Requirements for Candidates for Doctoral Degrees

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Time to Completion of the Doctoral Degree: PhD

Time to degree is typically five years with full time enrollment after official admittance into the program. A student who has not completed her/his degree after seven years will be placed on probation. The probationary period will begin at the start of the eighth year. As part of the probationary status, the student will not be able to register for an additional semester unless the student has received a letter of approval signed by the chair of her/his Ph.D. program. A copy of the signed letter is to be submitted to the Graduate Division; a copy will be sent to the Office of the Registrar. The probation notice will be rescinded if the student completes the degree within ten years. Students who do not complete the degree within ten years are subject to dismissal. Also, a student who has not submitted Form 2: Thesis/Project/Dissertation Proposal and advanced to candidacy after five years will be placed on probation and will not be able to register for an additional semester unless the student has received a letter of approval signed by the chair of her/his Ph.D. program. The probation notice will be rescinded if the student advances to candidacy prior to seven years. If the student has not filed this form within seven years, the student shall be dismissed. Approved leaves of absence do not count toward these time limits.

If at the end of year ten more time is needed for completion of the doctoral degree due to circumstances beyond the student’s control, and the student has completed all degree requirements except the dissertation, an extension may be requested. Similarly, if more time is needed for advancement to candidacy due to circumstances beyond the student’s control, an extension may be requested. To request an extension, the student’s Graduate Committee Chair, with the approval of the Program Chair/Director, must submit a petition to the Graduate Division for evaluation by the Chair of the Graduate Council and the VCAA. If the program does not file for an extension, the student will be dismissed.

The extension request should provide a timeline for completion that includes the expected graduation date and the reason(s) necessitating the extension.

The student will be subject to the policy of continuous registration, including the entirety of the probation and extension period, except if s/he is on a leave of absence (see continuous registration).

Time to Completion of the Doctoral Degree: DNP

Time to completion is typically three years with full-time enrollment for Post-BSN entry students, and two years for Post-MSN entry students after official admittance into the program. Failure to complete the Practice Inquiry Project (PIP) within five years after admission to the program will result in the student being placed on probation. The probationary period will begin at the start of the sixth year. As part of the probationary status, the student will not be able to register for an additional semester unless the student has received a letter of approval signed by the chair of the DNP program. The probation notice will be rescinded if the student completes the degree within seven years. Students who do not complete the degree within seven years may be subject to dismissal. Approved leaves of absence do not count toward these time limits.

By this policy, if at the end of year seven additional time is needed for completion of the DNP degree due to circumstances beyond the student’s control, and the student has completed all of the degree requirements except the Practice Inquiry Project (PIP), an extension may be requested. To request an extension, the student’s Graduate Committee Chair, with the approval of the Program Chair/Director, must submit a petition to the Chair of the Graduate Council to be evaluated by the Chair of the Graduate Council and the VCAA. If the program does not file for an extension, the student will be dismissed.

The extension request should provide a timeline for completion that includes the expected graduation date and the reason(s) necessitating the extension.

The student will be subject to the policy of continuous registration, including the entirety of the probation and extension period, except if s/he is on a leave of absence (see continuous registration). Please also see the School of Nursing DNP Program Guidelines.

Time to Completion of the Doctoral Degree: PharmD

For time to completion of the PharmD degree, please see the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy handbook .

Admission to Doctoral Work

For masters’ degree candidates intending to continue into the doctoral program in the same graduate program, the student’s graduate committee, at a designated time near the completion of the student’s masters’ work, decides whether or not to admit the student to the doctoral program. For entry into a UH Hilo doctoral program from a masters’ program at another university, or from a masters’ program in a different discipline at UH Hilo, students follow the regular graduate application and admission procedures.

Beginning the Program

At the beginning of the student’s doctoral work, the chair of the graduate program appoints a primary academic advisor or graduate committee (whose chair is the principal advisor). The initial advisor assists the student in planning coursework and in understanding the program structure and requirements; the advisor has primary responsibility for monitoring the progress of the student’s work. The advisor may or may not become the student’s graduate committee chair at a later stage in his or her studies. The initial advisor should meet with the student at least once each semester.

Requirements for a Doctoral Degree

The Graduate Catalog stipulates the specific requirements for the doctoral degree in each program. The requirements include:

1. Maintenance of at least a B average in courses approved by the program’s graduate committee and presented for the degree.
2. Fulfillment of all program course requirements For both PhD programs, no credit is granted for graduate courses in which a grade lower than B- has been received. For DNP students, no credit is granted for graduate courses in which a grade lower than a B has been received.
3. Completion of at least 24 credit hours in residence regardless of any previous graduate coursework elsewhere. Students continuing their studies for a doctoral degree in the same UH Hilo program from which they earned their masters’ degree need not fulfill a second residence requirement.
4. Continuous registration including the semester in which final degree requirements are completed (including the summer, if the degree is to be conferred in the summer).
5. Demonstration to the graduate committee by means of a comprehensive examination (written and/or oral) of familiarity with basic hypotheses and techniques of the discipline and competence in applying them.
6. Fulfillment of any research skills requirements.
7. Submission of a dissertation on a topic approved by the department or school, embodying the results of original research and giving evidence of high scholarship.
8. Successful defense of the dissertation at a final oral examination.
9. Completion of any other requirements specific to the graduate program.

Research Skills Requirements

Each graduate program establishes foreign language reading competency or equivalent research skills for its students. The graduate program determines the method(s) to be used to fulfill these requirements. Graduate students may register for research skills courses that have been established in each program.

Formation of Dissertation Committee

By the end of the second semester of coursework in a doctoral program, Form 1: Graduate Committee Formation should be submitted. All committee appointments are made in consultation with the student’s primary academic advisor, graduate program chair, and with approval of the Graduate Council.

Committees are formed and modified (if necessary) by mutual agreement between the student and the faculty. The principal dissertation supervisor serves as chair of the graduate committee. Faculty are not required to serve on a particular dissertation committee if they do not wish to, and they are entitled to withdraw from a dissertation committee for reasonable cause. Faculty members from outside the student’s own department or school may serve on the dissertation committee, but they do not replace the external examiner (should one be necessary), who is appointed by the VCAA before the final oral examination is scheduled.

Please see the full policy on Graduate Committees and Primary Academic Advisors for more information.

Comprehensive Examination

A comprehensive or proficiency examination is used to test candidates’ specialized knowledge in the discipline and to demonstrate that they are qualified to undertake advanced-level dissertation work. The comprehensive examination may be written and/or oral.

The student’s graduate committee serves as the examination committee, and this body determines the outcome of the examination. The student may repeat all or part of the comprehensive examination only once without prior approval from the VCAA or designee. The student has five years to complete the doctorate after passing the comprehensive examination, before being placed on probation.

Once the comprehensive examination has been successfully passed, the program should complete the Comprehensive Exam Reporting Form (PDF) and submit it to the Graduate Division.

Dissertation Planning

After the student passes the comprehensive examination, the student’s graduate committee will oversee the dissertation work. The committee will include an additional member chosen from a field outside the graduate program or from a similar field but from a different university, appointed by the VCAA or designee. Based on the student’s recommendations, the committee is appointed by the chair of the student’s graduate program. Two of the three regular members of the committee must be full time faculty at UH Hilo. Students must receive approval from the Office of Research Compliance (ORC) for theses involving human subjects or from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) for dissertations involving use of vertebrate animals. ORC and/or IACUC approval, where appropriate, must be sought at the time of approval of the dissertation topic, and research on the dissertation may not commence until after ORC/IACUC approval is granted. Where appropriate, permission from other entities, such as the Office of Research Services or the UH Hilo Environmental Health & Safety Office may be required.

Students should consult with the UH Hilo Academic Dishonesty policy, their Primary Advisor and Graduate Program Chair on the use of Generative AI, if any, in dissertation research.

Prospectus

The prospectus functions to identify the topic to be undertaken in the dissertation and to formalize the approval of the project by a faculty committee. The timing, format, length, and conventions governing the prospectus are set by each graduate program. If the student’s program requires a prospectus, the student should submit it within six months after being admitted to candidacy; the prospectus must first be approved by the dissertation committee. In a conventional prospectus, a student is asked to identify a topic, to summarize relevant backgrounds, and to explain the approach. Some programs substitute for the prospectus another means of ensuring that the student’s project has been identified clearly and has received written approval by each member of the committee.

Before approving the dissertation project, the chair of the graduate committee is encouraged to arrange a conference with the student and the other committee members for the purpose of discussing the research topic. Each program must inform doctoral students of its expectations, standards, and procedures regarding the prospectus or other approval of dissertation projects and must provide access to samples of accepted proposals or prospectuses. Graduate programs should include specific information about their expectations for a prospectus in advising manuals for graduate students.

Admission to Candidacy

After the student has passed the comprehensive examinations and met all research skills and coursework requirements, as certified by the program’s submission of the Form 2: Thesis/Project/Dissertation Proposal, he or she will be officially admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree by the VCAA. Intra- and inter-program majors and minors should be declared at this time where applicable.

At least two semesters normally elapse between admission to candidacy and the granting of the degree. Doctoral candidates must complete all requirements for the degree, including the dissertation, within five years after admission to doctoral candidacy.

Dissertation Defense

The graduate committee has direct charge of all matters pertaining to the dissertation. The student’s dissertation must have the unanimous approval of his or her dissertation committee and of the chair of the graduate program before arrangements are made for the final examination for the degree. Members of the student’s graduate committee serve as the examination committee.

Final Oral Exam

After the student’s program has been notified of the appointment of an external examiner, the program director, in conjunction with the chair of the examination committee, may proceed to schedule the final oral examination. Because of the time required to give adequate consideration to the student’s research, the student should submit the dissertation to the graduate committee well in advance of the final oral defense. Normally, two months is recommended; the student should consult the committee.

The final oral examination is open to any person wishing to attend. Members of the graduate committee must be given sufficient time to question the candidate about the dissertation. The final defense is a public examination, however, and the committee chair is responsible for the conduct of an open and impartial examination, including reasonable participation by observers. At the conclusion of the examination, it is customary for the chair to request that everyone except the graduate committee leave the room, so that the members may reach a decision. This procedure should not be invoked at any other time during the examination and should not preclude questions from either committee members or outside observers. The final oral examination shall not exceed 4 hours in length. No member of a graduate committee can be expected to participate in a dissertation defense if that member has not had at least two weeks to read and consider the dissertation beforehand.

At the final examination, the student will be required to respond to examiners’ questions concerning the dissertation and to defend the validity of the dissertation. To pass, the student must receive unanimous approval from the total graduate committee present. All members of the graduate committee who accept the dissertation in partial fulfillment of requirements for the doctorate shall so attest by their signatures on Form 3: Thesis/Project/Dissertation and Degree Requirements Completion. If the external examiner does not signify approval in this manner, he or she should give the reason for dissent by submitting a separate memorandum to the VCAA or designee within three days of the examination.

If at the final examination the examiners generally approve of the dissertation but require significant changes and are not yet prepared to sign Form 3: Thesis/Project/Dissertation and Degree Requirements Completion, the chair of the graduate committee will coordinate with other members of the committee to compile all required changes and will inform the student of the scope and substance of those changes. The committee will establish how the changes will be reviewed and approved.

Following the oral exam and approval of the dissertation, and with the signatures of the members of the dissertation committee, the student submits Form 3: Thesis/Project/Dissertation and Degree Requirements Completion to the Graduate Division, indicating that the student has now fulfilled all academic requirements for the doctoral degree, including submission to Mookini Library via ETD Administrator, and has successfully defended the dissertation. The Graduate Division obtains the final two signatures.

Remote Participation

Normally, all members of the graduate committee and the external examiner are present at the defense. At the discretion of the program, with the unanimous consent of all members of the graduate committee and the student, committee members or the external examiner may participate in the defense via real-time teleconferencing or real-time videoconferencing. In all cases, the chair and at least one other member of the dissertation committee must be physically present.

If in exceptional circumstances one member of the graduate committee cannot be present (either physically or virtually), they may submit questions and comments in writing. Such arrangements must be approved in advance by the program and must have the unanimous consent of all other members of the graduate committee and the student.

Deadlines

Degree completion deadlines are noted in the University Academic Calendar

Completion Letter

Students who complete all degree requirements well in advance of the awarding of the degree may, upon request, receive a statement from the Office of the Registrar certifying that all requirements for the degree have been completed.

Checklist for Completion of Degree Requirements: Doctoral Degrees: PhD

1. Graduate program: Assigns principal academic advisor and graduate committee.
2. Student: Submits Form 1: Graduate Committee Formation.
3. Student: Satisfies residence and course requirements.
4. Student: Passes research skills examinations (if required).
5. Graduate program: Arranges comprehensive examination.
6. Student: Takes comprehensive examination.
7. Student: Writes a prospectus.
8. Student: Submits Form 2: Thesis/Project/Dissertation Proposal when ready to begin the dissertation and advance to candidacy.
9. Student: Maintains appropriate registration for dissertation credit each semester, including semester in which all degree requirements will be completed.
10. Student: Completes dissertation.
11. Graduate program: Nominates Outside Member by memo to the Chair of Graduate Council who then forwards his/her recommendation to the VCAA or designee.
12. VCAA or designee: Appoints Outside Member and so notifies the graduate program.
13. Graduate program: Nominates External Examiner by memo to the VCAA or designee.
14. VCAA or designee: Appoints External Examiner and so notifies the graduate program.
15. Student: Submits Graduation Application form and fee to the Cashiers Office by the required deadline. If student wants to participate in Commencement exercises, student submits the separate Commencement Registration by the required deadline.
16. Student: Submits a copy of the Thesis/Project/Dissertation Defense Schedule form to the Graduate Division one month prior to the defense deadline posted in the University Academic Calendar. Student retains the original until the time of the defense, and submits the completed form to the Graduate Division with the Primary Advisor’s signature indicating successful (or unsuccessful) completion of the defense.
17. Student: Defends and completes dissertation.
18. Student: Obtains signatures of committee members on Form 3: Thesis/Project/Dissertation and Degree Requirements Completion.
19. Student: Submits dissertation on ETD Administrator.
20. Graduate Division: obtains final approvals.