Three semesters of full-time work at UH Manoa or its equivalent in credits fulfills the doctoral program residency requirement. These three semesters may consist of fall semesters, spring semesters, summer sessions, or any combination thereof. Please note that in some areas required coursework may be spread out over a four semester sequence. Students are therefore advised to find out which courses these are and take them when offered.

Up to two semesters of residency earned during a UHM master’s degree may be credited toward doctoral residency requirements if doctoral work continues in the same field. For part-time classified graduate students, completion of 8 credits of required coursework serves as the equivalent to one full-time semester.

Students must earn a minimum grade of B- in music courses that count toward the PhD. This rule applies to students entering in Fall 2016 and after.

Required of all PhD students

*659 is ideally taught/supervised by a faculty member in the student’s area of concentration.

The Seminar in College Music Teaching is usually followed by or is concurrent with supervised college teaching experience in the area of concentration.

Required of Ph.D. Students not Concentrating in Ethnomusicology

NOTE: The number of credits may be adjusted by the advisory committee, basing its determination on previous ethnomusicology courses taken. Refer to the ethnomusicology courses in the list of graduate music courses.

For doctoral students in Composition, Ethnomusicology and Musicology, as well as Music Education doctoral students interested in comparative music education, proficiency in one or more foreign languages is required of student whose native language is English. This requirement can be met in one of three ways:

1. Foreign Language 202 or its equivalent (at the intermediate level of study) in which the student receives a grade of B or higher.
2. A reading proficiency examination administered by the appropriate university department.
3. Native speakers of a language other than English will be considered to have fulfilled the foreign language requirement, if their native language is relevant to their thesis research.

At the doctoral level both Ethnomusicology and Musicology require two foreign languages, Composition one foreign language, and Music Education one foreign language when it is relevant to the intended dissertation topic.

Area specific foreign language requirements:

• Composition: One dissertation research language.
• Ethnomusicology: One dissertation research language and one library research language.
• Music Education: Language appropriate to the area of research or research statistics.
• Musicology: Two European languages: German and one other language, preferably French.

All requirements must be completed within seven years after admission in the doctoral program.

Preparing for Final Doctoral Defense

Students should communicate with their committee members 4 months before their projected semester of defense regarding the date they intend to distribute the dissertation and the approximate date of defense.

The student, Chair, University Representative, and a majority of the committee members (as approved on Student Progress Form II) must be physically present at the defense. If a regular member of the committee cannot be physically present, a written request must be sent to the Graduate Chair with as much advance notice as possible, and not later than two weeks prior to the defense date.

It is strongly recommended that the student plan to defend with all committee members present. Under extenuating circumstances, the student’s Committee Chair must petition the Graduate Chair at least six weeks in advance of defense to allow one of the following to participate in the defense remotely: the student, or the Chair. The student should request his/her Committee Chair to write a memo to the Graduate Chair that explains the extenuating circumstances.

If the Committee Chair is requesting remote participation, a written request shall be sent to the Department chair and Graduate Chair. If the Graduate Chair is chairing a committee, and requesting remote participation, a written request shall be sent to the Department Chair and Associate Chair.

Email is an acceptable form of written notice.

A remote participation memo will be submitted by the Graduate Chair to Graduate Student Services no less than two weeks, except in cases of emergency, prior to the date of the defense (with the calendar announcement of the defense). The names of all members with notations next to who is participating remotely and their role (e.g., chair, member, and/or student) will be included. In cases of emergency, the form should still be submitted prior to the defense.

Remote participation must include the following, which must be organized and ensured by the committee chair.

Logistics for Remote Defense Participation

1. All materials, including any visual aids, have been distributed in advance to the remote committee participants no later than 48-hours prior to the scheduled defense;
2. The remote participants must be able to see and hear any presentation being made and any discussions as appropriate;
3. The candidate and the Committee Chair must be visually present throughout, and all committee members must be able to participate in audio conversations;
4. All remote participants must participate in the entire course of the meeting.

Other options for doctoral committees with traveling or physically absent members appear on the Graduate Division website.