Degree Requirements - PhD

Following is a brief overview of requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in Communication program. Requirements for the Master of Science in Information Sciences are provided in a separate document.

The Doctor of Philosophy with a major in Communication and Information is intended to prepare scholars for research, teaching, administration, and service in the fields of communication and information. The goal of the PhD program is to prepare graduates for positions in research-intensive institutions. This preparation also enables them to work at other types of educational institutions and industry positions. Doctoral students develop publishable research in their coursework, and provide evidence of publishable research prior to taking comprehensive exams. Graduates are expected to be competent in using at least one research method and should be literate in statistics. The program includes training in the foundational origins and contemporary literature of communication and information theories and professions. The program offers the opportunity for students to learn to be good teachers and to participate in service and outreach activities.

The program is interdisciplinary, consisting of a core curriculum, primary concentration, and cognate area of study. Core courses begin in the fall semester. The first fall and spring semesters must be spent in residence (i.e., enrolled as a full-time student). CCI 610 and 615 must be taken in the first year of the program. Attendance at a fall orientation session is required. Appendix C provides an overview of the steps in the process of earning the Ph.D. degree.

Required Hours

A minimum of 61 hours of approved graduate work is required for the PhD. Students are typically able to complete coursework in about two full years of study and should expect to spend about a year writing the dissertation. No transfer credits are accepted for the doctoral program. See Appendix D for Program Planning Guides for the Doctor of Philosophy in Communication and Information.

• Core courses
  Twelve total hours in Communication and Information 610 and 615; minimum of 3 hours of statistics; and 1 to 3 hours of Communication and Information 620.
• Concentration Area
  Twelve hours in a primary concentration as defined by the student and his/her program committee.
• Cognate Area
  Nine hours in a cognate area as defined by the student and his/her program committee.
• Dissertation
  Twenty-four hours of dissertation.

Other Requirements

Within primary and cognate areas, a total of 6 credit hours must be from theory-intensive courses and a total of 6 hours must be from methods-intensive classes. Courses both inside and outside the college (including graduate-level courses in the schools) may be identified as theory- and/or method-intensive. A list of eligible courses appears in Appendix E. Students may also submit courses to their program committee for consideration as theory- and/or method-intensive.

Students develop the first draft of their program plan with the assistance of their first-year adviser. This preliminary program plan must be submitted by April 1 in the first year of study. The full program committee is assembled in the second year of a student's studies. The full program committee must approve the final program plan before a student may take comprehensive exams. The associate dean for academic programs also reviews the program plan to assure that all degree requirements have been met.

Admission to candidacy must be attained at least two semesters prior to graduation and requires successful completion of a written comprehensive examination.

Candidates for the PhD degree must take comprehensive examinations within five years of enrollment, and all requirements must be completed within eight years from the time of the student's first enrollment in a doctoral degree program.

Planned course offerings in the College of Communication and Information for a full calendar year are available the preceding November. This information is available from the associate dean's office.