Degree Requirements

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1. Degree Requirements
   1. Masters
      1. Program of Study
      2. Academic Residency Requirement
      3. Comprehensive Exam
      4. Capstone Experience
      5. Thesis Requirement
      6. Oral Thesis Examination
      7. Time Limit for Master’s Degree
   2. Doctoral
      1. Professional Doctoral Degrees
         1. Time Limit
         2. Professional Program Requirements
            1. Scholarly Discipline Requirement
            2. Academic Residency Requirement
            3. Curricular Requirements
            4. Advisor / Advisory Committee
      2. Research Doctoral Degree
         1. Time Limit
         2. Program of Study & Advisory Committee
         3. Comprehensive Examination
         4. Scholarly Discipline Requirement
         5. Academic Residency Requirement
         6. Admission to Candidacy
         7. Dissertation
         8. Oral Dissertation Examination
2. Thesis and Dissertation Policies
   1. Copyright for Theses or Dissertations
   2. Restricted Publication
3. Time Limit Extensions for Birth or Adoption
4. Change in Program Requirements
5. Degree Conferral
6. Commencement Ceremony
   1. Doctoral Hooding

For any master’s degree, a minimum of 30 graduate (semester) hours is required for conferral.

Program of Study

You should develop a program of study approved by your advisor and the departmental graduate committee early in your program to ensure that you satisfy all degree requirements in the most efficient manner possible. Cohort-based degrees may have a fixed program of study.

You may not have more than 8 credits with a CR grade exclusive of practicum, internship, research, and thesis hours applied to your minimal credit requirements. Additional credits may be required by individual departments.

Undergraduate courses, courses taken for Audit, or any course designated as “dissertation” or “doctoral” may not be counted toward Master’s degree requirements.

Academic Residency Requirement

It is your responsibility to ascertain whether a period of residence on the Athens campus is required in your major and to plan a program of study accordingly by consulting with your advisor and departmental graduate committee.

Comprehensive Exam

A comprehensive examination may be required, the nature and timing of which is determined by the department. Departments may regulate the number of attempts allowed for passing a comprehensive exam.

Capstone Experience

Conferral of a Master’s degree requires the completion of a capstone project, such as a thesis, comprehensive portfolio or paper, recital, or show. Refer to program information for specific requirements.

Some programs offer students the choice of completing a thesis or completing a non-thesis paper or project. Consult with your advisor and carefully consider your career goals in deciding between a thesis or non-thesis option. Many academic disciplines regard a non-thesis master’s program as a terminal degree program.

Thesis Requirement

If you are in a thesis program, you will prepare the thesis under the guidance of your thesis director on a subject in the field of your major work. The thesis provides an opportunity for you to formulate and express the results of research and study. You may meet the thesis requirement by presenting the results of a creative activity in literature, music, fine arts, or industrial arts, together with a written essay indicating the purpose, procedure, problems, and bibliography involved in the work. Each department prescribes the specific style manual to be followed by its students, in cases where no style manual is specified, the student may work using the style manual of his or her choice. The use of a style manual to prepare the thesis is required. You and your thesis director are responsible for maintaining accepted standards of grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, form, scholarly style, and scholarly integrity in the thesis. Regarding the accepted formatting standards for the thesis, the Thesis and Dissertation Services website, www.ohio.edu/graduate/etd is a resource provided by the Graduate College and Thesis and Dissertation Services (TAD) to aid in creating your document. Students may download a template pre-loaded with acceptable typefaces, heading styles, sizes and the front-of-document pages. PDF documents are available for those who prefer not to use the templates and wish to format the documents by hand, these are the TAD Guidebook and the Document Formatting Checklist. These pamphlets contain regulations regarding type, margins, quality of paper, and other aspects, as well as detailed directions for submitting the finished thesis.

You may obtain the current formatting requirements and the printed list of semester deadlines for graduation from the TAD Services Website (www.ohio.edu/graduate/etd).

Oral Thesis Examination

An oral thesis examination is required of all students in a master’s thesis program. The examining committee is composed of the director of the thesis (as chair) and two or more additional faculty members. Committee membership guidelines are set by each college. Each college will have a process and form for formally declaring your thesis committee.

You and your thesis director, in consultation with members of the examining committee, set a time and place for the examination. You must present final copies of the thesis to members of your examination committee at least two weeks before the date of your oral examination to allow adequate review of the manuscript. Once you successfully defend, you must provide a photocopy, scan or fax copy of the signed Oral Defense Form to the Graduate College and emails a copy of the final, post-oral defense document for a final format check at tad@ohio.edu.

Time Limit for Master’s Degree

The maximum time allowed between the date when you first initiate graduate study toward a master’s degree and the date when you complete the requirements for the master’s degree is six calendar years. Any master’s degree program that requires more than 40 hours may increase the six-year time limit to seven years. Check with the Graduate College or your graduate department to verify the time limit for your graduate program. If you do not complete your requirements within the time limit, you may be permitted to continue graduate study only if exceptional circumstances are associated with the delay.

The dean of your college may grant a one-time, one-semester extension for the semester immediately following the final semester in which your degree requirements were to have been complete, based on the Time Limit policy as described above.

If circumstances require an extension of time beyond the one-semester dean’s extension, you must apply for readmission to the program by completing a new application form and paying the reapplication fee. The graduate committee of the program and the dean of the college must review the readmission application. The criteria for readmission should be the currency of your courses, project, or thesis. The program may require retaking or adding particular courses, updating the project or thesis, taking additional practicum or internship hours, or fulfilling any degree requirements that have been added since the initiation of your program. If readmission is approved, the specifications for readmission, including the length of time for the readmission, must be presented to you in writing, with a copy placed on file in the Graduate College. If approved for readmission, you must fulfill the degree requirements in effect at the point of readmission.

Doctoral degrees at Ohio University are classified into two categories, research and professional/clinical.  Research doctorates, typically a PhD, are intended to prepare scholars in the sciences, humanities and the arts to carry out significant research and produce scholarly work.  In contrast, professional/clinical programs promote an advanced level of expertise of individuals in professional practice, position professionals to assume leadership positions in the workplace, and prepare professionals to integrate, and apply research at organizational, community, and policy levels. 

Professional Doctoral Degrees

The professional doctoral degree is granted on the basis of evidence that an advanced level of competency in a defined domain has been achieved.  The professional doctoral degree incorporates basic and clinical sciences as the foundation for the acquisition of professional skills and competencies.  Professional doctoral training is often the core component of one step in a multi-step credentials process, often required by state licensing boards and professional associations, which provides public assurances of those skills and competencies. For some fields, a professional doctorate is the entry level degree for clinical practice in that discipline.

A minimum of 70 graduate (semester) hours beyond the bachelor’s degree or 36 beyond a clinical/professional master’s degree must be completed for conferral of a professional doctoral degree.

Note: Policy on Professional Doctoral Degrees Effective Fall Semester, 2016.

Time Limit

The student must complete the doctoral program of study within seven calendar years of the date of its initiation as determined by the department and recorded in the Graduate College.

If the student does not complete requirements for the degree within the given period, the student may be permitted to continue in graduate study only if exceptional circumstances are associated with the delay in progress.

The dean of the college may grant a one-time, one-semester extension for the semester immediately following the final semester in which the student’s degree requirements were to have been completed.

If circumstances require an extension beyond one semester, the student must apply for readmission to the program. The application for readmission must be reviewed by the graduate committee of the program and the dean of the college. Criteria for readmission should be the currency of the student’s knowledge of (1) required academic content areas, (2) clinical/professional literature, (3) professional skills and competencies, and (4) research methods and techniques. The program may require additional coursework, a retaking of the comprehensive examination, modifications (in part or in whole) to the scholarship project, and fulfilling any degree requirements that have been added since the student’s initial enrollment into the program. If readmission is approved, the specifications for readmission, including the length of time for the readmission, must be presented to the student in writing, with a copy filed with the Graduate College. If approved for readmission, the student must fulfill all degree requirements in effect at the point of readmission.

Professional Program Requirements

Scholarly Discipline Requirement

The professional doctoral degree is, by definition, oriented to a specialization within a professional domain, for which a national standard-setting or national accreditation body and/or state licensure board sets the standards. Each school/ department determines the auxiliary research/scholarship competencies needed by professional doctoral candidates. Competence is determined by standards and methods established by faculty in the individual degree program.

Academic Residency Requirement

A professional doctorate must articulate requirements, if any, for students’ on-campus presence, either periodic (as in hybrid on-line/on-campus learning model), or continuous.

Curricular Requirements

Professional doctoral degrees at Ohio University must provide clearly stated guidelines or standards that are commensurate with doctoral training in the discipline in general and for specializations, if applicable.  Minimal guidelines for doctoral training should include standards and methods for evaluating student learning outcomes (knowledge and skills); establishment of an advisory committee with at least one designated mentor for each student; articulation of culminating competencies (e.g., assessed using a comprehensive examination, clinical portfolio, or capstone project), and, if required, rigorous standards for completion of an independent work of scholarship compatible with the norms of the specific academic discipline or profession. Further, doctoral programs should strive to track their graduates’ career placements.

Advisor / Advisory Committee

A member of the graduate faculty will serve as the student’s primary advisor or on an advisory committee.  The advisor / committee must be approved by the doctoral program and also must be consistent with college policy (e.g., “graduate faculty status”). The primary advisor and advisory committee must approve the proposed program of study for the degree, track students’ progress at regular intervals, and recommend degree conferral.

Research Doctoral Degrees

The doctoral degree is granted on the basis of evidence that the student has achieved a high level of scholarship and proficiency in research rather than solely on the basis of successful completion of a prescribed amount of coursework. The student’s competence and ability to work independently and write creatively are established by qualifying and comprehensive examinations and the quality of a dissertation submitted as an account of the student’s original research.

A minimum of 90 graduate (semester) hours beyond the bachelor’s degree must be completed for conferral of a doctoral degree.

Time Limit

The student must complete the doctoral program of study within seven calendar years of the date of its initiation as determined by the department and recorded in the Graduate College.

If the student does not complete requirements for the degree within the given period, the student may be permitted to continue in graduate study only if exceptional circumstances are associated with the delay in progress.

The dean of the college may grant a one-time, one-semester extension for the semester immediately following the final semester in which the student’s degree requirements were to have been completed.

If circumstances require an extension beyond the one-semester dean’s extension, the student must apply for readmission to the program. The application for readmission must be reviewed by the graduate committee of the program and the dean of the college. Criteria for readmission should be the currency of the student’s knowledge of (1) the required work, (2) research literature, and (3) research methods and techniques. The program may require additional coursework, retaking the oral/written comprehensive examination, changing or updating the dissertation, or fulfilling any degree requirements that have been added since the initiation of the student’s program. If readmission is approved, the specifications for readmission, including the length of time for the readmission, must be presented to the student in writing, with a copy placed on file in the Graduate College. If approved for readmission, the student must fulfill the degree requirements in effect at the point of readmission.

Program of Study and Advisory Committee

The graduate committee of the student’s program will assign an advisor and an advisory committee who must approve the proposed program of study for the degree. Graduate work completed at another university will be considered by the respective graduate committee and the student’s advisory committee in the development of the student’s program of study.

Typically, when the dissertation proposal is nearing approval, the graduate committee will forward to the office of the dean of the college in which the student is enrolled a recommendation for appointment of a dean’s representative, together with the names of other dissertation committee members and the title of the student’s dissertation. Committee membership guidelines are set by each college. The committee must consist of at least three members representing the range of content in the student’s program of study, in addition to the representative from the dean’s office.

Comprehensive Examination

When coursework is virtually completed, and upon the recommendation of the advisory committee, the student will take a comprehensive examination to establish the student’s mastery of the fields of specialization and readiness for advanced research. The results of the examination must be reported within one week to the office of the dean of the college in which the student is enrolled on a form provided by the dean’s office.

A copy of this form is sent to the Graduate College for inclusion in the student’s academic file.

Scholarly Discipline Requirement

The doctoral degree by definition is research oriented, and each program determines the auxiliary research competencies needed by doctoral candidates. Competence is determined by standards and methods established by the individual program. If the student is expected to demonstrate proficiency in one of the scholarly disciplines in which examinations are arranged by the dean’s office (e.g., statistics, computer science, or foreign language), the student must file an appropriate intent form. This form is available from and should be filed with the office of the dean of the college in which the student is enrolled. The student must be registered for a minimum of two hours in the semester in which he/she takes the examination.

The French, German, Russian, and Spanish proficiency examinations of the Educational Testing Service are given at Ohio University several times during the year. Information and application forms are available at the Department of Modern Languages, Gordy Hall 283.

Academic Residency Requirement

Normally, at least two academic semesters of the doctoral program are in continuous residence on the Athens campus in an institutional full-time status (registration for 9 graduate credits).

The continuous residence requirement applies to the period of graduate study following the completion of the master’s degree or the completion of at least 30 graduate credits.

Admission to Candidacy

Admission to candidacy is achieved after the student has  completed the following steps:

1.    Formation of the dissertation committee (including the dean’s representative), which may be the same as the student’s advisory committee,
2.    Approval of the research proposal by this committee,
3.    Successful completion of the comprehensive examination, and
4.    Satisfaction of all required scholarly disciplines.

Doctoral committee membership is determined by college policy. Check with the dean’s office for specific information.

Forms indicating completion of the above steps are available from and filed in the office of the dean of the college in which the student is enrolled. The student is not permitted to schedule the oral examination of the dissertation until the student has met all requirements for admission to candidacy.

A copy of the student’s admission-to-candidacy letter is sent to the Graduate College for inclusion in the student’s official file.

Dissertation

A dissertation, the scholarly account of research in the new area of knowledge, is submitted by each candidate. Each program prescribes the specific style manual to be followed by its doctoral candidates. Regarding the accepted formatting standards for the thesis, the Thesis and Dissertation Services website, www.ohio.edu/tad is a resource provided by the Graduate College and Thesis and Dissertation Services (TAD) to aid in creating the document. Research doctoral candidates may download a template pre-loaded with acceptable typefaces, heading styles, sizes and front-of-document pages. A PDF document “Thesis and Dissertation Guidebook,” is available for those who prefer not to use the templates and wish to format the documents themselves. This pamphlet contains regulations regarding type, margins, quality of paper, and other aspects, as well as detailed directions for submitting the finished dissertation.  You must obtain from the TAD Services Website the current format and the printed list of semester deadlines for graduation. In addition, doctoral candidates must complete the online UMI/ProQuest form for microfilming and entry into Dissertation Abstracts International. Also required is the completion of the Survey of Earned Doctorates.

It is recommended that students submit their document for format review to TAD Services via email before the Oral Defense. This may occur at any time, but TAD Services recommends at least 4 chapters or 75 percent of the document for review, including the abstract, references, table of contents and lists of tables and figures. After the dissertation has been approved by the candidate’s dissertation committee, dissertation director, and dean, the document should be emailed to TAD Services for a final format review. The candidate is responsible at this time for providing a photocopy, scan or fax of the Oral Defense form to TAD Services. After the format has been approved, the final version and an electronically signed PDF of the document will be returned to the student for upload to OhioLINK, a consortium of Ohio university and college member libraries and the State Library of Ohio. Once all steps have been completed, TAD Services sends an email with the subject of “TAD Process Complete” to the college dean’s office, advisor, graduate director and doctoral candidate with the final document attached noting the document format has been accepted and the doctoral candidate has completed all the steps in the Thesis and Dissertation Process.

Oral Dissertation Examination

An oral dissertation examination is required of all doctoral candidates. The examining committee is composed of the candidate’s entire dissertation committee (including the representative of the dean of the college in which the candidate is enrolled) unless otherwise specified by the Associate Dean for the Graduate College. The student must present final copies of the dissertation to members of the examining committee at least two weeks before the date of the oral examination to allow adequate time for review. The final arrangements for the examination must be completed through the office of the dean of the college in which the candidate is enrolled at least 10 days prior to the examination. The arrangement form can be found on the Thesis and Dissertation (TAD) Services Web site at http://www.ohio.edu/graduate/etd/oraldefense.cfm.  The details of the examination, including time and place, must be completed by the doctoral candidate and sent to the dean’s office of the college for posting.

The doctoral candidate is also responsible for preparing the Oral Defense Form and taking this to the oral defense. This form can be found at http://www.ohio.edu/graduate/etd/oraldefense.cfm.   Once the candidate successfully defends, the candidate will provide a photocopy, scan or fax copy of the signed Oral Defense Form to the Graduate College and will email a copy of the final, post-oral defense document for a final format check at tad@ohio.edu.

It is recommended that students submit their document for format review to TAD Services via email before the Oral Defense. This may occur at any time, but TAD Services recommends at least 4 chapters or 75 percent of the document for review, including the abstract, references, table of contents and lists of tables and figures. After the thesis/dissertation has been approved by your thesis/dissertation committee, thesis/dissertation director, and dean, the document should be emailed to TAD Services for a final format review. The student is responsible at this time for providing a photocopy, scan or fax of the signed Oral Defense form to TAD Services. After the format has been approved, an electronically approved PDF of the document will be returned to the student for upload to OhioLINK, a consortium of the libraries of Ohio colleges and universities and the State Library of Ohio. Once all steps have been completed, TAD Services sends an email with the subject of “TAD Process Complete” to the college dean’s office, advisor, graduate director and student with the final document attached noting the document format has been accepted and the student has completed all the steps in the Thesis and Dissertation Process.

Copyright for Theses or Dissertations

Dissertations or Theses can be copyrighted at the time the manuscript is complete. A registered copyright creates a public record of ownership and is necessary for future legal action. To register your copyright, go to http://www.copyright.gov/forms/ to complete the online form, pay the applicable fee, and upload your final manuscript in PDF file format. For more information regarding copyright registration, go to www.copyright.gov. It is recommended that filing for a copyright occur at the time the final document is submitted to TAD Services. For further information, contact TAD Services tad@ohio.edu.

Restricted Publication of Theses or Dissertations

Publication delays are generally requested if students are concerned their online manuscripts may restrict their ability to publish derived or exact text from the manuscript in the form of articles, poems, short stories, or in book format after graduation or if a patent is pending. TAD Services strongly suggest a student request a publication delay if they plan to publish exact text from their manuscript. Before requesting a publication delay, however, students are encouraged to contact publishers to find out which companies consider ETDs as previously published works. A requested publication delay can be applied to both the ProQuest/UMI and OhioLINK submissions, or to one, but not the other.

The Publication Delay form (found at http://www.ohio.edu/graduate/etd/upload/pub_delay.pdf), will allow a student to delay publication for one or two years, but may be renewed for up to a maximum of 5 years if, in the judgment of the office, the data upon which the thesis or dissertation are based are proprietary and will not be made available in the public domain until the appropriate time. You must submit the original copy of the request for delay with a signature and include the reason for the request.

A thesis or dissertation completed at Ohio University is withheld from the public only if it has been approved for delayed publication following the procedures outlined above or if a question of plagiarism, libelous or abusive statements, or falsification or misrepresentation of data is raised, in which case the manuscript is withheld until the issue has been resolved.

A graduate student who gives birth, whose partner gives birth, or who adopts, is, for each occurrence, entitled to an automatic one-semester extension to the time limit. To claim this extension the student must notify their program, their academic college, and the Graduate College, and provide the Graduate College with documentation such as a birth certificate. They are also entitled to appropriate extensions to intermediate program deadlines. A student may not be dismissed from a program because they gave birth, had a partner who gave birth, or adopted.

Your catalog of entry sets the requirements for your degree program. As a degree candidate, you must either (a) meet the requirements set forth in the Graduate Catalog at the time of your initial registration in a graduate degree program, or (b) should you choose to follow the requirements of a later catalog, meet those requirements in their entirety. In the event of program changes, departments are expected to make appropriate adjustments to allow you to fulfill the requirements of the initial program of study. Students who reapply after their time limit has expired must meet the Graduate Catalog requirements in effect at the time of readmission.

You must apply for graduation through the Registrar’s Office and pay the graduation fee by the date indicated in the University calendar. Apply for graduation online. If you fail to meet graduation requirements in that semester, you must reapply for graduation and pay the graduation reapplication fee by the date indicated in the University calendar for the semester in which you will meet graduation requirements. Questions about applying for graduation may be sent to graduation@ohio.edu. You must submit all work to be applied toward meeting degree requirements no later than the last day of classes of the semester in which you expect to graduate. Additional deadlines to be met by students writing theses or dissertations are available in the office of the dean of the college in which you are enrolled.

Ohio University holds biannual commencement ceremonies, at the close of fall and spring semesters. Students finishing their degrees in summer or fall participate in the fall ceremony, while spring graduates participate in the spring ceremony.

Commencement information is available online at www.ohio.edu/commencement.

Academic attire appropriate to the person’s degree level must be worn by candidates at the commencement exercises. Details for purchasing academic attire are available on the commencement web page (www.ohio.edu/commencement). Academic regalia for both Master’s and Doctoral students includes a hood. Master’s students wear their hoods throughout the ceremony. Doctoral students are hooded as part of the ceremony.

Doctoral Hooding

Doctoral graduates are hooded at each the fall and spring commencement ceremonies. During the hooding exercise, a faculty member places the hood over the graduate’s head, signifying completion of the doctoral degree. In order to participate in hooding, doctoral candidates must have completed all degree requirements and be fully cleared for degree conferral. Doctoral students are accompanied by a faculty escort of appropriate academic rank, traditionally, the student’s academic mentor, dissertation or program chair. Each student is limited to one escort.

Doctoral graduates must register through the Graduate College to participate in the hooding exercises within the commencement ceremony. Registration details, deadlines, and a link to the registration form are posted on the Graduate College webpage at www.ohio.edu/graduate/commence.cfm.