Below are frequently asked questions regarding the Ph.D. credit hour reduction, approved by the Wayne State Board of Governors at their October 2024 meeting.

Is fall 2025 the hard deadline for implementing a credit hour reduction or can we wait until later to submit a proposal to reduce our credit hour requirements?

You can propose changes in your program requirements anytime after F2025 using the normal program revision process (submission through CourseLeaf). There is no rush unless the program wants this to take effect W2025.

We reduced our dissertation credit hour requirements for winter 2025, but also want to reduce the didactic (non-dissertation) credit hour requirement. What is the deadline for submitting a program revision proposal to implement the change for fall 2025?

There are several deadlines to consider. If you want the changes to appear in the 2025 Bulletin, you need to have your proposal approved by the Graduate School by February 14, 2025. It may take a week for the Graduate School to review a new proposal, so you should submit the proposal for program revision through CourseLeaf by the first week in February.   

If you can’t meet the Bulletin deadline, you can still submit a proposal and have the changes take effect for the fall 2025 term, but they will not appear in the Bulletin until the 2026 addition.

We did not request a reduction in winter 2025 dissertation credit hour requirements but would like to do it for the fall of 2025. Can we still do this, and what is the deadline for submitting a program revision?

This is fine although you will need to submit a request through the normal program revision process (submission through CourseLeaf) system.  If you also want to make changes to your curriculum you can do this with a single proposal detailing both the dissertation credit hour changes and the curricular changes.

There are several deadlines to consider. If you want the changes to appear in the 2025 Bulletin, you need to have your proposal approved by the graduate school by February 14, 2025.  It may take a week for the graduate school to review a new proposal, so you should submit the proposal for program revision through CourseLeaf by the first week in February.  

If you can’t meet the Bulletin deadline you can still submit a proposal and have the changes take effect for the Fall 2025 term, but they will not appear in the Bulletin until the 2026 addition.

We are not familiar with the CourseLeaf system. Can we get some help on how to submit a program revision proposal? How do we access the system and what kinds of information do we need to enter?

We have prepared a step-by-step set of instructions on how to access your program in CourseLeaf and modify the relevant sections on what sections. In addition, the Graduate School will hold an online training workshop for those who are interested. This is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Wednesday, December 4, 2024 on Teams. A calendar invite will be sent to graduate directors and the session will be recorded for those who cannot attend.

What is the approval process for program revisions?

The program changes made in response to the reduced credit hour requirements are revisions to existing programs. They need to be reviewed and approved by the New Programs Committee (NPPR) of the Graduate Council, the Dean of the Graduate School, and the Provost. Review and approval by the full Graduate Council and the Board of Governors is not required. For the credit hour reduction proposals, an expedited review process by the NPPR and the Graduate School will be used.

What is the deadline for submitting a program revision proposal so that the changes will appear in the 2025/2026 Bulletin?

There are several deadlines to consider. If you want the changes to appear in the 2025 Bulletin, you need to have your proposal approved by the Graduate School by February 14, 2025.  It may take a week for the Graduate School to review a new proposal, so you should submit the proposal for program revision through CourseLeaf by the first week in February.  

If you can’t meet the Bulletin deadline you can still submit a proposal and have the changes take effect for the fall 2025 term, but they will not appear in the Bulletin until the 2026 edition.

FAQs related to student issues

What are the ramifications of the reduced 9991/9992 credit hours on "full-time" status?

We are making the new 9991 and 9992 courses ‘full-time by default,’ so a student registering for any number of dissertation credits will be classified as full-time. This is similar to how 9995 (maintenance) currently works.

Will the Ph.D. students already in the program benefit from this credit hour reduction? Specifically, my student started last year, but has not taken any 999x credits yet.

Yes, if your program opts into the lower dissertation credit minimum and a current student wishes to take advantage of that change, they can do so. This is true even if they have started the 999X sequence (in that case, they would have to complete the difference between the credits completed and the new minimum).

How do we handle students who have completed 7.5, 15, or 22.5 dissertation credits?

Presuming the student is fine with adapting to the new requirements they would only need to register for the amount necessary to reach 18, or, if they have taken dissertation credits beyond 18 already that would leave the student registering for 9995 W2025.

For students who have already submitted a Plan of Work with the 90-credit curriculum, will they need to submit a new POW?

No updates to existing Plans of Work will be required for programs changing only the number of required dissertation research credits for their degree. However, students in any program that makes any changes outside of required dissertation credits will have to file a new Plan of Work the same semester those changes become official if they wish to take advantage of the changed requirements (continuing students that wish to follow the requirements in place when they first filed their Plan of Work need not make any changes).

Will the 6-credit minimum for GTAs still apply under the new system when students get to 9991 and 9992? For example, if we required 20 dissertation credits total for Ph.D. students, could they spread that out evenly over 4 semesters with 9991 and 9992, or would taking only 5 credits per semester disqualify them from a GTA-ship?

We have not discussed dropping the full-time requirement for GTAs. However, 9991 and 9992 will count as full-time registration at any credit amount, so the four-semester sequence would be possible under GTA funding. Unless your school/college objects to having a student funded on a GTA while they are post-requirements, it would also be possible, as an alternative to the 5-5-5-5 system to spread the 999X credits across two normative semesters (9 each if you go with 18) and to fund a student up to two semesters on 0 zero credits of 9995 (since zero credits of 9995 also counts as full-time). That will allow a student to be funded across four semesters of dissertation registration if needed but also allow the possibility for the student to finish early if they don't need to take four semesters (since all credits would be earned in two semesters).