Gerontology Doctor of Philosophy Program
Department of Gerontology | Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
丁香园AV Calendar 2012 Spring
丁香园AV Requirements
丁香园AV to the doctor of philosophy (PhD) program will require a gerontology master鈥檚 degree or a master鈥檚 degree from another discipline in which a significant amount of course work and/or thesis/project research deals with aging or the aged. Applicants will be evaluated on an individual basis. Those not meeting these requirements will need to complete preparatory course work that is equivalent to a master鈥檚 in gerontology or aging studies. It is recommended that applicants have a minimum 3.5 grade point average (GPA). In addition, there must be supervisory capacity in the department to support the candidate鈥檚 dissertation research.
In addition to program requirements, applicants will meet University admission requirements to a doctoral program as stated in the graduate general regulations 1.3.4.
Supervisory Committee
A senior supervisor is assigned to each student upon doctoral program admission. Three additional committee members will be added by the end of the first year. At least two supervisory committee members must be members of the Department of Gerontology. This can include the senior supervisor.
Program Requirements
Doctoral students complete five GERO graduate courses (see Course Requirements section below) but may be required to complete up to seven additional courses if deemed necessary by the admissions committee. Two courses will be related to one of two streams that the student has selected as an area of expertise: environment and aging; or health and aging. Two courses will be methods/statistics courses, and one course will be a required theory course. (See GERO courses for course descriptions.)
After completing of course work, students will also write and defend a dissertation.
Course Requirements
Environment and Aging Stream
- GERO 810-4 Community Based Housing for Older People
- GERO 811-4 Institutional Living Environments
- GERO 822-4 Families, Communities and Health
- GERO 830-4 Human Factors, Technology, and Safety
Health and Aging Stream
- GERO 801-4 Health Policy and Applied Issues in Gerontology
- GERO 820-4 Principles and Practices of Health Promotion
- GERO 822-4 Families, Communities and Health
- GERO 823-4 Mental Health and Illness in Later Life
Required Methods/Statistics Courses
Student complete any two* of
- GERO 802-4 Development and Evaluation of Health Promotion Programs for the Elderly
- GERO 803-4 Analytical Techniques for Gerontological Research*
- GERO 804-4 Advanced Qualitative Methods in Gerontology
- GERO 805-4 Advanced Statistics for Behavioral Analysis in Gerontology
*or equivalent courses
Required Theory Course
- GERO 806-4 Interdisciplinary Theories in Gerontology
Students may substitute up to three courses from other programs (especially the Faculty of Health Sciences) with departmental approval. Students may also complete one directed studies (GERO 889).
Comprehensive Examinations
After completion of all course work with a GPA of at least 3.25, students will write two comprehensive examinations, which are multidisciplinary and comprehensive in nature and that necessitate independent study beyond course requirements based on reading lists developed with their supervisory committee. These are to be defended orally.
One exam will cover the substantive literature in the dissertation field. The second will be determined by the supervisory committee based on the current and anticipated research needs of the student. It will typically cover one or a combination of the following: a secondary area of gerontological knowledge; design and methods; or theoretical knowledge.
A student who fails a comprehensive exam will have one chance for re-examination. Students failing either comprehensive exam more than once will not be allowed to continue in the program. When the exams are successfully completed, the student must successfully defend their dissertation proposal before being officially admitted to candidacy for the PhD degree.
Dissertation
Students write and successfully defend a dissertation prospectus in accordance with graduate general regulations 1.9.4 and 1.10.1.
Academic Requirements within the Graduate General Regulations
All graduate students must satisfy the academic requirements that are specified in the graduate general regulations (residence, course work, academic progress, supervision, research competence requirement, completion time, and degree completion), as well as the specific requirements for the program in which they are enrolled, as shown above.