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Ph.D. Program Plan

What is a Program Plan?

A Ph.D. program plan is a written document that specifies the course work that the student must complete as part of his or her degree requirements. Although there are certain university, college, and departmental requirements, program plans are personalized for individual students.

Steps in Developing a Program Plan

  1. The student develops a draft program plan to share with his or her advisor.
  2. The student and advisor collaborate and reach consensus.
  3. The student asks the KIN graduate secretary to prepare a copy of the program plan using the approved MSU form.
  4. The student shares the program plan with members of his or her guidance committee in advance of a guidance committee meeting. The student should also share: (a) a proposed timeline for completing the proposed course work, the research practicum, comprehensive exams, and the dissertation; (b) a current curriculum vita; (c) a current transcript from StuInfo - https://stuinfo.msu.edu/ ; and (d) a summary of research plans.
  5. A meeting of the guidance committee is conducted. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the student's program plan and progress toward degree, as well as to approve the program plan.
  6. If the program plan is approved, the guidance committee members sign the form and the student takes the signed form to the KIN graduate secretary.
  7. If the program plan requires revision, the student asks the KIN graduate secretary to make the revisions, then obtains signatures from guidance committee members, then takes the signed form to the KIN graduate secretary.

Required Elements of a Ph.D. Program Plan

Students should give attention to the following departmental, college, and university requirements when constructing their program plans.

bullet

KIN requirements

bulletMinimum of 60 semester credits, including the dissertation.
bulletCategories of required course work: (a) area of concentration; (b) KIN cognate/breadth requirement; (c) supporting area cognate; (d) research cognate.
bullet Research practicum (KIN 995 and presentation).
bullet Comprehensive examinations (written and oral).
bullet Dissertation (minimum of 24 semester credits).
bullet

College of Education requirements  

bulletBasic knowledge in at least four of the following areas of general professional education:  (a) administration; (b) curriculum; (c) psychological foundations; (d) research and evaluation methods; (e) social, philosophical, and historical foundations; (f) motor development and motor learning; (g) biological foundations; (h) ethical considerations; and (i) issues of diversity in education (from the Academic Programs catalog).
bulletA minimum of three courses (minimum of 9 credits) in educational inquiry and research including these courses or equivalent courses:  CEP 930 - Educational Inquiry, CEP 932 - Quantitative Methods in Educational Research I, and CEP 933 - Quantitative Methods in Educational Research II or a 900-level course in advanced qualitative methods approved by the student's guidance committee.  
bullet

University requirements (from the Academic Programs catalog)

bulletOne year of residence (two consecutive semesters) on campus.

Course-Taking Options

Ph.D. students have a variety of course-taking options when developing the program plan. However, the selected courses must be (a) appropriate to the student's academic program and (b) completed within the time limit for earning the Ph.D. degree at MSU, as judged by the student's guidance committee.

bulletGraduate-level courses. At MSU, 900-level courses are designed specifically for doctoral students, and 800-level courses are designed for for both master's and doctoral level students. The Ph.D. program plan may include any 800 or 900 level graduate courses offered by any academic unit at MSU.
bulletUndergraduate-level courses
bulletDoctoral students may include 400-level courses on the program plan if the course is essential to the program of study, especially for students who enter the KIN doctoral program from other disciplinary areas. However, 400-level courses should be the exception rather than the rule in a Ph.D. program plan.
bulletIn almost all cases, 100, 200, 300 level courses are considered remedial and should not be included on the student's program plan. However, if the guidance committee approves, a Ph.D. student may enroll in KIN 990 - Independent Study with a plan to complete the undergraduate course requirements plus added work that reflects graduate-level expertise and competence.
bulletTransfer credits. Graduate students may transfer up to 9 semester credits from other accredited colleges or universities, up to 10 semester credits earned at MSU while enrolled through the Lifelong Education program, and the 6 credits earned in TE 802 and TE 804 in the post-BA teacher certification program. Credits will be transferred only if the student earned a grade of at least 3.0 in the course.
bulletCourses from earlier degrees at MSU. Doctoral students may apply graduate credits from earlier degrees at MSU to the doctoral program plan, but only if those credits were not formally included in the master's degree program plan.

Sample Program Plan

The following sample program plan was approved for a doctoral student in the exercise physiology concentration whose research interests focused on the effects of exercise in pregnancy. Notice how the program plan was personalized for this student. In fact, the student created a KIN cognate that corresponded with research interests. Also notice how courses are grouped by degree requirements. There are 77 credits in this program plan (53 credits of course work plus 24 credits of dissertation).

Concentration: Exercise Physiology
KIN 810
KIN 811
KIN 812
KIN 813
KIN 890
KIN 890
KIN 894
PSL 432		 Physiology of Physical Activity
Physiological Evaluation and Exercise Prescription
Cardiovascular, Respiratory, and Metabolic Responses ...
Neuromuscular and Endocrine Responses to Exercise
Independent Study: Portable Analyzer
Independent Study: Exercise in Pregnancy
Field Experiences: Crew Data/Paper
Medical Physiology II

3
2
3
3
1
1
3
2
KIN Cognate/Breadth Requirement: Exercise Behavior
KIN 482
KIN 841
KIN 870		 Exercise Psychology
Stress Management in Athletes
Physical Activity and Well-Being

3
3
3
Supporting Area Cognate: Epidemiology
EPI 810
EPI 812
EPI 815
EPI 816
LCS 829		 Introduction to Descriptive and Analytical Epidemiology
Causal Inference in Epidemiology
Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Disease
Perinatal Epidemiology
Design and Conduct of EPI Studies and Clinical Trials

3
3
3
3
3
Research Cognate
KIN 895
KIN 995
PHM 980
PSY 815
CEP 930
CEP 932
CEP 933		 Research Ethics
Research Practicum: Portable Analyzer
Problems in Biostatistics
Multivariate Statistics & Inference
Waived by PHM 980 and PSY 815
Waived by PHM 980
Waived by PSY 815

1
3
3
4
-
-
-
Doctoral Dissertation
KIN 999 Doctoral Dissertation Research

24

Deadline

KIN doctoral students are expected to submit an approved program plan (formally called the Report of the Guidance Committee: Doctoral and Other Programs) within 24 credits following admission to the Ph.D. program.