Course
Requirements
The
doctor of philosophy in public affairs/community development curriculum
consists of the following courses totaling 63 credits:
Core
curriculum required courses (33 credits)
(i)
Theory Courses (9 credits):
·
824:701 Theory and History of Community
Development (3)
·
824:710 Planning, Markets, and Community
Development (3)
·
824:711 The Politics of Community Development
(3) (formerly Civic Engagement, Nonprofits, and Community Development) OR 824:744 Alternative Development Strategies for Distressed Cities (3)
(ii)
Methods Courses (15 credits):
824:703 Logic of Social Inquiry (3)
824:702 Quantitative Methods I (3)
824:709 Quantitative Methods II (3)
824:713 Research Design (3)
one methods elective (3)
Students
may request exemption from one or more methods classes based on documented
prior coursework. An exemption exam may
be given.
(iii) Content courses (9 credits)
834:556 International
Negotiations (3)
824:705 Regional and Economic Development (3)
824:706 Practicum in Community Development (3)
The Ph.D. program director must approve any exemptions or
substitutions from required courses. Requests should be submitted in writing
and approvals must be contemporaneously documented in the student's file in the
program office.
Elective
Courses (18 credits)
(i)
Two courses from the School of Law-Camden
(ii) One course from
the School of Business–Camden
(iii) Three courses from the Department of Public Policy and Administration, or other graduate school at Rutgers–Camden or Rutgers–New Brunswick with the approval of the Ph.D. program director.
Comprehensive
Exams
Students must
successfully complete two comprehensive exams, which serve to integrate and
consolidate the material from the core curriculum. The exams will normally be given in the fall
semester in a student's third year, although exceptions may be approved by the Ph.D. program director. There are two separate
exams: 1) research methods and 2) community development theory and
practice.
Upon successful passage of the comprehensive examinations,
students are promoted to doctoral candidacy. It is at this stage that the student may begin to take dissertation
hours with the chair of his or her committee.
Dissertation (15 credits)
Students are expected to form a dissertation committee as
soon as possible after passing the comprehensive exams. The committee consists of not less than three
and not more than five faculty members. The
chair must be a tenured member of the Department of Public Policy and
Administration. Students may have a full-time
faculty member from the law school, the business school, or another
Rutgers–Camden department serve on their committees. One
member may be from outside the university, either from another university,
government agency, or nonprofit organization. Adjunct members may serve on a committee, but may not chair a committee,
per the Graduate School–Camden bylaws. Exceptions to these requirements need to be approved in
writing by the Ph.D. program director.
The dissertation proposal defines the student's doctoral
project. It should contain the student's
rationale
for conducting the research, research hypotheses,
a preliminary literature review, a proposed research design, and work plan.
A proposal that has been passed, with revisions or not,
forms a contract between the student and the program. If the student competently carries out the
research outlined in the proposal and presents the results of such research
according to professional standards, then the student will have passed the
dissertation requirement whether or not the student's original research
hypothesis is confirmed.
