College of Nursing

PhD in Nursing

 

Objectives of the PhD Program

Approved by the PhD committee 12/11/06

Outcomes of the PhD Program

PhD Student Academic Committees

PhD Comprehensive Examination Committee

Graduate School policies for 9.7. Doctoral Comprehensive ExaminationsThis committee oversees the administration of the PhD comprehensive examination. The UMSL Graduate School policy indicates that 'The Comprehensive Examination Committee will consist of no fewer than three members of the UM-St. Louis graduate faculty appointed by the Graduate Dean upon recommendation of the unit.'
Working with your advisor, identify at least three members of the graduate nursing faculty to serve on this committee and ask the faculty members to agree to serve. This committee is formalized using the doctoral form D-1 which must be approved by the Dean of the Graduate School.

PhD Dissertation Committee

 This committee oversees the implementation and completion of the dissertation. The UMSL Graduate School policy indicates that 'The Doctoral Dissertation Committee shall consist of at least four members of the Graduate Faculty who can contribute their expertise to the dissertation study: the committee chair, and at least one other member from the unit. A recognized scholar from outside the university may serve as a member upon the recommendation of the unit and approval of the Graduate Dean. The Graduate Dean shall approve the committee membership and changes in the committee membership. This committee is appointed by submitting doctoral form D-4. If an outside member is proposed, the curriculum vitae of this individual must be included at the time the D-4 form is submitted.

Doctoral Comprehensive Exam

Graduate School policies for 9.7. Doctoral Comprehensive Examinations

The College of Nursing has additional policies on PhD in Nursing Comprehensive Examination.

PhD in Nursing Comprehensive Examination Policy

This document contains recommendations for the minimum standards for the doctoral comprehensive examination. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing's Indicators of Quality in Research-Focused Doctoral Programs in Nursing (2001) states that, "advancement to candidacy requires faculty's satisfactory evaluation (e.g. comprehensive exam) of the student's basic knowledge of elements I-A through I-E", (Indicator III-A) where these elements are:
  1. "Historical and philosophical foundations to the development of nursing knowledge;
  2. Existing and evolving substantive nursing knowledge;
  3. Methods and processes of theory/knowledge development;
  4. Research methods and scholarship appropriate to inquiry; and
  5. Development related to roles in academic, research, practice or policy environments" (AACN, 2001).
    Given that the College of Nursing adopted these standards as the foundation for our doctoral program, the policy and procedure for the College of Nursing doctoral comprehensive examination is as follows:
    1. The comprehensive examinations may be scheduled after successful completion of the doctoral program core courses: 7481 Development of Nursing Science and Theory; 7491 Advanced Nursing Theory Development and Validation; 7482 Health Promotion and Protection or 7483 Health Restoration and Support or 7484 Health Care Systems; 7485 Quantitative Design and Methods in Nursing Research; 7490 Advanced Quantitative Design, Methods and, Analysis of Nursing Data; 7492 Advanced Quantitative Measurement and Analysis of Nursing Data; 7488 Qualitative Methods in Nursing Research; four research intensive courses (N7401 through N7404), Biostatistics I and II (N7211 and N7212_, 6-12 hours external to the College of Nursing, such as advanced statistics, research design, computer applications, or philosophical foundations of science; 3 credits of elective coursework; and 9 credits of cognate courses.
    2. The student must receive Graduate Program approval on the submitted D1 (Appointment of the Comprehensive Examination Committee).
    3. Following initial approval by the comprehensive examination committee chair, the student will provide committee members with documentation of an understanding of their area of inquiry. This documentation may consist of a) a state of the science paper, b) a dissertation proposal, or c) the methods chapter from their dissertation proposal.
    4. After receipt of the student's documentation, and within a two week period, committee members will submit one to two questions to the committee chair for consideration for inclusion in the comprehensive examination.
    5. The committee chair will select final items for the comprehensive examination and schedule the examination date with the student and committee. The comprehensive examination must include questions from each of the AACN elements I-A through I-E. In addition, the student must answer at least one question from each committee member.
    6. The student will have at least one week to complete the comprehensive written exam. Reference materials may be used for the examination. Reponses may be submitted via paper or electronically according to the direction of the committee chair.
    7. Examination item responses will be evaluated/graded by the committee member within one week.
    8. Successful completion of the written comprehensive examination occurs if the committee unanimously agrees that the student has a doctoral level understanding of the AACN elements I-A through I-E. Students will then file the D2 (Appointment of the Doctoral Dissertation Advisor) and D3 (Application for Candidacy) forms with the Graduate School.
    9. If there is not unanimous agreement that the student has sufficient mastery of the knowledge, a reappraisal examination is necessary. The committee will meet to determine how to address area(s) of concern. The faculty will provide to the student a written or oral reappraisal of the area(s) of concern within a two-week time period. At that point, the student will have one week to complete the reappraisal examination; the format (written or oral) to be determined by the chair. Failure to achieve unanimous committee endorsement following the reappraisal examination will result in comprehensive examination failure.
    10. The student who fails the first comprehensive examination will work with their committee chair to develop a program of study to address areas of concern identified during the comprehensive examination. A second comprehensive examination may be scheduled once the student's learning needs have been addressed, and the examination will follow the procedures outlined above. A maximum time period of 6 months will be allowed between the first and the second (final) comprehensive examination.
    11. If the student does not successfully complete the second (final) comprehensive examination, the student will be dismissed from the program. This policy precludes any comprehensive exam beyond the second comprehensive exam.
      Approved 3/16/07 PhD Program Committee

PhD in Nursing Dissertation Proposal Policies

This document is the policy for the minimum standards for the doctoral dissertation proposal. It intended to supplement and not replace the UMSL Graduate School guidelines. The AACN's

  1. Students are responsible for obtaining graduate school approval of the dissertation committee prior to preparing their dissertation proposal (Form D4).
  2. Following successful completion of the comprehensive examination, students will work with their dissertation committee chair to develop a dissertation research proposal to address a gap in the research in the student's area of inquiry.
  3. Students are responsible for following the Graduate School's guidelines regarding dissertation preparation and proposal defense (http://www.umsl.edu/divisions/graduate/dissertation/index.html)
  4. Following initial approval by the dissertation committee chair, students will submit their proposal to the dissertation committee members. The dissertation proposal defense should be scheduled at least two to three weeks following submission of the proposal to the committee members to provide an opportunity for committee members to read the proposal.
  5. All committee members must participate in the proposal defense, preferably in person. Technology (e.g. telephone, polycom) may be used to facilitate participation by committee members who cannot be present for the proposal defense.
  6. Dissertation proposals should be prepared using the dissertation outline policy in the PhD student handbook.
  7. One to four weeks prior to the dissertation proposal defense to the dissertation committee, students will publicly present their proposed study to the Con faculty and current doctoral students. There will not be a public question and answers session following the presentation. Comments or suggestions from non-dissertation committee members about the proposed study should be sent, in writing, to the student and dissertation chair within one week of the proposal defense.
  8. One or more weeks following this, the dissertation committee will vote on the proposal in a closed session.
  9. Successful defense of the dissertation proposal will be announced to the College community by the dissertation chair.

Approved by PhD Program Committee 5/6/07