PhD Program Information

Welcome from the Chair of the PhD Program

On behalf of the faculty, WELCOME to the 2024-2025 academic year in the College of Nursing at The University of Tennessee. The College of Nursing has a long history of providing quality nursing education and preparing graduates for professional nursing practice in the evolving health care system. The PhD program was founded in 1989. Our graduates have filled important roles in nursing education, research, health policy, and administration, including deanships and positions as directors of federal programs.

Best Wishes for a successful year,

Sandra Thomas
Chair of the PhD Program

PhD Mission Statement

The mission of the PhD program is to educate future nurse scientists who will develop knowledge within nursing, and in interdisciplinary and interprofessional contexts. While maintaining high ethical standards, nurse scientists lead theory development; inclusive programs of research and other scholarship; dissemination of new health discoveries in professional and public forums; policy development; and education. Honoring diversity, they collaborate with other leaders to implement scientific findings to maximize health and health care among local, regional, national, and global constituencies.

Consistent with the 2022 report of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing on the research-focused doctorate, the PhD faculty at UT believe that:

"The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) represents the highest level of formal education to prepare individuals to advance the scholarship of discovery for a given discipline...The PhD is a research-focused degree that prepares individuals to create, translate, and communicate new knowledge as leaders within institutions of higher education and outside of academia...In the field of nursing, the PhD graduate is prepared to steward the profession, develop its science, define its uniqueness, maintain its professional integrity, and educate the next generation of nursing professionals. To achieve its vision of improving health outcomes for all people, particularly those in populations experiencing social and health inequities, the profession must produce and support PhD-prepared nurses, nurse educators, and nurse scientists who reflect the broad diversity of society as a whole" (AACN, 2022, p. 1).

The faculty also concur with the Core Competencies of Successful PhDs (Nyquist, 2002):

Disciplinary knowledge
Commitment to an informed career choice
Teaching competency
Understanding of the diversity of present and future students and present and future workforces
Understanding of the mentoring process necessary to provide leadership for future generations in either academia or the workplace
Ability and preparedness to connect one’s work to that of others within and across disciplines
Global perspective
Ability to see oneself as a scholar-citizen who will connect his or her expertise to the needs of society
Ability to communicate and work in teams and explain work to public audiences and those who set policies
Understanding of ethical conduct as researchers, teachers, and professionals

PhD Student Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the program will be able to:

Analyze, test, refine and expand the theoretical basis of nursing.
From multiple modes of inquiry, select the most appropriate and conduct research that generates knowledge and advances nursing as a discipline.
Provide culturally competent leadership as nurse scientists in transforming health and healthcare.
Collaborate with members of other disciplines in theory development, health-related research, and other scholarly activities, recognizing diversity of ideas.
Maintain professional standards, ethical principles, and scientific integrity in scholarly activities.
Communicate outcomes and implications of scholarly activities to professional and general audiences through multiple modes of dissemination.

General Duties and Responsibilities of Faculty & All Graduate Students

Scholarship is the discovery, development, synthesis, and dissemination of knowledge. Knowledge emerges from and informs philosophy, theory, research, and practice (adapted from AACN). Scholarship is diverse in values, interests, perspectives, and approaches. Scholars use creative, innovative, and rigorous thinking about topics relevant and significant to the discipline and society. Scholars are individually and collectively accountable for learning, professional development, research, and reflective practice. Scholarship is an ongoing, mutually transformative, and collaborative process.

Faculty who teach in the PhD program are scholars in their own right. Each demonstrates the ability to pursue his or her selected area of research/scholarship while enacting the other roles required of faculty: teaching, mentorship of graduate students, and university and professional service. Faculty who teach in the PhD program are committed to facilitating students’ success. During coursework, faculty will do frequent “check-ins” with students to review the level of performance to date and the continued progress needed in a given course. Faculty who serve as advisors to PhD students will not only be a guide and facilitator in terms of the program of study, but also a coach and mentor. Doctoral students should look to their advisors as sources of information, such as suggestions for cognates, but also for mentorship in terms of special learning opportunities, research conferences, academic career search, etc.

The intensity and depth of doctoral study requires a level of commitment to one’s studies that exceeds that required by prior nursing education. To be successful, doctoral students must be able to commit substantial time and effort to their studies, and to participate in other scholarly activities associated with the program. Part of becoming a scholar in nursing is being socialized into the role. This cannot happen without participation in colloquia, research groups, research conferences, and other learning activities beyond coursework.

Attendance is mandatory at all colloquia and conferences that are scheduled during Doctoral Intensives unless the PhD Program Chair or Assistant Dean of Graduate Programs has granted an exception. While not every student may have the opportunity to dedicate themselves entirely to full-time study due to external commitments, it is essential for every student to prioritize certain aspects of their program where they can fully immerse themselves in their studies with depth and intensity.

Graduate students in nursing are responsible to meet both coursework and policy conditions in the College of Nursing, as well as all university regulations, in a timely fashion. Students need to be vigilant in reviewing the university academic calendar frequently, as well as the Graduate School homepage, so as not to miss key deadlines. While there may be email reminders sent through the PhD community Canvas site, it remains the student’s responsibility to adhere to these deadlines.

The primary responsibility of a PhD student is to cultivate habits of rigorous scholarship, like those described by John Dewey (1910/1940; 1922/1930; 1935/1963). Dewey distinguished creative, productive habits from routine, unthinking habits. The productive habits described by Dewey include deliberation, critical reflection, risk-taking, courage, and a kind of intellectual restlessness that compels the scholar to evolve perpetually. Because earlier levels of nursing education often focus more on mastery of didactic course content and development of clinical proficiencies, doctoral students may struggle to relinquish old habits of studying.

Doctoral education can be challenging and may lead to feelings of discomfort. It is sometimes difficult to put one’s personal beliefs and experiences in the background and take a new look at the world, human beings, and nursing work from the perspective of a scholar rather than that of a practitioner. Faculty members understand this difficulty and are prepared to guide students through this transition.

College of Nursing and PhD Forms

All College of Nursing and PhD program specific forms may be found on the PhD Program Canvas site.

Advisement Prior to Dissertation

Early in the student’s program, a nursing faculty advisor will be assigned by the program Chair. At the initial advising session, an academic plan will be completed. The student should make an appointment with their advisor each semester prior to registration to review and confirm the next semester's courses based on the program of study at the time of admission. Modifications to the program of study should be discussed with the advisor and formalized by the Office of Student Services Academic Advisor. Should the student wish to change advisors, they must obtain agreement from the faculty member and notify the program Chair of this change. The faculty advisor will provide academic advisement, assist the student in selection of cognates, and review the student’s portfolio each semester. Once the dissertation committee is formed, they assume the advising role. The dissertation committee may or may not include the faculty member who provided initial advisement.

Degree Requirements Specific to the Program Curriculum

The primary focus of the PhD in nursing curriculum is scientific inquiry and theory development in the discipline of nursing with the objective of producing nursing research scientists and scholars. The curriculum includes a series of courses in the nursing major that will help the student evaluate existing knowledge critically and engage in the creation and use of new nursing knowledge. Readings in the philosophy of science create awareness of philosophical perspectives throughout history, with emphasis on the philosophers who have influenced research traditions in nursing and theoretical formulations of nurse scholars. The theory component of the curriculum involves concept development, acquisition of tools and processes for rigorous analysis of constructs and frameworks, and initiation of new theory development. Special emphasis is placed on middle-range theories from nursing and related disciplines as guides for research.

The research and statistics courses provide students with a firm grounding in both quantitative and qualitative research designs, research methodology, research ethics, and strategies for data analysis. The required two- course sequence in statistics is considered a minimum. Some students will need to take additional courses (e.g., structural equation modeling) to prepare for their dissertation data analysis. Equal emphasis is placed on basic and applied studies addressing questions of significance to the nursing discipline. All students will acquire research skills through a carefully planned sequence of activities beginning with involvement in the ongoing investigations of faculty mentors, progressing to the student's own independent projects, and culminating in the doctoral dissertation. Students have options such as involvement in an interdisciplinary phenomenology research group, conducting analyses of large government data sets, and working in a collaborative team with faculty and nurses in a wide variety of community settings.

Complementing the theory and research courses are explorations of issues related to health policy, ethics, care delivery, and the scientific management of complex clinical and educational systems. The content of these courses is especially crucial given the current climate of drastic, unprecedented changes in U.S. health care delivery systems and financing mechanisms. Additionally, the College of Nursing at UTK is committed to preparing graduates who are ready to assume faculty roles. There is a serious shortage of doctorly-prepared nursing faculty across the nation, which prompted us to place greater emphasis on preparation for academic careers.

Cognate courses complement the program of study in the nursing major and are selected in collaboration with the student's advisor with an eye toward underpinning the focus of the dissertation research question. Both 500- and 600-level courses may be selected. Courses must be designated as distance education (DE).

Possible cognate areas might include anthropology, child and family studies, psychology, education, management, medical ethics, philosophy, public health, gerontology, social work, or statistics, among others. In the Graduate Catalog, cognate fields are defined as “a minimum of 6 semester hours of graduate course work in a given area outside the student’s major.” It should be emphasized, however, that 6 hours is indeed the minimum. Students often elect to register for additional credit hours in their cognates and/or to tie their preceptorship experiences to the cognate area. If approved by the Dean of the Graduate School, cognate courses can be taken at other universities. A syllabus and rationale for taking a course at another university must be submitted to the Assistant Dean of Graduate Programs for the College of Nursing.

Doctoral students in nursing are also eligible to earn a number of graduate certificates (https://tiny.utk.edu/grad-catalog). These options can be discussed with faculty advisors.

Blended Learning in the PhD Program

All PhD nursing courses in the PhD program are offered in a blended format. The majority of learning activities occur in an online environment. There are typically two, coordinated Doctoral Intensives face-to-face sessions per term.

Online group and self-paced learning activities feature multi-modal learner and faculty communication and engagement. Group activities in the online and classroom environments include facilitated discussions, collaborative learning and problem-solving, and project work. Synchronous online activities (i.e., live sessions with faculty and students participating at the same time) comprise no more than five sessions per course per semester. The schedule for course online synchronous activities will be published at the beginning of the term.

Group and individual activities and assignments emphasize application of curricular content and increasing integration and synthesis of scholarly information. Guided learning experiences are complemented with customized materials. Personal and group reflection is used to advance learning and understanding.

Blended learning in the PhD program is differentiated by enhanced use of technology; alternative teaching methods; expanded access to a broad complement of resources; greater flexibility with some elements of student and faculty control over time, place, pace, etc. of learning and engagement; and ongoing evaluation of student progress and course content with an emphasis on rapid cycle improvement. Blended learning confers new accountabilities on learners to use technology for self-learning and discovery. Authentic presence and active engagement are required for learners and faculty to achieve success.

Special Policies

A maximum of 6 graduate hours taken before acceptance into the doctoral program may be applied toward the degree.
Courses such as statistics may be taken at other universities after submission of syllabi to the PhD program director for approval. Students should not register for such courses without first seeking approval. At the doctoral level, credits from courses at other universities are not “transferred”, and grades earned elsewhere are not included in computation of your UTK GPA.
The College of Nursing expects doctoral students to fulfill the standard for formal writing specified in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th edition). Students will receive a writing manual at PhD Orientation that will be useful throughout the doctoral program. Faculty members expect students to refer to the manual frequently. Also, please review the Plagiarism document (Appendix A). Evidence of plagiarism on a paper is covered under the academic dishonesty policies of the university as outlined in Hilltopics, the university student handbook. In the PhD program at the College of Nursing, any paper containing plagiarism shall be given a grade of zero.
Doctoral students must comply with the health directives established by the College’s Health and Welfare Committee. Items such as background checks, drug screenings, etc., are to be submitted online to the Complio system by the established deadline. Nursing licensure should be documented upon program entry.
Course Loads: According to Graduate School policies (https://tiny.utk.edu/grad-catalog), students are urged to consider work and family responsibilities carefully before registering for course work each semester. The maximum load for a graduate student is 15 hours, and 9 hours is considered a full load. Students who are employed usually pursue no more than 6 hours per semester. For the summer term, graduate students may register for a maximum of 12 hours in an entire summer term or for a maximum of 6 hours in a five-week summer session. Students may enroll in only one course during a mini-term session.
Preceptorship Information: For the elective course NURS 614, a qualified preceptor must be arranged. A preceptor for NURS N614 is an individual in an academic, health care, or health policy position with credentials suitable for mentoring doctoral students in achieving their faculty-approved learning objectives for the preceptorship experience. The preceptor does not grade student performance but may provide feedback to the course faculty regarding the student’s achievement of the learning objectives.
Publication and Authorship: Given the manuscript dissertation involves submission of at least 2 manuscripts prior to the report of your dissertation research findings, students will be preparing these submissions throughout the PhD program (see section on Manuscript Dissertation). Because faculty provide substantial guidance and mentoring as students transform class papers to journal submissions, authorship credit may be appropriate for one or more faculty members. The College of Nursing adheres to the guidelines in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th edition), regarding ethical reporting of scholarly work and authorship credit.

According to the manual, “authorship encompasses…not only those who do the actual writing but also those who have made substantial scientific contributions to a study” (APA, 2020, p. 24). Therefore, scholarly work that has been guided by your faculty generally involves crediting the faculty who guided the project and/or the development of the resultant publishable paper. Please refer to section 1.22 in the APA manual regarding the proper order in which authors must be listed. Authorship is negotiated with potential coauthors, such as faculty and other students, early in the process. You may be wondering if students are required to include faculty as co-authors on all manuscripts submitted while you are a doctoral student. Students do not have to include faculty but consider that in most cases the faculty member selected pertinent readings, gave the assignment, and may have given extensive feedback on the paper in grading it. Nevertheless, any coauthor should contribute to the substance of the article, beyond minor editing. This may include major reorganization of the piece, conceptual input, or additions to the text. All coauthors must have a chance to see the final version of the manuscript before it is submitted to a journal.

Other things to consider include deciding where the paper is to be published before you transform it from a class paper to a journal submission, because you should select a referenced journal from the curated list prepared by the International Association of Nurse Editors (INANE). Predatory publishers often promise fast manuscript review, but do not have a credible review process and charge large fees. Check the author guidelines for the journal regarding format, length, etc., of the submission. Not all journals use APA format. If you use EndNote™ to format, be sure also to proofread for format errors because EndNote™ is not foolproof. Finally, have someone read the manuscript to see if it would be clear to a general reader. Other tips about writing for publication may be found in the writing manual that you received at PhD Orientation. Ethics of journal publication will be covered in a subsequent workshop.

Publication of Dissertation Findings Manuscript: The third paper in a 3-manuscript dissertation reports the research findings. Your major professor (chair), and other members of your committee in some cases, have contributed a great deal towards your finished project by helping with the study and your dissertation document. At least the chair should be a co-author on the major findings article of your dissertation. Section 1.22 of the APA manual includes the following statement about publications emanating from a dissertation: “Because doctoral work is expected to result in an independent and original contribution to the field by the student, except under rare circumstances, the student should be listed as the principal author of any papers with multiple authors that are substantially based on their dissertation” (APA Ethics Code Standard 8.12c, Publication Credit, cited in APA Publication Manual, 2020, p. 25). Full disclosure is recommended at the time of manuscript submission: i.e., any journal manuscript based on a dissertation should include an up-front formal acknowledgement that the research was conducted as part of a PhD program at X University, with listing of the chair and committee members. The chair and committee members should review the manuscript and approve its submission. In the rare event that one year elapses after the student's graduation without the findings manuscript being submitted to a journal, the committee chair has the right to initiate submission. The student remains first author, and other committee members are coauthors if they meet APA guidelines for authorship.
Self-Plagiarism: An issue of serious concern in contemporary publishing is self-plagiarism (i.e., copying your own words verbatim from your previously published papers, without citing those papers, which violates copyright law). Recently, journal editors began to reject submissions based on dissertations because the full dissertation documents are made publicly available in university repositories (such as Trace, the repository of the University of Tennessee). When the journals run their plagiarism software (e.g., iThenticate), as much as 70% of the journal manuscript content is reported as “self-plagiarized” from the dissertation posted on the university web site. Therefore, some editors are either rejecting these manuscripts outright or demanding major rewrites to reduce the similarity. It is virtually impossible to write some sections of a journal article completely differently than the dissertation (for example, listing of instruments and their psychometric properties; description of sample demographics). Therefore, it is best to embargo your dissertation for a year before it is posted on Trace, so that you can get manuscripts out to journals before the dissertation is made publicly available on Trace. The University’s thesis consultant will provide you with a form on which you can select this embargo option at the time you submit the dissertation to the Graduate School.

Dissertation Committee

Per the Graduate School: (https://tiny.utk.edu/grad-catalog)

“The chair/major professor directs the student’s dissertation research and chairs the dissertation committee.

Ph.D. committees at the University of Tennessee must be composed of at least four people. At least two committee members must be tenured or tenure track UT faculty. The chair of the committee is typically from the student’s department/intercollegiate program. At least one member must be from an academic unit other than that of the student’s department; in interdisciplinary programs, one member shall be from outside that program. Committee members outside the student’s home department/program are referred to below as external members. External members may be from outside of the University of Tennessee but must be approved in accordance with the procedures below.

The Dean of the Graduate School must approve every PhD student committee; however, the primary responsibility for approving individuals to serve on those committees is held at the department/interdisciplinary unit level, according to their bylaws. As a rule, the faculty member’s graduate unit/department submits the Doctoral Committee form with any necessary attachments to the Graduate School immediately upon formation of the dissertation committee.

Those who may chair and/or serve on committees fall under one of the following categories. However, the Dean of the Graduate School may grant one-time approval outside the parameters of these categories, in specific cases as supported by the department and deemed in the best interest of the student.

Category One

University of Tennessee tenured or tenure-track faculty holding a doctoral degree or joint faculty holding a doctoral degree are automatically granted the approval to chair or be a member of any doctoral committee. University of Tennessee tenured or tenure-track faculty, without a doctoral degree, may serve on doctoral committees.

Category Two

Individuals who are not tenured/tenure track whose primary employer is the University of Tennessee and who hold the titles of professor, associate professor, or assistant professor can co-chair or be a member of dissertation committees. However, they may only co-chair committees if their appointment is within the student’s major.

Category Three

Tenured or tenure-track faculty at other institutions may serve as the external member on a dissertation committee. The individual’s CV must be attached to the Ph.D. committee form when it is submitted to the Graduate School.

Category Four

Others who are considered experts in the field may serve as an external member of the dissertation committee. The individual’s CV must be attached to the Ph.D. committee form when it is submitted to the Graduate School.

Category Five

Emeritus faculty may continue to chair, or serve as a member of, existing committees. They may not be appointed to any new committees once retired, but they may continue to serve out their previously approved committee roles. In the case that a Ph.D. committee chair leaves the University of Tennessee prior to a student completing the degree, the chair may (1) resign from the committee, (2) serve as a co-chair of the committee; or (3) serve as a member of the committee. The student must submit a change of committee form documenting the appointment of a new chair or co-chair and updating the appointment status of the previous chair.

In cases when a department head believes an exception to the above categories is needed, the department head may appeal to the Dean of the Graduate School.

For non-PhD degrees, information on formation of the doctoral committee can be found in the student’s respective program description.

To officially establish the committee, the student will submit the PhD Committee Form with original signatures. This committee is nominated by the department head or college dean and approved by the Dean of the Graduate School.

A doctoral student should begin to form the committee during the first year of study. Subject to Graduate Council policies and individual program requirements, the committee must approve all course work applied toward the degree, certify the student’s mastery of the major field and any cognate fields, assist the student in conducting research, and recommend the dissertation for approval and acceptance by the Graduate School.”

The dissertation committee chairperson will assist the student in selecting a topic, writing the proposal, conducting the research, and preparing the dissertation. Other members of the committee are frequently selected for their expertise in research design and methods, statistics, computer data processing, or content areas pertinent to the dissertation topic. Where appropriate, a fifth committee member from outside the university can be added to the committee. The Graduate School approves the credentials of this individual.

Students are encouraged to avail themselves of opportunities to work closely with potential dissertation committee members throughout their program of study as part of the College research groups and in various assistantship, preceptorship, or directed study experiences. To become acquainted with faculty expertise, students are encouraged to review the information on the College of Nursing web site. Ideally, the dissertation chairperson should be selected during the first year of study. Together, the student and the chair identify additional committee members and secure their agreement to serve. Additional information about working with the dissertation chairperson and committee appears elsewhere in this handbook, as well as in the UT Graduate Catalog. Deadlines for the defense of the dissertation and final acceptance by the Graduate School are published each semester.

Examinations

PhD Preliminary Examination

Background information: The University of Tennessee Graduate Catalog specifies that a preliminary (or qualifying) examination may be administered near the end of the first year of a doctoral program.

As described in the Graduate Catalog: https://tiny.utk.edu/grad-catalog

“A written and/or oral qualifying examination may be given near the end of the student's first year in the doctoral program. Qualifying examinations are designed to test the student's progress, general knowledge of fundamentals of the field, and fitness to continue with the more specialized aspects of the doctoral program.”

Within the UTK College of Nursing, a Preliminary Examination is given following the completion of Year I core courses NURS 601, NURS 603, NURS 605, and NURS 610. The goal of the examination is to assess understanding of philosophical and theoretical foundations of nursing science, the ability to substruct middle-range theories, critically evaluate and synthesize literature of the field, formulate feasible research questions, and demonstrate general knowledge of research ethics and processes in nursing.

Faculty graders are assigned by the program chair. Students will have 5 days to prepare their responses after receiving the exam questions. A limit of 5 pages per question is imposed. The examination responses should be prepared according to the specifications of the APA Manual, with a formal list of references. The written responses are submitted to the PhD program chair, who distributes these among the faculty graders.

In cases where faculty need elaboration from a student on written responses, an oral examination will be scheduled. If the result of the oral exam is failure, the student may retake the preliminary exam once, and it must be taken at least one term after the oral exam failure. The extent of the second examination is determined by faculty graders. The student will work with the faculty advisor to develop a remediation plan and a schedule for retaking the examination. Registration for Use of Facilities (502) is required during the intervening time before the second examination. If a student does not pass the second examination, termination from the PhD program will result.

PhD Comprehensive Examination

The goal of the Comprehensive Examination is to demonstrate synthesis of knowledge as it applies to the phenomena of interest and to ascertain the student’s readiness to proceed to dissertation work. A secondary purpose is to evaluate the student’s ability to communicate in written and oral formats effectively. As such, the comprehensive examination focuses on:

Area of student’s research interest, specifically, synthesis and critique of literature
Related theoretical perspectives
Anticipated and alternative research methodologies and
Integration of nursing and interdisciplinary knowledge to inform practice, health policy, and health care delivery system change.

The Comprehensive Examination is taken after completion of all coursework except NURS 606 (grant writing) and prior to registration for dissertation hours. The comprehensive examination is designed, administered, and evaluated for each individual by the student’s dissertation committee. The student and the major professor identify a doctoral committee composed of at least four faculty members as specified in the previous section describing the Dissertation Committee. A doctoral student should begin to form the committee during the first year of study. A “Request to take PhD Comprehensive Examination” form must be submitted to the PhD Program Chair at least two weeks prior to the examination.

The Comprehensive Examination has both written and oral components.

Written

The chair of the proposed dissertation committee asks each member to write a question in their area of expertise focusing on theoretical framework, synthesis of literature including justification for the proposed study, synthesis and critique of methodological approaches and analyses, or analysis of leadership/policy/ethical issues.

A student may request to substitute an unpublished, first-authored manuscript to answer one question. The manuscript must address one of the above-named four foci of the comprehensive examination. If the request is granted by the committee, the manuscript shall be submitted to an appropriate peer reviewed journal prior to the comprehensive examination. Given the length of peer review and journal production processes, it is not required that the manuscript be accepted or published prior to the examination.

In the case that a student previously published a first-authored manuscript that addresses one of the foci of the comprehensive examination, prior to formation of the dissertation committee, the student may request approval to substitute it for one question (as described above). Approval is at the discretion of the committee. In either case, only one manuscript can be approved in lieu of one comp question. .

Upon the receipt of the questions, the student has seven [7] calendar days to send the written answers to the committee chair who then distributes the responses to the committee members. Answers are provided in essay [APA] format with references, with a 12-page limit per question. The student may substitute a first-authored, peer reviewed publication to answer one question. The student should cite work of authorities in the field taking defensible positions on key conceptual, methodological, and substantive issues.

Upon receipt of the answers, committee members have seven [7] calendar days to submit a grade to the committee chair. The chair may request a meeting of the committee to discuss.

Oral

Written responses give focus to the oral exam. The oral examination may be waived at the discretion of the committee.

Grading

The Dissertation Chair [major professor], in consultation with each committee member, will determine which exam questions that member will read and grade. Each question is graded by at least two committee members,

one of whom being the faculty member who wrote the question. Possible grades are: (a) pass with distinction, (b) pass, or (c) fail.

A majority vote is taken by the committee to determine the student's ability to:

Articulate a framework for scholarly inquiry related to the phenomena of interest;
Reflect knowledge of and critique current and relevant literature; and
Develop a defined area of inquiry and select methods that can lead to dissertation work.

The following criteria are used by faculty to evaluate the student’s written and oral answers to the comprehensive examination:

A. Depth of knowledge
B. Clarity in expression of ideas
C. Critical evaluation of knowledge
D. Synthesis of content
E. Logical development of ideas

The dissertation chairperson submits the “Results of the PhD Comprehensive Examination” form to the PhD Program Chair after grading is completed.

If a student receives a grade of fail on the comprehensive examination, the student is allowed to repeat the examination one time. The extent of the second examination is determined by the faculty graders.

A written evaluation and remediation plan is prepared by the committee and provided to the student;
The student may retake the exam 3 months after failure, but within 1 year. During this time the student must be registered for NURS 502 Use of Facilities to maintain continuous enrollment status;
If the student does not successfully pass the second examination, they will be terminated from the doctoral program.

Admission to Candidacy

Following successful completion of the comprehensive examination, the dissertation committee members sign the Admission to Candidacy Form and the Doctoral Committee Appointment Form. Prior to submitting the forms to the Graduate School, the forms must be signed by the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies and copied for the student’s file.

Dissertation

The College of Nursing faculty requires dissertations to be theoretically guided, either testing extant theory or generating new theory. Research designs should reflect contemporary scientific standards for complex multivariate quantitative studies or rigorous qualitative investigations.

Registration for NURS 600 and Student Responsibilities
During the Conduct of the Dissertation Research

The key to a quality dissertation is a good working relationship between the student and the dissertation chairperson. Prior to registration for NURS 600 for the first time, the student should meet with their chairperson to develop a timeline for the conduct of the dissertation project. The plan should be mutually agreeable in terms of the (1) number of semesters, (2) number of hours of NURS 600 per semester, (3) specific semesters during which heavy faculty assistance will be needed, and (4) a tentative defense date.

Thereafter, the student should at minimum schedule an appointment face-to-face or virtually with the chairperson at the beginning of every semester during which NURS 600 is taken. Objectives for the work to be conducted during the semester are to be developed and agreed upon during this meeting. These objectives become the basis for student evaluation at the end of the semester when a grade of Progress/No Progress must be submitted to the Graduate School by the faculty chairperson. A student who does not regularly inform their chairperson of progress in meeting these objectives shall be awarded a grade of No Progress. As a consequence, these hours do not count toward the required 24 hours of dissertation research. Regular communication will prevent this unfortunate consequence and facilitate a successful dissertation research experience.

In addition to frequent, regular communication with one’s chairperson, students are urged to keep all committee members informed regarding the progress of the research. Email updates are useful. Bear in mind that the chairperson and/or other committee members may want to review raw data, computer printouts, interview transcripts, coding sheets, and other materials pertinent to the research project. Do not destroy any interview tapes, questionnaires, or other data until consultation with the Dissertation Chairperson. The Dissertation Chair will inform the student when the dissertation can be sent to the other committee members. Committee members will have two weeks to read the dissertation and will recommend to the chair if the defense is ready to be scheduled. The defense meeting cannot be scheduled until the chair and a majority of the committee members approve scheduling of the dissertation defense. If a student fails the dissertation defense, another defense can be scheduled after approval by the chair and a majority of the committee members but no sooner than eight weeks following the first defense. Guidance regarding dissertation formatting is provided by the University’s thesis consultant (https://gradschool.utk.edu/academics/graduation/theses-and-dissertations/) during free workshops held each semester or individual appointments as requested. Students are urged to meet with the thesis consultant early during the semester in which they plan to graduate to avoid any last-minute problems with margins, headings, or other matters pertaining to required format and style. Dissertations must be submitted to the Graduate School electronically.

Continuous Registration during Dissertation Hours

All degree-seeking students are expected to make a full commitment to their graduate and/or professional study to ensure they can complete all degree requirements without unnecessary delay. Graduate students are, therefore, required to maintain an active status through continuous enrollment from the time of first enrollment until graduation. Doctoral candidates must register continuously for course NURS 600 (minimum of 3 hours) from the time of first enrollment. The first term of enrollment in NURS 600 should be the term immediately following the semester during which the student was admitted to candidacy. For example, a student who is admitted to candidacy (i.e., passes the PhD comprehensive exam) during the fall term will register for NURS 600 during the following spring term and each term thereafter, including summer and the term in which the dissertation is approved and accepted by the Graduate School. A minimum of 24 hours of course NURS 600 is required before the dissertation will be accepted. A student who will not be using faculty services and/or university facilities for a period of time may request a leave of absence from dissertation research up to a maximum of six terms (including summer terms). The request, to be made in advance, will be considered by the Graduate School upon written recommendation of the doctoral program director and the Assistant Dean of Graduate Programs.

Students begin work on the dissertation after successfully completing the comprehensive examination and admission to candidacy. The four members of the dissertation committee should be chosen for their complementary expertise and skills relevant to the research to be conducted.

The dissertation proposal is presented to the committee in a formal meeting conducted by the chairperson.

Scheduling of the proposal defense meeting is determined by consultation between the student and the chair. A formal oral presentation is required. Following the presentation, the student will be asked to defend and present the rationale for research design decisions, as well as respond to other questions from dissertation committee members about any aspect of the proposed work. The PhD Proposal Defense Rubric is available on the PhD Canvas site, via the “Program Forms” button, under the “PhD Specific Forms” section. Each committee member completes the rubric independently, submitting it to the committee chair. After discussion by the full committee, a synthesis of comments is given to the student at the end of the proposal meeting.

The research is not initiated until all committee members agree on the elements and procedures of the research plan. Prior to collection of any data on human subjects, research projects must be approved by the University's Institutional Review Board (IRB). Adequate time should be reserved for IRB review. Consultation with the College of Nursing’s Office of Research and Scholarship is encouraged early in the development of the submission to the IRB.

Dissertation research must be conducted in accordance with the policies and procedures of the Graduate School and under the guidance of the student's chairperson and committee. The dissertation is expected to be a scholarly independent and original contribution to the body of nursing research and an orderly, written document presented in accordance with Graduate School policies. The University’s thesis consultant will review a draft of the dissertation to ensure that it is “appropriately presented, free of technical errors in format, and reflect credit upon graduate education at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.” (Graduate Catalog) Students are advised to obtain the UT Guide to the Preparation of Theses and Dissertations early in their program. It is available online.

Dissertation Defense

Each student must successfully defend their dissertation orally before the dissertation committee. This examination is scheduled following completion of the dissertation and at least 3 weeks before the deadline for acceptance and approval of the dissertation by the Graduate School. The form to schedule the oral examination must be submitted to the Graduation Specialists, The Graduate School, 111 Student Services Building, at least one week prior to the meeting. This form is available online (https://gradschool.utk.edu/forms- central/). University policy requires that the examination be announced publicly and be open to all faculty members. The defense meeting also is announced to the faculty and administration of the College of Nursing at least one week prior to the scheduled date. After obtaining confirmation of the date and time for the defense from all committee members, the student must notify the chair of the PhD program. The examination involves a formal presentation of the findings by the student lasting no longer than 20–30 minutes, followed by questions from the committee. Visitors are permitted to attend the defense meeting, but do not participate in the deliberations of the committee. Graduation from the program requires a successful defense of the dissertation. The Graduate School has developed a policy regarding remote participation in defense meetings, when one or more individuals cannot be physically present. Please consult the Graduate School website well in advance to ensure proper compliance with this policy.

Thesis/Dissertation Consultant

The Thesis/Dissertation Consultant reviews formatting requirements for all theses and dissertations prepared at UT Knoxville. These requirements must be met for theses and dissertations to be accepted by the university as a condition of graduation. Graduate students who are writing theses and dissertations should plan to meet with the consultant at least three or four times during the writing and revision process, including a Preliminary Review and Final Submittal. The Graduate School now requires submission of the dissertation to iThenticate, a plagiarism detection program. Guidance regarding this process is available on the Graduate School’s website at: https://gradschool.utk.edu/thesesdissertations/using-ithenticate/.

All theses and dissertations must be submitted in electronic format. Please disregard any of the previously published guidelines that state they are specifically for “paper” submittal. Submittal requirements are covered at Thesis/Dissertation Workshops each semester, and you can find more information on electronic theses and dissertations at https://www.lib.utk.edu/tracesupport/etds/ . Additional information regarding Theses & Dissertations can be found on the Graduate School's Theses & Dissertations page (https://gradschool.utk.edu/academics/graduation/theses-and-dissertations/); you can reach the consultant at thesis@utk.edu.

College of Nursing Dissertation Guidelines

In keeping with national and international trends in doctoral education, the College of Nursing now permits the submission of three publishable manuscripts to fulfill the dissertation requirements. Students must comply with applicable Graduate School requirements.

Manuscripts published prior to dissertation committee formation must be approved by the committee for inclusion in the dissertation.

Graduate School Requirements

Refer to UTK’s Guide to the preparation of theses and dissertations (https://gradschool.utk.edu/documents/2023/07/preparation-guide-for-theses-and-dissertations.pdf/) [Manuscript dissertation option discussed in Section 4, p.22]. Each manuscript may be listed as an individual chapter within the document. Graduate students should plan to meet with the Dissertation Consultant (thesis@utk.edu) in the Graduate School at least 3 or 4 times during the dissertation writing process, including a Preliminary Review and Final Submittal.

College of Nursing Guidelines

The dissertation must be a unified work whereby manuscripts have a common theme aligned with the student’s area of research, including a comprehensive review of literature demonstrating in-depth understanding of the unifying framework.

The manuscript dissertation in the CON requires that a minimum of three manuscripts be included in the dissertation meeting following criteria:

Manuscripts included in the dissertation must have been written while the student was enrolled in the PhD Program;
All manuscripts must be prepared for submission to appropriate peer reviewed journals approved by the dissertation committee prior to the dissertation defense; at least one manuscript must be submitted before the dissertation defense.
Format of manuscripts will be dictated by the peer-reviewed journal author guidelines; and
The student must obtain written permission from the copyright holder to include the material in the dissertation. For those manuscripts in press or published, a copyright release from the publisher will be included in the appendices of the dissertation.

Types of Manuscripts

Three manuscripts must be included in the dissertation: one addressing the state of the science, one reporting study findings, with the third topic selected by the student and the dissertation committee from the following:

Concept analysis and/or theory application related to the study
Instrument development
Methodological innovation
Implications of the study for policy
Implications of the study for practice
Implications of the study for pedagogy

Authorship

The student must be either the sole author or lead author with faculty members who assist in the writing of the manuscript[s].
Manuscripts co-authored with other students will not be accepted as part of the dissertation
The co-author’s percent of contribution and role will be documented in the dissertation introduction [chapter 1]

Role of the Dissertation Committee

[In addition to the description found under Dissertation Committee, PhD Section of Graduate Programs Handbook:]

The chair will be involved in or approve choice of manuscripts
The committee members will guide the student in the design and implementation of the research study.
The full committee will meet to approve the dissertation proposal.
The committee will be consulted and/or approve the selection of journals for manuscript submissions.
The full committee will review a draft of the dissertation prior to the formal dissertation defense.

Format of Manuscript Dissertation

Abstract is to be all-inclusive [350 or fewer words]

Chapter 1 [Study Introduction] provides an overview of the research project. Here, the reader is oriented to the student’s scholarly focus area, significance to nursing, gaps in knowledge, and purpose of the study. In this introduction, the student describes the manuscripts, tells how these are related, and explains the significance. The distribution of content across the entire dissertation is described.

Chapter 2 [Review of the Literature = State-of-the Science Manuscript 1] is an integrated review of the literature, including updates since the manuscript was submitted for publication.

Chapter 3 [Study Methods] provides a description of the research design, philosophical/conceptual framework, research questions/hypotheses, variables, and data analysis.

Chapter 4 [Study Findings = Manuscript 2] ordinarily includes a presentation of study findings, including tables and figures illustrating the analysis.

Chapter 5 [Discussion and Conclusions] contains specific implications of the data analysis presented in Chapter 4. The synthesis and interpretation of study findings should show an integration of content of all manuscripts, discussion of the contributions to nursing science, direction for future research, and implications for nursing practice, education, or policy.

Note: Manuscript 3 is prepared by the student and approved by the dissertation committee.

Monitoring of Doctoral Student Progress

Academic progress will be reviewed each semester by the student’s chairperson/advisor. A minimum final course grade of 83 in all nursing PhD courses is required; however, the College of Nursing will allow one final course grade of 75-82 in the following nursing PhD core courses (NURS 599, NURS 601, NURS 602, NURS 603, NURS 605, NURS 610, NURS 612, NURS 613, NURS 615). A second final course grade of 82 or below in these courses will result in dismissal from the program. A minimum final course grade of 83 is required in all other courses. A 3.00 cumulative GPA is required for continuation in the program.

Leaves of Absence from Dissertation

The Graduate Catalog specifies the procedure and length of leaves of absence from the dissertation, which must be approved by the Graduate School. Unless a leave of absence has been granted, once the student has begun to register for dissertation hours (NURS 600) they must register for a minimum of 3 hours during all semesters, including summer semester, until graduation.

Procedure for Determining Satisfactory Progress toward Degree

Each student has a minimum of one advising appointment per semester, wherein his or her progress is reviewed with the advisor. It is the responsibility of the student to make an appointment with the faculty advisor, ideally during an on-campus week. Typical meetings include goal setting, discussion of cognate and practicum options, potential dissertation committee members, manuscripts in preparation, upcoming conference presentations, and any proposed changes in the previously approved program of study.

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