Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Education Degree Requirements

Requirements for all Doctoral Programs

The doctoral degree is conferred upon graduate students who have met the following requirements:

Successful completion of all courses and projects specified by the adviser/guidance committee within the guidelines of the candidate's graduate studies program.
A doctoral candidate must spend the equivalent of at least one continuous academic year of full-time graduate work (nine credits per semester) in residence at the university. The residency year must be either in fall/spring or spring/fall sequence. During this year, the student must spend some part of each week physically on campus. Doctoral students enrolled in recognized off-campus programs may satisfy this regulation at their off-campus site.
Satisfactory completion of foreign language requirements, if required by the candidate's graduate studies program. (These requirements are listed in the departmental sections of this Bulletin.)
Passing a preliminary comprehensive examination conducted by the major department. Any student who fails the comprehensive examination may, at the discretion of the examining committee, be permitted a second and final examination.
Registration for the required number of dissertation credits (refer to the Policies and Regulations section of this Bulletin).
Submission of an approved dissertation prospectus to the Graduate School at least seven months prior to the Final Oral Examination (defense of dissertation).
Preparation of a dissertation satisfactory to the Dissertation Committee and the Department Head/Chair.
Passing a final (at least partly oral) examination conducted by the Dissertation Committee. This examination shall be primarily upon, but not necessarily limited to, the candidate's dissertation. This examination time and date shall be submitted to the Graduate Dean for announcement to the Graduate Faculty when all of the Dissertation Committee members and the Department Head/Chair agree that the dissertation is sufficiently complete to stand defense; approval of the dissertation, passing the defense, and/or recommending the degree are not implied by scheduling this examination.
Doctoral students are expected to achieve candidacy within six years and required to complete their program within five years of achieving candidacy. Candidacy is recommended by the academic department upon satisfactory completion of coursework and passing the qualifying examination. One- or two-year extensions to this policy will be considered by the Graduate Dean upon recommendation from the student's Graduate Program Director.

Evaluation of Degree Progress

The departmental* Graduate Program Director is responsible for the following, all within the guidelines of the Graduate School and the candidate's graduate studies program:

Approving the candidate's program of courses.
Approving the procedure for satisfying the language requirements, if any.
Arranging for the candidate's preliminary comprehensive examination.
Reporting fulfillment of the above requirements to the Head/Chair of the Department, and to the Graduate School.

As soon as the student has passed the preliminary comprehensive examination, the Department Head/Chair or Graduate Program Director of the candidate's major department* shall recommend to the Dean of the Graduate School the names of at least three members of the Graduate Faculty to serve as a Dissertation Committee. At least two of the Graduate Faculty so nominated, including the committee Chair, shall be from the candidate's major department.* One member shall be appointed from outside the candidate's department* but from within the University community. Without exception, the outside member shall be a voting member of the Dissertation Committee.

It shall be the responsibility of the Dissertation Committee to approve the dissertation project, to supervise its execution, and to arrange and attend the final examination of the student. All members of the Dissertation Committee must tentatively approve the dissertation before the final oral examination is scheduled and agree that it is time for this examination to be held. Attendance at the final oral examination is open to all members of the candidate's major department and any member of the Graduate Faculty. However, only members of the Dissertation Committee may cast votes. A unanimous vote of the Dissertation Committee is required for the student to pass the final oral examination. If, at the final examination, two members of the Dissertation Committee cast negative votes, the candidate will be informed that he or she has not passed the examination. If there is but one negative vote, the degree will be held up pending action of the Graduate Council.

*Refers to administrative entity for which degree has been authorized (i.e., department, program, school, etc.).

Five College Cooperative Ph.D. Program

A cooperative Ph.D. program is offered by Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The degree is awarded by this University, but the dissertation advisor may be on the faculty of one of the other participating institutions. Departments authorized to offer the cooperative Ph.D. degree are: all departments in Geology, Physics, and Astronomy. Admission to these cooperative programs is handled like admissions to all other graduate programs at the University.

Doctoral Dissertation

In addition to the other requirements of the Graduate School, a candidate for the degree Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) must complete an acceptable dissertation. The dissertation qualifies for acceptance when it satisfies the following criteria: (1) It should demonstrate the candidate's intellectual competence and maturity in the field of concentration; (2) It should make an original and valid contribution to human knowledge; (3) It should be an individual achievement and the product of independent research.

Although doctoral dissertations may result from a project involving collaboration of several scholars or scientists, the individual contribution of each doctoral candidate must be substantial and clearly identifiable. The length of the dissertation is governed by the nature of its subject matter.

The dissertation in its completed form will be judged largely upon the ability of the candidate to review and make critical use of the literature; to formulate a problem, plan a method of attack, and work systematically toward a solution; to summarize the material or data, and draw conclusions based thereon. Scholastic attainment in writing and presenting the results of the study will be crucial. The goal of the dissertation is to make a contribution to knowledge. It should be of publishable quality.

The following rules shall be adhered to in preparation and presentation of a dissertation:

The professor responsible for the direction of the student's research shall be the Chair of the candidate's Dissertation Committee. Only members of the Graduate Faculty may be appointed to this committee.
It is the responsibility of the Chair of the Dissertation Committee to arrange a conference with other members of the committee and the candidate to discuss the research problem before approving the dissertation prospectus.
A copy of the candidate's dissertation prospectus must be signed by each member of the Dissertation Committee and Department Chair/Head or Graduate Program Director to indicate that the prospectus has been approved and that a conference with the candidate has been held. The signed copy of the prospectus shall then be sent to the Dean of the Graduate School, via the candidate's Graduate Program Director.
Prior to arranging for the final preparation of dissertations, candidates should refer to the Guidelines for Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations.
The Dissertation Committee is responsible for preparation of an acceptable dissertation. The dissertation must have the tentative approval of this Committee and the approval of the Department Head or Chairman before arrangements are made for the final oral examination for the degree.
Because of the time required to give adequate consideration to the research, it is important that the dissertation be submitted to the Dissertation Committee at least one month before the Graduate School degree-granting deadlines.
Although different disciplines have distinctive research and presentation styles, the Guidelines for Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations must be followed in order to achieve the maximum uniformity possible. Both the Dissertation Committee and the Graduate School must approve the final format and appearance. The candidate shall submit the dissertation to the Graduate School in electronic format following the online instructions by the deadline for the appropriate degree period. The dissertation will be made available through the W.E.B. Du Bois Library and branch libraries. Some departments require a bound copy for their own file as well.
The Degree Eligibility form and one original signature page for the dissertation must be submitted to the Graduate School by the deadline for the appropriate degree-granting period.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst requires that all dissertations include a copyright notice in all copies of the work to indicate the dissertations are protected by copyright. Registration of the copyright is optional. Further information concerning copyright is available at https://www.copyright.gov.

The dissertation will be cataloged in the Library of Congress and in the University of Massachusetts Library. This does not preclude the printing of the dissertation in whole or in part in a journal or as a monograph.

Additional Requirements

For additional information, refer to individual program listings in this Bulletin. Any Graduate School regulation or procedure shall not preclude graduate programs from developing specific regulations or procedures which are more restrictive or selective.