Dear Prospective Doctoral Student:
Thank you for your interest in the University
of Tennessee, College of Nursing Ph.D. Program. The College of
Nursing offers a doctoral program leading to the Doctor of Philosophy
degree with a major in Nursing. The doctoral program prepares
nursing scholars capable of integrating research, theory, and
practice into their roles as researchers, educators, and/or administrators.
Given the impending shortage of nursing faculty in the U.S., we
place special emphasis on preparation for the faculty role through
course work and preceptorship experiences. Newly available is
a concentration in Homeland Security Nursing, which prepares leaders
for response to man-made and natural disasters. Dr. Susan Speraw
directs the federal grant that funded this new option. Faculty
research expertise is strong in the areas of women’s physical
and mental health, anger and violence, empathy, gerontology, and
nursing education. The College of Nursing is a Cooperating Site
of the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology (co-directors
Joanne Hall and Sandra Thomas). Discourse analysis, phenomenology,
hermeneutics, and grounded theory are prominent among the qualitative
approaches used by faculty researchers. Graduates of this program
should be able to:
1. Analyze, test, refine, extend and expand the
theoretical basis of nursing practice.
2. Conduct nursing research that generates knowledge and advances
nursing as a discipline.
3. Provide leadership as nurse scientists who can function in
a variety of roles and settings.
4. Collaborate with members of other disciplines in health-related
research.
5. Develop, implement, evaluate, and recommend health care policy
at various levels.
6. Demonstrate professionalism, advocacy, ethical principles and
scientific integrity.
The over-arching philosophy of our program is
individualized education. Each student’s program of study
is designed to foster his or her unique interests and career goals.
We have small classes and committed faculty who are engaged in
nursing research and scholarly writing. Our students become part
of an exciting community of scholars, devoted to extending and
expanding nursing knowledge. Many students have presented formal
papers and posters at meetings, have published papers in scholarly
journals and contributed chapters to faculty edited books.
Admission Requirements:
1. Meet requirements for admission to the Graduate School.
2. Hold a master’s degree in nursing from a program accredited
by the National League for Nursing. Some outstanding applicants
who are prepared at the bachelor’s level in nursing may
be considered. In such cases, graduate level courses in nursing
theory, clinical specialties, and/or research will be integrated
into the formal program of doctoral degree requirements.
3. Have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.3 on a 4.0
scale for previous college work.
4. Have successfully completed a basic statistics course and graduate
nursing theory and research courses prior to enrollment in the
nursing doctoral courses.
5. Have achieved a competitive score on the verbal and quantitative
portions of the Graduate Record Examination.
6. Complete College of Nursing Graduate Program Data Form.
7. Submit three (3) Graduate School rating forms from college
level instructors and/or nurses and administrators who have supervised
applicant’s professional work.
8. Submit a sample of scholarly writing (e.g., thesis, published
paper).
9. Submit an essay describing personal and professional aspirations.
10. Have a personal interview with the College of Nursing PhD
program Admissions Committee.
11. Submit entire application (3 rating forms, essay, Graduate
Application for Admission, Graduate Program Data Form, academic
transcripts, writing sample, and GRE scores) before April 15th*
of the year preceding fall semester admission.
12. Submit TOEFL Scores if native language is not English. A minimum
score of 550 is required..
*Late applicants will be considered only if there is space remaining in the fall class.
We are now accepting applications for the Fall of 2008. Applications will be accepted until the class is filled.
Prompt completion of application materials is advised.
If you decide to apply, please submit your materials promptly.
Transcripts must be submitted directly to the Graduate School, 218 Student
Services Building, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996;
other items should be sent to: Dr. Sandra Thomas , College of Nursing, UT knoxville, 1200 Volunteer Blvd., Knoxville, TN 37996. Testing dates for the Graduate
Record Examination are in October, December, February, April and
June. Application to write the examination on a specific date
must be made approximately one month prior to the testing date.
The Educational Testing Service has also developed a computerized
GRE which permits immediate score reporting; 100 cities offer
this new form of the test. Contact the Educational Testing Service,
Princeton, NJ 08450, or call 609-771-7670 for application forms.
You can access the graduate catalog online at http://admissions.utk.edu/graduate/.
The PhD program in Nursing requires 43 semester hours of course
work and 24 hours of dissertation credits. The course numbers,
titles and semester hours are as follows:
601 Philosophy and Theory of Nursing Science
3
603 Nursing Research and Inquiry 3
605 Middle-Range Formulations for Nursing Science Development
3
606 Nursing Research Seminar 3
607 Qualitative Nursing Research 3
608 Quantitative Nursing Research 3
609 Research Practicum* 2
610 Nursing Science Seminar 2
612 Health and Nursing Policy/Planning 3
613 Nursing Leadership in Complex Systems 3
Inferential Statistics 3
Multivariate Statistics 3
Cognates 6
Elective 3
600 Dissertation 24
Total: 67
*1 hour per semester must be taken for 2 semesters.
Possible cognate areas include but are not limited
to anthropology, child and family studies, psychology, education,
gerontology, management, medical ethics, philosophy, public health,
social work, and statistics.
An agreement among cooperating Southern states
for sharing certain graduate programs allows residents of some
states to enroll in certain programs at UT Knoxville at an in-state
tuition rate. Additional information may be obtained from the
Admissions Specialist in the Office of Graduate Admissions and
Records: 865-974-3251.
After you have reviewed the enclosed informational
materials, I will be happy to answer questions about our program.
We welcome both full-time and part-time students. Although we
do not offer courses off-campus or via the Internet, we do take
commuting students into consideration by scheduling PhD classes
on Thursdays. Visits to the school to meet faculty and students
are highly encouraged. I will look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Sandra P. Thomas, RN, PhD, FAAN
Professor and Director of the PhD Program
PhD Program Data Form
PhD Rating Form
PHD Handbook
