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Sixty credit hours are required to complete the Ph.D. degree:
Twenty-seven credit hours of core curricula, including nine credits each from theory courses, research methodology courses, and statistical methodology courses
Eighteen credit hours in a focused program of study chosen in consultation with the student’s adviser and/or the Department of Communication’s Director of Graduate Studies
Six credit hours of elective courses. No more than three of those credit hours may come from an Independent Study. [For students entering the Ph.D. program with a baccalaureate, these credit hours must be used to complete a 2nd year graduate research project.]
Students must enroll in the Communication Colloquium series every semester they are enrolled in coursework for a total of up to six semesters.
Nine credit hours of dissertation credits.
No class may be used to fulfill more than one requirement.
Core curricula (27 credits)
Required Theory Courses (9 credits)
COMM601 Epistemology and Theory in Communication 3
COMM606 Foundations of Contemporary Communication Theory 3
Students must take three additional credits from a theory driven course from a topic within their focused program of study. Students must confer with their advisers to determine which course will best fulfill this requirement. May come from a course outside of the Department of Communication.
Required Research Methodology Courses (9 credits)
COMM603 Communication Research Methods – Procedures 3
Students must take six additional credits of research methods courses focused on different research methodologies that would best benefit their own program of study. Students must confer with their advisers to determine which courses will best fulfill their expectations.
Required Statistical Methodology Courses (9 credits)
COMM604 Communication Research Methods – Analysis 3
Students must take an additional six statistical methods credits: three credits must be an advanced generalist statistics courses and three credits must be from specialist statistics courses. Students should confer with their advisers to determine which courses will best fulfill the expectations of their program of study.
It is expected that students will complete no more than 6 of these 12 additional research and statistical methodology credits from outside of the Department of Communication.
Focused program of study (18 Credits)
Students must take 18 credits of Communication or related courses, chosen in consultation with the student’s adviser and/or the Department of Communication’s Director of Graduate Studies so the student can build the most appropriate program of study for the student.
Students may take no more than 6 credits of independent study (COMM866) total as part of their Focused Program of Study
No more than 9 credits of a student’s Focused Program of Study may be taken outside of the Department of Communication without consultation with the Department of Communication’s Director of Graduate Studies.
Elective Courses or Second-Year Graduate Research (6 credits)
Students entering the Ph.D. program with a master’s degree will complete 6 credits of elective classes chosen in consultation with their advisor. No more than 3 credits may come from an independent study.
Students entering the Ph.D. program with a baccalaureate must enroll in COMM868: Research. They are to enroll in 3 credits during their fall semester and 3 credits during their spring semester of their second year.
The student is to develop, design, and implement a piece of original research, with guidance from a faculty committee of the student’s choosing.
Once the faculty committee is chosen, with one faculty committee member designated as its chair, the student and the chair will work together to develop the idea behind the research project and write a proposal to be presented to the entire faculty committee. The student will meet with the faculty committee to defend the proposal and the faculty committee will evaluate the proposal, make suggestions on how to improve the proposal research project. The proposal should be defended during the first semester of the student’s second year in the program.
Once the proposal is completed the student will then proceed to collect all necessary data and write a written report based on their findings. The written report should include an abstract, introduction, literature review, methods, results, discussion, and literature cited section. This research will serve as the basis for an oral defense during the spring semester of their second year, after the written report is submitted to the faculty committee.
The research project, including the oral defense and presentation, should be completed by June 30th. If revisions of the written report are required by the faculty committee, they are due by July 30th.
Upon successful completion of their Second-Year Research, students should receive an official letter confirming this passing of a major program milestone from their faculty committee’s chair. A copy of the letter should be provided to the Department of Communication’s Director of Graduate Studies.
A document based on original research that served as a basis for a student’s Second-Year Graduate Research can be submitted to the University Graduate College as a Thesis to obtain the Master of Arts (M.A.) Degree in Communication.
The M.A. is optional for each student and does not advance a student in the program. The written report must be formatted according to the University Graduate College standards. The Master’s Thesis requires the signatures of the student’s advisor (research committee chair), the Chair of the Department of Communication, the College of Arts and Sciences Dean, and the Dean of the Graduate College. The minimum number of credits required for the M.A. Degree in Communication with thesis is 24 semester credit hours plus 6 hours of COMM869: Master’s Thesis.
Communication Colloquium (0 credits)
Dissertation (9 credits)
