Doctoral Students

Advancement to Candidacy

Matriculated graduate students must advance to candidacy a minimum of one semester prior to graduating. Advancement to candidacy requires that the student be in good standing. That is, a minimum of a 3.0 GPA is required in upper-division and graduate courses taken while in graduate status, and in the degree program as indicated by all courses on the candidacy form. The student must be classified with all admissions’ provisions and program conditions cleared. Also required is a minimum of 9 units of letter-graded coursework as a graduate student in 100- or 200-level courses that are acceptable to the department in which the degree is sought. Exceptions to this rule can be made for two-semester master’s programs. University policy also stipulates the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement be fulfilled before advancement to candidacy. However, for special cases, the candidacy form, formally entitled the Petition for Advancement to Graduate Candidacy (available at www.sjsu.edu/gape/forms), may be filed during the semester in which a GWAR-satisfying course is taken. Advancement to candidacy will be formally denied during the semester, but the form will be kept on file by the GAPE office and approved when a passing grade is posted at the end of the semester.

Final Examinations

Doctor of Education Degree - EdD

It is California State University policy to require a qualifying examination and an oral defense of the dissertation in Doctor of Education Degree (EdD) programs. Departmental requirements for these examinations vary. In all cases, it is the candidate’s responsibility to register through the departmental coordinator of graduate studies to take all required examinations and the oral defense of the dissertation. The candidate’s advisor and/or the departmental graduate coordinator will be able to supply general information concerning the nature of the examinations and recommended preparation for them.

The EdD diploma cannot be transmitted to the candidate until the major department certifies to the program evaluator at GAPE via the Verification of Culminating Experience memo that the oral defense has been completed satisfactorily. The student shall have completed all requirements for the degree within five years of achieving classified standing in the doctoral program. The appropriate campus authority may extend the time for completion of the requirements.

More details on the Doctor of Education Degree and its requirements may be found in the California Code of Regulations Title 5 §40511 and §40512.

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

It is California State University policy to require a doctoral qualifying examination or assessment and an oral presentation of the doctoral project in Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs. Departmental requirements for these examinations vary. In all cases, it is the candidate’s responsibility to register through the departmental coordinator of graduate studies to take all required examinations or undergo assessments and to give the oral presentation of the doctoral project. The candidate’s advisor and/or the departmental graduate coordinator will be able to supply general information concerning the nature of the examination or assessment and the oral presentation and recommended preparation for them.

The DNP diploma cannot be transmitted to the candidate until the major department certifies to the program evaluator at GAPE via the Verification of Culminating Experience memo that the oral defense has been completed satisfactorily. The student shall have completed all requirements for the degree within five years of matriculation into the doctoral program.

More details on the Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree and its requirements may be found in the California Code of Regulations Title 5 §40513 and §40514.

Doctoral Degree Program

As indicated above, the Petition for Advancement to Graduate Candidacy (“candidacy form”) is submitted to GAPE when the student is qualified to advance to candidacy. This form lists all courses and culminating experiences that must be fulfilled for degree award. The proposed program must meet the following requirements:

• statement of the total number of units in the degree program.
• at least half of the units included on the form must be in 200-level courses.
• at least 60% of all units included must be in letter-graded course work.
• at least 70% of the units included must in be residence at SJSU. Therefore, a maximum of 9 units may be transferred into a 30-unit program from all sources.

The course work included may be entirely within the major department, or it may include a combination of courses drawn from other fields acceptable to the major advisor, so long as it is within the parameters set by the department in the program descriptions on department websites. If deficiencies in the student’s record are identified, including in prerequisites for required courses, additional course work can be assigned by the major advisor. This course work would not appear on the candidacy form and would not be counted in the total number of units required for the degree.

Coursework that may not be applied to the graduate degree includes basic skills’ courses such as lower-division work, courses used to earn any prior degree (except other master’s degrees at SJSU), courses taken at unaccredited institutions, directed (student) teaching, or 300-level residence or 400-level Extended Studies courses taken at SJSU, or courses taken over seven years previous to current degree conferral. Graduate credit by examination is not permitted.

There is no restriction in the number of units of project or thesis research (usually 298 courses) attempted but not included on the candidacy form. However, students completing a thesis must include at least one 299 unit on the form, and the total number must be commensurate with program requirements. Students may not receive credit for project units unless the project course is successfully completed; instead either an RP or NC grade should be assigned in the semester of enrollment; extensions beyond the semester are prohibited without enrollment in that class in a subsequent semester.

Students may not receive credit for 299 units unless a thesis is submitted and accepted by the College of Graduate Studies. If thesis units are credited on the student record without thesis approval, the units must be retroactively withdrawn. The process of withdrawal is initiated by the student by submitting the Graduate Petition for Course/Semester Withdrawal, available at www.sjsu.edu/gape/forms.

The original copy of the completed, signed Petition for Advancement to Graduate Candidacy should be submitted to GAPE in the Student Services Center by the deadlines posted at www.sjsu.edu/gape/current_students/deadlines/. The student will be informed by the approval or denial of the petition through the student’s MySJSU account under “Other Indicators”.

Graduate Policies - Required Enrollment for Culminating Graduate Students - 1290R  

Program Course Work

The candidacy form, once approved, is an official contract between the student and university. It can be changed only with the permission of the graduate advisor via written petition to the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, and even then the petition is likely to be denied. Course substitutions can be made by submission to GAPE of the Request for Course Substitution in Master’s Degree Program, available at www.sjsu.edu/gape/forms. A course may not be dropped from the graduate degree program, as indicated by its appearance on an approved candidacy form, once it has been completed.

If a student obtains permission to change programs and the second program has different requirements than the first one, then a new candidacy form must be filed; graded courses on the first form can be eliminated on the second form if not part of the new curriculum.

Graduation

Graduation Requirements

After being admitted to candidacy for the doctorate degree, the student is then required to

• Maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.0 (“B”) in completing requirements in the graduate degree program. The program is defined as completed courses included in the original graduate degree program plus all additions or substitutions.
• Complete all courses in the graduate degree program with grades between “A” and “C,” or “CR.” Grades of “C-” or lower, including “NC,” “U,” “IC” and “WU,” are considered to be unsatisfactory. Should courses in the graduate degree program be completed with unsatisfactory grades, these grades must remain in the program and will continue to be computed in the grade point average of the program whether they are repeated or not.
• Complete all requirements for the degree as listed in the degree template in the university catalog. Substitutions for core and other required courses in the template must be justified by graduate advisor petitioning of the Associate Dean of College of Graduate Studies.
• Complete an acceptable Dissertation. The thesis (Plan A) or creative project (Plan C) requires that one copy be submitted to the Associate Dean for College of Graduate Studies. In Plan B, completed projects are submitted to the student’s major department and a final comprehensive oral and/ or written examination over the field of concentration for the degree must usually be successfully completed. Failure on initial attempts at these exams results in administrative-academic probation. Failure of the final attempt results in administrative-academic disqualification from the degree program. The program evaluator at GAPE is notified of passage of the exam by means of graduate advisor completion of the Verification of Culminating Experience memo.
• Complete all work on the graduate degree program within seven years preceding award of the degree. If courses become outdated, the candidate should consult the section titled Graduate Degree - Time Limits on Courses in Graduate Degree Programs concerning steps to be followed.
• Apply for award of the master’s degree by posted deadline dates through your MySJSU account two weeks after achieving advancement to candidacy.
• Note that failure to clear incomplete (“I”), report-in-progress (“RP”), or report-delayed (“RD”) grades will prevent graduation. An “I” obtained in a graded class results in an automatic grade change to an “IC” grade, which calculates to an “F” grade on the transcript, even after separation or graduation. In an ungraded (“CR/NC”) course, the “I” reverts to a no credit (“NC”) grade and is, therefore, also unsatisfactory for graduation if in a course on the candidacy form.
• Be in good academic standing (cumulative 3.0 minimum GPA in Graduate Division) at San José State University to receive a degree from this university.

Applying for the Doctoral Degree

The Petition for Advancement to Graduate Candidacy Form must be approved by the GAPE office before applying for graduation. Students should apply for graduation at least one semester before the date of anticipated graduation. However, it is highly advised that students apply at least one year before their future graduation date.

Advancement to candidacy is permitted only when all conditions of admission, if applicable, are met, nine letter-graded units, all with grades of C or better and a GPA of 3.0 or better have been achieved, and the graduate GWAR has been completed. For detailed information about these requirements, please visit sjsu.edu/gape/current_students/completing_masters/ and the catalog section Graduate Degree - Advancement to Candidacy.

IMPORTANT: Eligible students can apply for graduation through self-service within their MySJSU account approximately two weeks after students have been approved for advancement to candidacy by the GAPE office. Students will be sent a MySJSU message including instructions and prompting them to apply for graduation. Only students that apply for graduation will be considered for graduation review.

Please note the following:

• All courses and requirements must be completed by the date of graduation.
• Any Incomplete (I), Report Delayed (RD), or Report Pending (RP) grades must be cleared before the degree can be awarded.
• Once the degree has been posted, no grade changes can be made to the record.
• If a student is unable to complete the course work stipulated on the candidacy form or if the date of graduation is delayed, a Graduation Date Change Request for Award of Master’s Degree must be requested through sjsu.edu/gape/forms/ (see Online Graduation Date Change Request)
• Required forms must be submitted by the deadlines posted on the GAPE website at sjsu.edu/gape/current_ students/deadlines/
• Students are urged not to delay; failure to submit forms by the deadlines posted could delay graduation.

Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR)

NOTE: University Policy S19-3 {http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S19-3.pdf} will be in effect beginning Fall 2020 for students admitted during and following that academic term (see below).

University Policy S94-7 {http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S94-7.pdf} requires that all graduate students demonstrate competency in written English for advancement to candidacy within a master’s program. Graduate students may satisfy the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) in one of four ways:

• Satisfactory completion of a baccalaureate degree at a CSU campus;
• Satisfactory completion of a GWAR course listed here: http://www.sjsu.edu/cgs/current-students/policies/index.html;
• Approval by the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies of a well-written, professional (peer-reviewed) publication, graduate thesis or dissertation in which the student was the sole author;
• Satisfactory completion of a discipline-specific upper-division writing course at another university judged by the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies to be equivalent in content and writing requirements to the SJSU 100W. To satisfy the requirement under this category, students are required to submit to their graduate advisors a transcript (unofficial acceptable) showing completion of the substituting course and the grade received (a “B” or better is required); the syllabus of the substituting course; and original, single-authored writing samples from the course, including especially a large term paper from the course with instructor feedback visible. If the graduate advisor approves of the substitution for an SJSU GWAR course, he or she would then petition the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies on behalf of the student. Students may not petition College of Graduate Studies directly.

For students entering in the Fall 2020 semester or later: University Policy S19-3 requires that all graduate students demonstrate competency in written English for advancement to candidacy within a master’s program. Graduate students may satisfy the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) in one of three ways:

• Satisfactory completion of a course approved by the College of Graduate Studies of at least three units in which a major written report is required. The course should be completed prior to advancement to candidacy.
• Approval by the College of Graduate Studies of a professional publication written in English for which the candidate was a primary author.
• Completion of a master’s or doctoral program with a substantive writing requirement at an accredited university in which the primary language of instruction is English unless a department requires additional documentation of writing proficiency.

Candidates should be aware that each department may establish its own criteria within these policy guidelines, and candidates must abide by the department decision. Thus even if a student has satisfied one of the criteria above, the department must approve the waiver and can require that its GWARsatisfying course still be taken. Waiving the program GWAR requirement will require the addition of an elective selected in consultation with the graduate advisor. Graduate courses cannot be taken for credit by examination.

Doctoral Dissertation and Project Requirements

Dissertation - Doctor of Education Degree

It is California State University policy to require a dissertation in Doctor of Education Degree (EdD) programs. Per that policy, the EdD dissertation shall be the written product of systematic, rigorous research on a significant professional issue. It is expected to contribute to an improvement in professional practices or policy. It shall evidence originality, critical and independent thinking, appropriate form and organization, and a rationale. The EdD dissertation shall also identify the research problem and question(s), state the major theoretical perspectives, explain the significance of the undertaking, relate it to the relevant scholarly and professional literature, set forth the appropriate sources for and methods of gathering and analyzing the data, and offer a conclusion or recommendation. It shall include a written abstract that summarizes the significance of the work, objectives, methodology, and a conclusion or recommendation.

Time is critical during the semester of submission of a dissertation. Students must allow enough time for preparation of the draft, consideration by doctoral committee members by the deadline dates set in departments, word processing, acquisition of permissions to publish, and the inevitable corrections. Students must leave time for the final reading and signing by the committee members. A minimum of two months is needed for the entire process, and departments may require a longer period. Students should confer with each committee member in advance regarding the time each requires for review and whether each will be in town and available when the review and signatures are due. The student shall have completed all requirements for the degree within five years of achieving classified standing in the doctoral program. The appropriate campus authority may extend the time for completion of the requirements.

All instructions for dissertation formatting and submission to Graduate Studies are located in the SJSU Master’s Thesis and Doctoral Dissertation Guidelines at https://www.sjsu.edu/gape/current_students/completing_masters/#7.

These instructions provide general guidance for authors of doctoral dissertations at SJSU. Examples of front pages are provided in the guidelines. Students should read the guidelines carefully and consult their advisors concerning the format of the thesis or dissertation, the professional style guide to use, and journal articles to emulate, if applicable. The major department sometimes provides students with more complete formatting instructions. In rare cases, College of Graduate Studies will provide assistance.

SJSU participates in the University Microfilm International (UMI) Dissertation Information Service. Students completing theses and dissertations are required to email their committee-approved manuscript and accompanying documents to Graduate Studies according to the instructions provided in the SJSU Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines at https://www.sjsu.edu/gape/current_students/completing_masters/#7.

Doctoral Project Requirements - Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree

It is California State University policy to require a doctoral project in Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs. Per that policy, the DNP doctoral project shall be the written product of a systematic, rigorous, evidence-based endeavor focused on a significant nursing practice issue. The doctoral project is expected to contribute to an improvement in professional practices, policy, or patient outcomes. It shall evidence originality, critical and independent thinking, appropriate form and organization, and adequate rationale. The DNP doctoral project shall reflect a command of the scholarly literature and shall demonstrate the student’s mastery of evidence-based practice at the doctoral level. The written component of the doctoral project shall be organized in an appropriate form and shall identify the problem statement and purpose, state the major theoretical perspectives, explain the significance of the undertaking, relate it to the relevant scholarly and professional literature, identify the methods of gathering and analyzing the data, and offer a conclusion or recommendation.

Time is critical during the semester of submission of a doctoral project. Students must allow enough time for preparation of the draft, consideration by graduate committee members by the deadline dates set in departments, word processing, and the inevitable corrections. Students must leave time for the final reading and signing by the committee members. A minimum of two months is needed for the entire process, and departments may require a longer period. Students should confer with each committee member in advance regarding the time each requires for review and whether each will be in town and available when the review and signatures are due. The student shall have completed all requirements for the degree within five years of matriculation into the doctoral program. The appropriate campus authority may extend by up to two years the time for completion of the requirements.

Checking the Dissertation Manuscript

The College of Graduate Studies does not serve as an editor. The author and graduate committee members should carefully proofread the dissertation before it is submitted. A careful review should be used by the student as a guide to correcting similar errors in the entire manuscript. The review conducted by Office of Graduate Studies should also be regarded as an indicator of problems to be addressed globally throughout the manuscript. Making only the changes specifically indicated, rather than applying the criticisms to the remainder of the document, would not only result in a flawed document but would also be beneath graduate school standards. The College of Graduate Studies will reject a dissertation with excessive errors.

Students can prevent rejection of the dissertation by ensuring that the final manuscript is free of the following frequent errors: pages for which no numbers are assigned, failure to apply reference style consistently or to cite references when needed, careless spacing or centering, inappropriate margins, incorrect footnotes or bibliography entries, redundancy, awkward or unclear sentences, grammatical errors, punctuation errors, spelling errors, word-usage errors and inconsistencies in or lack of adherence to style-manual formatting rules.

Neither SJSU nor any of its separate offices or departments is responsible for matters concerning a student’s relationships or agreements with any outside agency or individual consulted for manuscript preparation. Neither the university nor any of its offices will take part in disagreements between students and typists, editors or copy shops with regard to thesis preparation services, expected costs or billed costs. A student conducting dissertation research off site, for example at a local company, must be free to include all of it in the dissertation. SJSU’s legal relationship is only with the student and his or her compliance with the rules set forth in this and related documents and does not include any obligations to the company in question unless expressly agreed upon in a separate legal document.

Copyright Permission

If a student copies a figure, table or a significant section of someone else’s work and it is believed that the use of these copyrighted materials is beyond that permitted by “fair use,” the student will be required to obtain separate written permission letters from the publishers or authors of the works cited. It must be indicated in the text or figure caption within the dissertation that the material is “copied with permission.” The student should plan well so that permission letters will be received in time. If letters of permission are not submitted with the final copies of the dissertation, the College of Graduate Studies will not approve the dissertation, and UMI will not microfilm the work.

The permission letters should be included with the initial submission of the dissertation as well as when the dissertation is submitted for publication. For questions about the process, including whether permission is required for a particular insertion, contact the thesis coordinator at College of Graduate Studies.

College of Graduate Studies

ADM 146
www.sjsu.edu/cgs

Human Subjects Data Collection

If a dissertation includes data gathered from human subjects, whether experiments, surveys, or interviews, the students must obtain approval from the SJSU Human Subjects Institutional Review Board (IRB). Information concerning the use of human participants is available online at or from the www.sjsu.edu/research/irb or from the IRB coordinator at 408-924-2479. Approval must be obtained from SJSU prior to data collection regardless of whether the research is done in conjunction with another institution that has given its approval. Approval must also be obtained even if the work is ultimately determined to be “exempt.” Federal law prohibits retroactive approval of human subjects research. Any human subject work conducted before IRB permission cannot be included in a dissertation. The dissertation will not be approved if it fails to comply with IRB policy.

Once the research is approved, dissertation submission must include a copy of the permission letter, whether as a document separate from the dissertation or as an appendix to the dissertation. Failure to submit the appropriate documentation can result in a delay or denial of dissertation approval by College of Graduate Studies.

Institutional Review Board - Human Subjects Research

The IRB reviews all research protocols involving human subjects. Students and faculty are required to submit a research protocol for IRB review and approval before beginning any data collection from participants if their work entails research involving human subjects. Instructions, forms, and templates can be found at www.sjsu.edu/research/irb.

Office of Research

IRB Coordinator
408-924-2479
www.sjsu.edu/research

Animal Research Requirements

If the dissertation includes research activities involving vertebrate animals or select invertebrate species, the care and use of animals or their tissues must be approved by the SJSU Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Information concerning IACUC requirements and procedures is available from the IACUC Coordinator and online at http://www.sjsu.edu/research/iacuc/index.html. Animal research approval from SJSU must be obtained prior to data collection even if the work is done in conjunction with another institution from which approval has been granted. SJSU prohibits retroactive approval of animal research that is considered ongoing or completed. The official letter of protocol review, obtained with IACUC approval, must be submitted along with the dissertation whether as an appendix or as a separate document. Failure to submit the necessary documentation can result in a delay or denial of the dissertation by College of Graduate Studies.

Approval

The last three steps in the dissertation-approval process are outlined below:

1. After the dissertation has received final departmental (graduate committee) approval, as indicated by committee signatures, the complete document should be emailed along with the completed Dissertation Information Packet, available at http://www.sjsu.edu/cgs/current-students/thesis-and-dissertation-information/index.html. Deadline dates for submission may be found at http://www.sjsu.edu/cgs/current-students/thesis-and-dissertation-information/ index.html. The deadlines are firm, and exceptions are extremely rare.
2. The dissertation will be read and returned to the student with an assessment by the staff of the College of Graduate Studies as accepted without corrections, provisionally accepted with corrections, or not accepted.
3. If the manuscript has an abundance of errors in formatting, grammar, punctuation or other writing parameters, corrections will have to be made. The advisors on the student’s graduate committee should be consulted about these corrections. It bears repeating that the College of Graduate Studies staff reads and edits only portions of the manuscript, but it is expected that errors of the kinds indicated be corrected throughout the manuscript. If the manuscript is accepted with corrections, the student will be instructed to resubmit it within about a four-week period from the point of notification. If it is rejected, the revised manuscript may not be submitted until the following semester.

Time Limits

Section 40512/40514, California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Education, requires that courses in completed doctoral degree programs be no older than five years at the time of the degree award. The five-year period is counted from the end of the semester in which the course was completed. Thus no more than five years may elapse between the time the first course in a graduate program is completed and the time the last item in the program is completed, the latter indicating fulfillment of all degree requirements. With an outdated course, the candidate has the following options:

• Repeat the outdated course with a passing grade but without credit. The new grades will be factored into the GPA for graduation, and all grade requirements, such as the 3.0 minimum GPA, will still be in effect.
• Under some circumstances, another course (one already completed or to be taken) may be used to substitute for an outdated course. Permission for the substitution must be obtained from both the program’s graduate advisor and the Associate Dean the College of Graduate Studies. This practice is highly discouraged, as it violates the rule that completed courses may not be removed from the candidacy form. If the original course is available for enrollment, it is unlikely that permission will be granted.
• Revalidate the outdated SJSU course by examination. Revalidation of courses is governed by University Policy S17-7 {http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S17-7.pdf}. A student may revalidate a maximum of 9 units of a 30-unit master’s degree program, or 12 units for a program with more than 30 units. Only courses in which a student has earned a “B” or better may be revalidated. Permission to revalidate from College of Graduate Studies or from GAPE is not required; examination can proceed and the results communicated to the program evaluator at GAPE by the form entitled Request for Revalidation of Course that Has Exceeded the Five-Year Time Limit available at www.sjsu.edu/gape/forms. Course work completed at other institutions is not eligible for revalidation, but transfer courses taken at SJSU may be revalidated. However, some kinds of courses cannot be revalidated, including supervisory courses such as project and thesis courses, seminar courses, independent study courses, and internship courses.
• Departmental course, which satisfy the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR), do not expire and, therefore, need not be revalidated. Other courses that satisfy GWAR are more content-based and do expire; those can be revalidated.

Veterans who are candidates for graduate degrees and who have had their graduate programs interrupted by military service may petition through the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies to extend the time limit imposed by the above regulations by the amount of time spent in military service. Nevertheless, students in this situation should apply for formal leaves of absence through the University Registrar, thereby making it unnecessary to contact Graduate Studies.

Leave of Absence

By University Policy S15-3, a formal leave of absence for graduate students for medical, care-giving, military service, personal hardship, or educational reasons may be requested by submission of the fully signed and documented Leave of Absence Petition. For detailed information on the process and restrictions see Leaves of Absence and Withdrawal {http://info.sjsu.edu/static/policies/leaveswithdrawal.html}.

Graduate students are eligible for all leaves of absence except when finished with all degree requirements other than their culminating experience (thesis, project, and/or comprehensive exam plus any other components required of the major). At that point, neither stopping out (voluntary absence for a semester) nor financial leaves are permissible and students must register for 1 unit of University Studies (UNVS) 1290R or a Departmental 1290R (Thesis/Project Supervision) through special session every semester until graduation (See Thesis and Project Work - RP Status - Graduate {http://info.sjsu.edu/static/policies/rpstatus.html}). During this stage of a graduate student’s career, leaves of absence for any reason beyond medical or military shall be precluded except under rare circumstances.

Note: International students may not take a leave of absence and must remain in the United States except for documented medical reasons. International students must be enrolled in a full course of study (9 units) for two semesters annually. Winter and Summer registration are not required. If you have further questions please contact the International Student Advising Office.

Note that the five-year doctoral limit on course expiration (see Graduate Degree - Time Limits {http://info.sjsu.edu/static/policies/gradtimelimit.html}) remains in effect even for students who have taken leaves of absence, so it is important to plan carefully when applying for a leave of absence. Upon a student’s return, the student’s catalog rights shall pertain to his or her most recent admission date.