The following are short descriptions of the major phases or steps a student must accomplish to complete a Doctoral Degree in the OLIT Program. More detailed information can be found in the UNM Catalog and at the Program Office.

Program of Studies Committee

Each doctoral student will be assisted by a Program of Studies Committee in planning their Program of Studies. This program will be designed to foster a fundamental knowledge of the major field both in depth and in breadth. It will also include a supporting minor field.

The Program of Studies Committee should be appointed during the first semester enrolled. The Committee consists of at least three regular faculty members. The chair and second member of the Program of Studies Committee must be regular faculty members in the OLIT Program. The third member is from another program or department and supervises the student’s minor.

The basic role of the Program of Studies Committee is to plan, with the student, an integrated individual program of study and research meeting general and program requirements. The Committee Chairperson and its members will collectively approve the program and oversee its execution. Additional functions of the Committee include: the establishment of prerequisites when needed; the recommendation of transfer of credit; the certification of proficiency in required inquiry skills; the approval of significant changes in the Program of Studies; and serving as the Comprehensive Examination Committee.

Mid-Point Review

After the student completes a minimum of 12 hours (including a minimum of 6 hours from the OLIT concentration), and before 30 hours are completed following admission to the Doctoral Program, the student and the Committee will conduct a Mid-Point Review. This is a formal review by the Program of Studies Committee and the Program to evaluate (1) performance, (2) progress, and (3) to finalize the student's Program of Studies. The Mid-Point Review  bulletin outlines the process of the midpoint review.

Incompletes

It is the student's responsibility to complete Incomplete grade(s) in a timely fashion. The completion times required are as follows: An Incomplete in the Fall semester must be completed before the end of the Spring semester. An Incomplete in the Spring semestermust be completed before the end of the Fall semester. An Incomplete in a Summer course must be completed before the end of the Fall semester. For unusual circumstances, the student may request an extension of the Incomplete by filling out an Extension of the Incomplete form. This should be done before the normal timeframe has expired and is generally granted for one additional semester. This form can be requested from the Program Office. The completed materials must be turned in no later than two weeks before the end of a semester giving faculty the necessary time to evaluate and grade them.

The OLIT faculty will track student's grades and if a student has two I/F's (Incompletes that have turned into F's), the student will be disenrolled from the OLIT Program and will need to re-apply (with re-admission not guaranteed) in order to continue.

Doctoral Comprehensive Examination Guidelines

As stated in the UNM Catalog, "A doctoral student must pass a Comprehensive Examination in the major field of study. This examination, which may be written, oral or both, is not limited to the areas of the student's coursework, but tests the student's grasp of the field as a whole."

Please check the OLIT Doctoral Comprehensive Guidelines, for complete details.

Candidacy

Admission to graduate study does not imply admission to candidacy for a degree. The doctoral student must apply for and be admitted to candidacy for the degree. The Application for Doctoral Candidacy form, the vehicle which formally summarizes the student's Program of Studies must be signed by the student’s doctoral program of studies committee in order to apply for candidacy. The student should submit this application just prior to taking the Comprehensive Examination through the major advisor.

Final approval, by which the student is formally advanced to candidacy by the Dean of Graduate Studies, is given only after the Office of Graduate Studies ascertains that (a) the inquiry skills requirement and the (b) Comprehensive Examination requirements have been met.

Click here to download the Application for Candidacy Form from the OGS website.

Foreign Language or Alternative Requirement

While there is no University-wide foreign language requirement, most departments require a demonstration of competence either in a foreign language or in some area of skill related to scholarship or research in the particular discipline. In the OLIT Program, all doctoral students are required to complete a minimum of 15 semester hours of inquiry skills courses to meet this requirement.

A student will not be advanced to candidacy for the Doctoral Degree until the Dept. Chair certifies to the Office of Graduate Studies, that proficiency in inquiry skills as required by the Program has been attained.

Dissertation Committee

Once the student has been advanced to candidacy, a Dissertation Committee will be formed. The Dissertation Committee (whose members often include those on the Program of Studies Committee) is charged with the supervison of a doctoral candidate’s dissertation activities, including the review and approval of the student’s dissertation proposal. The Dissertation Committee shall have at least four members, all of whom must be approved for graduate instruction and have established competence in the field of the dissertation or some aspect of it. The Director of the Dissertation shall be a tenured/tenure track University faculty member in the OLIT Program, and must have demonstrated research or professional competence in the general area of the dissertation and in the methodology applied. The second and third members shall also be tenured/tenure track faculty. The second member is from the OLIT program. The third member must be from outside of the Program/Department. If the third member is from outside the University, he/she must be tenured/tenure track faculty at another university in a similar program. The fourth member can be from either outside or inside the University.

Doctoral students may

The “Appointment of Dissertation Committee” Form should be filled no later than the first semester of 699 enrollment. If the Committee changes, a revised form must be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies along with a written rationale for the change. Please see the UNM Catalog for more details on the Dissertation Committee.

Dissertation Proposal

Each candidate for the Ph.D. will prepare a Dissertation Proposal, consisting of Chapters 1-3 of the dissertation. The Proposal helps faculty decide whether a projected dissertation study has been well planned and is worth conducting. A formal Proposal Hearing will be conducted by the Dissertation Committee to approve the proposal, prior to the start of the actual research. Contact should be made with the OLIT Program Specialist approximately four weeks prior to the desired date of the Proposal Hearing to start the necessary paperwork.

Dissertation Hours

During the course of their dissertation work, doctoral candidates are required to enroll in a minimum of 18 hours of dissertation (699) credit. Enrollment in 699 should not begin prior to the semester in which the student takes the doctoral comprehensive examination. Only those hours gained in the semester during which the comprehensive exam is passed and in succeeding semesters can be counted toward the 18 hours required.

The Doctoral Candidate must enroll for dissertation hours (OLIT 699) on a continual basis until the dissertation has been accepted by the Dean of Graduate Studies (excluding Summer Semester). Normal course registration deadlines apply and must be met. Doctoral Candidates must be enrolled the semester in which they complete degree requirements (including the Summer Semester).

Final Examination For Doctorate

The Doctoral Final Oral Examination (defense) is the last formal step before the awarding of the highest academic degree and is conducted with due regard to its importance as such. The contents of the examination are the dissertation and its relationship to the candidate's major field.

The final examination provides an opportunity for the student to communicate his or her dissertation findings to a wider group of scholars and for the members of the examination committee. In order to graduate in a given semester, the completed manuscript must be turned in no later than the published dates in November, April, and July. The examination is open to all members of the faculty.

Time Limit to Complete Requirements

The Doctoral Candidate will have five years from the date of formal Advancement to Candidacy by the Dean of Graduate Studies to turn in two completed dissertation manuscripts and all related paperwork. Upon successful completion of the Final Exam for Doctorate (Dissertation Defense), the Doctoral Candidate has 90 days to turn in the two corrected manuscripts to the Office of Graduate Studies with all necessary front materialsin order to graduate that semester. The deadline for turning in the two manuscripts is April 15, July 15, or November 15.