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Your Faculty Advisor is your main advisor throughout your PhD experience. Profiles of each faculty member and their research and practice interests can be found on the COPH website. Look under Faculty and Staff on each department's home page. You can find the areas of specialization, and if you click on individual faculty, you will find more detailed information.

To change advisors see the Archivum Change Of Advisor process.

The Major Professor serves as the student's advisor and mentor. Students should confer with the department to confirm the internal process and timeline for the selection and appointment of the Major Professor. The student must identify a major professor and receive that person's agreement to serve as major professor. The selection of the Major Professor must be approved and appointed by the department as soon as possible, but no later than the time the student has completed 50% of the program. Students must have a major professor in order to maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress. If a Major Professor cannot be identified or in the event a Major Professor is unable or unwilling to continue serving on the student's committee, the student is responsible for finding another Major Professor. Students who are unable to find a replacement Major Professor should confer with the Program Director for available options. If no other options exist the student may be requested to voluntarily withdraw from the program or may be honorably withdrawn in good academic standing. The student and Major Professor should plan a program of study which, when completed, will satisfy the degree requirements specified. A copy of this program, signed by the student and professor, should be maintained in the student's department file.

Major Professors must meet the following requirements:

• Be active in scholarly pursuits as evidenced by at least one refereed publication in the last three years.
• Be graduate faculty, as defined by the University, from the student's academic area. Faculty who do not meet this definition may serve as Co-Major Professor with faculty who do.
• Be graduate faculty, as defined by the University, from the student’s academic area. Faculty who do not meet this definition may serve as Co-Major Professor.
• Have been approved by the Department Chair (or equivalent) to serve as a Major Professor or Co-Major Professor.

The membership of graduate faculty will be based upon criteria developed within the appropriate program or department and approved at the college level. These criteria must be forwarded to the Dean of the Office of Graduate Studies.

In the event a Major Professor leaves the University (i.e. for an appointment at another university, due to retirement, etc.) and the Major Professor is willing to continue serving on the student's committee, the Major Professor then becomes a Co-Major Professor on the committee and another faculty is appointed as the other Co-Major Professor. It is important that one of the Co-Major Professors be accessible on the university campus for the student to make satisfactory progress on the thesis/dissertation. In the event a Major Professor is on temporary leave (e.g. sabbatical, research, etc.); the Major Professor shall coordinate with the Program Director to facilitate the needs of the student. In some instances a student may choose to have two professors serve as Major Professor. In this situation the faculty are approved as “Co-Major Professors” and jointly serve in that role. Consequently both faculty must sign approval on paperwork pertaining to the student's processing (i.e. committee form, change of committee form, admission to candidacy, etc.)

You should form a dissertation committee after your second year, as you approach finishing your coursework. Your dissertation committee must have four members. Three of them must come from the College of Public Health faculty (full-time or joint appointments), and one must be an external member. Here is more information about the dissertation committee: http://www.grad.usf.edu/policies_Sect8_full.php#disscomm

In the DrPH program, we require you to select someone in the field who is a mentor to you to be your external member. That person will have to go through a credentialing process by submitting their CV to the college and graduate school. That person does not have to have a doctoral degree, but must be active in the profession.

DISSERTATION COMMITTEE FORM:

To get your committee approved, you must submit the form located here: http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/pdf/PhD_Committee_Form_2006.doc

If you change your committee after this form is submitted, you need to do that on this form: http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/pdf/PhD_Change_of_Committee_Form_2006.doc

The requirements for your degree program are contained in the USF catalog for the year you start your degree. When a new catalog is released subsequently, you have the choice of following the new catalog or the one you started with. The USF Graduate School has current and archived catalogs for all USF degrees and programs, available at this link: http://www.grad.usf.edu/catalog.php.

There is also a College catalog, although the USF Catalog has precedence. Current and archived College catalogs are available here: College of Public Health Catalog

You can find your DrPH program of study form on this page: Program of Study Index. Select your admission year (or a later year) and use that form. You will document which courses you are taking or substituting while admitted to the DrPH program, which courses you are transferring from another degree program, and which courses you can waive because of prior learning or experience. For the processes to document these different categories, please see the section on Prior Learning below.

The USF College of Public Health DrPH degree is completed through distance‐learning (fall, spring, and summer semesters) in addition to on‐campus learning via the 1‐week DrPH Institute. The combination of program delivery formats allows working professionals to broaden their grasp of public health management, practice, and research without interrupting their careers.

We have been offering the DrPH Institute in the Summer semester, but we are going to move it to the Fall semesters. For current students, there will be a transition period from Summer to Fall. Please look for our communications on this subject. Information on the upcoming Institutes will be provided here as we obtain it.

Marcia Conner: "In what is known as the 70/20/10 learning concept, 70% of learning and development takes place from real-life and on-the-job experiences, tasks, and problem solving, 20% of the time development comes from other people through informal or formal feedback, mentoring, or coaching, and10% of learning and development comes from formal training.”  

 Our philosophy in the DrPH program is consistent with this quote. We know that you bring a myriad of knowledge, skills, and experience with you to our program. If you are fully prepared in an area, there is no need for you to take a course covering what you already know and do. However, you must establish this by providing convincing documentation substantiating your knowledge, skills, and experience. Any transfers, substitutions, or waivers must be approved by your Faculty Advisor.