Doctoral Advisory Committee
The student's Doctoral Advisory Committee will be established as outlined in the OUHSC Graduate College Bulletin. “Each department or program unit will establish a Departmental Advisory Committee in such a way that the related areas within the department are represented. A minimum of three Graduate Faculty members should comprise the Advisory Committee with the majority authorized to chair a doctoral committee. The membership of the committee must be approved by the Graduate Dean.” The Advisory Committee will be established in discussion between the student and dissertation advisor. Each student will have their own Advisory Committee tailored to their needs/interests, rather than establishing a common Advisory Committee for all PhD students. There is no requirement that both emphasis areas be represented on the Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee will be established upon the student entering the program.
The responsibilities of this committee will be to:
- Advise, encourage, and act as an advocate for students from the first day a student is in the program. This should include regularly scheduled meetings with the student through the completion of the general examination;
- Design an appropriate curriculum for each student;
- Work with the student to complete and file with the Graduate College a plan of study (Report of the Doctoral Advisory Conference). This report should be filed no later than the end of the student's first year in the program. The Committee should be sure that the student understands that the program may need to be modified or additional work may be necessary, depending on the choice of the dissertation advisor and dissertation topic;
- Coordinate the administration of the General Examination at the appropriate time;
- Perform an annual evaluation of each student's progress toward the degree and communicate the results of the evaluation to the student and the Graduate Dean.
General Examination Committee
The General Examination Committee for each academic unit is responsible for executing the General Examination for the PhD student. The General Examination Committee must be composed of five Graduate Faculty members with the majority authorized to chair a doctoral committee. The dissertation advisor will be one of the General Examination Committee members and will serve as the chair of the Committee, and the others will be determined in discussions between the student and dissertation advisor. Committee members should be determined taking into consideration the areas of expertise needed to best serve the needs of the student and the research area that they are working in. There is no requirement that there be a member from both emphasis areas.
Following successful completion of the General Examination, the student's Doctoral Committee will be established by the Advisory Committee, in coordination with the student and the dissertation advisor and with approval by the Graduate Dean. This committee will consist of at least five members with the majority from the Department of Allied Health Sciences and with at least one member from outside the department. Doctoral Committee members should be determined taking into consideration the areas of expertise needed to best serve the needs of the student and the research area that they are working in. There is no requirement that there be a member from both Nutritional Sciences and Rehabilitation Sciences. The committee must be constituted so that no more than two members do not have authority to chair doctoral committees. If the Graduate Faculty appointment level of a doctoral committee member changes, the Graduate College will honor the appointment level at the time the committee was approved.
This committee must be appointed no later than the time that the General Examination is successfully completed. Any changes in the membership of the Doctoral Committee must be done in consultation with the student and approved by the remaining members of the Committee and the Graduate Dean. The Graduate Dean may exercise the prerogative of appointing an additional voting representative of the Graduate College. If the representative is appointed later than one semester prior to the time of the General Examination, he or she will serve as a non-voting member of the Committee.
The functions of this committee will be to:
- guide the student in the selection of an appropriate dissertation topic and in the research design and methodology for the dissertation;
- approve the student's research plan or prospectus;
- advise and assist the student with specialty information necessary to design and complete the dissertation research project;
- perform an annual evaluation of the student's progress toward the degree and communicate the results of the evaluation to the student and the Graduate Dean;
- read and correct the drafts of the dissertation to ensure that appropriate standards are met; and Administer the dissertation defense.
Doctoral Advisory Committee
The student's Doctoral Advisory Committee will be established as outlined in the OUHSC Graduate College Bulletin. “Each department or program unit will establish a Departmental Advisory Committee in such a way that the related areas within the department are represented. A minimum of three Graduate Faculty members should comprise the Advisory Committee with the majority authorized to chair a doctoral committee. The membership of the committee must be approved by the Graduate Dean.” The Advisory Committee will be established in discussion between the student and dissertation advisor. Each student will have their own Advisory Committee tailored to their needs/interests, rather than establishing a common Advisory Committee for all PhD students. There is no requirement that both emphasis areas be represented on the Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee will be established upon the student entering the program.
The responsibilities of this committee will be to:
- Advise, encourage, and act as an advocate for students from the first day a student is in the program. This should include regularly scheduled meetings with the student through the completion of the general examination;
- Design an appropriate curriculum for each student;
- Work with the student to complete and file with the Graduate College a plan of study (Report of the Doctoral Advisory Conference). This report should be filed no later than the end of the student's first year in the program. The Committee should be sure that the student understands that the program may need to be modified or additional work may be necessary, depending on the choice of the dissertation advisor and dissertation topic;
- Coordinate the administration of the General Examination at the appropriate time;
- Perform an annual evaluation of each student's progress toward the degree and communicate the results of the evaluation to the student and the Graduate Dean.
General Examination Committee
The General Examination Committee is responsible for executing the General Examination for the PhD student. The General Examination Committee must be composed of five Graduate Faculty members with the majority authorized to chair a doctoral committee. The dissertation advisor will be one of the General Examination Committee members and will serve as the chair of the Committee, and the others will be determined in discussions between the student and dissertation advisor. Members will be chosen from within the faculty of both Nutritional Sciences and Rehabilitation Sciences. Committee members should be determined taking into consideration the areas of expertise needed to best serve the needs of the student and the research area that they are working in. There is no requirement that there be a member from both Nutritional Sciences and Rehabilitation Sciences. The responsibility of the emphasis area program director is to assure that the general exams across committees are of adequate rigor, but they are not required to serve on all committees.
The General Exam will consist of writing a grant proposal following the criteria and format of the R21 NIH grant. The content of the grant can focus on the same area of research that the student will focus on for their dissertation. The grant proposal does not need to be submitted to a funding agency. It can be written in a way that it can be adapted to another funding mechanism and submitted, if appropriate. The oral portion of the General Exam is the presentation of the written proposal, which will be held after the written proposal is approved by the committee. During the oral component, there will be a rigorous question and answer session in which the student can display their ability to critically defend his/her hypothesis, overarching goals and methodology.
The student should apply for the General Examination when their course work is almost complete. A rubric will be developed to evaluate the Examination. The same rubric will be used for all examinations and will be available to the student prior to writing the General Examination. Students can meet with any General Examination Committee member prior to completing the written portion for consultation. Students will meet with the dissertation advisor within 2 weeks of completion of the written portion of the General Examination to receive consultation and evaluation of their performance on the written portion of the Examination.
Following successful completion of the General Examination, the student's Doctoral Committee will be established by the Advisory Committee in coordination with the student and the dissertation advisor and with approval by the Graduate Dean. This committee will consist of at least five members with the majority from the Department of Allied Health Sciences and with at least one member from outside the department. Doctoral Committee members should be determined taking into consideration the areas of expertise needed to best serve the needs of the student and the research area that they are working in. There is no requirement that there be a member from both Nutritional Sciences and Rehabilitation Sciences. The committee must be constituted so that no more than two members do not have authority to chair doctoral committees. If the Graduate Faculty appointment level of a doctoral committee member changes, the Graduate College will honor the appointment level at the time the committee was approved.
This committee must be appointed no later than the time that the General Examination is successfully completed. Any changes in the membership of the Doctoral Committee must be done in consultation with the student and approved by the remaining members of the Committee and the Graduate Dean. The Graduate Dean may exercise the prerogative of appointing an additional voting representative of the Graduate College. If the representative is appointed later than one semester prior to the time of the General Examination, he or she will serve as a non-voting member of the Committee.
The functions of this committee will be to:
- Guide the student in the selection of an appropriate dissertation topic and in the research design and methodology for the dissertation;
- Approve the student's research plan or prospectus;
- Advise and assist the student with specialty information necessary to design and complete the dissertation research project;
- Perform an annual evaluation of the student's progress toward the degree and communicate the results of the evaluation to the student and the Graduate Dean;
- Read and correct the drafts of the dissertation to insure that appropriate standards are met; and Administer the dissertation defense.
