Interfield Ph.D. Program

Program Change Forms

Change of Degree or Field  Interfield Ph.D. Program Proposal

 Requirements:   
1. Application and admission to each of the departments which the student wishes to combine in the interfield.  One of the departments will be selected by the student as the major department, and the other will be the minor department. 

2. Submit a detailed Interfield Ph.D. Program Proposal developed by the student, in collaboration with faculty advisers, specifying the courses to be taken to fulfill the degree requirements and the subject fields of the examinations. 

3. Submit a completed Change of Degree or Field Form signed by the student, the Advisor and Dean of the School in the major department and the Advisor and Dean of the School in the minor field must be submitted to the Registrar.  The major department rules will govern the qualifying examination procedures, unless an alternative agreement is worked out with the minor department.  The degree will list first the major field followed by the minor field. 

Please note:

·         New students admitted to an interfield degree must complete the proposal within the first year of work in the interfield program. Continuing students wishing to change to an interfield degree must submit the proposal with the Change of Degree or Field Form .The program proposal must specify the courses to be taken, grouped within discipline areas, as well as subject areas for the qualifying examinations, residence intentions, foreign language and other research tools to be completed in the program, and the specific title of the interfield degree. Finally, the program proposal must identify the operating procedures of one academic field to be utilized in determining qualifying examination procedures, the dissertation committee, and other mechanisms employed in the advance of the program. The operating procedures to be employed shall reflect those in the academic field in which the majority of work will be completed.

·         Program proposals are subject to the approval of the faculty and deans of both fields concerned, and must be submitted to the Office of Admission and Records for administrative approval and processing.

·         Interfield doctoral students may receive a masters’ degree in one but not both fields.

·         The name of the interfield degree lists the disciplines in a sequence that reflects the academic focus of a particular program.

·         Significant changes in examination areas or program design must be submitted by the student for ratification by the relevant department committees and the dean of the school and submitted to the Office of Admission and Records.

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