Doctor of Philosophy Board

Mission

The Doctor of Philosophy Board advises the Provost about University-wide issues pertaining to the Ph.D.  In addition, the Board approves new Ph.D. programs, recommends Ph.D. candidates for conferral to the president, conducts program reviews, and sets guidelines and policies that enhance the experience of all Ph.D. students.  The Board respects the strong tradition of local autonomy of the Schools and seeks to enhance the visibility and prominence of Ph.D. education across the University.

History

The Board was formed in January 2010. It inherited all University-wide Ph.D. policies that were in place at that time and that had been previously approved by the Graduate Board.

Composition

The Board is composed of distinguished faculty whose expertise reflects the broad range of intellectual disciplines represented by the University’s Ph.D. programs. The distribution of the members ensures that the full range of intellectual inquiry is represented on the Board. The numbers are chosen not to reflect the size of a school’s Ph.D. program, but rather the diversity of its disciplines. It is composed of eleven voting faculty members, distributed as follows:

• A Chair, from one of the PhD-granting Schools
• Three faculty members from the School of Arts and Sciences, one each from Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences
• One faculty member from the School of Engineering
• One faculty member from the School of Advanced International Studies
• One faculty member from the School of Medicine
• Two faculty members from the School of Public Health, one each from the Social and Natural Sciences
• One faculty member from the School of Nursing
• One faculty member from the School of Education
• Three Ph.D. student representatives (one from KSAS or WSE, one from BSPH or SOM, and one from SAIS, SOE, or SON)
• The Vice Provost of Graduate and Professional Education shall serve as a non-voting ex officio member of the Board.