About Degree ProgramsMaster of Public Health (MPH)Master of Science in
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The Master of Science in Public Health degree is the Division of Public Health’s academic/research-oriented master’s degree and; all MSPH students are required to complete and successfully defend a thesis/project prior to graduating. Students must:
BEFORE YOU STARTIt is recommended that you start thinking about your research project or thesis your first semester. This will allow adequate time to gain rapport with faculty who will be on your supervisory committee, and develop research project/thesis ideas that align with your specific research interests FORM YOUR SUPERVISORY COMMITTEETo begin, you will want to identify potential faculty you would like to work with on your thesis/project. The supervisory committee form outlines which faculty you have selected to work with and must be turned into your academic advisor. The essential role of your supervisory committee is to provide feedback, guidance and mentorship on your thesis/project while also approving the research subject and judging your final defense. Following University of Utah Graduate School Policy, “Master’s Supervisory Committees consist of three faculty members, the majority of whom must be tenure-line faculty in the student’s major department.” The committee Chair and one committee member must be tenure or tenure track from the Division of Public Health. If a member outside the Division of Public Health is desired, the potential committee member must hold a minimum of a Master’s degree and must have expertise specific to the research topic. The desired outside member must submit a CV to the academic advisor for the graduate school records. Please see your academic advisor for further instruction on approved faculty for your Supervisory Committee. IDENTIFY A THESIS/PROJECT TOPICThe master’s thesis/project may be based on research involving primary data collection, but is often a secondary analysis of existing data to investigate a research question not yet evaluated in a given study. The decisions about acceptable thesis/project content and organization reside with each student’s Supervisory Committee. There are examples of past theses/projects in the Division of Public Health. REGISTER FOR THESIS/PROJECT HOURSBefore you can register for thesis/project hours you must set up your supervisory committee and turn in the supervisory committee form, with the appropriate signatures, to your academic advisor. At that time, a permission code will be provided to you that will allow you to register for PBHLT 6975/6977 – Thesis/Project Research -MSPH. Please be mindful of registration dates to ensure adequate time to obtain all of the needed forms and permission code for registration. You must register for a total of 6 credit hours towards the thesis/project before graduation. Please note that it does not matter when you register for credits: this can be during or after you actually complete the necessary project hours. A total of 6 credits must be completed, but the 6 credits can be split up into multiple semesters as needed. Please note: you must be registered for at least 3 credit hours, whether that be project/thesis credits; or an actual class; during the semester you defend your final project/thesis. MSPH THESIS/PROJECT PROPOSAL FORMATPrior to starting the thesis/project, you must prepare a concept proposal that requires approval by your committee. Guidelines on what the concept proposal should cover can be found in this pdf or on the website under project/thesis forms with all other necessary forms. A copy of the final proposal will also be placed in your student file. Please return your proposal to your academic advisor. Your Supervisory Committee will determine if you are prepared to proceed to the formal thesis/project by signing off on the committee research proposal approval form. PROJECT REPORT OR THESIS FORMATAfter the approval of the thesis/project proposal, you are ready to develop your research under the direction of your committee. Any and all approval of the content of the thesis/project is an academic matter between you and your committee. The final project must produce a publishable quality paper, thus the formatting for each paper will be individual to the student and the journal to which you will submit. Depending on the given project, IRB approval may be required in order to protect the rights and welfare of the research subjects involved. Once IRB approval is established, please complete the IRB research proposal form and return it to your academic advisor. Please note, if IRB approval is not needed, the completion of the IRB form is still required. However, if you choose to complete thesis work instead of the research project, the form and distribution for the thesis and abstract as well as the use of restricted data are determined by The Graduate School and published in A Handbook for Theses and Dissertations, available in the Thesis Office. The format of the thesis must be approved by The Graduate School thesis and dissertation editor, Room 302 Park Building. Please note, that the dates and deadlines below will need to be adjusted to the Thesis Office deadlines. Please see the graduate school calendar for more information. THESIS/PROJECT DEFENSEPRE-DEFENSE PUBLICIZE THE EVENT The date and time of the final defense must be widely publicized to the entire department at least ten business days prior to the date of defense. Please use this defense announcement to publicize your event and return this announcement to your academic advisor for distribution. FINAL DEFENSE Please note, the last day to defend your project is two weeks before the last day of finals week. Per the Graduate School, you must be registered for at least three credit hours during the semester you defend. Common misconceptions of defense requirements include, printing of a student’s manuscript for their committee members; and/or serving of light refreshments. These are not requirements set by the Division of Public Health or the Graduate School and, thus, are not required during the final defense. FINAL APPROVALAfter the thesis/project defense, the Committee indicates on the Report of the Final Examination form whether the student has passed or failed. All committee members who are present at the examination should sign the form. In cases where the Supervisory Committee does not feel that the student has passed the defense, the committee will make appropriate recommendations for further courses, reading or research to address the deficiencies. The final project must produce a publishable quality paper that is submitted to the supervisory committee with a copy given to the academic advisor in order to be considered finished. The final paper is due two weeks after the student’s defense date or no later than the last day of finals week. Failure to submit the final paper within that time frame will result in delay of graduation. JOURNAL SUBMISSIONBefore your project/thesis is deemed complete you will need to inform your academic advisor which journal you submitted your final paper for publication. Your supervisory committee can help determine appropriate journals for submission. Please notify your academic advisor by email of the name of the journal(s) for your student record. This must be submitted by the last day of finals week.
TIMELINE FOR SUBMISSION OF FORMS/FINAL REPORT
CHECKLIST AND TIMELINE FOR FINAL DEFENSE
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