Colleges > College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences > Department of Health and Human Performance > Kinesiology, PhD
The Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology program currently focuses on three broad areas of kinesiology, namely motor control and learning, physiology, and obesity studies.
Program Objectives
The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Kinesiology is designed to provide doctoral level training to prepare a professional with the cognitive and research skills needed to be a productive scholar.
The objectives of the PhD in Kinesiology are:
- To train scholars with the capacity to understand and conduct research in kinesiology.
- To train scholars with the capacity to develop and evaluate programs consistent with national health promotion and disease prevention objectives.
- To train scholars with the capacity to prepare research funding proposals and program development proposals.
- To train individuals with the capacity to be successful in higher education and kinesiological settings in the public and private domains.
The usual time for completion of the PhD (Kinesiology) program is four to five years.
Admission Criteria
Acceptance into the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Kinesiology program is by vote of the departmental Graduate Research Degrees (GRD) committee. The GRD committee is responsible for final determination of a graduate application for entry to the Ph.D. (Kinesiology) program. Final acceptance into the program remains pending until an official written notification of acceptance is received by the student from the Chair of the Department of Health and Human Performance.
Admittance to the program will be based on a series of criteria that includes:
- Undergraduate Grade Point Average (GPA): Most admitted students have a GPA above 3.5.
- Graduate Record Exam (GRE): Most admitted students score above the 60th percentile on the Quantitative and Verbal Reasoning sections and at least 3.5 on the Analytical Writing section.
- Letter of Research Interests with Statement of Professional Goals
- Writing Sample (Examples: thesis, journal articles, professional reports, etc.)
- Standardized Writing Exercise (Details available from the Graduate Advisor)
- Personal Interview with a potential faculty advisor (Note: when possible, this should be an in-person interview; when travel distance is a concern, this may be a telephone or teleconference interview.)
All decisions concerning admissions to the PhD (Kinesiology) program are made by the GRD committee in the department and are arrived at on a competitive applicant pool basis.
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