DOCTORAL DEGREES

The school shall offer at least three doctoral degree programs that are relevant to three of the five areas of basic public health knowledge.

Interpretation. A school of public health shall have faculty expertise, availability of advanced-

level courses and active research sufficient to support the development and offering of doctoral degree curricula in or related to at least three of the five core areas of public health knowledge defined in Criterion 2.1. A school can be accredited for its initial term if one doctoral program hasgraduated at least one student and the other two are fully functional, with five full-time faculty, and with the programs, curriculum and courses fully approved and at least one doctoral student enrolled in each program. The doctoral programs may be professional or academic degrees.

Establishment of an accreditable doctoral program is contingent on the establishment and support of sufficient advanced-level coursework within the school. Doctoral programs must not rely extensively on master’s-level courses but should have courses that are specifically developed for, and have learning objectives targeted toward, doctoral students. To attract strong doctoral students and to provide all students with a quality education, schools must ensure that doctoral courses are available beyond those associated with the master’s degree, such that a student completing an MPH at the school would have ample additional coursework available if he or she were to remain at the institution for doctoral study.

The accreditation criteria do not define a minimum number of post-master’s credit hours associated with the degree. The Council expects, however, that credit requirements will fall within the range typical of the discipline. It is especially important that schools clearly explain and document the proportion of total doctoral credits required in post-master’s degree didactic coursework and how many credits are allocated to exams and to the dissertation or thesis and related research. In total, many successful academic doctoral programs require at least 50-60 semester credits of didactic coursework. In total, successful professional doctoral programs typically require between 30-50 semester credits of didactic coursework, plus practice experience, exams and a professional project or dissertation.

Required Documentation

2.12.A. Identification of all doctoral programs offered by the school, by degree and area of specialization. The instructional matrix in Criterion 2.1.a may be referenced for this purpose. If the school is a new applicant and has graduates from only one doctoral program, a description of plans and a timetable for graduating students from the other two doctoral programs must be presented, with university documentation supporting the school’s projections.

GSPH offers the PhD in all seven departments, and the DrPH in BCHS, EOH, and Epidemiology (see Data Template 2.1.1).

2.12.B. Description of specific support and resources available to doctoral students including traineeships, mentorship opportunities, etc.

All doctoral programs within GSPH are well-established and rich in opportunities for students, including funding and mentoring opportunities. The vast majority of doctoral students are supported by Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) positions, which provide tuition and a stipend; a few have teaching assistant positions, which carry the same benefits. A few others have half- time GSR positions (half tuition and half stipend) or hourly work involved in the school’s research or teaching program. A few are employed full-time and attend school part-time. The following doctoral training grants are currently active within GSPH:

• xx • xx

In addition, many mentors encourage students to apply for individual fellowships from NIH or other sources.

All doctoral students have primary mentors (dissertation advisors) and a committee that meets at least once a year to monitor progress. Starting in the fall of 2014, all doctoral students are required to complete Independent Development Plans (IDPs) in collaboration with their advisors. This process provides the student with an opportunity to do competency-based academic planning – setting goals and deciding how to pursue those goals. The IDP is a required part of the qualifying examination and dissertation proposal for all doctoral students.

Doctoral students also have a number of other school-level resources available to them, including a research ethics course that is required by several departments, and all courses and services that are available to other students, including career services.

Commented [EF47]: Need to add the list of training

grants.

Commented [EF48]: Add link to policy and form as soon

as they exist.

Commented [E49]: This policy has not been approved

yet. Make sure that whatever we say is correct at the time this document is submitted.

Doctoral students have a very high level of satisfaction with their research experiences and research mentoring, as shown in table X.

2.12.C. Data on student progression through each of the school’s doctoral programs, to include the total number of students enrolled, number of students completing coursework and number of students in candidacy for each doctoral program. See CEPH Template 2.10.1.

Table 2.10.1 shows doctoral student progression in each of our ten programs. The table displays the progress milestones that are most relevant for our students: completion of the

preliminary/qualifying exam and completion of the “overview” (dissertation proposal). While the programs vary in size, student progression through all programs is good. Full-time students in all programs typically finish in four to six years.

2.12.D. Identification of specific coursework, for each degree, that is aimed at doctoral-level education.

All departments have ample doctoral-level coursework, as shown in table 2.12.1.

2.12.E. Assessment of the extent to which this criterion is met and an analysis of the school’s strengths, weaknesses, and plans relating to this criterion.

Strengths |

• GSPH offers 10 well-established, well-supported doctoral programs. Almost all doctoral students are funded.

• Student progress through all programs is well monitored and the pace is good.

• All doctoral students complete publication-quality research, and are very satisfied with their dissertation advising and research experiences.

Weaknesses | As research funding gets tighter across the board, support for doctoral students is shrinking. We are making appropriate adjustments to programs correspondingly; we do not want unfunded students and unemployed graduates. We are also being very proactive about ensuring that our doctoral students are thinking about non-academic career options.

Plans |

Commented [E50]: Link to strategic planning table

Commented [EF51]: Data need to be finalized and table

put in word format. Numbers here are not correct.