Notification of Admission to Candidacy

After the successful completion of the Comprehensive Examination (see above) and the results of which have been relayed to the Graduate School, the student is admitted to candidacy for a Doctoral degree. Students receive a letter from the Graduate School indicating that they are a doctoral candidate.

Maintaining Candidacy Status

Although the prescribed course work may have been completed, candidates must maintain their candidacy until the degree is awarded. That is, candidates must register for doctoral research hours or doctoral candidacy every semester from the semester following their admittance to candidacy to their graduation. Candidates first register for Doctoral Research hours. After having completed 12 hours of Doctoral Research, candidates register for Doctoral Candidacy. Candidacy registration (2 hours/semester) is equivalent to full-time status for purposes of University Fellowships, Scholarships, and Assistantships. Students must register continuously, including summer term, in order to maintain candidacy.

Appointment of Dissertation Chair and Dissertation Committee

After the student is admitted to doctoral candidacy, the student should identify a potential Dissertation Chair and obtain that person's agreement. Then, together, they should identify at least four other Dissertation Committee members to be invited to serve. The chair must complete and submit the appropriate form for the official formation of the Dissertation Committee. The Dean of the Graduate School officially appoints the Dissertation Committee (See the Program/Thesis/Dissertation Advisory Committee Approval Form [DOC], or at http://graduate.louisville.edu/pubs/theses-dissertations/). All committee members must be members of the graduate faculty and the Dissertation Chair must have Senior Graduate Faculty Status. The role of this committee is to approve a proposal, assist the student in the execution of the study, and guide the development of the dissertation document. At least one member must be from a department other than the Program Department. If the chair is from a department different from the program department, a faculty member from the student's program department should serve as co-chair of the dissertation committee to help facilitate departmental policies and documentation. The criteria for choosing members of this committee should be:

• interest in the potential dissertation topic and
• potential contribution in proposal design and study implementation.

Permission may be granted for a non-member of the Graduate Faculty to serve on a dissertation committee. If a faculty member from another institution is deemed to have credentials equivalent to those required for Graduate Faculty membership, that person is considered to be a member of the Graduate Faculty. For non-members of the Graduate Faculty to participate, special permission must be obtained from the Dean of the Graduate School.

Role of Dissertation Chair and Dissertation Committee

The dissertation chair and dissertation committee are responsible for directing and certifying the candidate's study and the candidates' communication and research skills.

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