Doctor of Philosophy Program

The Doctor of Philosophy program in Communication Disorders provides an education in the methods of scholarship, teaching, and research. A student should attain skills required for the objective maintenance, dissemination, and creation of basic and applied information in the sciences of communication disorders. Pertinent experiences in the doctoral program include additional study in another field that is related to the understanding of communication disorders, study of the basic methods of scientific investigation, and experience in the activities that are most typical of persons holding a doctoral degree. These experiences include teaching, research, and writing. These skills are considered to elevate previous training and experience in providing clinical services to persons with communication disorders.

The department guidelines for doctoral study consist of procedures for planning a program of study, minimum requirements for a program plan (including course work, research, and teaching), procedures for comprehensive examination, and procedures for a dissertation. This reflects the sequence of the major steps toward obtaining the doctoral degree. Research and teaching experiences may be obtained at any point along this path. The following guidelines were developed by the Department of Communication Disorders so that they would meet the needs of the audiology and speech-language pathology profession and, also, would be consistent with the general policies for doctoral education set forth by the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

A strong advisory system is maintained for all Ph.D. students in order to aid curriculum, qualifying examination, and dissertation planning.

The Ph.D. student must complete graduate level course work in various areas in keeping with the following minimum requirements:

Ph.D. Program Plan Summary

I. Major Area (33 credits, minimum)
A. The primary focus of the student’s doctoral study and research. Current specialization is available within either Audiology or Speech-Language Pathology.

B. Distribution
1. Courses — within and outside the Department of Communication Disorders as long as they are consistent with the major area. A minimum of 6 credits (excluding independent studies) must be taken within the department. All courses must carry graduate level credits.
2. Independent Studies — a maximum of 9 graduate credits can be counted toward the major area.
3. Dissertation Only — a maximum of 18 credits can be counted toward the major area requirement. 

II. Minor Area (15 credits minimum)
A. A clearly defined field of study that is outside the Department of Communication Disorders.

III. Research Skills (12 credits minimum)
A. Statistics (6 credits minimum)

IV. Teaching Experience
A. Prior to completion of the dissertation, the student must either: 1) teach one undergraduate course in the Department of Communication Disorders or; 2) participate in team-teaching at least two courses in the Department of Communication Disorders.

At the completion of the majority of course work, the Ph.D. student is given a comprehensive examination consisting of a written and oral portion. The dissertation is undertaken following successful completion of the comprehensive examination.

A dissertation prospectus must be accepted by the student’s dissertation committee prior to the start of the dissertation work, and the completed dissertation must be defended in the form of an oral examination conducted by the student’s committee.

For further information on graduate programs, contact: Department of Communication Disorders, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, 358 North Pleasant St., University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-9296; tel. (413) 545-0131.