Health Education & Promotion, Ph.D.

Admissions

In addition to the minimum Graduate School admission requirements, to be considered for regular admission an application must include:

• Completion of a master's degree program;
• Minimum score of 300 (verbal + quantitative) on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). Students who do not meet this requirement, but who excel in other areas, may be considered for Admission with Permission to Continue;
• A personal statement of applicable experiences, specific research interests that align with faculty member(s) who the applicant would like to work with, and career goals; 
• Evidence of adequate fit within the research agendas of Health Science PhD Program faculty;
• Three letters of recommendation from faculty or other professionals capable of judging the applicant's ability to complete doctoral work in the program. At least one letter of recommendation must come from a faculty member; and
• An interview with select PhD Program Faculty and the PhD Program Coordinator.

Meeting the requirements above does not guarantee admission into the program. Applicants who are accepted into the PhD program must pursue their programs as main campus students until they graduate with a PhD degree.

See the Admission Criteria section of this catalog for more information.

 Curricular Requirements

Code and Title		Hours
Health Education and Promotion Core Courses		12
HHE 604	Seminar In Health
HHE 605	Theor Sci Basis Hlth Edu
HHE 606	Plan Admin Hlth Ed Prog
HHE 667	Ad Eval Health Ed & Hlth Promo
Advanced Research and Statistical Methods		12
Courses may include the following:
HHE 626	Adv Biostatistics in Hlth
HHE 627	Multivariate Meth in Hlth
HHE 628	Qual Research Meth in Hlth
NHM 648	Secondary Analysis Survey Data
Other Courses with Approval
Social and Behavioral Science Coursework		12
Courses may include the following:
HHE 530	Health Promotion Techniques
HHE 586	Environmental Health Promotion
HHE 587	Health Disparities
HHE 588	Sex Ed: Theory & Practice
HHE 589	Women and Health
Other Courses with Approval
Directed Research		12
Courses may include the following:
HHE 596	Independent Study
HHE 602	Readings In Health
HHE 603	Spec Projects In Healt
HHE 685	Field & Lab Experience
HHE 698	Research
Other Courses with Approval
Dissertation Research HHE699		18
Total Hours		66

The PhD program in Health Education & Promotion has two additional graduation requirements: a comprehensive examination and dissertation.

Dissertation: Students are required to complete an acceptable dissertation that shows their ability to conduct independent research. The dissertation should also demonstrate skills in organization, writing, and presentation on a particular topic in the field. It should make an original contribution to knowledge and be approved by the dissertation committee and Dean of the Graduate School. A final oral dissertation defense is the culminating experience. A minimum of 18 hours of HHE 699 Dissertation Research hours must be completed.

Transfer Credit

The PhD Program in Health Education and Promotion allows students to transfer up to 6 semester hours of elective graduate courses completed previously into the program (no more than six years old). Only graduate lecture coursework with grades of B or higher may be considered for transfer. Transfer decisions are based on (1) equivalence of a previous course to a similar course offered here and (2) how the transfer course would support the student’s program of study. However, students must complete a total of 66 credit hours of Doctoral work above the Master’s level. In addition, students may not transfer graduate coursework to satisfy the health education/health promotion core or research and statistical methods requirements. 

Transfer of elective courses occurs on a case-by-case basis, assuming that the course has some relationship to the student’s overall career goals. Transfer credits often go toward the research focus or social and behavioral sciences.  The Department accepts transfer courses they consider equivalent in rigor and content to similar courses offered in the department.  The PhD Program Coordinator may request that students provide syllabi, course outlines, textbooks, and catalog descriptions for any courses they request to transfer.

See the Graduate School link below for more information about the UA Graduate School-wide transfer policies.

Doctoral Plan of Study Requirement

Early in the graduate program, each student must confer with their Faculty Advisor to select courses, discuss when and by which method the doctoral residency requirement will be completed, discuss research interests, and so forth. Then, a Plan of Study must be prepared by the PhD Program coordinator and submitted to the Graduate School. The department submits the PhD Plan of Study through the UA DocuSign system in myBama. Employees only may access these forms under the Employee tab in myBama.  The completed Plan of Study shows the Graduate School which courses the student has taken and which remaining courses will be taken to fulfill the degree requirements. The Plan of Study form does not allow the student/program to show in which order the courses were or will be taken. All doctoral students must have a completed Plan of Study approved by the Graduate School. Otherwise, a “hold” may be placed on future registrations.

Such credit must be identified clearly on the draft Outline of PhD Program (Plan of Study), which requires Health Science Department and Graduate School approval. All students must forward their completed Outline of PhD Program (Plan of Study) draft to the Ph.D. Program Coordinator for processing. The Ph.D. Program Coordinator will route the completed and signed Plan of Study to the Graduate School. A minimum of 48 hours of graduate coursework must be listed, including transfer credit if applicable. A Transfer Credit Evaluation Form must be submitted to the Graduate School. A minimum of 18 hours of continuous dissertation research (699) is required. A copy of the approved Plan of Study must be submitted to the Graduate School when the department submits the Admission to Candidacy for Doctoral Degree form through the UA DocuSign system in myBama. Any changes to the Plan of Study need to be resubmitted and on file with the Graduate School. If there is a course on a doctoral student’s Plan of Study that they do not take, then the student will be denied Admission to Candidacy for the Doctoral Degree.

Comprehensive Exams

The PhD Program Coordinator conducts the comprehensive examination in conjunction with a committee of PhD program faculty. One purpose of the preliminary examination is to determine the student's research competence to begin work on a dissertation. The examination should be completed at least nine months before the degree is to be awarded. Therefore, a student may take the written examination only twice. Failing the examination twice results in dismissal from the degree program and the Graduate School. The comprehensive exam is offered on the first Thursday of the Fall semester and the last Thursday of the Spring semester each year. This exam should be prepared for by individual study expanding on the content covered in the four core courses listed below:

• HHE 604: Doctoral Seminar;
• HHE 605: Advanced Theoretical and Scientific Basis of Health Education and Health Promotion;
• HHE 606: Planning and Administration of Health Education and Health Promotion Programs; and
• HHE 667: Advanced Evaluation in Health Education and Health Promotion.

The exam must be passed unconditionally before the student can submit their dissertation prospectus and defend their dissertation proposal. Prior to taking the exam, students must have completed their core course requirements. Two weeks prior to the exam, each student will receive a list of scenarios describing health problems and intended audiences; students will select one option to focus on during their exam. 

Students should NOT assume that “A” level performance in their coursework is adequate preparation for the comprehensive exam. Students must be registered for at least one semester hour of graduate work during the semester(s) the comprehensive exams are taken. To prepare, students should review all materials from listed coursework as well as other related courses and supplementary material. Each student must demonstrate the highest levels of learning including application, synthesis, analysis, and evaluation of material covered throughout the program.

Students who receive a grade of INCOMPLETE will be asked to schedule a meeting with the PhD Program Coordinator to discuss their results. After this meeting, the student will have one week to revise their answers in a “take-home” format. The revised version will be distributed to graduate faculty graders to determine if it is a PASS or FAIL (i.e., a second score of 79 or less). If the student’s revised exam fails, the student will have one more opportunity to re-take the comprehensive exam at a subsequent regularly scheduled examination testing date.

Failed comprehensive examinations can only be retaken once. A student who fails their comprehensive exam must re-take the exam at the next regularly scheduled comprehensive examination testing date. Failing the comprehensive exam twice results in dismissal from both the PhD program and the Graduate School.

Once a student has passed the comprehensive exam, the Doctoral Qualifying Exam Form must be submitted to the UA graduate school.

Admission to Candidacy Requirements

The requirements for advancing to candidacy include passing the comprehensive examination; completion of all coursework as listed on the approved program of study; receiving dissertation committee approval of the dissertation prospectus during a mandatory meeting of all committee members, and having the committee recommend the student for Admission to Candidacy for the Doctoral Degree. The completed candidacy form is submitted to the Graduate School well in advance of the final semester.

Continuous Enrollment Policy

Graduate School information on Continuous Enrollment.

Dissertation Requirements

Prospectus Document

Students are required to complete an acceptable dissertation that shows their ability to conduct independent research. The dissertation should also demonstrate skills in organization, writing, and presentation on a particular topic in the field. It should make an original contribution to knowledge and be approved by the dissertation committee and Dean of the Graduate School. A final oral dissertation defense is the culminating experience. A minimum of 18 hours of dissertation credit must be completed.

A prospectus (6-8 doubled-spaced pages, with one-inch margins and 12-point font) is written by the student that describes the plan for the dissertation (e.g., brief background, potential theory, sample, methods, etc.). After the pre-proposal is written and approved by the Dissertation Chair, the student shares the form with prospective committee members to assess their interest and willingness to serve on the project. After the committee has been composed, the Dissertation Chair is required to set a pre-proposal meeting to discuss the student’s dissertation idea further, ensure everyone is on the same page about what will potentially be done, and provide guidance and direction as needed. This meeting helps the student avoid writing the dissertation proposal (the first 3 chapters of the traditional dissertation – it will look different for article-style dissertations) without meeting with the committee and getting their early, important feedback about its direction. The Dissertation Chair must email the PhD Program Coordinator following the meeting to report the outcome (i.e., prospectus approved OR prospectus not approved). If the prospectus is not approved by all committee members during the first pre-proposal meeting, then another pre-proposal meeting must be scheduled for a later date. Doctoral students will not be admitted into candidacy until all of their committee members have approved their dissertation prospectus during this required meeting.

Prospectus Outline

The prospectus should be of sufficient length to provide a scholarly outline of the proposed research. A length of 6-8 doubled-spaced pages, with one-inch margins and 12-point font, would be appropriate in most situations. The prospectus is a presentation of the intended research.

Traditional Dissertation Format for Prospectus

I. Abstract

A brief (200 to 300 words) presentation of the background and rationale for the proposed research, including a brief presentation of the methods and study population. 

II. Background and Significance

Brief background description and literature relevant to the research problem. The significance of the study and the research problems should be stated.

III. Literature Review

Include relevant literature published to date on the research topic, including statistics with subsections when needed. Include the theoretical basis or framework for the proposed and a strong rationale for why the theory/model was selected among various alternatives. List definitions and explanations of terminology when needed.

IV. Hypothesis and/or Research Question(s)

One central research hypothesis would usually be suitable with potentially one or more secondary hypotheses. When appropriate, research questions might be presented in place of hypotheses.

V. Methods and Materials

As appropriate, include basic research design, subjects or participants, limitations of the research, sampling plan, pilot testing, laboratory techniques, reagents, instruments, data collection procedures, evaluation theory and/or strategy, statistical analysis, tentative plan of analysis, power calculations, timeline, delineation of research variables, the test of validity and reliability of data collection instruments.

Article-Style Dissertation Format for Prospectus

1. Description of the problem to be examined and how it is related to previous theoretical and empirical literature in the area. Include all relevant literature published to date on the research topic, including statistics with subsections when needed. Include the theoretical basis or framework for the proposed and a strong rationale for why the theory/model was selected among various alternatives. You may also include the background and significance and literature review. A list of references should be included that reflects a thorough review of the extant literature. This section should lead to the formation of the research questions that form the basis of the papers to be included in the written dissertation.
2. Description of the individual papers (at least 2) that will form the core of the written dissertation, including for each:

• Research questions and, if appropriate, hypotheses can also be stated
• Research design and methods that will be utilized
• Expected problems and limitations can be included as appropriate
• Sources of data
• Time schedule (can be tentative)

Appointment/Change in Doctoral Dissertation Committee

Around the same time that your Dissertation Committee Chair submits the Doctoral Candidacy Form, you, as the student, should submit the “Appointment/Change in Doctoral Dissertation Committee Form.” The process for setting up or changing your dissertation committee is an electronic process. This paperless process will generate emails to each committee member so that they can accept or reject the invitation to serve on your committee. Members of the committee should be selected along with your Dissertation Committee Chair.

Please click HERE to link to the Graduate Academic Activities to set up or change your dissertation committee. Please click HERE for instructions on initiating the committee formation process. This online form officially establishes the student’s doctoral committee.

Dissertation Committee Membership

All dissertation committee members must hold Graduate Faculty status at UA and represent at least two academic departments. The chair of the committee must be a full member of the Graduate Faculty. Our Department requires that the Dissertation Committee Chair (or its lead Co-chair) is a PhD Program Faculty member in our department. The doctoral dissertation committee must include a minimum of five (5) faculty members.  We also require a minimum of three (3) individuals from our Departments’ PhD Program faculty serve on the dissertation committee. There should be at least one committee member from outside of our department. These individuals should be selected along with your dissertation committee chairperson.  You and your Dissertation Chairperson should ensure that they have (or will have) Graduate Faculty Membership. Students should try to form a dissertation committee by the end of their second semester of doctoral study.  Dissertation committees are formed in the Graduate Academic Activities page.

Dissertation Proposal

Having received guidance from the dissertation committee, the formal dissertation proposal can be developed and generally completed after all or most of the course work is completed, and the comprehensive examination has been successfully completed. The dissertation proposal aims to show the appropriateness, manageability, and significance of the projected research. The department defines a dissertation proposal as the first three chapters of the traditional dissertation (note: the format will look different for an article-style dissertation). The student formally presents the written proposal to the dissertation committee and defends it in a meeting with the committee. The proposal normally includes an introduction giving an overview and stating the proposed research's significance, literature review, and methodology. Each student will work closely with their Dissertation Chair and committee to develop a dissertation proposal. 

Once the student and dissertation chair have developed a proposal and the graduate Dean has approved the dissertation committee, the student schedules the dissertation proposal meeting that includes all committee members. The student cannot propose a dissertation and have its final defense in the same semester.

Proposal presentations typically last about 30 minutes.  They often include a brief handout of the presentation outline and main points and electronic presentation formats such as PowerPoint presentations.  Dissertation Chairs help students decide on an appropriate presentation package. The Dissertation Chair invites all PhD students and department faculty to attend the public portion of dissertation proposal meetings.

An email announcement about a student’s dissertation proposal should be sent to Jenny Goddard (jgoddard@ches.ua.edu) for inclusion in the CHES Newsletter.  Posting for the Dissertation Proposal must be made public two weeks prior to the proposal.

In preparing for dissertation proposal meetings, PhD students will work closely with their dissertation committee at all stages in developing a dissertation proposal. The dissertation proposal format will be distinct depending on the dissertation style selected by the student.

Students who elect to pursue the Traditional Dissertation Format option will prepare a dissertation proposal that includes three (3) fully developed chapters consisting of the:

1. Introduction,
2. Comprehensive Literature Review, and
3. Proposed Methodology

Students who elect to pursue the Article-Style Dissertation Format option will prepare a dissertation proposal that includes:

1. An introduction with:
   1. Theoretical foundations,
   2. Comprehensive literature review,
   3. Statement of the problem, and
   4. Proposed methods for each of the planned papers that will be written as part of the dissertation.

The proposal should be presented to the Dissertation Committee no later than 2 weeks (10-15 workdays) before the proposal meeting.  Electronic copies can also be provided to other department PhD students and other faculty members, specifically as follows:

• Dissertation Committee –1 electronic copy (by email) as MS Word file. 
• Other PhD Students – 1 electronic copy (delivered by email) as a PDF file. 
• Other Department Faculty (on request) – 1 electronic copy (by email) as a PDF file.

After conferring with their Dissertation Chair, students traditionally take responsibility for contacting committee members and arranging a date, time, and location for proposal meetings.  During the period of doctoral study, the faculty expects PhD students to attend the public portion of dissertation proposal meetings of other PhD students. 

The initial proposal of the dissertation to the student’s committee should be a formal presentation.  A polished and professional quality proposal should be the standard. Students will be expected to present their formal research proposal to the graduate faculty, graduate students, and other auxiliary faculty and guests. Directly following the proposal, the student’s dissertation committee will convene to approve the proposal or recommend that a student resubmit a modified proposal later. After the successful proposal, the Dissertation Committee Acceptance Form must be completed and submitted to the UA grad school. 

Dissertation

A dissertation showing the ability to conduct independent research and skill in organization, writing, and presentation must be prepared on a topic in health education and promotion. It must constitute an original contribution to knowledge. Early in the process, the subject of the dissertation must be approved by the dissertation committee and by the Dean of the Graduate School. The doctoral dissertation is designed to provide students with a significant research experience. Students may choose from 2 formats to conduct a dissertation:  the typical 5-chapter format and the article-style dissertation format.  Refer to the following documents contained in this policy guide:  Guidelines for the Article-Style Dissertation Format.  The Dissertation Chair and committee members will assist the student in selecting a format.

Article-Style Dissertations

At the doctoral level, "article-style” dissertations are unified works that include several distinct but closely related research or creative activity studies, each of which is of publishable quality. This approach is intended for doctoral students whose dissertation will consist of a number of related manuscripts or articles that represent independent research or creative activity. This option is available to students enrolled in the PhD Program in Health Education and Promotion.

Article-style dissertations must be based upon research completed while the student is enrolled at The University of Alabama. The student must be the first author, or equivalent, as defined by the discipline for each article used. As with traditional dissertations, the article-style dissertation must be the student's original idea. It must be a unified work and include a sequence of articles of publishable quality around a cohesive theme, with a comprehensive review of literature demonstrating an in-depth understanding of the unifying framework.

In Article-style dissertations, there will be:

• introductory material to describe the studies, show how they are related, and explain their significance;
• connecting language to bridge each study to the next; and
• a summary clarifies the importance of the studies, integrates the major findings, and discusses the implications for the overall topic.

These components do not have to be separate sections or chapters. They may be parts of the manuscripts or may be accomplished in an abstract. The manuscript will be one of the sets of tables, figures, and reference lists for the document.

All parts of article-style dissertations must conform to the provisions set forth in A Student Guide to Preparing Electronic Theses and Dissertations, except when the circumstances of a specific project or discipline’s style manual require deviation. Doctoral students who choose the article-style dissertation will write a final, completed dissertation that will consist of a number of journal-style manuscripts or articles. At UA, the official minimum number of manuscripts in the article-style dissertation is two (2). Students considering the article-style approach should contact the Graduate School before beginning their work if they have questions concerning specific problems or deviations from traditional procedure.

Authorship Guidelines for Article-Style Dissertations

The student should be the primary author on all of the published or publishable works. Committee members are typically included on the papers produced by the dissertation work since they are working in a collaborative relationship with the graduate student. The decision regarding authorship should be based on the degree to which a given committee member contributed to each paper. Serving on the committee does not guarantee authorship.

If an article(s) is multi-authored, you should justify or clarify the contributions of the other authors in relation to the research project. Issues of clarification should include the origins of the conceptualization and design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of the data, and other significant areas of contribution. The student will be involved with every aspect of the dissertation.

General requirements for assigning authorship credit to the manuscripts generated during the dissertation process include:

• Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
• Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
• Final approval of the version to be published; AND
• Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

For more details on peer-reviewed journal article authorship expectations.

The doctoral student will consult with the committee members to decide on the fate of unpublished papers at the time of graduation. Time limits should be established, so that publication of papers is not held up if the graduate does not submit papers following graduation.

Traditional Dissertation

A dissertation consists of three main parts: the preliminary pages, the text, and the reference matter. Each part contains several sections. Some sections may be omitted, but the order of the following outlines must be observed.

Preliminary Pages

• Title page includes Committee Chair and list of committee members (required; see Appendix A. Do not number this page)
• Copyright page (required; see Appendix A. Do not number this page)
• Abstract (required; number this page ii) - must not exceed 350 words
• Dedication page (Optional)
• List of abbreviations or symbols (required when symbols used are not self-explanatory)
• Acknowledgments (required)
• Table of contents (required; titles of each section listed must concur exactly with body of the paper. Do not list this page among the contents)
• List of tables (required when tables are used)
• List of figures (required when figures are used)
• List of illustrations (required when illustrations are used)

Main Manuscript

• Body of paper (with 5 chapters or sections formatted following the template available by clicking Template in the ETD website’s index of topics)
• Bibliography or References (choose one, depends on accepted practice within the discipline)
• Appendices
• IRB Certificate (where applicable)

Illustrative Materials

• Drawings, graphs and colored images may be included only if they are of high quality. All materials must conform to the margin requirements outlined in this manual.
• Photographs, charts, maps, drawings, and similar items can be included.

Supplementary Files

• Supplementary materials, e.g. audio, video, and Spreadsheet, may be included as supplementary files as part of your electronic submission, however, you MUST follow the formatting and submission requirements set out in ProQuest's instructions for supplementary files.

IRB Certification

• A copy of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) certification must be included in the appendix where a dissertation involves human subjects.

Dissertation Defense

When the student and the committee consider the dissertation to be complete, the committee will conduct the final oral examination of the dissertation. The final oral dissertation defense is the culminating experience in the doctoral program. Once the dissertation committee has agreed that the student is prepared for the final oral dissertation defense, the student and committee members will set the defense date. All doctoral candidates must give members of the dissertation committee a minimum of two weeks to read the dissertation before the date of the required final oral examination.

Final defense presentations typically last about 30 minutes. They often include a brief handout of the presentation outline and main points and electronic presentation formats.  Dissertation chairs help students decide on an appropriate presentation package. During the period of doctoral study, the faculty expects PhD students to attend the public portion of dissertation final defense meetings of other PhD students.

After conferring with their Dissertation Chair, students traditionally take responsibility for contacting committee members and arranging a date, time, and location for dissertation final defense meetings.  Refreshments are not required at the final defense. Dissertation Chairs announce the dissertation's final defense date, time, and the location at Department and College levels. Faculty Advisors invite all graduate students and department faculty to attend the public portion of dissertation final defense meetings. An email announcement should be sent to Jenny Goddard (jgoddard@ches.ua.edu) for inclusion in the CHES Newsletter.  

In preparing for dissertation final defense meetings, PhD candidates will:

Work closely with the Dissertation Chair and Committee at all stages in completing the dissertation.

Provide Committee members with one electronic copy (delivered by email) as an MS Word file of the final version of the dissertation.

All members of a student’s dissertation committee are expected to attend and participate in real-time, usually in person, in any oral examination as part of the student’s graduate degree program. Traditionally, oral examinations are conducted with the student meeting their committee while gathered in one physical location on campus. However, the need occasionally arises for virtual participation in the oral examination. Virtual attendance via interactive video or teleconference is permitted for off-campus external committee members, but the student and UA Tuscaloosa campus faculty should attend in person unless extraordinary circumstances dictate the need for virtual attendance. In addition, the dissertation must comply with the regulations in A Student Guide to Preparing Electronic Theses and Dissertations.

When the dissertation has been completed, the candidate will be given a final oral examination by a committee of not fewer than five members, one of whom must be from outside the student's major department and appointed by the dean of the Graduate School. This examination will focus primarily on the candidate's research work, as embodied in the dissertation and the dissertation's field, but it may encompass the complete program for the degree. The majority of the committee must approve that the student successfully defended the dissertation.  The results of the examination must be reported to the Office of the Graduate School at least six weeks before the commencement at which the degree is to be conferred.

Graduate School deadlines, including each semester's dissertation deadline, are available at the Graduate School's homepage.  Consult the ETD website for details of ETD submission, including information on what needs to be submitted to the Graduate School.  The graduate dean must approve the dissertation before the student can be cleared for graduation.

All Committee members must be present and sign the appropriate paperwork following successful defense of the dissertation.  Most dissertations, even in the final form for the meeting, require some follow-up work. The Doctoral Final Defense Form must be completed and submitted to the UA Graduate School once a student has passed their dissertation defense.

After the successful defense, the Dissertation Committee Acceptance Form for Electronic Dissertation must be completed and submitted to the UA graduate school once the dissertation committee is ready to sign off on the final version of the dissertation. In other words, a student can pass their defense, but the committee may want them to make changes before the dissertation is submitted to the Graduate School. In this case, only the Doctoral Final Defense Form would be submitted to acknowledge that the defense has taken place and the outcome of the defense, but the Dissertation Committee Acceptance Form for Electronic Dissertation would be held student has made the changes required by the dissertation committee. Thus, the PhD candidate’s program effectively concludes when all Committee members accept the dissertation and sign the appropriate paperwork.

Time Limits for Degree Completion Requirements

Graduate School information on Time Limits.

Student Progress Requirement

Annual Evaluation of Progress Toward Degree Completion by PhD Students

Faculty have a responsibility to evaluate students' competence across multiple aspects of performance, development, and functioning. Students should know that their faculty and department administrators will evaluate student competence in areas other than, and in addition to, their coursework, comprehensive examinations, and related program requirements. Students are expected to meet all academic requirements, possess discipline-specific knowledge, display professional competency, and engage in scholarship activities that are fitting of a PhD program.

Students will be evaluated in the following areas:

ACADEMIC STANDARDS/REQUIREMENTS

1. Grades in Courses and Overall GPA:

Throughout the doctoral program, the student must maintain a minimum overall grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 in all coursework. Additionally, students must achieve a grade of “B” or higher on all courses listed in their Plan of Study (unless the class is for pass/fail credit, in which case the student must receive a “pass” grade). The student must re-take any course that does not meet this grade requirement.

EVALUATION STANDARDS

1. Engagement in Scholarly Activities (e.g., research, manuscripts, conference presentations, teaching, professional development):

Each year, students will be assessed on their engagement in scholarly activities. Sample activities that doctoral students might do to meet the annual scholarly engagement requirements are presented below. 

• Actively participate in a faculty-supervised independent research project.
• Engage in collaborative research and development activity with core program faculty and other faculty on campus.
• Present at a state, regional, national, or international conference (e.g., SOPHE, APHA).
• Collaborate with the research mentor or department professor as author or co-author of a scholarly manuscript for publication consideration to a peer-review journal.
• Complete HHE 596 (Independent Study) and/or HHE 602 (Readings in Health) with at least one written product (e.g., a literature review, secondary analysis, thematic paper) that could serve as the basis for a published article/research project, grant proposal, or dissertation topic.
  
  *Note. Prior to Enrolling in Dissertation Credit Hours, Students Must Have:

1. Conducted a minimum of two research or other scholarly activities; and
2. Disseminated a minimum of two research or other scholarly activities via professional publication or presentation. The student must be the first author or primary presenter for at least one of these research projects.

Teaching

• For teaching assistants (TAs) or doctoral students those listed as instructor of a course(s), complete evaluations of teaching effectiveness in the classroom (e.g., SSOI results, student-initiated surveys to obtain student feedback on teaching.
• Attend a campus-wide teaching workshop (https://teachinghub.as.ua.edu/) to improve teaching strategies when in the classroom.
• Serve in a leadership role on a committee or hold an office in a professional organization related to health promotion.
• Review abstracts for a professional organization’s annual meeting (e.g., APHA, SOPHE).

Professional Development

• Attend a campus-wide professional development research focused event (e.g., grant-writing workshop)
• Attend and/or volunteer to participate in Department/College/or UA research-related events (e.g., judge for URCA, attendance in Graduate Research Seminar).
• Attend a state, regional, national, or international conference (e.g., SOPHE, APHA).

1. NCHEC Competencies specified in the Eight Areas of Responsibility of a Health Education Specialist:

Students will self-assess their performance in profession-wide advanced competency areas, specifically, within NCHEC’s eight areas of responsibility of a Health Education Specialist (https://www.nchec.org/responsibilities-and-competencies). The assessment process will include pre- and post-program self-assessments conducted by the student which are then reviewed and evaluated by the faculty. Results will be used to identify program strengths and weaknesses, and will inform discussions around program changes.

1. Assessment of Needs and Capacity
2. Planning
3. Implementation
4. Evaluation and Research
5. Advocacy
6. Communication
7. Leadership and Management
8. Ethics and Professionalism

Additional Professional Standards:

In addition to adherence to ethics and the honor code described above, other evaluative areas include, but are not limited to, demonstration of sufficient:

1. interpersonal and professional competence (e.g., the ways in which students relate to peers, faculty, other professionals, study participants, the public, and individuals from diverse backgrounds or histories);
2. self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-evaluation (e.g., knowledge of the potential impact of one’s own beliefs and values on clients, peers, faculty, health education/promotion professionals, the public, and individuals from diverse backgrounds or histories);
3. openness to processes of supervision (e.g., the ability and willingness to explore issues that either interfere with or impede professional development or functioning); and
4. resolution of issues or problems that interfere with student/professional development or functioning in a satisfactory manner (e.g., responding constructively to critical feedback from supervisors or program faculty; the successful completion of remediation plans; participating in resolution of issues or problems).

The Code of Ethics for the Health Education Profession      

Students are expected to adhere to rules, laws, and codes governing the academic training program and the field of health promotion, specifically the NCHEC Health Education Code of Ethics. Although students may not become Certified Health Education Specialists, doctoral students in this program are expected to adhere to the 2020 Code of Ethics, Articles I and II, for the Health Education profession (https://www.nchec.org/code-of-ethics).

The annual evaluation covers April 1 of the preceding year through March 15 of the current year.  The Faculty Advisor or Dissertation Chair informs the student, PhD program coordinator, and department chair that the student passed the annual evaluation.  If the Faculty Advisor or Dissertation Chair finds that the student is not making satisfactory progress, the Faculty Advisor works with the student and PhD program coordinator to resolve the problem.  If the process does not resolve the problem, and the Faculty Advisor or Dissertation Chair exhausts all reasonable options to reach a solution, then the Faculty Advisor or Dissertation Chair refers the matter to the Department Chair for resolution.  Depending on the chair’s assessment outcome, the Faculty Advisor/ Dissertation Chair may support the student (with a “pass”), ask the student to comply with corrective measures, or dismiss the student from the program.

Academic Misconduct Information

Graduate School information on Academic Misconduct. 

Withdrawals and Leave of Absence Information

Graduate School information on Withdrawals and Leave of Absence. 

Academic Grievances Information

Graduate School information on Academic Grievances. 

Scholastic Requirements

Graduate School information on Scholastic Requirements. 

Graduate School Deadlines Information

Information on Graduate School Deadlines. 

Application for Graduation Information

Information on the Application for Graduation. 

A limited number of graduate assistantships and graduate school fellowships are available.  The number of assistantships available varies from year to year. These assistantships are awarded annually on a competitive basis. Appointments are generally renewed each year if graduate faculty agree the student is making sufficient progress with their assigned workload. Graduate assistants may be asked to assist with the Department of Health Science's teaching, research, and service missions. Applicants interested in a graduate assistantship should apply no later than March 1st for admission for the following fall semester.

Graduate assistantships (GAs) in the Department of Health Science are .50 FTE, which means 20 hours of weekly service. Students selected for HE/HP graduate assistantships are provided the following information both verbally in their discussions about the assistantship and in writing in their Offer Letters:

As part of your assistantship, you will be required to work 20 hours per week under the supervision of a faculty member who will be assigned at a later date. Your specific assignments and duties will be determined by your supervisor. The assignments typically involve both teaching and research responsibilities.

The two products expected of graduate assistants are research and teaching support. Products are usually different for each GA since experiences and needs from faculty vary. Faculty mentors of GAs generally provide research opportunities for the student through their own work/research, collaborating with the student on manuscript/abstract submissions, and mentoring the student in their research interests/work. Depending on the department's needs, students may have to work in an instructional support fashion. Therefore, they may help faculty with their classes. In this case, doctoral students are expected to teach courses as part of their work for the department, which enhances their future employability. The mentor for these teaching experiences includes the Department Chair and the faculty member designated as “Course Leader”.  In this situation, the faculty member also serves as a temporary mentor for teaching development. Doctoral students then go on to teach their courses for half of their graduate assistantship responsibilities. Service might also be an area expected of GAs, depending on the circumstances.

In exchange for the research, teaching, and service support students provide to the department, they are offered a tuition scholarship, monthly stipend, and health insurance benefit. Incoming graduate assistants will join a department with accomplished faculty members and an outstanding cadre of PhD graduate assistants. Doctoral students in the program are provided with individualized mentoring and excellent teaching. Students are also provided with strong support for travel to professional conferences and opportunities for connections with leaders in the profession.

Applicants who are interested in a graduate assistantship should apply no later than March 1st for admission for the following Fall semester. The final selection of graduate assistants will be the responsibility of the Department Chair.  However, faculty input will usually drive this decision.  All PhD Program faculty members will rank all students admitted to the PhD program for selection for a graduate assistantship.  Students will be ranked in numerical order, with the highest-ranked selection being ranked 1, the second-ranked selection 2, etc.  The Department Chair will use these rankings in deciding on the selection of graduate assistants.  In some cases, the Department Chair may deviate from this protocol.  If this occurs, the Department Chair will provide a detailed explanation to PhD Program faculty members. Employment outside of a departmental GA position is strongly discouraged.