...
Effects of Area/Program Probation on Qualifying Process
Program-Specific
...
Processes
Counseling Psychology Qualifying Process
General
Qualifying process completion enables students to 1) file for doctoral candidacy, and 2) begin to make arrangements for the dissertation proposal meeting, which thereby affects eligibility for internship. Counseling Psychology students are encouraged to plan ahead and to consult with their advisers in deciding the timing to the qualifying process. For example, a student who submits and passes the qualifying process and the necessary coursework during the 6th semester (spring of the 3rd year) will advance to candidacy that summer, or the following academic session/semester. When planning, bear in mind that most faculty are on 9-month appointments. Faculty on 9-month appointments are not obligated to review materials over summer. Therefore, a tight timeline leaves little time to have a dissertation proposal meeting occur before October 1st of that year, which is a program requirement for applying to internship.
Assignment of Adviser
Students should contact their faculty adviser no later than their 4th semester to begin the process. The CP program expects that a student’s program adviser will also be the student's qualifying process adviser. If for any reason a student wants a different qualifying process adviser, they should begin by notifying their program adviser. Students will then need to petition the CP faculty to be allowed a different adviser, whether this is another CP faculty member or a faculty member outside the program. Prior to petitioning the CP faculty, the student should have contacted the potential adviser and solicited their agreement to chair the qualifying process pending CP faculty approval.
Document
The qualifying document details the completion of a research project. The study should represent a contribution to the literature and be well-designed. There are no specific requirements for analytic method, etc., but the QP document must be a contribution to whatever area of work in which it is based.
The student must submit for examination a document comparable to a scholarly work in the field. The options are:
- A document that includes an integrative review of the literature and a proposal for a study that addresses an important issue arising from the review of literature; or
- An article describing a research study on which the student is the first author and which is written under the supervision of a UT-Austin Educational Psychology faculty member.
Regardless of the option chosen, the manuscript is expected to be of sufficient quality to be able to be submitted to a respectable journal. Please note that students should not see completion of option 1 (the review) as the “easier” option. In most cases, a publishable review will be more difficult and time-consuming than an original research project.
Process for Students not Passing on Their First Try
Students who are not on probation will be given another opportunity to go through the qualifying process (either one semester or one year later). For students on probation, the default decision following a non-pass of the QP will be termination from the program. The student may submit a written summary to the CP faculty if the student wishes to have another attempt at the QP before termination. This summary is to be submitted prior to the GSC meeting following the QP decision, and will be reviewed by faculty. Termination may include an option to earn a Master's degree, or no option to earn a Master's degree, and this decision will also be made by the GSC.
HDCLS Qualifying Process
Assignment of Adviser
No later than their 4th semester, students must contact the faculty member they want as their adviser. If that person agrees, the student must then report the choice to the HDCLS Chair by completing and turning in the "Verification of Selection of Qualifying Process Adviser" form (signed by the student and the proposed adviser). The qualifying process adviser will be approved by HDCLS faculty. Choosing an outside area/program qualifying process adviser is an option with the approval of the HDCLS Chair and the intended outside area/program adviser.
Document
The student must submit for examination a high quality document that demonstrates that the student is prepared to advance to candidacy (see Purpose).
The document can take one of two forms:
- Legacy QP version, consisting of an integrative review of the literature to serve as rationale for a study and a detailed description of how one would undertake the study (note that quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, and meta-analysis are all possible methodologies for the proposed study).
- New QP version, a completed study that adds to the integrative review of the literature and description of study methods an actual report of findings and final discussion.
QM Qualifying Process
Assignment of Adviser
Students should discuss qualifying process adviser selection with the QM Chair as early as their 2nd semester and no later than the end of their 4th semester. The qualifying process adviser is to be assigned by QM faculty. QM qualifying process students will submit to the QM Chair a ranked list of their top three QM faculty member choices for qualifying process adviser by the last class day of the semester before they begin the qualifying process. QM faculty will meet every semester to assign qualifying process advisers. Decisions will be based on student’s ranked list of preferred advisers, match of faculty’s expertise with the student’s interests, and faculty advising workload. Adviser assignments will be given to students before the start of the semester in which they are beginning the qualifying process.
Document
The student must submit for examination a document comparable to a scholarly work in the field. The research proposed in a QM student’s qualifying document 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 proposed study.
Students will design and carry out a simulation study and develop the QP document to align approximately with standards for publication in an academic journal. Depending upon the complexity and computational demands of the simulation study, partial completion of the study is 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 document should not be longer than 40 pages (double-spaced, 12pt font) in length (inclusive of Tables, Figures, References, Titles, and Abstract of 200-250 words).
Oral Exam
The purpose of the oral exam is to assess student’s ability to clearly articulate and describe their research study. The student must be able to defend their rationale for specific approaches.
Oral exam time and location will be scheduled by the QP advisor. The oral exam should take no longer than 1 ½ hours total, including committee discussion. For the oral exam, students will have to prepare a 12-minute presentation highlighting their QP simulation study, including introduction/literature review, method, results, and discussion sections.
At the beginning of the oral exam, students will be asked to step out while committee members discuss performance on the QD. Once the student returns to the meeting, they will present their 12-minute QP presentation. Committee members may ask questions during the presentation or after it is completed. Questions during the oral exam will be directly related to the QD, but they can also be related to relevant topics covered in the student’s coursework.
Once the oral exam is over, the student will be asked to step out again while committee members discuss performance during the oral exam and decide whether or not the student passed or failed the QP.
The QP advisor will then meet with the student to inform them of the committee’s decision. It is important to note that the committee’s decision is not confirmed until the GSC officially votes on the decision.
Rubric for Evaluating the Oral Exam:
- presentation is organized
- clearly presents elements from the QD
- student responses are related to the questions asked
- student responses are informative to the questions asked
- student responses exhibit satisfactory knowledge in the subject area
- clearly communicates rationale for specific approaches
School Psychology Qualifying Process
SP Students who matriculated (entered) into the PhD program before Fall 2021 can choose between two options:
Legacy Qualifying Process: The Legacy QP examination is composed of three parts: qualifying document, written examination, oral examination–see above for description.
New Qualifying Process: the New QP examination is composed of the qualifying document and a non-evaluative oral presentation.
SP Students who matriculated into the PhD program in Fall 2021 or after must take the new qualifying process.
Qualifying process completion enables SP students to 1) file for doctoral candidacy, and 2) begin to make arrangements for the dissertation proposal meeting, which thereby affects eligibility for pre-doctoral internship. School Psychology students are encouraged to plan ahead and to consult with their advisers in deciding the timing to the qualifying process. For example, a student who submits and passes the qualifying process and the necessary coursework during the 6th semester (spring of the 3rd year) will advance to candidacy that summer, or the following academic session/semester. When planning, bear in mind that most faculty are on 9-month appointments. Faculty on 9-month appointments are not obligated to review materials over summer. Therefore, a tight timeline leaves little time to have a dissertation proposal meeting occur before October 15th of that year, which is a program requirement for applying to internship.
Assignment of Adviser
In most cases, the QP advisor will be the SP student’s primary research mentor and program advisor. The qualifying process adviser will be formally designated by the School Psychology faculty by the end of the student’s third semester. An outside area/program committee qualifying process adviser is an option with the approval of the School Psychology faculty and the intended outside area/program adviser.
Document
The student must submit for examination a high quality document that demonstrates that the student is prepared to advance to candidacy (see Purpose).
The document can take one of two forms:
- Legacy QP version, consisting of an integrative review of the literature to serve as rationale for a study and a detailed description of how one would undertake the study (note that quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, and meta-analysis are all possible methodologies for the proposed study)--this is an option only for students who matriculated before Fall 2021.
- New QP version (required of all students who matriculated Fall of 2021 or after), a completed study written as a research article that follows the most up-to-date version of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. The Qualifying Document (excluding references, tables, and figures) has a maximum of 50 pages. The document should be prepared as though it will be submitted to a respectable journal within the scholarly area on which it focuses, but may not be an already published manuscript.
The study should represent a contribution to the literature and be well-designed. There are no specific requirements for analytic method, etc., but the QP document must be a contribution to whatever area of work in which it is based.