The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) degree emphasizes the academic discipline of research. The Ph.D. is granted on evidence that the candidate has achieved a high level of scholarship and proficiency in research. The Ph.D. requires far more than successful completion of a prescribed amount of course work. The student’s competence, ability to work independently, and to write effectively are established by academic course work, written and oral examinations, and evidence of research success. The School of Hearing, Speech and Language Sciences emphasizes the development of specialized skills consistent with the career aspirations of the candidate, provided that high scholarly expectations are met. While the Ph.D. is essentially a research degree, students are provided opportunities in teaching, with emphasis on course organization, class preparation, active learning methods, and evaluation procedures as important aspects of doctoral preparation. Financial support is often available throughout the course of the degree program.

Involvement in National Institute of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), and other funded research projects is available in audiology, speech-language pathology, and the hearing, speech, and language sciences. Cooperative efforts with the college of medicine, and departments of psychology (neuroscience, psycholinguistics, and cognition), linguistics (speech perception), health sciences, physical therapy, and education can broaden each student’s academic experience. Student membership in the Institute for the Empirical Study of Language facilities research collaboration across many disciplines.

Admission Policies

In addition to the application materials discussed above, applicants must submit a two to three page narrative detailing previous experience and long- and short-term career objectives. Individual interviews with the director, the coordinator of Ph.D. studies and the faculty mentor in the student’s intended area of study are required. In-person interviews and campus visitations are highly recommended and in some cases may be required.

The following criteria are used to determine eligibility for admission to doctoral study:

• A record of high scholastic achievement,
• Letters of recommendation substantiating academic and other strengths,
• GRE scores consistent with doctoral academic demands,
• A career plan describing past experiences, reasons for pursuing doctoral study, desired future employment settings, areas of desired professional expertise, and knowledge, skills, and experiences sought during doctoral study.

Students pursuing a Ph.D. in areas related to speech-language pathology, speech science, and/or language science must have a master’s degree in communication sciences and disorders or in an academic area that will complement work in the intended area of doctoral study. Students pursuing a Ph.D. in hearing science and/ or audiology are not required to have a master’s degree.

Once the HSLS Graduate Committee deems that an applicant is eligible for admission, a graduate faculty member must agree to accept the student as his or her advisee. Applicants are admitted once the coordinator of the Ph.D. studies has been notified that an appropriate faculty member has agreed to serve as the applicant’s academic advisor.

Academic Guidance

The role of the academic advisor is one of advocacy and mentorship to guide progress toward the doctoral degree. By accepting a student, the advisor is committed to working closely with the student through all aspects of the doctoral program. This entails preparation and development of the program of study, ongoing guidance and consultation, periodic re-evaluations, cooperative research, assistance in arranging the preliminary and comprehensive examinations (in collaboration with the coordinator of Ph.D. studies), and consultation on the dissertation proposal, writing and oral defense. In addition to an academic advisor, each doctoral student will have an Academic Guidance Committee. The student’s Academic Advising Committee plays a major role in developing the program of study and evaluating scholarly development.

Degree Requirements

A minimum of 150 quarter hours of graduate work is necessary to complete the Ph.D. degree subject to the following guidelines:

• All acceptable previously accumulated graduate credit hours, up to a maximum of 51 quarter hours, may count toward the minimum 150 hours.
• At least 54 graduate credit hours must be taken from the School, none of which may have been taken as part of any other degree plan. Twenty-eight or more of the 54 hours must be taken in the major area of study. Some examples of major areas of study include speech perception and production, language science, aphasia and other neurogenic communication disorders, child language development and disorders, hearing aid technology and benefits, signal processing, cochlear implants, psychophysics, and auditory physiology.
• At least 14 graduate credit hours must be taken in each of two minor areas of study. One of the minor areas must be within the School of Hearing, Speech and Language Sciences, and the other in an academic area represented outside the School. Examples of minor areas outside the school include health service administration, gerontology, cognition, neuroscience, and psycholinguistics.
• A minimum of three graduate courses in a statistics sequence.
• A maximum of 24 dissertation hours are allowed as part of the 150 quarter hour requirement.

Successful completion of the preliminary examination, first-year project requirements, comprehensive examinations, annual evaluations, and all courses in the approved program of study, and successful proposal, defense and submission of the dissertation are required for the doctoral degree.

A minimum of three quarters of continuous residence on the Athens campus is required according to University doctoral program policies. A minimum of 12 quarters (3 years) of fulltime doctoral study is required by the School of Hearing, Speech and Language Sciences.