WHAT IS THE APPLICATION PROCESS FOR ADMISSION TO CANDIDACY FOR THE DOCTORAL DEGREE?

The form is to be completed by the student and approved by the student’s committee at the time the student takes his or her qualifying examination and is accepted to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree. The Graduate Director must also sign the form, after which it is returned to the Office of the Dean for processing and kept on file until the candidate is ready to defend the dissertation and get the degree. THIS FORM SHOULD NOT BE KEPT AT THE PROGRAM OFFICE.

WHAT IS THE PROCESS FOR TO APPLY FOR CHANGE IN STATUS?

This form is to be processed whenever students change their degree status, (e.g., from Master's to  Ph.D.,or from non-matriculated status to matriculated status). The students should complete the form and forward  it to the director of the graduate program for his or her approval. The director then forwards the form to the Office of the Dean. International students must provide documentation of financial support and obtain a signature of approval from the Center for International Faculty and Student Services after submitting this form to their program director.

ARE THERE ANY CREDIT LIMITATIONS FOR MASTER LEVEL AND PH.D LEVEL STUDENTS?

No more than 12 credits may be used toward more than two master’s degrees. Note also that no more than 24 credits of professional school course work may be used toward the Ph.D. Initial applicants who wish to take courses as non-degree students will apply as usual through the Non-Degree Study Office. Their applications will be reviewed, the registrations will be processed and  they will pay their tuition directly to student  accounting.

WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE TO FILE FOR A MASTERS DEGREE?

The front of the Application for Admission to Candidacy form must be completed by the student, listing only courses being applied towards the Master’s degree. The form is to be submitted to  the Office of the Dean at least 4 weeks prior to finishing, where it will be checked against the official record. It will be kept on file until the student comes to pick it up.  DIPLOMA APPLICATION Form must be filed with the Graduate Registrar’s Office, Administrative Services Building, Room 200F, Busch Campus by the dates specified on the back of the form. The dates correspond to the dates degrees are awarded.

WHAT IF I AM NOT WRITING A THESIS?

If the student is not writing a thesis, the student is required to list at least 30 credits of coursework on the form and have the director sign, indicating that the courses listed satisfy the requirements for the degree.

WHAT IF I AM WRITING A THESIS?

If the student is writing a thesis, the student should list at least 24 credits of coursework and 6 credits of research towards the degree, also approved by the director.

WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE TO FILE FOR THE MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE?

The front of the application must be completed by the student. Signatures of three faculty members must be obtained attesting that the candidate has written a satisfactory essay in fulfillment of the written requirement for the Master of Philosophy degree. If the student is using a thesis which was completed for the M.A. or M.S. degree, the title of the thesis should be written in the section entitled “Thesis Requirement.” The list of courses to be used for the Master of Philosophy degree should be listed on the reverse side of the form. The signature of the Graduate Director must be obtained testifying that all requirements for the Master of Philosophy degree have been completed. A copy of the essay used for the writing requirement should be attached to the completed form and submitted to the Office of the Dean.

A DIPLOMA APPLICATION FORM must be filed with the Graduate Registrar, Administrative Services Building, Room 200F, Busch Campus by dates specified on the back of the form.

WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE FOR FILING FOR A DOCTORAL DEGREE?

The application for Admission to Candidacy for the Ph.D. (which is to be completed at the time  the student passes the qualifying exam and then returned to the Office of the Dean) should be picked up at the Office of the Dean before defending the dissertation. At that time, other forms will be given to the student. e.g., payment fee forms, publishing agreement forms, and surveys).

If the defense is successful, the student’s committee will sign Section “B” of the candidacy form and the title page of the dissertation. Final approval must be given by the graduate program director certifying all requirements have been met for the Ph.D. degree. This form, along with the other forms mentioned above, and an Electronic Thesis or Dissertation must be submitted and approved by the Office of the Dean. See https://etd.libraries.rutgers.edu/login.php

WHERE DO I FIND THE DIPLOMA APPLICATION FORM?

A DIPLOMA APPLICATION FORM must be filed with the Graduate Registrar, Administrative Services Building, Room 200F, Busch Campus by dates specified on the back of the form. The dates correspond to the dates on which the degrees are awarded. The Diploma Application Form can be found at https://www.ugadmissions.rutgers.edu/DIPLOMA/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fDiploma%2fDefault.aspx

WHAT IS THE PROCESS FOR FORMING A PH.D DISSERTATION COMMITTEE?

Dissertation committees must be appointed immediately prior to or shortly after the

student has been accepted to candidacy. After consultation between the student, his or her proposed chairperson, and the graduate program director, the latter will appoint the committee.

The Ph.D. dissertation committee must consist of a minimum of four members, chaired by a Full Member of the Graduate Faculty. One of the committee members must be from outside the program and should be chosen in consultation with the graduate program director. If the outside committee member is not a member of the Graduate Faculty, the Director of the student’s program must immediately inform the Office of the Dean of the name and address of the person appointed. All members of the committee should sign the Ph.D. candidacy form.

WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE FOR DEFERRING PUBLICATION OF A DISSERTATION?

Student should present their requests to the Graduate School-New Brunswick in writing. If a decision is made to honor the request, the Graduate School will inform the Library that the dissertation is not to be published until a specific date, which may be any date up to one year after submission of the final copy of the dissertation. The Library may, with the permission of the student, make copies of the dissertation available to individuals upon request, but the text will not be listed in the catalogue or put on open shelves. The Graduate School - New Brunswick reserves the right to judge whether any request to do this is justified. In those cases where such a request is deemed to be justified (e.g., when a patentable invention is presented in the dissertation), the following procedure will be followed.

WHAT IS THE POLICY ON THE DISSERTATION?

The dissertation itself must be a single entity and a clearly written account of the student’s original research. In addition to a description of the details and results of the research, it should contain an appropriate general and contextual introduction, written at a level accessible to most other workers in the wider field. If the thesis consists of more than one piece of research, the elements of the dissertation must be related parts of a common research program and should be tied together in the introduction and the conclusion.