麻豆女郎

The Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing offers a Doctor of Philosophy with Major in Nursing (PhD) degree program. The PhD graduate is expected to expand application of nursing knowledge and theory, enhancing the practice of the profession and directly impacting the health of clients and communities. The focus of the PhD program is to prepare nurse scholars who conduct and build nursing research grounded in caring science and create innovative approaches for addressing nursing practice issues.

The over-arching and grounding framework of the PhD program is the concept of caring. Graduates of this program are educated within a caring-based philosophical framework that integrates essential values such as culturally sensitive caring. In addition to developing advanced research skills, graduates will assist in meeting the tremendous demand for qualified faculty from diverse backgrounds to teach and serve as role models for underrepresented students in colleges and universities.

The program is unique in that most core courses are offered as a Saturday/Sunday program.

Program Outcome Competencies

Graduates of the Doctoral Program will be able to:

• Design and conduct research relevant to nursing practice grounded in caring that informs knowledge development and guides nursing practice
• Construct the foundation for a research program intended to promote well-being for a particular population within the context of lifespan development
• Design research that reflects valuing for human dignity, respecting the environment, and understanding of complex local, national, and global policies that affect the lives of populations of interest

Please refer to the College of Nursing website for the most current plans of study for each program and track. All students will be required to complete nine credit hours of cognates. Six of these nine credits must be taken outside the discipline of Nursing and be directly related to dissertation research. Specific program information can be found under the CURRENT STUDENTS tab under the heading 鈥淎cademic Programs鈥�.

Information Sessions:

Click to register for one of our offerings that suits your schedule.

Graduate Nursing Information Sessions:
All sessions are held from 4:00 PM 鈥� 5:00 PM

• Thursday, September 3, 2026
• Thursday, October 8, 2026
• Thursday, November 12, 2026
• Thursday, December 3, 2026
• Thursday, January 7, 2027

Resources for PhD Students

This page is designed to help Nursing PhD students successfully progress through their degree program. Any questions about the program or related requirements can be directed to the PhD Coordinator, Joseph Lotito, (email: lotitoj@health.fau.edu; telephone: 561-297-1109) or to the PhD Director, Dr. Howard Butcher (email: hbutcher@health.fau.edu; telephone: 561-297-0095).

Administrative

• Academic Calendar
• Advisor Change form
• Application for Degree form
• Background Check Information for Doctoral Students
• Cognate Course Information
• Comprehensive Exam Planning/Proposal form
• Comprehensive Exam Sample Questions
• Comprehensive Exam Result form
• Directed Independent Study Proposal form
• Directed Independent Study contract
• Dissertation Committee Form
• Dissertation Outline
• Dissertation Proposal Defense Form
• Table of Contents - Qualitative Dissertation
• Table of Contents - Quantitative Dissertation
• Doctoral Course Offering Plan
• Graduate College forms
• Guideline for Membership and Chairing of PhD Comprehensive Exam and Dissertation
• Graduate Student Handbook - College of Nursing
• Oral Comprehensive Examination Evaluation Guide
• Petition Form - College of Nursing
• PhD Program Benchmarks
• PhD Student Annual Review
• Laptop - All College of Nursing students are required to supply their own laptop/personal computing device

Research and Writing

• - All PhD students will need to complete the CITI Social & Behavioral Research training module in order to conduct research at 麻豆女郎. The CITI training is usually done while enrolled in NGR 7818: Applied Quantitative Design & Methods and should be completed before the start of the second year of PhD studies. Once the training is completed, students must file a copy of the CITI completion report with the PhD Coordinator. CITI training is valid for three (3) years through 麻豆女郎鈥檚 Institutional Review Board (IRB).
• Faculty Research Interests
• 麻豆女郎 Writing Center - UCEW
• How to Write a Literature Review
• 麻豆女郎 Institutional Review Board (IRB) - The purpose of the IRB is primarily to minimize risk to human subjects. All 麻豆女郎 students and faculty who engage in research involving human subjects must obtain prior approval from the 麻豆女郎 IRB. The 麻豆女郎 IRB uses IRBNet, a web-based system to facilitate the process of reviewing human subjects research projects. Information on using IRBNet can be found by clicking here. IRBNet contains all of the forms, information and tutorials you will need to prepare your application for approval of your research. Please be aware that students cannot submit an application to the IRB as principal investigator (PI). Your faculty mentor will be the PI on the IRB application for your project. Your role will be doctoral student and co-investigator.
• Research Posters - The Office of Nursing Research and Scholarship provides assistance to doctoral students preparing a research poster presentation. The College of Nursing has a required template format to use for presentations; all posters require advance approval. Please allow at least one month lead time. Contact the Office of Nursing Research and Scholarship for details. Additional resources for research posters:
• College of Nursing Poster Guidelines
• Recent College of Nursing Faculty Posters
• Research Practicum Guidelines
• Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing - Each year, the Iota Xi chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing located at the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, invites students, faculty and community members to apply for research funding. Small research grants are available to support dissertation research, pilot studies and other projects. Use the link above to visit their website and click on 鈥淔unding鈥� to learn more.
• Top Ten Tips for Doctoral Study

Stipend Funding

The College of Nursing offers graduate stipend funding each academic year in support of students pursuing a PhD in Nursing. In return, students will be assigned to a teaching or research assistant position. Support for post-Masters PhD students will be limited to two years of funding. BSN to PhD students may receive up to three years of funding. Students must reapply annually for stipends. Funds will be awarded based on fund availability, demonstrated progression towards the degree and satisfactory performance of assigned teaching (TA) or research assistant (RA) activities.

Advising Mentoring

All PhD students receive advising from College of Nursing faculty and staff. Course advising and planning is done primarily by the PhD Academic Advisor, in conjunction with the PhD Program Director. The PhD Academic Advisor will also help students with the course registration process and policy related issues, including procedures for progression toward dissertation completion and graduation. In addition to advising from the PhD Academic Advisor, all newly admitted PhD students are assigned a faculty advisor. Initial faculty advisor assignments are decided by the PhD Program Director and PhD Academic Advisor, and are based on the student鈥檚 expressed research interest and background during the application process.

Mentoring at the doctoral level is the key to student success. Your faculty advisor will talk with you about making the most of your core course work so that it substantively contributes to your research ideas and s/he will help you select a cognate course. Faculty advisors will help you plan your program of research. By the end of course work, you will have a clear idea of your area of study for dissertation research.

Students should plan to meet with faculty advisors at least once a month to discuss emerging ideas about their research and receive career guidance from an expert in the field. As students get closer to dissertation, they will meet with their faculty advisor more frequently. Faculty advisors will guide students as they select comprehensive exam and dissertation committee members.

If a student chooses to change a faculty advisor at any point in their program, they must clearly communicate with both their current and new faculty advisor and then, submit an appropriate request form to the PhD Academic Advisor.

Dissertation Procedures

The elements of the dissertation procedure are often confusing to students. The following narrative offers a description of the procedure.

• After conferring with the faculty mentor and securing agreement from committee members, students will file the form identifying their dissertation committee members with the PhD program coordinator as soon as the committee is formed. This enables planning and communicating to ensure timely progression through the dissertation phase of PhD studies.
• Following successful completion of the comprehensive exam, the student writes the first three chapters of the dissertation proposal. Sometimes the chair will read one chapter at a time and offer comments and sometimes all three chapters will be reviewed simultaneously by the chair. The chair collaborates with the student to set the pace and format for the dissertation proposal. Historical research is an example of a proposal that may use a different format. The dissertation committee chair will review the drafts and decide when the committee members will see a draft of the proposal. Students should plan that faculty will need 3 weeks to read each draft revision of a dissertation proposal. After faculty have read and commented on the draft, the student will make revisions and submit the next draft. The chair will communicate with committee members about when they think the student is ready to hold a hearing on the proposal
• The PhD coordinator should be notified when the hearing time is decided. The full committee will attend the hearing so that everyone agrees and has an opportunity to support the student鈥檚 research plan. An outcome to the dissertation hearing may be that the committee requires the student to submit additional drafts of the proposal, or it may be decided that the student can proceed with data collection.
• The student must obtain Institutional Review Board approval before any data are collected.
• The chair will oversee the dissertation research. When the dissertation research is completed, the chair will read and comment on drafts of the dissertation. When the chair decides that the full committee can receive the dissertation draft, the student sends the draft to the committee. Readers have three weeks to return comments to the student who then revises based on feedback from the full committee. The student then resubmits the full dissertation to the committee. The chair will poll the committee to determine the readiness of the dissertation for defense. Preparation of a defendable dissertation is an iterative and scholarly process that fully engages the dissertation chair and the student and then involves the entire committee.
• The timing of the dissertation defense should be reported to the PhD program coordinator, who will publicize the defense, a public event, open to all students and faculty.
• Following the dissertation defense, the student may have additional revisions that are required before the final version can be submitted to the Graduate College. The university has guidelines for format and paper type that are available on the graduate website.

Dissertation Committee

After a student has passed the comprehensive examination, a dissertation committee shall be formed to supervise the student's research. The committee will consist of at least two graduate faculty members who are familiar with the research area. At least two committee members will be graduate faculty members from the College of Nursing. At least one member of the committee must be from outside the discipline of nursing (could also be from another institution or industry) and this member should have an academic or professional level compatible with the rest of the committee. The chair will be graduate faculty, members may be graduate faculty or associate graduate faculty (refer to Graduate College website for a list of graduate faculty). http://www.fau.edu//graduate/resources/faculty-staff/.

If there are two nursing committee members (both graduate faculty members), it is mandatory that the committee member from outside the discipline of nursing (outside member) has graduate faculty status. When the outside member is not graduate faculty of 麻豆女郎, it is the student鈥檚 responsibility to initiate the necessary paperwork for attaining graduate faculty status for that member. As the third member of a dissertation committee, the outside member must have either Graduate Faculty or Associate Graduate Faculty status from 麻豆女郎. Refer to Form 1: Graduate Faculty Status Application for more information. If there is not sufficient time to obtain graduate faculty status for the committee member outside the discipline of nursing, three graduate faculty members from nursing must be on the dissertation committee in addition to the outside member. Questions about obtaining graduate faculty status should be directed to the PhD Coordinator.

The committee is led by the student's dissertation chair. Students are expected to work in close cooperation with their dissertation chair and committee and keep committee members informed about their progress on a regular basis. Guideline for Membership and Chairing of PhD Comprehensive Exam and Dissertation Committees with Interpretive Statements (Approved by PhD Committee on December 6, 2021).

Courses and Credits

Students are required to complete a minimum of 15 credits in the dissertation phase of their program. While the student is preparing the dissertation proposal, they should register with their dissertation chair for NGR 7979, Advanced Research. Once the dissertation proposal has been approved, they register with their chair for NGR 7980 "Dissertation". Students should limit their registration in NGR 7979 to a maximum of 6 credits in two semesters (3 each semester). The total credit hours for NGR 7979 and NGR 7980 will be a minimum of 15 credits. Students must receive a grade of satisfactory in each course. The student must be registered for at least one credit in the semester in which they defend their dissertation. Students maintain good standing by registering for 2 of 3 semesters during any academic year.

Process for Change of Dissertation Chair

Sometimes a need arises that requires the change of the dissertation chair. The student should discuss the need for a change in person with the current dissertation chair. The student may also initiate an informal discussion with the faculty who may be willing to accept this responsibility however no formal action should be taken without meeting with the current chair first. Once an agreement is formed, the student should seek final approval of this change from the director of the PhD Program through email. Next, the student will obtain new signatures on 麻豆女郎 Graduate College Form 9 鈥淩evision to Existing Plan of Study鈥� (available on the Graduate College website) indicating the new dissertation chair and any other changes in committee membership. Agreement to serve on a student鈥檚 dissertation committee is confirmed by the faculty signing Form 9. Note: Students need to be aware that changing a dissertation committee chair could result in temporary delays in progress towards graduation. The new dissertation committee chair will require time to become familiar with the student鈥檚 work and may require modification of the research plan.

There may be a circumstance which requires the chair to remove him/herself from the role as advisor and chair. Examples include faculty retirement or sabbatical. Another example could be lack of progress on the research project, with recommendation that another advisor may be more effective in guiding the student鈥檚 progress. In any case, faculty will notify the student of the need to seek another chair or committee member and discuss possible options. Once a replacement is identified and the new chair agrees to accept the student, the student should seek final approval of this change from the director of the PhD Program through email and obtain new signatures on Form 9 indicating the new dissertation chair and any other changes in committee membership.

Proposal Hearing

Prior to pursuing Institutional Review Board approval so that data collection can begin, the student will present the written dissertation proposal to the dissertation committee and schedule and oral presentation of the proposal. Committee members must have the written proposal 3 weeks prior to the oral presentation. It is important to communicate with the PhD coordinator during this phase of your progression.

1. Contact the PhD coordinator at least 4 weeks prior to your proposal hearing date to schedule your hearing. The Associate Dean for Nursing Research and Scholarship, the Academic Dean, the PhD Program Director, and the Assistant Dean for Graduate Practice Studies are invited to the hearing.
2. The PhD coordinator will schedule your room and any projectors or computer equipment that you might need.
3. Two weeks prior to your proposal hearing contact the PhD coordinator to confirm your plans.

Dissertation Guidelines

Overview

Students are expected to work in close cooperation with their dissertation committee and to keep members informed about their progress on a regular basis. The dissertation chair works with the student in preparation of the dissertation document. The chair must be given 3 weeks to read and comment on any draft of the dissertation. The chair will decide when the dissertation can be reviewed by other committee members. These readers must also be given 3 weeks to read and comment on any draft of the dissertation. Students should plan to revise the dissertation based on comments from the full committee and a final revised version of the dissertation should be provided to the committee 4 weeks prior to the defense date. Dissertations must be defended orally; after an oral defense, the members of the dissertation committee vote on acceptance or rejection of the dissertation. The committee may also suggest that the student do some additional work to make the dissertation acceptable. The decision of the dissertation committee will be reported in the form of satisfactory/ unsatisfactory grade for dissertation credits.

Dissertation Defense

Below are the steps for setting up your dissertation defense:

***You must make this arrangement 4 weeks ahead of time***

1. Contact the PhD Program Coordinator with a tentative date and time for your dissertation defense, and to provide the title of your dissertation.
2. The PhD Program Coordinator will schedule a room for the defense.
3. The PhD Program Coordinator will make and post the flyers for your dissertation defense.
4. Preparation for presentation

• Prepare PowerPoint for a 30 minute presentation and submit to your chair for review 2 weeks in advance of the defense date.
• Meet with your chair to revise the PowerPoint and discuss the presentation. Candidates may invite family/friends to the public defense but should inform them that they cannot participate in the Question and Answer period.
• Candidates are expected to come prepared to the open defense with printed presentation materials (slides and notes) for their reference.
• Candidates must bring two copies of their dissertation signature page, a Sharpie Pen and the Transmittal Memo to the dissertation defense. Candidates are responsible for obtaining signatures from their committee members and Dean Smith prior to submitting the signature pages and Transmittal Memo to the PhD Coordinator and the Graduate College for processing.
• Candidates are expected to be comfortable with the assigned room and use of IT equipment in the scheduled room well before the time scheduled for the dissertation.
• Candidates are expected to be prepared to respond to questions that may be ambiguous, need further clarification, or request information that the candidate does not have immediately available.
• Candidates are expected to dress professionally for this important professional occasion.
• Candidates should allow approximately 3 hours for the total defense (including open and closed defense).

Dissertation Defense Guidelines

Purpose: To increase the rigor, fairness, and consistency in the College of Nursing PhD dissertation defense process.

Rationale: The PhD candidate is able to independently, as a requirement of conditions for doctoral degree, describe and expertly discuss their original and unique scholarly contribution to the discipline.

A. Organization of the PhD Dissertation Defense:

1. Dissertation Defense is an open, public event
2. Notice of Defense Date to be posted 4 weeks prior to the date of the defense
3. On the Date of the Defense, PhD Coordinator will:
   1. Set up the room to facilitate Committee Members sitting together and that facilitates an open dialogue following the candidate鈥檚 presentation
   2. Coordinate Committee Members needing to be conferenced in for the defense before the start time of the defense
   3. Limit Dissertation admittance to the room once the PhD candidate takes the podium
4. Expectations of Dissertation Chair and Committee Members:
   1. Schedules room for the defense: Working with the PhD Coordinator, schedules defense meeting room that will allow for: video casting to remote committee members and conferencing that is large enough to accommodate 20 or more people (e.g., Room 202)
   2. Dissertation Chairs are encouraged to review the slide presentation and work with the candidate on their style of delivery prior to the date of the defense. This will assist candidates to gauge the length of the presentation and the appropriateness/completeness of the slides in order to give a comprehensive and in-depth overview of the dissertation work. No more than 30 slides are recommended.
   3. On the Defense Day:

• • • The Chair welcomes and introduces: 1) the candidate, from a candidate provided brief biosketch and states the title of the dissertation, 2) introduces each of the Committee Members, stating their professional credentials, and noting their unique expertise as a member for this committee.
    • The Chair outlines the proposal defense process noting:
    • Candidate has approximately 30 minutes to provide a comprehensive overview of their dissertation including findings and future implications
    • The Chair will moderate the Q & A period.
      • Faculty and students will have up to 30 minutes for Questions and Answers.
      • Note: Only the PhD candidate may respond to questions. Committee members are not to assist the candidate in responding to questions raised during this phase of the defense.
    • The Chair will ask everyone except the Committee and Candidate to leave allowing the Committee to meet with the Candidate to complete the defense and discuss future actions.
    • It is expected that the closed dissertation defense, between the Committee and Candidate, will be sufficient in time to allow for a thorough and comprehensive exploration that demonstrates the candidate鈥檚 ability to expertly describe and discuss their dissertation topic/original research and the candidate鈥檚 contribution to the discipline
    • Candidate will then be asked to leave the room allowing the Committee to deliberate and determine the outcome of the dissertation.
    • If the committee agrees that the candidate has successfully defended his/her dissertation, the Chair congratulates and invites the new PhD back into the room. A brief discussion follows between the candidate and the Committee in order to outline the required modifications and timeline of the University required final steps for filing the Graduate forms
    • The Chair, at this time, may invite, on behalf of the College of Nursing, family, friends, and colleagues to join in a celebration 鈥� noting time and location. Chair is encouraged to send an email invitation to CON faculty noting the same.

• • • If the committee agrees that additional work is required of the candidate based on the written dissertation and/or the proposal oral defense, the Chair and Committee members meet with the candidate to clearly outline the revisions/additional work required as well as a negotiated timeline for completion.
    • In the event that this results in the need for an additional defense or major revisions, the Chair, working with the candidate and committee member鈥檚, will facilitate next steps in a timely manner.

Expectations of Candidates:

1. Candidates may invite family/friends to the public defense but should inform them that they cannot participate in the Question and Answer period.
2. Candidates are expected to come prepared to the open defense with printed presentation materials (slides and notes) for their reference.
3. Candidates must bring two copies of their dissertation signature page, a Sharpie Pen and the Transmittal Memo to the dissertation defense. Candidates are responsible for obtaining signatures from their committee members and Dean Smith prior to submitting the signature pages and Transmittal Memo to the PhD Coordinator and the Graduate College for processing.
4. Candidates are expected to be comfortable with the assigned room and use of IT equipment in the scheduled room well before the time scheduled for the dissertation.
5. Candidates are expected; to be prepared to respond to questions that may be ambiguous, need further clarification, or request information that the candidate does not have immediately available.
6. Candidates are expected to dress professionally for this important professional occasion.
7. Candidates should allow approximately 3 hours for the total defense (including open and closed defense).

Filing

• The dissertation must be written in the format specified by the university. Students should consult the university鈥檚 Graduate Thesis & Dissertation Guidelines to be sure their dissertation if properly formatted. The most up-to-date version is found on the Graduate College website at: http://fau.edu//graduate/resources/thesis-dissertation/. An electronic copy of the dissertation must be submitted to the Graduate College for a formatting review by emailing graduatesupport@fau.edu. It is recommended the student have the format checked as early in the process as possible.
• All dissertation documentation should be filed with the Graduate College, located in the Student Support Services Building (SU-80). Please refer to the academic calendar or the Graduate College website for dissertation and graduate deadline information.

Graduation

Students may participate in any of the three annual university commencements (December, May, and August). Please note that dissertations need to be filed with the Graduate College well before the commencement date. There are several deadlines that must be met in order to insure a timely graduation. Following is a sample timeline for dissertation completion. Individual situations may vary, but for May graduation, defense dates must occur before March 15. For August commencement, a defense date must occur before June 25. For December commencement, the defense date must occur before October 30. Failure to meet the deadlines will result in a delayed graduation. Graduation deadlines for each semester can be found on the Graduate College website:http://www.fau.edu//graduate/resources/forms/.

Extramural Funding

PhD students are encouraged to apply for extramural funding. These applications must be routed to the Associate Dean for Nursing Research and Scholarship. Intention to apply for funding must be discussed with the dissertation chair and the Office of Nursing Research, Scholarship and PhD studies must be notified at least 8 weeks ahead of the submission deadline. Generally, faculty advisors will be listed as principal investigator for student proposals. The student will work with the dissertation chair to develop the proposal for funding. Consistent with the guidelines for dissertation proposal preparation, the faculty chair will have at least three weeks to review each draft of the proposal being prepared for extramural funding. All proposal components, including narrative, budget and budget justification, bio sketches and letters of support, must be ready for submission to the Office of Sponsored Programs seven working days before the proposal is due to the funding agency.

Research Practicum Requirement

In order to assist doctoral students in gaining experience in conducting research, all students are required to perform 90 hours of supervised research with a faculty member during their program. Students can work with faculty members to accomplish research tasks like collecting, transcribing, and analyzing data or by synthesizing literature and writing summaries. It is acceptable that research hours be done with more than one faculty member as long as all hours are completed and the paperwork is filed with the PhD program coordinator. The form for reporting research hours can be found on the college website under the Research and Writing section within the Resources for PHD Students webpage. Students should note the following about the 90 hour research practicum requirement:

• Students are advised to talk with their faculty mentor about accomplishing the research hours and, if possible, should work with their mentor to accomplish the hours.
• The student is advised to begin the research practicum during the second year of PhD studies.
• Paid research assistant hours cannot be used for the 90 research hour requirement
• The research practicum must be completed prior to enrollment in comprehensive exams.

Research Training

Evidence of Research Training is required of all doctoral students. The training can be completed online at the link below. When the training is complete, students can print a copy of the certificate and bring one copy of the certificate so that to be filed in the student鈥檚 folder in the Graduate Office. The address of the training site is: . The Graduate College offers a series of seminars "Responsible Conduct of Research" and PhD students are strongly encouraged to complete the series prior to registering for the comprehensive examination.

IRB Research Proposals

Please make sure that you meet with your faculty mentor to obtain guidance. The student role on the application is co-investigator. The faculty mentor is principal investigator. As principal investigator, only the faculty can initiate an IRB application. The PhD coordinator will review the completed application before submission into IRBNet. Once the faculty advisor signs the application it will be reviewed by the Associate Dean for Research and Scholarship for approval prior to being submitted to the IRB. The IRB application is submitted electronically through 麻豆女郎鈥檚 IRBNet. The link for the IRBNet can be found at: .

Comprehensive Exams

Comprehensive Examinations are written when all course work and research hours are complete. The course title for Comprehensive Examinations is Doctoral Synthesis 鈥� NGR7978. Decisions about members of the comprehensive exam committee, including who will be invited to chair the committee, are made in collaboration with the faculty advisor and submitted to the doctoral committee for approval by mid-semester prior to the comprehensive exam semester. The Doctoral Program Committee will review the proposed committee and topics and may tailor topics before approving them. Tailoring might be the result of combining concepts from more than one of the student鈥檚 proposed topics. The Doctoral Program Committee may also suggest additional or different members for the comprehensive exam committee.

I. Purpose of the PhD in Nursing Comprehensive Examination

The purpose of the PhD Comprehensive Examination in Nursing is to:

• establish that the student has sufficient breadth of the knowledge in nursing and depth in a specific substantive area of nursing to be a scholar;
• determine that the student can write a publishable manuscript on a topic related to substantive area; and
• affirm readiness of the student to move forward to dissertation research proposal development

II. Exam Application Process and Chair/Committee Selection

Prior to initiating the examination, the student is expected to have completed:

• research practicum
• plan of study filed with Graduate College approval
• all coursework in the Nursing PhD program excluding one cognate that may be taken concurrently during the semester of the Comprehensive Examination 鈥� students cannot register for comprehensive exam with incomplete grades
• meeting with the comprehensive exam committee chair (at least two months prior to the beginning of the semester in which the exam is taken) to discuss faculty expectations for the exam and develop 3 topics for the written portion of the exam
• submission of paperwork documenting comprehensive exam committee members, chair and proposed topics for the written component of the exam.
  • This paperwork must be approved by the PhD committee in the semester prior to enrolling for comprehensive exam credit (NGR 7978)

The student must register for a NGR 7978 Doctoral Synthesis, 3 credit hour course, with the Comprehensive Examination faculty chair during the semester in which the student intends to take the exam. The appropriate form must be signed by the chair.

III. Faculty

• A minimum of two College of Nursing faculty members, one of which is a member of the discipline of nursing, is required for each comprehensive exam committee
• No members are outside the College of Nursing.
• Committee members must be College of Nursing faculty member, who are members of the graduate faculty with assistant, associate, or professor rank and tenured, tenure-earning, or emeritus status.
• The Comprehensive Exam chair may or may not be the student鈥檚 planned dissertation chair.
• The chair of the committee must be College of Nursing Faculty and need not be a member of the discipline of nursing: is a member of the graduate faculty with assistant, associate, or professor rank and tenured, tenure-earning, or emeritus status.

IV. Doctoral Comprehensive Examination Content/Format/Administration/Evaluation

Format:

• The exam process will contain both a written and an oral component.
• The written component consists of a scholarly paper (publishable manuscript) that includes a synthesis of the literature related to the student鈥檚 substantive area. The topic for this scholarly paper will be determined by the PhD committee using the 3 topics proposed in the semester prior the exam.
• The oral component of the examination will consist of an in-depth discussion with the student that includes content covered throughout their PhD program course work as well as content of the scholarly paper.
  • Questions posed during the oral component of the examination will address the College of Nursing outcomes for PhD study, covering the student鈥檚 knowledge and understanding of theory, research methodology and methods related to the proposed area of study. Students should review the program outcomes and be prepared to address a broad range of questions in relation to their course work.
• A suggested timeline is described below:

Timeline for Completing the Comprehensive Examination in the PhD Program

Administration:

1. During the Comprehensive Examination semester, the student may meet with the Comprehensive Exam faculty chair regarding the topic, process of completing the examination including the timeline. The student may also meet with the committee to review an outline and draft of the scholarly paper.
2. Outside editorial assistance is permitted for the written component.
3. During the oral component of the examination, the student will respond to questions without assistance of written, technological or other resources.
4. The oral examination must be held prior to the last class day of the semester in which the student is enrolled.

Evaluation:

Students are evaluated on the quality of the scholarly paper and ability to verbally articulate cogent responses to questions presented by the committee. These responses must demonstrate the student鈥檚 ability to argue for and defend their knowledge and to generate logical conclusions. The oral comprehensive exam rubric will be completed by the committee and filed in the student file.

Similar criteria are used to evaluate the written and oral examinations. The student鈥檚 written materials and verbal responses to questions reflect a broad and in-depth knowledge of theoretical perspectives and research methods relevant to the student鈥檚 substantive area of research.

V. Committee Recommendations to the PhD Committee

Based on the committee members鈥� expert judgments of the content areas and the student鈥檚 performance on both components of the exam, a recommendation will be made to the PhD Committee. If members disagree, an outside reader will be sought by the Director of the PhD program to determine whether the paper is satisfactory or unsatisfactory. The recommendation to the PhD Committee will be one of the following:

1. Satisfactory, eligible to apply for admission to candidacy with no conditions.
2. Incomplete, satisfactory progress, eligible to apply for admission to candidacy and enroll in NGR 7979 despite specific conditions to be met.
3. Unsatisfactory, eligible for re-examination within one year or less.
4. Unsatisfactory re-examination, dismiss from the graduate program.

Students who receive a grade of incomplete must complete NGR 7978 within one additional semester. If this condition is not met, the incomplete grade will be changed to unsatisfactory and the student will be unable to progress beyond NGR 7979 without retaking, and successfully completing NGR 7978.

Documentation of Comprehensive Exam Results: The committee鈥檚 majority decision about the exam is documented on the appropriate form. The student is responsible for completing the form and obtaining signatures of faculty who have agreed to be members of the dissertation committee. The student should also bring a completed Admission to Candidacy for the Doctoral Degree (Graduate College Form 8) and a Dissertation Committee Form to the comprehensive examination. Signed and completed forms are to be submitted to the Coordinator of the PhD program as soon as possible but prior to registering for NGR 7980 (Dissertation).

Curriculum Planning

The curriculum for PhD full-time students is pre-set except for cognate courses. It requires a minimum of 9 credits during fall and spring semesters, and a minimum of 6 credits in summer sessions. Part-time students need to work closely with the PhD Coordinator to map out the total plan for accomplishing the curriculum within the usual 5 year period (and not more than 10 years without special permission from the university). Part-time students take fewer credits than the requisite minimum for full-time study during regular and summer semesters. Prerequisite requirements for courses need to be carefully noted in planning the curriculum for any student. Part-time students who were admitted prior to Fall, 2019 should make an appointment with PhD Advisor Joseph Lotito to review their plan of study during the fall, 2019 semester.

All degree-seeking graduate students at 麻豆女郎 are required to have an approved Plan of Study on file with the Graduate College. The Plan of Study should be submitted by the end of the second semester of study. All College of Nursing graduate students submit their Plan of Study electronically through My麻豆女郎. The guidelines for completing and submitting the electronic Plan of Study, and other Graduate College forms can be found at: https://fau.edu/graduate/forms-and-procedures/index.php . All students receive written confirmation by email when their Plan of Study is approved by the Dean of the Graduate College. Students should work with the PhD Program Coordinator to complete the electronic Plan of Study.

Cognates

Students consult with their faculty mentor in choosing the cognates for study. Cognates must be directly related to dissertation research and be taken outside the discipline of Nursing. However, a maximum of 3 cognate credits can be taken in Nursing. Cognates must be at the graduate level. Cognates may be transferred from other institutions if appropriate and approved by the student鈥檚 faculty mentor. These courses are transferred according to 麻豆女郎鈥檚 policy stated in the University Catalog, under Academic Policies and Regulations.

Time Limits for Completing the Doctoral Degree

No credit that is more than ten years old at the time the 麻豆女郎 graduate degree is awarded may be counted toward that degree.

Audit a Course

Written faculty permission is needed to audit a course and students must have paid in-state rates for the course. The course will appear on the transcript with a grade of AU. The state employee scholarship (no longer a waiver, but real money) is for employees who are taking courses for credit, and therefore, would not be available to those who are auditing.

Transfer Credits

Students may have taken courses at another university that they wish to transfer to substitute for courses in the curriculum provided the course was not used to apply to another degree. Applying transfer courses towards 麻豆女郎 degree requirements must be discussed with the PhD Program Director and PhD Coordinator. In some instances, PhD Committee approval may be required. The Graduate College has oversight over all transfer credits for graduate degree programs at 麻豆女郎. Doctoral programs may accept a maximum of 36 credits earned elsewhere in an approved graduate program. A maximum of 6 graduate credits earned from another institution in a non-degree seeking status may be transferred. The Graduate College reserves the right to request a professional evaluation of credits transferred from universities outside the U.S.

Acceptance of transfer credits for a course is dependent upon the following provisions.

1. The student received a grade of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale in the course to be transferred.
2. The course was taken at a regionally accredited institution.
3. The course is relevant to the graduate program in which the student is accepted, as judged by the PhD Program Director, in consultation with the PhD Faculty committee.
4. The course is listed on the official transcript received by the Graduate College.
5. The course was completed within six years preceding admission to the program.