Doctoral Programs - Procedural Steps
SDSU has 14 doctoral programs with 5 cooperating institutions. The procedures listed here are SDSU's basic requirements; students must also contact the cooperating institution for their requirements.
If the co-sponsoring institution has time limits to the degree, students must meet those time limits. Doctoral students must maintain a 3.0 GPA. Some programs may have additional GPA requirements.
Qualifying Examinations, Advancement to Candidacy, and the Dissertation.
The procedural details of each doctoral program vary somewhat within the different programs, the general requirements are:
- The student is examined by a committee representing the faculty of the cooperating institutions for knowledge of the field of study. For all programs offered with UCSD, UCSB, University of San Diego and Computational Science with Claremont Graduate University, a JDP 2 form is required. This form is used to nominate your committee. You must have at least two members from each university who are eligible to serve on a doctoral committee. This form must be signed by the committee members, both graduate advisers/directors and by the Graduate Deans at both universities. (The JDP forms are not used by the Education program with Claremont; the Ecology with UC Davis has their own forms).
- After passing the qualifying exam, the student applies to the Graduate Dean at the cooperating university for advancement to candidacy. The JDP3 form is used for Advancement to Candidacy. It is signed by both graduate advisers/directors, the Graduate Deans at both universities, and there is a fee required at the cooperating institution.
- If you make any changes to your committee, you need to fill out a JDP4 form and have it signed by the appropriate people.
Submitting Your Dissertation
A dissertation on a subject chosen by the candidate and approved by a committee appointed by the Graduate Deans of the
cooperating institutions is required of every candidate. In addition to meeting the requirements of the cooperating campus
for filing the dissertation, Ph.D. students are required to provide one bound copy of the dissertation for deposit in the
SDSU library. Binding must meet the ALA library standard. Ed.D. students will deposit their dissertation with the thesis and
dissertation review service at SDSU.
- SDSU requires that students be enrolled in 899 (Dissertation) in the term in which the dissertation is submitted. For all programs (except the Ed.D. in Education with USD), the dissertation is submitted for review to the joint campus (UCSD, UCSB, UC Davis, Claremont. The deadline to submit the dissertation in order to graduate is established by the joint campus.
- For the Ed.D. program with USD, the dissertation and JDP5 must be submitted to the Dissertation Reviewer, Linda Kilroy, by SDSU's deadline. You must be currently enrolled in Dissertation 899 at SDSU or in Dissertation 695 at USD. If enrolled at USD, you must provide proof of enrollment to the Graduate Division at the time of submittal. (Note: You must have been enrolled in each class at least once in order to graduate). Please refer to Dissertation and Thesis Review website.
- Once a student has submitted their dissertation to the cooperating institution, they need to bring a copy to the Graduate Division with the JDP5 form (UCSD, UCSB, and Computation Science at Claremont, a letter of receipt from UC Davis). We also require an extra copy of the title page and signature page for our records. We will fill out a Clearance Sheet and verify that the student is registered in 899. Students are also required to fill out the Survey of Earned Doctorates at both SDSU and the cooperating campus at the time the dissertation is submitted. Students will then take their dissertation with the Clearance Sheet to Montezuma Publishing and pay to have it bound.
- A few things to remember, the title page must include the name of both cooperating institutions. Students must be registered in 899 the term they submit their dissertation (except the Ed.D. program with USD), this includes summer. Students must apply for graduation the term they wish to graduate, this is not automatic. Also, if a student fails to graduate that term, they must reapply for any future term, applications do not roll over. Dissertations are submitted for review to the cooperating institution and must meet the deadline there. Deadline dates of the cooperating institutions vary, students should consult the academic calendar for the last date to submit the dissertation to be eligible to graduate.
