At the end of each student’s first full year of study, the student prepares a “Doctoral Program Proposal” worksheet using the Ph.D. Student Advising website This is a planning document that describes the courses the student plans to take to meet his/her degree requirements and his/her anticipated plans for taking the comprehensive exam. This Doctoral Program Proposal is based on the curriculum (see and any other course substitutions. Course substitutions must be approved by the Director under the guidelines established by the Ph.D. Policy committee. This “Doctoral Program Proposal” is formally approved by the Ph.D. Program Director. When it is approved and signed by the student, the dissertation advisor, the program director, and the Dean of the Graduate School, it becomes the student’s official doctoral program proposal. Currently, all students except those on approved leaves of absence have a formally approved doctoral program proposal.
