Doctoral Requirements

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Advancement to Candidacy

Students should seek advancement to candidacy as soon as possible for their given program and on the advice of their graduate advisor. Graduate students may submit a Petition for Advancement to Graduate Candidacy form after satisfying the following:

• completed a minimum of one year of study
• achieved classified status
• completed a minimum of nine letter-graded units with all grades “C” or higher
• fulfilled the GWAR requirement
• achieved a minimum cumulative and program 3.0 GPA, and,
• graduate within the five-year time limit for degree completion.

Graduate students must submit their petition no later than one semester prior to graduating.

University Policy S19-3 requires that the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR)  be fulfilled before advancement to candidacy. However, for special cases, the candidacy form may be filed during the semester in which a GWAR-satisfying course is taken.

Note that Title V (CCR 40510) requires a minimum 3.0 grade point average for all courses to satisfy graduate degree program requirements. 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. Therefore, the candidacy form will record each program course repeated and the grade earned. Course grades will be effectively averaged in the GPA calculation for advancement to candidacy and graduation. Please review University Policy F08-2 for more details.

Finally, students should be aware as to which catalog year they wish to declare and use to fulfill their graduation requirements. As program requirements may change slightly over a student’s course of study, catalog rights  should also be discussed with an advisor as needed

Graduate 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. Students are advised to work closely with their advisor and GAPE evaluator prior to advancing to candidacy to ensure that the candidacy form is filled out accurately and in a timely manner.

There is no restriction in the number of units for project or dissertation research attempted but not included on the candidacy form. However, students completing a dissertation must include at least one 599 unit on the form, and the total number of units must be commensurate with program requirements. Students may not receive credit for project or dissertation units unless successfully completed; instead either an RP or NC grade will be assigned in the semester of enrollment. For courses in RP status, students may enroll in 1290R to maintain continuous enrollment until completion of their culminating experience. Students earning a NC must enroll in the course again and earn a CR to fulfill their culminating experience.

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. The student will be informed by the approval or denial of the petition through the student’s MySJSU account under “Other Indicators” or via mail.

Program Course Work

Once approved, the candidacy form is an official contract between the student and university. Course substitutions (either a core or an elective course) can be made by submitting the appropriate substitution form to GAPE available at www.sjsu.edu/gape/forms. A course may not be dropped from the graduate degree program, once a course has been completed.

Examinations

Doctor of Audiology - AuD

It is California State University policy to require a qualifying examination and an oral defense of the culminating doctoral project in Doctor of Audiology (AuD) 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 AuD diploma cannot be transmitted to the candidate until the major department certifies to the program evaluator at GAPE via the Verification of Culminating Experience form available at www.sjsu.edu/gape/forms that the oral defense of the Doctoral Project 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 Audiology Degree and its requirements may be found in the California Code of Regulations Title 5 §40517 and §40518.

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 form available at www.sjsu.edu/gape/forms 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 form available at www.sjsu.edu/gape/forms 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 Dissertation and Project Requirements

Doctoral Project Requirements - Doctor of Audiology Degree

It is California State University policy to require a doctoral project in Doctor of Audiology (AuD) programs. A doctoral project proposal must be approved by program faculty. Approved proposals may be undertaken as projects that are developed under the guidance of faculty and approved by the doctoral project committee.

Project options may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following:

1. Evidence-Based Project
   Evidence-based projects shall demonstrate a thorough synthesis of evidence related to a defined clinical question pertinent to the profession of audiology.
   
   Students shall produce a critical analysis of the literature, addressing the strength of evidence, synthesizing the findings of individual studies, interpreting the results, and applying the evidence to audiology practice. Both the written document and oral presentation will be reviewed according to a set of defined criteria specified in the AuD student handbook.
    
2. Hearing Science Project
   Projects shall demonstrate a thorough synthesis of evidence. Students shall produce a critical analysis of the literature, addressing the strength of evidence, synthesizing the findings of individual studies and interpreting the results. Both the written document and oral presentation will be reviewed according to a set of defined criteria specified in the AuD student handbook.
    
3. Clinical Research Project
   CSU AuD programs may use a clinical research project significant to the field of audiology. The project may be in the form of a meta-analysis, systematic review, clinical research project, or single-case research design project. Both the written document and oral presentation shall be reviewed according to a set of defined criteria specified in the AuD student handbook.

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.

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.

Doctoral Dissertation Requirements - 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 and timelines should be planned carefully to ensure that all department and university submission deadlines are met. Students must allow enough time for multiple draft preparation, committee feedback, formatting/word processing, and allowances for faculty time constraints. Students must leave time for the final reading and signing by the committee members. A minimum of two months may be needed for the entire process, and departments may require a longer period. Students must have completed all degree requirements 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 Thesis and Dissertation Guidelines.

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, the 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.

Checking the Dissertation Manuscript

The College of Graduate Studies does not serve as an editor nor content reviewer. The author and graduate committee members should carefully proofread the dissertation before it is submitted and are responsible for its content and ensuring that it is correctly formatted. A careful review should be used by the student as a guide to correcting similar errors in the entire manuscript. The review conducted by the College 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 feedback to the remainder of the document, would may result in a substandard dissertation. The College of Graduate Studies may 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 dissertation 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 their 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.

For information about copyright permission, IRB & human subjects research, and animal research requirements, view the Research Policies and Procedures   section.

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. Deadline dates for submission may be found at Thesis and Dissertation Information. 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.

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 and approved by graduate advisor and department chair by submitting a Core Substitution Petition. 
• Complete an acceptable dissertation or project. The dissertation requires that one copy be submitted to the Associate Dean for College of Graduate Studies. 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 five years preceding award of the degree. If courses become outdated, the candidate should consult the section titled Time Limits on Courses in Graduate Degree Programs concerning steps to be followed.
• Apply for the award of degree by the 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 following one academic year, 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 (see “Advancement to Candidacy”). Students should apply for graduation at least one semester before the date of anticipated graduation before filing for candidacy. However, it is highly advised that students apply at least one year before their future graduation date.

For detailed information about these requirements, please visit Steps for Completing Your Graduate Degree 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 unless the Associate Dean for the College of Graduate Studies petitions the Registrar’s Office in rare circumstances.
• 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 Graduate Degree must be requested through www.sjsu.edu/gape/forms (see Online Graduation Date Change Request)
• Required forms must be submitted by the deadlines posted on the GAPE website.
• Students are urged not to delay; failure to submit forms by the deadlines posted could delay graduation.

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 course in the program is completed, the latter indicating fulfillment of all degree requirements. Candidates have the following options to revalidate a course:

• 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. A student may revalidate a maximum of 12 units for a doctoral 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. Courses designated CR/NC, including supervisory courses such as project and thesis courses, seminar courses, independent study courses, and internship courses cannot 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.     

Graduate students are eligible for all leaves of absence except when finished with all degree requirements other than their culminating experience (dissertation, project, and/or comprehensive exam plus any other components required of the program). 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 (Dissertation/Project Supervision) through special session every semester until graduation (See Dissertation and Project Work - RP Status) to maintain continuous enrollment (see policy S17-5). 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 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.