Additional Information
Advisory Committee - An academic advisor will be appointed at the time of admission by the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education and will assist the student in planning the program of study through the first year. Each student will select a research advisor following completion of the first year in the program. The research advisor will assume primary responsibility for the student’s academic and research progress. Prior to the end of the first semester of the second year of study, students will form a graduate advisory committee. The advisory committee will be comprised of three faculty members from the student’s primary research concentration, one faculty member from outside the student’s/advisor’s primary concentration and one faculty member outside the student’s/advisor’s department. This faculty member may or may not be in the same primary research concentration. There would be a minimum of five faculty members on the committee (with the faculty advisor as chair of the committee). The student’s research advisor will serve as chair of the committee and must hold full or associate graduate faculty status. Other members of the committee will be selected by the student and research advisor and will be approved by the departmental chair and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education. The committee will be responsible for overseeing the student’s overall academic program, including the program of study, preliminary examination, advancement to candidacy and preparation and defense of the dissertation. The advisory committee should meet formally with the student at least once each year to review the research and academic progress.
The Preliminary Examination - A preliminary examination may be administered at the discretion of the advisory committee after one semester of enrollment. The examination will be designed to evaluate the student’s potential to complete a total planned program and to aid in planning the program of study.
Change in Program of Study - Changes in the planned program of study for candidacy must be approved by the Dean of the College of Graduate and Continuing Studies. Forms for program changes are available on the Graduate School website.
Residence Requirements - A period of one academic year (two continuous semesters) will be required in keeping with the needs of the program and with accreditation standards. A student may be assigned to study at an off-campus site for special programs. This study must be approved in advance by the student’s graduate advisory committee to be applied toward residency requirements. No more than nine credit-hours of credit may be earned in special programs.
Time Limits - Credit received more than seven years prior to the awarding of the degree will not be accepted as part of the degree requirements.
Qualifying Examination - The qualifying examination will be administered by the advisory committee. The qualifying exam should be completed no later than three months after completion of the core curriculum. If the qualifying exam is not attempted or passed by this deadline, a period of remediation will be extended until the end of the third year. Students must petition the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education for exemptions or extensions of this deadline. Successful completion of the examination should demonstrate that the student has obtained a breadth of knowledge in biomedical science, utilizing the information obtained in the core curriculum. The student should also demonstrate competence in researching the literature and organizing and presenting information on a topic of current importance. The format of the written examination will be a research proposal similar in style to a research grant application. The topic can be selected either by the student and approved in advance by the advisory committee or selected by the advisory committee. An oral examination, in which the student defends the written research, follows successful completion of the written requirement. Please see the Biomedical Science Graduate Program Student Handbook for additional details regarding the qualifying exam.
The Final Examination - The final examination will be oral and will be devoted to an evaluation and defense of the student’s dissertation. A student must be a formally admitted candidate for the doctorate for one full semester before being eligible to take the final examination. Students will not be allowed to complete a program during the same semester in which they are formally admitted to doctoral candidacy. The examination for defense of the dissertation will not be scheduled until the student’s dissertation is accepted by the graduate advisory committee. However, this approval and the final oral examination must both take place by the deadline in the university calendar. Each doctoral student’s final oral examination will be publicly announced. It will be an open examination, and all interested persons will be encouraged to attend.
Graduate Faculty Representation at Dissertation Defenses - The defense of the dissertation is a formal gathering at which the doctoral candidate presents and defends her or his research to members of the university community. The defense is a capstone event in the development of graduate students as scholars, professionals, or future teachers and must entail open and fair exchange of scholarly views. A member of the graduate faculty from outside the candidate’s committee and department must be present at the defense to monitor the process. The procedure to be followed in scheduling an oral defense and the format for the graduate faculty representative’s narrative report are available on the Graduate School website.
Dissertation - All doctoral candidates must complete a dissertation as a major requirement for the Ph.D. degree. The dissertation topic will be selected by the candidate with the advice and approval of the graduate advisory committee. The student must present a prospectus describing the research project for review and approval by the graduate advisory committee. After the dissertation topic has been researched, written, and accepted by the committee, it must be prepared in the proper format and submitted to the Graduate School by the initial submission deadline listed in the Academic Calendar. The Graduate School receives the submission electronically. Please follow the guidelines and checklist of requirements listed on the Electronic Thesis and Dissertations (ETD) website for further instructions.
Institutional Review Board - Student research involving human subjects must be approved by the East Tennessee State University Institutional Review Board prior to initiation of the research. This is necessary to protect the rights of human subjects involved in physical, psychological, or social research. Following approval of the proposed research by the review board, the subject involved must be informed of the study and consent to participate. The application forms for research involving human subjects and review of such research projects are available in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, 1110 Seminole Drive.
Evaluation - The evaluation of an advanced graduate student is a function of the instructors and the student’s graduate advisory committee. The latter has full authority for program planning and the evaluation of oral and written preliminary and qualifying examinations, provided that all university and departmental requirements have been met.