Phd Students Information

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Please bookmark this page and refer to it whenever you have questions about the Ph.D. process, registration, paperwork, graduation, or anything Ph.D. related. If you take a look to your left, you’ll see Quick Access tabs to pertinent information, and listed below is just a bird’s eye view of the Ph.D. process.

More details on each of these steps can be found in the Handbook for Doctoral Students & Advisors and forms for these steps can be found on the “Downloadable Forms” page.

1. Plan of Work:

This must be submitted to the Ph.D. Office before 40 credits of coursework have been completed. Ninety graduate credits beyond the baccalaureate are required. If a student needs to register for Pre-Doctoral Research 9990 (see Ph.D. Candidate Status Registration tab), the Plan of Work must be on file prior to the request for an override.

2. Annual Review:

The student’s department prepares a review of the student’s progress at the end of each academic year. The format of the review is determined by the department.
Sample Annual Reviews

3. Written Qualifying Exam:

The Qualifying Examination covers the student's primary areas of study and research, as well as such related matters as the qualifying examining committee may prescribe. The Qualifying Exam must contain a written component (Written Qualifying); an oral component is optional.

4. Oral Qualifying Exam:

An oral examination is required of all Ph.D. students. It may be addressed as part of the qualifying examination, a prospectus meeting, a lecture or seminar, or another format approved by the student's department. If the exam is part of the Qualifying Examination (check with your Department), it must be conducted by the examining committee within sixty days after the written portion of the exam is passed.

5. Candidacy:

A Ph.D. applicant will be advanced to the rank of Ph.D. Candidate by the Graduate School upon the recommendation of the department and completion of the following requirements: 1) approval of the Plan of Work by the Graduate School; 2) completion of didactic course work, or approximately fifty credits, as required by the Plan of Work; 3) satisfactory completion of the Qualifying Examination(s); 4) identification of the membership of the student's dissertation advisory committee. (The Advisory Committee membership may be changed prior to submission of an approved prospectus to the Graduate School.)

The department shall submit the Recommendation for Doctor of Philosophy Candidacy Status form to the Graduate School to recommend advancing the student to degree candidacy.

6. Ph.D. Candidate Status Registration:

Once a Ph.D. Candidate, the student must complete four consecutive semesters (summers optional) of Doctoral Dissertation Research (9991-9994). Each course is 7.5 credits, for a total of 30 credits of Doctoral Dissertation Research. If a student has completed all 30 credits, but still needs to work on the dissertation, then he or she may register for 9995, Doctoral Maintenance. 9995 is zero credits, but the student will be considered full-time. Please note: the student must be registered for the semester during which he or she will defend. An override to register for Dissertation Research and Maintenance must be provided by the Graduate School each semester. Please send an email to phdstudents@wayne.edu to request an override.

A student may take Doctoral Candidate Status I: Dissertation Research and Direction, during the semester in which they expect to take their Qualifying Examination. To register in XXX 9991, the student must provide to the Graduate School written approval from both his/her advisor and the Graduate Director of the program. http://www.gradschool.wayne.edu/GradFaculty/Candidate Status Enrollment Policy.pdf

7. Prospectus:

Prior to initiating doctoral research, the Ph.D. Candidate must prepare a prospectus of the proposed dissertation research. In some departments, oral presentation of the prospectus constitutes the required Oral Examination. The student must submit a copy of the Dissertation Proposal with the Prospectus form. The prospectus must be approved by the dissertation advisory committee and the departmental Graduate Director before being forwarded to the Graduate School for approval.

8. Final Defense:

The Dissertation Public Lecture Presentation – Defense is required of all doctoral candidates and centers upon the candidate’s research and dissertation. It is important that the student begins to review the Requirements for Graduation at least one semester before he or she plans to defend. Please see the “Final Defense & Graduation” tab to review these requirements.
Thank you.