Chronology of the SIRLS Doctoral Program
Major Advisor Assigned (who may or may not be same as the dissertation director): immediately upon arrival.
- The major advisor must be a full-time SIRLS faculty member.
- The major advisor will also usually be a tenured member of faculty. The major advisor may be changed with the approval of the SIRLS PhD Studies Committee.
Qualifying Examination: for major and possibly minor (at option of minor department)
- A diagnostic examination
- Taken within first semester of residence and preferably within first two weeks of residence
- May inform decisions regarding the student's Plan of Study
- May be waived with the approval of the major advisor and the PhD Studies Committee.
Plan of Study:
The student is to determine a Plan of Study in consultation with the major advisor and with the approval of the PhD Studies Committee. This Plan of Study will detail the student's courses which are required, elective, transferred in from an MLS or equivalent (if applicable), and which involve research methods. The Plan of Study should be approved by the end of the first year of residence.
The major advisor must approve any subsequent changes in a Plan of Study.
The Plan of Study includes:
- Courses to be transferred in
- Courses completed at UA
- New coursework to be taken at UA in major and minor
Proposed Coursework:
- 4 required SIRLS PhD seminars. One taken each semester over four semesters, covering topics which might typically include collection development, information-seeking behavior, epistemology, or the societal context of information, etc.
- 4 electives course in major area of study. These may be courses within or outside of SIRLS. These are to be determined by the student, with approval of the student's Program Committee (12 hours)
- A minor at UA: hours to be determined at the discretion of the minor host department, typically 9-12 hours, with the approval of the student's Program Committee.
- For students with a master 's degree in Information Resources and Library Science (IRLS) or a related field, 12 hours of graduate coursework may be transferred in, as approved by the student's major advisor. Students without a master's degree in IRLS or equivalent must take the following four required SIRLS courses in addition to the coursework given above:
- IRLS 501 Knowledge Structures I
- IRLS 506 Research Methods I
- IRLS 520 Ethics for Information Professionals
- IRLS 606 Research Methods II, or equivalent advanced research methods
- 2 courses (6 hours) of research methods and statistics. Students with a previously completed master's in IRLS or equivalent who have not taken acceptable research methods courses, as determined by their major advisor, during their master's program must also take IRLS 506 and IRLS 606. This requirement shall be waived for students with a previously completed master's in IRLS who have taken acceptable research methods courses, as determined by their major advisor, during their master's program.
[Some Graduate College requirements to recall:
- A minimum of 30 units of graduate credit in residence at The University of Arizona. "In residence" is defined as units offered by The University of Arizona, whether or not they are offered on campus.
- At least 36 units of coursework, exclusive of the dissertation, must be in the major area ]
Annual review
Each year, toward the end of the second semester in May, the Ph.D. studies committee will seek an annual review of each individual Ph.D. student from their respective major advisors. (This will be conducted in accordance with the School's Satisfactory Academic Progress guidelines.)
Comprehensive Examination/Dissertation Committee formed
The Comprehensive Examination/Dissertation (CE/D) Committee consists of the major advisor; at least two additional faculty from the student's major field (at least one of which must be SIRLS faculty); and two faculty members from the student's minor.
All five members of the CE/D Committee must be present for the comprehensive written and oral examination. At the discretion of the minor department, the two members from the minor field may also be present at the later dissertation proposal defense and the later dissertation defense.
The members of the CE/D Committee may be changed with the approval of the SIRLS PhD Studies Committee.
Comprehensive Examination: covers major and minor
Administered and graded by the student's Comprehensive Examination/ Dissertation (CE/D) Committee
In preparation for this examination, the student's CE/D Committee, in consultation with the student, identifies broad topical areas and a reading list based upon the student's coursework.
Written examination: covers major and minor
In consultation with the student, the student's CE/D Committee will determine the format of the written portion of the examination well in advance of the scheduled exam.
Oral examination: covers major and minor
The oral portion of the examination is conducted before a committee of 5 faculty members appointed by Dean of Graduate College and supervised by a representative of Graduate College. (This last requirement, a Graduate College representative, is being phased out. When the Graduate College not longer require it, neither will the School.)
On successful completion of the written and oral portions of the comprehensive examination, the student advances to candidacy.
Dissertation Proposal Defense
In addition to the comprehensive written and oral examination mandated by the Graduate College, SIRLS requires Ph.D. students to pass a dissertation proposal defense.
The dissertation proposal defense is to be done after the student has completed the comprehensive examination. In order to remain in good academic standing, the student must pass the dissertation proposal defense no later than the semester immediately following the semester in which the comprehensive examination is completed (not counting summer sessions).
The comprehensive examination is to ensure that the student has the necessary depth and breadth of knowledge in the area of Information Resources and Library Science. The dissertation proposal defense is to ensure that the student has chosen an appropriate problem for the dissertation and has a plan of action that allows the student to tackle that problem.
The student, in consultation with the major advisor and other appropriate faculty, should prepare a brief (typically 15- to 30- page) dissertation proposal and a substantive reading list of relevant sources. The proposal should include a statement of the problem that the student intends to address and the student's proposed plan of action for tackling it. When this task is completed to the satisfaction of the major advisor, the student may schedule a dissertation proposal defense.
The three major members of the student's CE/D Committee will administer the dissertation proposal defense. This committee will evaluate the proposal and reading list in order to determine whether or not the student is prepared to begin work on a dissertation. The committee must vote unanimously in favor for the student to pass the dissertation proposal defense.
If the student fails the dissertation proposal defense, the major advisor will send the student a written report explaining the reasons for the failure. The student may make a second--and final--attempt to pass the dissertation proposal defense.
The student has to pass the dissertation proposal defense only once. The student may, in consultation with your major advisor, change the dissertation topic without having to retake this exam.
This requirement applies to any student entering the Ph.D. program after October 1, 1997.
Formal Oral Defense (of Dissertation) Examination:
- Administered by the student's dissertation committee
- Administered by 3 major faculty from major field, and by 2 faculty from minor field (these may waive attendance).
