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E. Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD
facility, or institution who are in a position of influence and who make decisions which impact patient care and/or the health care delivery system.
Professional DNP Portfolio
The focus of the professional DNP portfolio is to demonstrate the attainment of the DNP Essentials established by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and/or the competencies established by the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties through formative and summative documentation. In addition, each Nurse Practitioner student must successfully demonstrate achievement of the NONPF competencies prior to completing the DNP program.
Requirements for graduation
• ***GEP students are required to complete 1000 RN hours prior to graduation by August 15th of the advanced practice clinical year*** • Successful completion of all required coursework. • Successful completion of required clinical hours. • Successful completion of doctoral scholarly project and practicum. • Successful completion of professional portfolio. • Demonstration of the ability to perform the skills in the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of
Nursing Technical Standards with or without reasonable accommodations consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act • Completion of Certification for Graduation and any additional administrative requirements such as payment of all fines including library and parking, returning all books, payment of any outstanding bills, course evaluations, etc. • Completion of all degree requirements within five years for students entering the program with a Master’s degree, six years for students entering with a Baccalaureate degree and seven years for students entering through the Graduate Entry Pathway Program.
E. DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN NURSING (PhD)
PhD in Nursing Program
Director: Nancy Morris, PhD, RN, ANP-BC Location: Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing , Room S1-853 Telephone: 508-856-3661 Email: Nancy.morris@umassmed.edu
The focus of the UMass Chan Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing PhD program is on the development and transformation of scholars who will lead the discipline of nursing. We recognize that students come to us with their own experiences, questions, knowledge and skills. Our goal is to help students to expand their horizons through seeking new phenomena, raising further questions for scientific inquiry, applying qualitative and quantitative research methods and fulfilling their professional responsibility to nursing and society. Our program is influenced by the cognitive philosophy of Bernard Lonergan, a Canadian philosopher. We focus on the scholar as a human person with her/his own emerging questions who undertakes doctoral inquiry to answer those questions. We engage the emerging scholar in a transformative process of wonder and
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discovery, self-reflection, critical thinking and genuine dialogue with other students and faculty. We emphasize the need for scholarship that addresses the broader conditions that influence human health. Graduates will be attentive, intelligent, reasonable and responsible when developing knowledge and making ethical decisions. We envision that our graduates will make scholarly contributions to the cumulative progression of scientific knowledge through their ongoing research.
Core Values
Our scholarly endeavors and relations with others are built upon the values of the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School and the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing . The Nursing PhD Program highly values and places additional emphasis upon: • Scientific integrity • Transparency • Generosity • Cultural humility • Self-reflective inquiry • Commitment to working toward the human good in society
Program Outcomes
The Nursing PhD Program prepares students with the ability to conduct research within a multidisciplinary milieu. At the completion of the PhD program, graduates will be able to: 1. Apply philosophical and theoretical principles to scholarly inquiry 2. Critique and synthesize knowledge to advance nursing science and human health 3. Design, conduct and disseminate independent and collaborative research 4. Demonstrate the core program values in all scholarly endeavors 5. Assume leadership roles in research, education, policy, administration and/or professional practice.
The core and related course work meet the standards established by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) outlined in the Research-Focused Doctoral Programs in Nursing: Pathways to Excellence (2010). Graduates will be novice researchers with a strong foundation in nursing inquiry prepared to assume investigator, academic, and leadership roles. They will also contribute to the ongoing development of nursing science, the preparation of future nurses, the improvement of human health, and the continual evolution of professional nursing practice.
Grantsmanship, Socialization and Support
Throughout the program students are given the opportunity to integrate with a community of scholars and are expected to participate in scheduled doctoral forums, dissertation seminars, UMass 5-campus PhD Forums, research conferences, and to engage with students and scholars throughout the UMASS Medical School campus and research community. The UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science (https://www.umassmed.edu/CCTS/about) has many services and additional opportunities to facilitate scholarly efforts. Students are encouraged to explore dissertation funding opportunities, including applying for a National Research Service Award (NRSA). NRSA applicants must be committed to working full-time on dissertation and scholarly activities and should consult their faculty research advisor early in the process. All grant
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applications prepared, while a student at the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, must be reviewed and approved by the faculty research advisor. Students applying for funding will have their grant application pre-reviewed at a faculty “mock” review session.
Course Progression
Students are required to take a minimum of two doctoral courses per semester during their first two years of study.
PhD students may not progress in the program until all incomplete grades are removed
from their transcript. Students receiving a grade of Incomplete will be required to pay a fee for each semester, until the incomplete is removed from their transcript.
Comprehensive Exam
All students must take and pass the comprehensive examination after successful completion of all coursework and prior to the dissertation proposal. Comprehensive examinations are offered three times a year in August, October, and January. Students are given 7 days to complete the examination. At least three graduate faculty members evaluate the comprehensive exam. Students may receive a grade of pass with distinction, pass, conditional pass, or fail. Each question is graded independently. If a student receives a Pass on all three question they Pass the exam. If a student receives a Pass on 2 questions and a Conditional Pass on one question, they have an opportunity to respond to the Conditional Pass and if rectified may pass the exam. If a student receives a Pass on one question and a Conditional Passes on the other 2 questions and the reason for the Conditional Pass is similar for each question, the student will have an opportunity to respond to 2 Conditional Pass questions and if rectified may pass the exam. If the reasons for the Conditional Pass on 2 questions are entirely different, the student Fails the exam. If the student receives a Conditional Pass on all 3 questions, they Fail the exam. If the student fails one or more questions they fail the exam. Students who fail the comprehensive examination may re-take the examination only once. If a grade of pass is not achieved on the second attempt, the student must withdraw or be administratively withdrawn from the PhD program.
Please note: The Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing does not sanction the use of the designation PhD(c).
The following criteria are used to evaluate the comprehensive examinations: • Synthesis of the literature • Application of philosophical, theoretical and methodological issues to knowledge development in nursing science • Linkages among bodies of knowledge • Comprehension of subject matter • Appropriate use of terminology • Understanding of the research process • Evidence of scientific integrity • Clarity of writing • Responsiveness to the specific questions asked • Appropriate referencing
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Dissertation
Dissertation Advisement Credit Guideline All students admitted prior to 2022 are required to complete 15 or 18 dissertation advisement credits depending on the year they began their program of study. These credits are awarded for independent work aimed at completion of the student’s dissertation research. The student and faculty research advisor will negotiate, on an individual basis, the requirements per semester (including summer semester) for dissertation credit completion. If not met, the student will receive an “Incomplete” until satisfactory progress has been made. A continuation fee per semester (including summer semester) will be charged for students who have not completed their dissertation requirements after completing the required dissertation credits.
All students admitted in 2022 or thereafter are required to complete 6 dissertation advisement credits. These credits are awarded for independent work aimed at completion of the student’s dissertation research. A continuation fee per semester (including summer semester) will be charged for students who have not completed their dissertation requirements after completing the 6 dissertation credits.
Candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) must complete an acceptable oral defense of their dissertation as well as an acceptable written dissertation. The dissertation qualifies for acceptance when it: • Demonstrates the candidate’s intellectual competence, • Makes an original and valid contribution to nursing science, • Represents an individual achievement, and • Is the product of independent research.
The dissertation research is conducted under the supervision of a dissertation committee. Two committee members must be University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School faculty who have received graduate faculty appointment with Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing dissertation advising privileges. The third committee member can be a doctorally-prepared external expert in either the area of the dissertation content or methods. The external member must be pre-approved by the Director of the PhD in Nursing Program; they needs to submit a copy of their CV for review.
In consultation with their academic advisor the student identifies potential faculty to serve on the dissertation committee. Dissertation committee members typically are selected because of the different types of knowledge they contribute. For instance, one might contribute knowledge of the research topic area, another of methods, and the third of the research population. The proposed dissertation committee members are presented to the Dean of the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing who in consultation with the PhD Program Director appoints the dissertation committee. The Dean and the PhD Program Director are responsible to sign off on the Dissertation Committee Form prior to the development of the dissertation proposal and once the proposal is defended, they will sign off on the Dissertation Proposal Hearing Form. All members of the dissertation committee must approve and sign off on the dissertation proposal.
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Students will then have a minimum of seven months to complete the dissertation research and defend their work. The final oral examination (defense of dissertation) must be scheduled in advance and publicly announced at least two weeks (14 days) prior to the actual defense. Members of a student’s dissertation committee must be present in person or via teleconference for the oral defense. Attendance at the final oral examination is open to all members of the UMASS CHAN community. However, only the three members of the dissertation committee may cast a vote. A unanimous vote is required for the student to pass the final oral examination.
The Dean and the PhD Program Director are responsible for signing the Dissertation Completion Form. The original forms will be sent as a packet to the Registrar’s Office by Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing Student Affairs after the student graduates from the program.
Students are required to submit an electronic version of the dissertation to UMass Chan escholarship by the deadline for the appropriate degree-granting period. The final version must be reviewed and approved by the dissertation chair before final online submission. Students will have six weeks after a successful oral defense to submit the final copies of the dissertation to the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing. It is strongly recommended that a technical review of the dissertation take place prior to the deadline. Materials returned after the deadline or not in accordance with technical requirements will be processed for the next degree-granting period.
Requirements for Graduation in the PhD Program
• Successful completion of all required coursework. • Successful completion of Comprehensive Examination. • Successful oral and written defense of Dissertation Proposal leading to doctoral candidacy. • Successful oral and written defense of completed Dissertation. Students must successfully defend their dissertation 6 weeks prior to anticipated graduation date. • Completion of Certification for Graduation and any additional administrative requirements such as payment of all fines including library and parking, returning all books, payment of any outstanding bills, etc. • Completion of all degree requirements within the statute of limitations; four years for students entering the program with a DNP degree, five years for students entering the program with a Master’s degree and six years for students entering with a baccalaureate degree or from the Graduate Entry Pathway Program. A doctoral student may be granted additional time to complete their degree program by the Director of the PhD program provided satisfactory and reasonable progress is being made.
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