Overview

The Qualifying Process (QP) is a major milestone in the doctoral program: its purpose is to assess whether a student is prepared to advance to doctoral candidacy.

QP varies by program area:

• Quantitative Methods (QM): Qualifying Document + Oral Examination

• CP, HDCLS, SCCP: Qualifying Document + Non-evaluative oral presentation

QP Steps Summarized:

1. Select QP Adviser & submit QP Advising Agreement

2. Complete prerequisite courses

3. Submit QP Title/Summary (used by Grad Adviser to assign additional faculty reviewers).

4. Submit full QP Document

5. QM Students Only: QP Oral Exam

6. Committee Review and GSC Vote

7. CP, HDCLS, SCCP only: Oral QP Presentation at Dept Colloquium

8. Advance to doctoral Candidacy!

Deadlines

Failure to submit the QP Document by the designated deadline is considered a failed QP attempt. Submission deadline extensions require formal GSC petition and are only granted in rare, extreme cases.

Students must complete the Qualifying Process no later than their 7th semester in the program.

Important Info about Early Submission: Once you officially submit your QP Title/Summary to the Department, you cannot defer your QP to a later semester. Early entry into the QP process does NOT grant additional attempts.

QP Adviser

Choosing a QP Adviser

By your 4th semester, you should select a faculty member to serve as your QP adviser. You’ll then discuss and submit the QP Advising Agreement.

• Adviser must be a member of the EDP Graduate Studies Committee (GSC).

• Adviser is typically from your program area; an adviser from another EDP program area may be allowed with permission from your Area Chair.

• Check with your Area Chair for program-specific procedures/recommendations.

Note: for Quantitative Methods students, the QP adviser is the faculty member assigned as the academic adviser upon admission. If a QM student would prefer a different QP adviser, they must contact the QM Area Chair before the start of the semester in which the QP begins.

Adviser Role & Expectations

Your adviser helps guide you throughout the Qualifying Process by providing guidance and feedback on selecting a topic, pertinent literature, analyzing issues/problems, developing a study, and discussing findings.

• The QP must be your own work. QP advisers offer guidance, not detailed editing.

• The Department of Statistics and Data Sciences (SDS) offers free consultation on research design and quantitative methods: Free Statistical Consulting

Adviser Availability: Faculty often have limited availability, particularly in summer and university holidays. Discuss scheduling and feedback timelines early, and plan accordingly!

QP Advising Agreement

Once you have selected your QP Adviser, you will need to arrange a time to discuss the questions below, and then submit the QP Advising Agreement.

Prerequisite Course

Each program requires specific coursework to be completed before the QP. Consult your Program of Work and adviser to confirm.

EDP 395R Qualifying Process course: Some programs require enrollment in this course during the semesters in which you are actively engaged in the QP.

• HDCLS, QM: minimum 2 semesters of 395R required

• CP, SCCP: 395R NOT required

If 395R is required for your program, you and your QP Adviser will determine as part of the QP Student/Adviser Agreement which semesters you should enroll in the QP course. Often, students enroll in 395R in the semester prior and the semester of their QP. After passing the QP, you will no longer enroll in 395R.

The Qualifying Document

The QP document is a scholarly research paper documenting a complete study of sufficient quality to be submitted to a well-regarded journal. The document may not be an already-published manuscript and must be your own work to the degree that you would earn first or sole authorship (APA Ethics Code 8.12a). Your document should clearly present the following required components:

• Introduction and relevant literature review

• Research question(s) and/or objectives

• Methodology and analysis

• Results

• Discussion of findings and implications

Formatting Guidelines: The QP document should be written according to the most up-to-date version of the publication manual of the American Psychological Association. While there is no formal min/max document length, the general guideline is 40 – 60 pages long. However, this may vary depending on the study and program. Please discuss with your QP adviser if you hae specific questions regarding length/format.

Additional Requirements for Quantitative Methods Students: QM students will design and carry out a simulation study; depending on the complexity and computational demands of the simulation study, partial completion of the study may be acceptable (i.e., most of the simulations should be completed at the time the document is submitted, such that the main research questions can be discussed). The research should contribute to an existing line of inquiry in the field of quantitative methods. Assessment of the document will include consideration of the feasibility of the study.

QP Document Submission

The QP Document submission deadline is very strict - refer to the Deadlines section above for exact timeline/deadlines.

QP Summary: approx 115 words, including analytic approach.

You will receive an email reply confirming receipt of your submissions within 1 business day.

Oral Exam / Presentation

CP, HDCLS, SCCP Students: Oral Presentation

Counseling Psychology, HDCLS, and School/Clinical Child Psychology students: After passing the QP, you’ll give a brief (5-10min), non-evaluative presentation of your QP during a Department Colloquium. This is a professional presentation of your work, not part of your QP evaluation. The Graduate Adviser will contact you with details about the colloquium date after the QP.

QM Students: Oral Examination

Quantitative Methods (QM) students complete a formal Oral Examination after submitting their QP document.

Timing / Scheduling: the oral exam is scheduled by your QP Adviser after submission of your QP Document. The exam must be held no later than Wednesday of Week 8 of your QP semester.

What to expect: your QP committee will serve as the examiners for the oral exam. You should prepare a 12-minute presentation highlighting your QP simulation study, including introduction/literature review, method, results, and discussion sections. You can bring a copy of your QP document for reference, and can take brief notes during the exam. Check with your QP adviser to see if other materials may be allowed. Committee members may ask questions during the presentation or afterwards; questions will be related to the qualifying document and broader topics from relevant coursework. The exam should take no longer than 90 minutes including committee discussion. Tip: We strongly encourage discussing the exam with your QP adviser ahead of time. Lengthy or very formal presentations are discouraged.

QP Evaluation

QP Committee

Your QP will be evaluated by a 3-person committee:

• Member 1: Your QP adviser

• Member 2: A faculty member from your program area (assigned by the Graduate Adviser)

• Member 3: A faculty member from outside your area (assigned by the Graduate Adviser)

The EDP Graduate Adviser assigns the 2^nd and 3^rd members after you turn in your QP Title and Summary, based on expertise and workload.

Committee Evaluation Guidelines / Rubrics

Each faculty committee member evaluates the qualifying document, using the guidelines and rubric below:

The QP Committee Members submit their rating forms to the QP Committee Chair, who then compiles and submits the QP Committee Recommendation to the GSC.

• QP Committee Member Rating Form >

• QP Chair Recommendation >

GSC Evaluation & Final Decision

The EDP Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) evaluates and makes the final decision (via majority vote) for all QP Committee recommendations.

QP Results

The GSC votes on all QPs is during Week 8 of the semester. You’ll receive your results via email by the following Monday afternoon.

Outcome Options:

Option 1: Continuation in the doctoral program with the recommendation for admission to doctoral candidacy when all departmental/program requirements for candidacy have been completed.

Option 2: Continuation in the doctoral program with the recommendation for admission to doctoral candidacy only after certain specified conditions made by the committee have been met within a specified amount of time (usually 1 or 2 long semesters), and the departmental/program requirements for candidacy have been completed. Note: Failure to submit a QP Document forfeits the opportunity for feedback before a subsequent QP submission.

Option 3: Termination, with permission to complete a terminal master’s degree: student may only enroll in courses counting toward the master’s degree.

Option 4: Termination: student may not register for future semesters.

Passed QP? Next Step: Doctoral Candidacy!