problems converting your dissertation to.pdf format, contact the ITS Help Desk at

4 7. Upload the pdf file of your dissertation to the Texas Digital Libraries (TDL) by 5:00 p.m. on designated date. Publication of your dissertation in the exact version that has been approved by your committee is a requirement for the degree. Instructions for submitting the dissertation online can be found at the TDL Dissertation Submission Site. Additional technical support is available at Texas Digital Libraries will provide Open Access to your dissertation free of charge. The TDL Submission Site provides students with an option to request the supplemental submission of their dissertation to UMI. Students selecting this option must submit a UMI Submission Packet (.pdf) to the Graduate School Degree Evaluators along with their final paperwork submission. This submission packet is available at the Graduate School Forms page at Students selecting UMI publishing or registration services will be billed by The University of Texas for the associated fees. 8. Requests to Delay Publication: A student may request permission from the Graduate Dean to delay making the dissertation available to the public through the Texas Digital Libraries for up to a year in order to protect patent or other rights. This request must be supported by a written recommendation from the dissertation supervisor and must be submitted and approved prior to your graduation. If no petition is made to the Dean, the dissertation will be searchable on the web and available free from UT. 9. Submit all required forms and paperwork to the Graduate School by 5:00 p.m. on designated date. For a detailed list of paperwork to be submitted, print the Checklist for Final Submission of Dissertation or Treatise. Due to the large numbers of dissertations to be processed each semester, you are encouraged to upload your dissertation and submit all required paperwork as soon as possible. This paperwork may be submitted in person no later than the designated date by coming to the Graduate School, Main Building 101 or it may be mailed to arrive no later than the designated date to: The University of Texas at Austin, VP & Dean of Graduate Studies, 1 University Station G0400, Austin, Texas Final Submission of Dissertation can be found at the graduate school website ( Please note that the dates annually change. Committee Certification of Approved Version. This is the page printed from your dissertation, which lists all of your committee members. It should be formatted as shown in Format Guidelines (.pdf). The printed hard copy must be signed by all members of your committee. All signatures must be original. No proxy signatures are permitted. This page does not have to be on cotton paper. Plain white paper is acceptable. Note: An unsigned version of this page should be included in your uploaded dissertation. The original signed copy must be submitted to the Graduate School with the following additional pages. Title Page. Submit one copy of your Title Page printed directly from the.pdf file. Abstract and Vita. Submit one copy of your Abstract and one copy of your Vita printed directly from the.pdf file. These pages should be in the final version and format, not earlier versions. Intellectual Property Tutorial Certification. Submit one copy of the confirmation, which verifies that you have successfully completed the online tutorial. Statement on Research with Human Participants (.pdf). Submit this form whether you used human participants or not. If you did use human participants you need to attach a copy of the IRB approval letter or waiver or exemption notification to the form. If you previously submitted this paperwork to our office it is not necessary to do so again.

5 Survey of Earned Doctorates. We hope that you will choose to take this survey, to help the National Research Council and this university keep track of the situation of doctoral graduates. This form may be completed online at Doctor of Audiology Final Certification of Degree Requirements form to be completed by all Doctor of Audiology (AuD) Degree Candidates. Requests to Delay Publication. All dissertations produced at UT Austin are made available, open access, through Texas Digital Libraries. A student may request permission from the Graduate Dean to delay making the dissertation available to the public through the Texas Digital Libraries for up to a year in order to protect patent or other rights. This request must be supported by a written recommendation from the dissertation supervisor and must be submitted and approved prior to your graduation. If no petition is made to the Dean, the dissertation will be searchable on the web and available for free from UT. Publication/Processing Fees. All students are charged an $8* dissertation processing fee. Students who select optional UMI publication and copyright services will also be charged for the associated UMI fees: $65* for traditional publication, $160* for open access publication, $65* for registration of copyright. All of these fees are billed through The University of Texas, and you will receive an notification when a bill has been created. These fees may be paid online through UT Direct, What I Owe or by check paid to the Cashier's Office located in Room 8 of the Main Building. *All fees are subject to change

6 APPENDIX A Sample PhD Curriculum for First 2 Years - Health Promotion Specialization Year 1 Fall 395: Theories of Health Behavior Elective or Statistics EITHER 370K: Introduction to Health Promotion (ONLY for students who do not have an advisor-approved prerequisite) OR 386 Research Methods: Applied Research Techniques (ONLY for students who do not have an advisor-approved prerequisite) OR Elective or Statistics Spring 395: Epidemiology Elective or Statistics 196-Graduate Seminar 297: Directed Research Year 2 Fall 395-Planning Health Promotion Programs Elective or Statistics 196: Graduate Seminar 297: Directed Research Spring Elective or Statistics Elective or Statistics 196: Graduate Seminar 297: Directed Research Suggested Courses to Meet Statistics and Research Methods Requirements for Specialization in Health Promotion EDP 380E Fundamental Statistics EDP 482K Experimental Design and Statistical Inference EDP 382K Correlation and Regression Methods EDP 382K Survey of Multivariate Methods EDP 380P Evaluation Models and Techniques EDP 380P Test and Scale Construction EDP 382K Analysis of Qualitative Data EDP 382K Factor Analysis EDP 384 Qualitative Research Methods PSY 384 Structural Equation Modeling N 397M Qualitative Research in Nursing *See the website for a list of electives

7 APPENDIX B Department of Kinesiology and Health Education College of Education The University of Texas at Austin PROGRAM OF STUDIES FOR THE DOCTORAL DEGREE Submitted By: (student name) (student address) Degree Sought: Doctor of Philosophy in Health Behavior and Health Education Previous Degrees: Bachelor of Science 2007 Health Education William Paterson University of NJ Wayne, NJ Masters of Science 2012 Health Behavior and Education The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX Thesis Title: Effects of a Wellness Program on Stress Reduction in University Employees Dissertation Title: Supervising Professor: Professor Signature: Date:

8 Core Courses (15 hours required) 395 Theories of Health Behavior Steinhardt 395 Foundations of Epidemiology Kohl 395 Planning Health Promotion Programs Cance 395 Adult Development, Aging, & Health Holahan 395 Risk & Resilience in Children and Adolescents Loukas Statistics and Research Methods (12 hours required; 3 hours must be qualitative research) EDP EDP EDP 482K 382K 382K Experimental Design & Statistical Inference Correlation & Regression Survey of Multivariate Methods EDC 386R Introduction to Qualitative Research Concentration- outside of the (6 hours required; 3 hours must be outside KHE)

9 Student Research (8 hours directed research + 4 hours seminar + 18 dissertation hours req) T 396T 296T 399R 699w 999W Doctoral Seminar Doctoral Seminar Doctoral Seminar Doctoral Seminar Directed Research (Describe) Directed Research (Describe) Directed Research (Describe) Dissertation Dissertation Dissertation 999W Dissertation Prerequisite Work for Other Supporting Work

10 Appendix C Guidelines for Doctoral Student Progress Report Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Approved 9/9/2013 Prerequisite Form On File Maintained 3.0 GPA Maintained 3.0 GPA Maintained 3.0 GPA Maintained 3.0 GPA No Outstanding Incompletes No Outstanding Incompletes No Outstanding Incompletes No Outstanding Incompletes Program of Study Draft Complete *Program of Study Approved by GSC Complete Program of Study Core Requirements Complete Attended Doctoral Seminar Attended Doctoral Seminar Attended Doctoral Seminar Attended Doctoral Seminar Involved in Research Involved in Research Involved in Research Involved in Research Prepared Presentation for Professional Conference *Written Comprehensives Completed *Oral Comprehensives Completed Presented at Professional Conference Prepared Manuscript For Publication These guidelines should be used to prepare the end-of-year graduate report. Must be completed to advance to candidacy **Must be advanced to candidacy prior to registering for dissertation hours Presented at Professional Conference Prepared Manuscript For Publication Doctoral Committee Formed & Advanced to Candidacy and begin dissertation research Presented at Professional Conference Prepared Manuscript For Publication Dissertation Defended