Graduation

Eligible students may graduate at the end of summer, fall, and spring semesters. Commencement occurs in December and May.

Time Limit for Earning Degrees

Students in the Bachelor of Science in Public Health program must complete the 60-credit hour curriculum in public health in no more than six years after initial enrollment in the program.

A Master of Public Health degree or a Master of Science degree must be completed in not more than four years and all doctoral programs within eight years. Any requests for an extension of this policy are subject to approval by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, based on recommendations from the student’s Academic Program Director.

Master of Public Health

Students in the Master of Public Health program are required to complete an interprofessional education (IPE) experience to fulfill the competency on interprofessional practice: “Integrate perspectives from other sectors and/or professions to promote and advance population health.” This is accomplished by participation in the two year, LSUHSC-wide longitudinal IPE curriculum, TeamUP. This is a requirement for successful completion of the MPH program. More information about TeamUP can be found here www.lsuhsc.edu/administration/academic/ipecp/team_up_overview.aspx.

Master of Science

Course Requirements

The Master of Science in Biostatistics is a two-year degree program with a minimum requirement of 42 semester hours of graduate work, not over six hours of which is allowed for research and composition of a thesis, and not more than two credit hours of seminars. It begins with a core of basic biostatistical methods and statistical theory and continues with electives in biostatistical methods directly applicable in public health.

Thesis

When the thesis is nearly complete, the candidate will be required to present successfully the thesis in an open seminar. After the open seminar, students meet with their thesis committee for an oral examination. To pass the examination, there may be no more than one negative vote among committee members. The committee is comprised of three LSUHSC School of Graduate Studies Graduate Faculty, two of whom must also be fulltime faculty in Biostatistics.

When students are entering their last semester, in addition to continuing meetings with their advisor, students must schedule an appointment with Ms. Martha Cuccia in the SPH Office of Academic Affairs. She will review the procedure for the defense and the associated paperwork, as well as the submission and publication of the thesis. The process includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

Schedule of the defense at least four weeks before the end of the semester (per the request of the Registrar).
Students must submit a completed Request for Dissertation/Thesis Defense and Final Examination and a copy of the thesis abstract to the Office Academic Affairs at least two weeks before the defense,
After the defense, students must submit the completed Dissertation/Thesis Defense Final Examination Report to the Office of Academic Affairs as well as an e-copy of the final thesis.

Thesis Publication

Students must submit the final, approved thesis to the LSU Health Digital Scholar Repository and ProQuest for electronic publication, as outlined in the Student Handbook found on our website.

Doctor of Philosophy

Residence Requirement

The LSUHSC-NO Schools of Graduate Studies and Public Health requires three years (9 semesters) of full-time residence, although in most instances more time is needed. Exceptions may be made by petition to the School Dean. A minimum of one year (three consecutive semesters) must be taken in residence at the Health Sciences Center following completion of the qualifying examinations (written and oral).

Course Requirements

Specific course requirements are dependent upon individual Program policies. However, in general, a minimum of 60 credit hours is required and at least 30 of those hours must be taken in courses that require a letter grade for evaluation. The minimum courses required by each Program are listed in the Program Descriptions in this catalog.

Student Research Advisory Committee

This document outlines the minimum requirements established by the School of Graduate Studies for the composition of the Research Advisory Committee that will guide the research training of students enrolled in PhD programs and MS programs that require a thesis.

Each student enrolled in a PhD program or a MS program with a thesis shall have a Major Research Professor/Research Advisor and an Advisory Research Committee to guide their research training. The committee shares the responsibility of guiding the student’s training and completion of their research project, in accordance with program criteria.

Committee Appointment:

The student and their major research professor/research advisor, with the approval of the relevant degree-granting program representative, will recommend an advisory research committee, selected from the Graduate Faculty and petition the SPH Dean to appoint the committee.Minimum guidelines for establishing the Research Advisory Committee are detailed below.Degree-granting programs may specify earlier time points for committee formation and may include additional criteria for committee member selection, such as program affiliations and research expertise. The SPH Dean and Dean of other degree-granting programs may serve as a committee member or may appoint members of the Graduate Faculty to the committee.

Substitution or addition of committee members after formal appointment may be made after consultation with the major research professor/research advisor and program representative and will require approval by the SPH Dean.Continuity of committee membership is sought to provide consistent guidance to the student throughout the program.

Minimum Guidelines for Dissertation (PhD) Committees

The committee for PhD students must be approved no later than the time of filing the Request for Preliminary Exam.
The doctoral Research Advisory Committee shall be made up of no less than five Graduate Faculty members, inclusive of the major research professor/research advisor. These members shall have experience that will contribute substantively to the training of the student.
The major research professor/ research advisor of the dissertation committee is the primary research mentor to the student and must be either an Associate or Full member of the Graduate Faculty.
One member of the committee (not the student’s major research professor/ research advisor) shall serve as the Administrative Chair to oversee the dissertation committee and ensure the committee adheres to the rules of the Graduate School. The Administrative Chair must be a Full member of the Graduate Faculty and may be outside the area of research interest of the student, if so designated by the degree-granting program.
A minimum of two committee members must be Full members of LSUHSC-NO Graduate Faculty and be from the student’s degree-granting Program.
One of the five committee members may be from outside the LSUHSC-NO faculty, provided they have Graduate Faculty membership at an accredited University offering doctoral degrees. Outside LSUHSC-NO faculty must provide documentation that they are in good standing as Graduate Faculty at their respective institutions.
Committees may contain more than 5 members, however no more than one voting member may be from outside LSUHSC-NO.

Written Comprehensive Examination

Students must pass a series of written comprehensive examinations after completing their PhD core courses. This examination is the most thorough in the doctoral program. It should require the candidate to demonstrate competence in a broad segment of the major and minor (if applicable) fields. Full details are available in each program section in this document.

Oral Prospectus Defense

After passing the written comprehensives, students must pass an oral defense of the student’s research prospectus. This oral examination will be given by the Research Advisory Committee of each student and will assess the research prospectus and mastery of discipline in the dissertation area. The student selects the Committee Chair in conjunction with the Academic Program Director and PhD advisor.

If students fail either the written or the oral examination, they are subject to dismissal from the program. In some cases, the program faculty or Research Advisory Committee may develop a remediation plan to be completed before another examination may be given.

If there is no more than one negative ballot out of a minimum of five, students become a “candidate” after the Dean has been notified by the student’s major professor and Academic Program Director of successful completion of the preliminary examination.

Students must complete and submit the Request for Preliminary Examination at least two weeks prior to the scheduled exam. A Report of Preliminary Examination form must be completed after the oral preliminary examination. These forms are available on the school’s website or from the Office of Academic Affairs.

Dissertation

The dissertation must make a significant contribution to the field, suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal of international repute. Refer to the LSUHSC School of Graduate Studies Dissertation and Thesis Guidelines for preparation of dissertation. For the planned graduation date, students should check the academic calendar for the final date for submission of the dissertation to the School of Public Health.

There are two stylistic options for dissertation manuscript(s): the monograph option and the three publishable papers options. Students must choose one and must have the permission of their Committee Chair/Major Advisor. The format decision must be made prior to the prospectus defense and clearly described to the student’s dissertation committee. Once the prospectus has been accepted, the student may not change the format.

MONOGRAPH OPTION

This is a traditional format of dissertations. With this format, the student extensively cites the literature and empirical support for the methods applied in their research. The committee has the ability to review this information in advance of the oral defense and the student has access to reference this material in the oral defense. Since this format does not clarify a publication plan for the final dissertation, the student should be prepared to describe publication progress and/or plans to convert the document into peer reviewed journal submissions and/or book chapters. With this option, and after a successful dissertation defense, the student must still submit the paper to ProQuest.

PUBLICATION-SYTLE OPTION

For this format, the dissertation consists of at least three full-length manuscripts on original research conducted by the candidate to be sent for review to peer reviewed journals. The articles should form a cohesive body of work that supports a theme or themes that are expressed clearly in the introduction of the dissertation, as taken from the prospectus defense. With this option, and after a successful dissertation defense, the student must still convert the three papers into a hybrid monograph for submission to ProQuest. The dissertation must include an abstract that synthesizes the articles, as well as an introduction (Chapter 1), the three manuscripts (Chapters 2-4), and a conclusion (Chapter 5) that discusses the synthesis of what is learned from the three articles.

Certification

If not more than one member of the examining committee dissents and if the dissertation is accepted, the candidate will be certified to the School of Public Health Faculty, Graduate Faculty, and Chancellor as having met all requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Exam Only Status

Doctoral students in good standing having completed the required dissertation credit hours may register for INTER 999 - Exam Only (1 credit). This course is allows for special status of full-time student. Students will only be allowed to register for this if they have committee approval for final defense exam in the semester for which they are registering. This registration requires permission of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Dissertation Publication

Students must submit the final, approved dissertation to the LSU Health Digital Scholar Repository and ProQuest for electronic publication, as outlined in the Student Handbook found on our website.