What is a Program Plan?
A Ph.D. program plan is a written document that specifies the course work that the student must complete as part of his or her degree requirements. Although there are certain university, college, and departmental requirements, program plans are personalized for individual students.Steps in Developing a Program Plan
- The student develops a draft program plan to share with his or her advisor.
- The student and advisor collaborate and reach consensus.
- The student asks the KIN graduate secretary to prepare a copy of the program plan using the approved MSU form.
- The student shares the program plan with members of his or her guidance committee in advance of a guidance committee meeting. The student should also share: (a) a proposed timeline for completing the proposed course work, the research practicum, comprehensive exams, and the dissertation; (b) a current curriculum vita; (c) a current transcript from StuInfo - https://stuinfo.msu.edu/ ; and (d) a summary of research plans.
- A meeting of the guidance committee is conducted. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the student's program plan and progress toward degree, as well as to approve the program plan.
- If the program plan is approved, the guidance committee members sign the form and the student takes the signed form to the KIN graduate secretary.
- If the program plan requires revision, the student asks the KIN graduate secretary to make the revisions, then obtains signatures from guidance committee members, then takes the signed form to the KIN graduate secretary.
Required Elements of a Ph.D. Program Plan
Students should give attention to the following departmental, college, and university requirements when constructing their program plans.- KIN requirements
- Minimum of 60 semester credits, including the dissertation.
- Categories of required course work: (a) area of concentration; (b) KIN cognate/breadth requirement; (c) supporting area cognate; (d) research cognate.
- Research practicum (KIN 995 and presentation).
- Comprehensive examinations (written and oral).
- Dissertation (minimum of 24 semester credits).
- College of Education requirements
- Basic knowledge in at least four of the following areas of general professional education: (a) administration; (b) curriculum; (c) psychological foundations; (d) research and evaluation methods; (e) social, philosophical, and historical foundations; (f) motor development and motor learning; (g) biological foundations; (h) ethical considerations; and (i) issues of diversity in education (from the Academic Programs catalog).
- A minimum of three courses (minimum of 9 credits) in educational inquiry and research including these courses or equivalent courses: CEP 930 - Educational Inquiry, CEP 932 - Quantitative Methods in Educational Research I, and CEP 933 - Quantitative Methods in Educational Research II or a 900-level course in advanced qualitative methods approved by the student's guidance committee.
- University requirements (from the Academic Programs catalog)
- One year of residence (two consecutive semesters) on campus.
Course-Taking Options
Ph.D. students have a variety of course-taking options when developing the program plan. However, the selected courses must be (a) appropriate to the student's academic program and (b) completed within the time limit for earning the Ph.D. degree at MSU, as judged by the student's guidance committee.
- Graduate-level courses. At MSU, 900-level courses are designed specifically for doctoral students, and 800-level courses are designed for for both master's and doctoral level students. The Ph.D. program plan may include any 800 or 900 level graduate courses offered by any academic unit at MSU.
- Undergraduate-level courses
- Transfer credits. Graduate students may transfer up to 9 semester credits from other accredited colleges or universities, up to 10 semester credits earned at MSU while enrolled through the Lifelong Education program, and the 6 credits earned in TE 802 and TE 804 in the post-BA teacher certification program. Credits will be transferred only if the student earned a grade of at least 3.0 in the course. (A revision of the policy about number of transfer credits is pending - be sure to check the current MSU Academic Programs catalog for current information.)
- Courses from earlier degrees at MSU. Doctoral students may apply graduate credits from earlier degrees at MSU to the doctoral program plan, but only if those credits were not formally included in the master's degree program plan.
Sample Program Plan
The following sample program plan was approved for a doctoral student in the exercise physiology concentration whose research interests focused on the effects of exercise in pregnancy. Notice how the program plan was personalized for this student. In fact, the student created a KIN cognate that corresponded with research interests. Also notice how courses are grouped by degree requirements. There are 77 credits in this program plan (53 credits of course work plus 24 credits of dissertation).
Concentration: Exercise Physiology
KIN 810 - Physiology of Physical Activity - 3 credits
KIN 811 - Physiological Evaluation and Exercise Prescription - 2 credits
KIN 812 - Cardiovascular, Respiratory, and Metabolic Responses ... - 3 credits
KIN 813 - Neuromuscular and Endocrine Responses to Exercise - 3 credits
KIN 890 - Independent Study: Portable Analyzer - 1 credits
KIN 890 - Independent Study: Exercise in Pregnancy - 1 credits
KIN 894 - Field Experiences: Crew Data/Paper - 3 credits
PSL 432 - Medical Physiology II - 2 credits
KIN Cognate/Breadth Requirement: Exercise Behavior
KIN 482 - Exercise Psychology - 3 credits
KIN 841 - Stress Management in Athletes - 3 credits
KIN 870 - Physical Activity and Well-Being - 3 credits
Supporting Area Cognate: Epidemiology
EPI 810- Introduction to Descriptive and Analytical Epidemiology - 3 credits
EPI 812 - Causal Inference in Epidemiology - 3 credits
EPI 815 - Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Disease - 3 credits
EPI 816 - Perinatal Epidemiology - 3 credits
LCS 829 - Design and Conduct of EPI Studies and Clinical Trials - 3 credits
Concentration: Exercise Physiology
KIN 895 - Research Ethics - 1 credits
KIN 995 - Research Practicum: Portable Analyzer - 3 credits
PHM 980 - Problems in Biostatistics - 3 credits
PSY 815 - Multivariate Statistics & Inference - 4 credits
CEP 930 - Waived by PHM 980 and PSY 815 - - credits
CEP 932 - Waived by PHM 980 - - credits
CEP 933 - Waived by PSY 815 - - credits
Doctoral Dissertation
KIN 999 - Doctoral Dissertation Research - 24 credits
Deadline
KIN doctoral students are expected to submit an approved program plan (formally called the Report of the Guidance Committee: Doctoral and Other Programs) within 24 credits following admission to the Ph.D. program.
