1 1. Dean's Welcome - UCSF School of Nursing - University of ...

6.11 Alternate Points of Entry
UCSF Master's students with previous B.S.N.s may apply for doctoral study by the deadline (December 1) in any year of study.
Application is to the School of Nursing only. Students without B.S.N.s may apply in the year in which they will have completed
all M.S. specialty requirements. Admission to the doctoral program is effective the fall quarter following acceptance.
The master's degree is conferred when the student has completed core and specialty requirements, 36 academic units, 8 graduate
professional units, and either a preliminary examination or a comprehensive examination.
Individuals with B.S.N.s may apply directly to the doctoral program. The criteria for admission to the doctoral program for
persons with B.S.N.s are the same as for applicants with M.S.N.s. The usually shorter career trajectory and lack of previous
graduate training is taken into account in evaluating past accomplishments. Applicants must have been in professional practice a
minimum of one year at the time of enrollment.
6.12 Progression through the Doctoral Program
Although doctoral students are not admitted directly to departments but to the School of Nursing, it is within the four departments
that all teaching, research, program planning, and student advising functions are carried out. Consequently, the department chair
has responsibility for linking student program needs with faculty resources.
Graduate Advisers are the official deputies appointed by the Dean of the Graduate Division and nominated by the School of
Nursing, in all matters pertaining to graduate instruction. Only the signatures of graduate advisers are accepted on the official
forms pertaining to graduate study, such as study lists and advancement to candidacy forms. Signature indicates approval of the
listed action and certification that requirements, if any, have been met. Students may change advisers. See information in the
Student Handbook.
The Department Chairperson is administratively responsible for: 1) appointing the initial faculty adviser for incoming students;
2) periodically reviewing the student's academic progress; 3) serving as an additional resource concerning learning opportunities
within the School and campus. Until such time as a dissertation sponsor is selected, the student and/or faculty adviser may initiate
a request for change in faculty adviser. Although students will have one department with which they are primarily identified by
virtue of their initial research interests and faculty advisers, students are strongly encouraged to cross departments in working with
faculty and in taking courses.
A rigorous program of course work and Research Residencies is jointly planned by adviser and student to prepare the student for
the qualifying examination, lay the foundation for the preparation and defense of a dissertation, and for subsequent independent
research.
Students who plan academic careers but who have not had an orientation to faculty governance or formal teaching experience may
elect a Teaching Residency (N409). To enroll in a teaching residency, a student selects a seasoned faculty member, plans with
that person for one or two quarters of multi-faceted instructional experience, and concurrently examines the faculty role in
university governance by reading, interview, and observation of relevant meetings.
In addition to recommended School of Nursing courses and residencies for the doctoral degree, there is a wide variety of elective
courses available to doctoral students in related sciences and research on the San Francisco, Berkeley, and Stanford campuses.
Courses should be selected to prepare for competencies expected in the qualifying examination and dissertation. The selection of
appropriate courses is determined jointly by the individual student and faculty adviser. Depending on the student's substantive
focus, some students may have dual advisers from two different departments.
During the course of the program, the student must:
Pass a qualifying examination and advance to candidacy.
Prepare a dissertation proposal that is acceptable to the members of the dissertation committee.
Conduct and write the results of original research.
Defend the completed dissertation with a public presentation and in separate meeting with dissertation committee
members.
First Year Review
At the end of the student's first year of study, faculty teaching first-year courses meet as a group with each student's Graduate
Adviser to evaluate the student's progress in relation to the terminal objectives of the program. The Graduate Adviser
subsequently meets with the student to elicit the student's assessment of her/his own progress, to convey her/his own perspective
and that of the faculty group on the student's progress, and to discuss variance or correspondence of these perspectives. This
provides a base for mutual planning toward the qualifying examination and dissertation.
6.12.1 Qualifying Examination
The qualifying examination may be taken any time after the student has completed course work. It is often completed in
the third year of study. The qualifying examination tests the student's ability to synthesize theoretical concepts in nursing
and other health sciences and to think critically and imaginatively.
28