Transdisciplinary Health, Science & Technology, Ph.D.

Introduction

The PhD Program in Transdisciplinary Health, Sciences & Technology (THST) is offered through the College of Health. Our mission is to create a PhD program for a diverse group of health professionals, or those in health-related fields, that has a focus on transdisciplinary work that extends beyond the health fields specifically, including disciplines such as engineering and urban studies. By reaching beyond the strict confines of health fields, we can prepare students to think about their practice, their teaching, and their research in innovative ways that will better meet the needs of our stakeholders. This program will uniquely prepare research scientists in their fields while integrating the study of technology as a powerful force in addressing health. THST students will have opportunities to work alongside graduate students in engineering and other disciplines collectively to imagine, design, create, critically appraise, and utilize technology effectively and equitably to address healthcare related challenges. These students will also gain teaching skills and training to increase their ability to share these transdisciplinary and technology informed practices with their future students.

Financial Assistance

Generally, student tuition, fees and other expenses will follow the typical cost per credit hour or per semester rate for doctoral/graduate programs at Cleveland State University. However, there may be circumstances where supplemental funding can be obtained through grant awards if a student’s research interests align with ongoing work in a grant-funded lab. This is not guaranteed for any student in the program. Individual students will need to explore these options with current PhD in THST Program faculty and are otherwise responsible for tuition costs.

All students interested in Graduate Assistantships must meet and maintain the requirements specified by the College of Graduate Studies as described in this Catalog. Graduate assistantships are not guaranteed but may be available occasionally. All graduate teaching assistants who are international students are required to pass an English Language Proficiency Examination, which is administered by the University Testing Center.

Most of the professional health programs (listed above) rely on adjunct and part time instructors to teach program courses. PhD students may fill those roles, and teaching assistantships may be provided by individual departments to provide assistance with classroom and laboratory courses. Responsibilities can include conducting classroom recitation sessions, setting up laboratory experiments, grading, monitoring tests, and related activities. For further information, students should contact the respective department chairs

Admission Requirements

Admission to the program will be determined by the co-directors and a committee of faculty from within the College of Health. The following are required:

1. Master’s or clinical doctorate degree in a health profession or other closely related field. Admitted students must provide the graduate college with official transcripts or, if an official transcript is not yet available, an official letter of completion from their university Registrar’s office (this will substitute for official transcripts for up to one semester of enrollment).
2. Undergraduate GPA of at least 2.75.
3. For applicants whose first language is not English, a TOEFL score.
4. Two letters of recommendation from persons familiar with the applicant’s academic and/or professional work. Letters should specifically describe the applicant’s skills and experiences.
5. A current curriculum vitae.
6. A 1-2 page personal statement. This statement, which will be used to assess the applicant’s potential fit with the program, should highlight the applicant’s academic background; experience; clinical skills; creativity; interest in technology; reasons for interest in CSU; career goals or reasons for pursuing a PhD in this program; long-term motivation to develop as a professional; and successful experience and demonstrated interest in one or more of research, academic education, clinical health care delivery, health equity, and technology within health or health education.

Ph.D. Degree Completion Requirements

Completion of this PhD requires 60 credits beyond the Master’s (or professional Doctorate) that students are assumed to hold prior to entry. Students who do not hold a Masters or professional Doctorate will be required to complete 30 additional credits, e.g., through the MSHS degree. This hybrid program will offer some courses in-person and some courses will be available online or in a hybrid format. Students will be able to select courses needed to fit their proposed research and ability to attend classes on campus, however some on campus time will be required. Some required courses may have required on-campus sessions along with distance learning for other portions. The comprehensive exam, and the dissertation proposal and defense will be in-person and on campus.

Electives (9 Credit Hours Minimum)

Students will select elective courses in collaboration with their dissertation advisor and/or the PhD program directors that fit the needs of their overall goals and their dissertation research. This may include courses such as specialized content topics to develop more advanced expertise, advanced quantitative or qualitative courses, or advanced technology or experiential learning within the identified field of study. Electives must be approved by the student’s dissertation advisor.

Research and Dissertation (17 Credit Hour Minimum)

Students will take a minimum of two and up to eight credits of Independent Research (COH 890 ) prior to their candidacy; two must be before their comprehensive examination and will help narrow the scope of the student’s topics towards comprehensive exam preparation.

Students will take COH 891 - Mentored Scientific Writing  (1 credit) after passing their comprehensive exam and before (or possibly in the same semester as) their Proposal Defense. 

Students will take a minimum of 14 dissertation credit hours, including doctoral research (COH 899 ) and dissertation writing courses (COH 892 ) after their proposal has been successfully defended (i.e., in their candidacy). These courses are identified separately to accommodate part-time students who may be at different stages of the dissertation process. Some students may elect to take credits of COH 899  and focus on completing the objectives of the research project, some students may instead have completed the research project and intend to register for COH 892  credits to work on the written manuscript. Students are also able to register for both COH 899  and COH 892  simultaneously as needed to complete all of the dissertation requirements and objectives. Typical full-time student enrollment during their PhD Candidacy is 9 credits per semester of COH 892  and COH 899  (combined). Students can take up to 16 credits in a single semester only with approval from their faculty advisor and documentation of the learning objectives to be completed that match the additional number of credit hours the student registers for.

Independent Research Development and Completion

Independent research development and completion (i.e., the entire dissertation process) are the most distinguishing feature of doctoral study. The dissertation in THST is a concentrated, in-depth, independent study of an appropriate health care related problem. It proceeds in earnest after the comprehensive examination is passed, though exploratory research occurs prior to the comprehensive exam via COH 890 . At least 17 credits of research work are required:

• At least two credits of COH 890  prior to the comprehensive examination
• One credit COH 891  after passing the comprehensive examination and prior to the dissertation proposal
• At least 12 credits COH 899  and at least two credits COH 892  after the proposal is successfully defended

Individuals admitted to the program become candidates for the Doctor of Philosophy in Transdisciplinary Health, Sciences and Technology degree after:

1. Completing all prescribed course work
2. Passing the comprehensive examination
3. Successfully defending their dissertation proposal

Comprehensive Examination

The purpose of the comprehensive examination is to evaluate a prospective student’s mastery of the subject matters that are fundamental to the chosen discipline/concentration of a type or level that are beyond their education prior to this program. In addition, this exam aims to assess a doctoral student’s maturity and preparation to continue independent research in a specific research topic. The student must demonstrate a broad understanding of the relationships between health care, disability and technology and special knowledge and readiness to pursue further study in a specific discipline/concentration. Students who pass continue the program of study. Those who pass conditionally are subject to additional course work and/or re-examination. Only one re-examination is permitted. Students who fail twice are dismissed from the doctoral program.

The Comprehensive Exam will be administered in two parts which may be taken in one day or in two parts within the same week. 

1. Part I: Exam Essays
   1. Application of concepts from core courses and adult/learning and teaching strategies to the student’s individual research topic.
   2. Literature Review: Students will respond to specific questions relating the foundational background literature in their area to their dissertation research topic.
2. Part II: Exam Essays
   1. Application of research design, methods, and quantitative or qualitative analysis to a topic relevant to the student’s dissertation topic and area of study.
   2. Literature Review: Students will respond to specific questions relating their proposed research methods and approaches to the foundational works in those methods and approaches

The Comprehensive Exam is administered by the student’s dissertation advisor. The advisor and/or student may request to invite up to two other individuals to participate as a comprehensive examination committee. These may be faculty from within CSU or an external research advisor related to the student’s dissertation project. The advisor and student will work to agree on these individuals with disputes being resolved by the program director(s.) This group and the student will agree beforehand on the dissertation topic and methods and approaches to be addressed in the parts of the examination. This agreement will include general topics, coursework, and research areas but not the specific questions to be included on the exam. The exam will be written responses with a time limit of 5 hours each for Part I and Part II. The student may bring publications and textbooks (electronic or hard copy), but will work with a browser lockdown and are not permitted to use internet or AI resources.

Students can schedule their comprehensive examination after all Core and Content Area courses have been completed. Both sections may be taken in the same day, or on different days in the same week (from Monday to Friday). All students are required to notify their respective advisors a minimum of four weeks prior to scheduling a date for the exams. Invitation and agreement on other examiners, if desired and as described above, must be finalized before that four-week time frame.

Dissertation Proposal

Students cannot take dissertation (COH 899  or COH 892 ) credits before successful completion of the Proposal Defense. The dissertation advisor and advisory committee, after approving a dissertation topic, will oversee the dissertation proposal defense. The dissertation chair will help to guide the student’s proposal during the COH 891 - Mentored Scientific Writing  in preparation for the proposal defense. The proposal will be in the format of a federal (e.g., NIH or NSF) grant proposal to include a specific aims page, research strategy (significance, innovation, approach) and a budget justification. The proposal will be submitted in written form (vs. a presentation) to the dissertation committee two weeks before the scheduled defense. They will then present their proposal in a public presentation, followed immediately by an oral examination by the dissertation committee which is closed to the public. The proposal defense is required to take place in-person on campus.

Dissertation Defense and Degree Completion

Once the dissertation committee agrees that the student has passed the proposal defense, they will monitor the student’s progress throughout the completion of the doctoral research and final written dissertation. Once a student begins the dissertation study, he or she must register for a minimum of three credit hours per semester until the minimum of seventeen credits is completed. After that, the student shall maintain a minimum registration of one credit hour per semester until the dissertation is completed. The dissertation is not limited to the specific health care problem, but should include, where pertinent, impact on the people or populations in question, economic considerations, technological implications, social implications, and other transdisciplinary factors relevant to the specific topic. The final dissertation can be in one of two formats:

1. Traditional format (sometimes referred to as the five-chapter format). Students will write a traditional dissertation including five chapters:
   1. Chapter I: Introduction
   2. Chapter II: Review of Literature
   3. Chapter III: Methodology (Research Design & Methods)
   4. Chapter IV: Presentation of Research (Results)
   5. Chapter V: Summary, Implications, Conclusions (Discussion)
2. Manuscript format (sometimes referred to as the three-paper format). Students will write three related publications/manuscripts, plus integrative Introduction and Discussion chapters and explanatory preludes to each publication explaining their place in the overall context of the dissertation whole. Students are expected to have at least one manuscript  submitted and in review for publication prior to the final oral dissertation defense.

The student must submit a draft of their final written dissertation to their dissertation chair and committee to obtain approval for the oral defense.

The dissertation defense is a public presentation of the dissertation, followed by an oral examination by the dissertation committee which is closed to the public. The dissertation committee determines pass or failure. The doctoral program director ensures that all program requirements are satisfied before signing the degree completion (including: course and research credits, successful completion of comprehensive exam, proposal defense, and dissertation defense, publication requirements, and all program assessments). The Notice of Completion is signed by the dissertation committee chair, the Dean of the College of Health, and the doctoral program director.

Continuation Requirements

After admission to the PhD program, the student must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 in all course work completed at Cleveland State University. Students are permitted to enroll as a full-time or part-time student with permission of the PhD Program Directors. Part-time students must continue to follow the course sequence. Following the completion of the core coursework, students must register for at least one credit hour each Fall and Spring semester for continuation in the program. The maximum time to complete all of the requirements for the degree is ten calendar years from the date of entry into the program.

Course Transfer or Waiver

Course Transfer: A maximum of 20 credits, not to include COH 890 , COH 891 , COH 892  or COH 899 , may be transferred from within or from another institution. Courses taken as requirements for other completed degrees are not transferable. These are subject to graduate college policy and approval of the COH PhD program directors.

Course Waiver: Students may also request a course waiver if an equivalent course of equal or greater credit was taken and successfully completed. If approved, another course must be substituted for the waived course in order to fulfill the requisite credit hours needed for degree completion.

Transfer and waiver credit is given at the discretion of the Program Directors after consultation with appropriate faculty members, subject to University approval.

Advising

When a student is admitted, an interim advisor is assigned in his/her specialization to assist the student in completing a preliminary study plan in COH 798 . The interim advisor should be familiar with their discipline and anticipated field of study, and may or may not be the student’s dissertation committee chair. Before more than 18 credits of course work have been completed, the student must propose a dissertation advisor and begin plans for the dissertation. The students are encouraged to form their dissertation committee as soon as possible, in consultation with their advisor, who normally chairs the committee. The functions of the student’s dissertation committee are: to serve as content and methods experts; administer the proposal defense and determine pass/fail; monitor the progress of the student’s research; administer the final oral defense and determine pass/fail; and approve the dissertation. The dissertation committee must include a minimum of five graduate faculty members, including the chair, and including at least one from outside of the College of Health. Usually, an additional member is added when an off-campus, industrial or clinical advisor is involved in the dissertation work. This off-campus project advisor may be a member of the dissertation committee but does not have voting rights, unless he or she holds graduate faculty status.