Program Overview

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Kinesiology, PhD

The Department of Kinesiology offers programs leading to the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Kinesiology with areas of study in exercise science and sport pedagogy.

Admissions

Admission to the Ph.D. program is competitive and based on prior academic achievement, graduate record examination (GRE) scores, recommendations, and research interests. In addition to the minimum Graduate School admission requirements, to be considered for regular admission an application must include:

• a graduate degree or PGCE (sport pedagogy only) from an accredited institution
• a GRE score
• 3.0 GPA for a completed graduate degree program.

Preference is given to students who have strong backgrounds in the Life Sciences (for the exercise science focused area of study), teaching (for the sport pedagogy focused area of study), or related fields, meet the minimum requirements stated above, and have research interests compatible with at least one of the Kinesiology faculty members.

Curricular Requirements

The Ph.D. degree requires a minimum of 66 hours beyond the master’s degree. This program includes:

1. 24-hour kinesiology (i.e., exercise science or sport pedagogy) core
2. 12-hour competency in research and statistics
3. 12 hours of foundation courses to support the major (must be taken outside of the department)
4. 18 hours of dissertation.

Advising

All doctoral students will be advised by a major professor with whom they will have been aligned as part of the admissions process. In the event a doctoral student is granted admission without a research mentor/major professor, they will be assigned an interim advisor upon admission to the PhD program. The advisor will assist the student in the evaluation of previous work, selection of coursework, and research oversight.

Coursework Focusing on Exercise Science

• Major Field Coursework:
  • KIN 592: Physiology of Exercise (3 hours)
  • KIN 651: Systems Physiology I (3 hours)
  • KIN 652: Systems Physiology II (3 hours)
  • KIN 670: Exercise Biochemistry (3 hours)
  • Additional KIN coursework (Students may select from the following courses.) (12 hours)
    • KIN 506: Techniques of Research
    • KIN 507: Lab Techniques in Kinesiology
    • KIN 566: Evaluation in Kinesiology
    • KIN 593: Adv Fit Test Ex Prescript
    • KIN 596: Independent Study
    • KIN 602: Readings in Kinesiology
    • KIN 603: Special Proj Kinesiology
    • KIN 685: Field & Lab Experience
    • KIN 690: Exercise Health Disease
    • KIN 692: Sem Exercise Physiology
    • KIN 698: Non-Dissertn Research
• Research/Statistics (12 hours)
  • Students may select from the following courses:
    • BER 639: Applied Regression Analysis
    • BER 640: Adv Statistical Methods in Ed
    • BER 642: Advanced Regression Methods
    • BER 643: Multivariate Statistics
    • BER 645: Advanced Experimental Design
    • BER 646: Structural Equation Modl
    • BER 648: Advanced SEM
    • ST 540: Stat Prog & Comp with R
    • ST 550: Stat Methods In Res I
    • ST 552: Applied Regression Analy
    • ST 553: Appld Multivariate Analy
    • ST 560: Statistical Methods
    • ST 561: Applied Design Expermnts
    • ST 635: Nonparametric Statistics
    • POPH 522: Biostatistics
    • PY 602: Advanced Statistics I
    • PY 603: Advanced Statistics II
• Foundations Area Coursework (12 hours)
  • Courses may include but are not limited to the following examples:
    • CHS 550: Intro to Fundamentals of Med I (6 hours)
    • CHS 551: Intro to Fundamentals Med II (6 hours)
    • BSC 524: Human Physiology
    • BSC 535: Immunology
    • BSC 549: Endocrinology
    • BSC 550: Fundamentals of Biochemistry
    • NHM 557: Childhood Obesity
    • NHM 558: Nutr Prev Trtmt Chron Disease
    • NHM 561: Adv. Vitamins and Minerals
    • NHM 562: Metabolism of Energy Nutrients
    • NHM 568: Nutrition for the Older Adult
    • POPH 523: Basic Epidemiology
    • PY 658: Psychopathology
    • RCH 500: Rural Envir/Occup Health
• Dissertation Research (18 hours)
  • KIN 699: Dissertation Research

Coursework Focusing on Sport Pedagogy

• Major Field Courses (24 hours)
  • KIN 512: PE Curriculum (3 hours)
  • KIN 538: Adv Adapted Phys Ed. (3 hours)
  • KIN 604: Sem in Physical Education (3 hours)
  • KIN 612: Res Phys Ed Teach Education (3 hours)
  • KIN 622: Analy Res Teach Phys Ed (3 hours)
  • KIN 632: System Oberv Phys Educ (3 hours)
  • KIN 642: Instrct Design PE High Ed (3 hours)
  • KIN 691: Res Sociology Human Perf (3 hours)
• Research/Statistics (12 hours)
  • BER 640: Adv Statistical Methods in Ed (3 hours)
  • Choose one research grouping below for 9 hours:
    • Qualitative option: BER 631, BER 632, and BER 633
    • Quantitative option: BER 645, BER 643, and BER 642
    • Combination option: BER 631, BER 645, and BER 643
• Major Area Foundations (12 hours)
• Dissertation Research (18 hours)
  • KIN 699: Dissertation Research

Transfer Credit

A maximum of 6 hours of graduate credit earned in the field of the doctoral degree from a regionally accredited institution in which the student was enrolled in the graduate school of that university may be considered for transfer and applied towards the requirements for a doctoral degree in Kinesiology under the following conditions:

• The credit hours must have been completed prior to the student enrolling in the doctoral program at The University of Alabama.
• The credit hours must not have been taken in order to satisfy the requirements for degrees the student has earned previously.

Doctoral Plan of Study Requirements

The sequence of steps for a doctoral student from admission to graduation is:

1. Satisfaction of admission requirements
2. Formation of doctoral program of study
3. Completion of coursework
4. Completion of major comprehensive exams
5. Admission to candidacy
6. Formation of doctoral dissertation committee
7. Proposal of doctoral dissertation
8. Oral defense of the dissertation
9. Submission of final copies of the dissertation

Comprehensive Exam

Dates for and Registering to Take Comprehensive Exams

• Doctoral degree comprehensive examinations for students will be offered at any time of the academic year in conjunction with the student’s dissertation chair (or academic advisor in the event a dissertation chair has not yet been designated, hereafter referred to as “major professor”) and following the policies provided in the university’s Graduate Catalog.
• Only eligible students may take their comprehensive examination, eligibility being dictated by policies provided in the university’s Graduate Catalog.
• Students wishing to take their comprehensive examinations must inform their major professor—who will be responsible for scheduling, organizing, and proctoring the comprehensive examination—at least four weeks prior to their desired examination date.
• Any necessary retakes of the doctoral comprehensive examination will take place when the major professor deems the student ready.

Doctoral Degree Comprehensive Examination Format and Content

• The faculty member organizing the comprehensive examination will solicit at least 8 questions from program faculty.
  • Exercise Science only : Questions will be solicited from at least 3 and no more than 5 exercise science faculty.
• The doctoral degree comprehensive examination will consist of morning and/or afternoon sessions to be completed over the course of 1 work week (Monday – Friday).
• During each session, students answer relatively broad questions and are expected to draw on coursework, coursework reading, and work and reading done outside of coursework.
• Questions asked may not be tied to specific courses.
• The faculty member responsible for scheduling and organizing the doctoral degree comprehensive examination may provide examples of past questions for students studying for the examination.
• Students will complete the examination by typing within a word processing program on a computer.
• Personal technology including phones, tablets, personal laptop computers, and portable drives will not be permitted in the examination room.
• Each examination session will be monitored as needed by the faculty member overseeing the examination process.
• On completion of the examination, the faculty member responsible for its scheduling and organization will distribute students’ answers to the faculty who composed individual questions for evaluation, collect all evaluated answers, and inform each student of his or her result (pass or fail).
• Students failing the comprehensive examination will be required to rewrite individual questions on which they received a score of 1.

Admission to Candidacy Requirements

A student is admitted to candidacy after passing the comprehensive exam.

Continuous Doctoral Research Hours Registration

Students must register for continuous doctoral research hours.

Dissertation Requirements

Dates for and Registering to Complete the Dissertation

• Students wishing to complete a dissertation will register for KIN 699 Dissertation Research.
• The student will work with the research advisor to formulate a committee of 5 faculty members, one of whom must be from outside the Department of Kinesiology.
• The dissertation proposal meeting will be scheduled by the student at any time of the academic year in conjunction with the dissertation chair and committee and following the policies provided in the university’s graduate catalog.

Dissertation Proposal

• The student will provide a copy of the final dissertation proposal to the dissertation chair and committee prior to the proposal meeting in conjunction with the policies provided in the university’s graduate catalog.
• The student will then make a formal presentation of the proposed dissertation research.
• Faculty will then question the student and provide feedback about the presentation and/or written document and content related to the proposed research.

Dissertation Defense

• The dissertation defense will be scheduled by the student at any time of the academic year in conjunction with the dissertation chair and committee and following the policies provided in the university’s graduate catalog.
• The student will provide a copy of the final dissertation to the dissertation chair and committee prior to the defense in conjunction with the policies provided in the university’s graduate catalog.
• The chair of the student’s dissertation committee will announce the date, time, and place of the dissertation defense to members of the department and College of Education at least one week in advance of the defense.
• The defense will begin with a formal presentation of the dissertation research made by the student.
• Faculty will then question the student about the presentation and/or written document and content related to the dissertation research.
• Other interested parties attending the dissertation defense will also be given an opportunity to question the student about the dissertation research.
• Once the dissertation chair and committee have completed their questioning of the student, the student and all other parties, with the exception of the chair and the committee, will retire from the room in which the defense is being held.
• Faculty will then deliberate as to the standard of the dissertation defense and score it using a rubric.
• Students failing the dissertation defense will be permitted only one further attempt to defend their dissertation and may be required to take additional coursework.

Time Limit for Degree Completion

The time limit for degree completion is specified by the Graduate School.

Student Progress Requirements

The sequence of steps for a doctoral student from admission to graduation is:

1. Satisfaction of admission requirements
2. Formation of doctoral program of study
3. Completion of coursework
4. Completion of major comprehensive exams
5. Admission to candidacy
6. Formation of doctoral dissertation committee
7. Proposal of doctoral dissertation
8. Oral defense of the dissertation
9. Submission of final copies of the dissertation

Academic Misconduct Information

Academic misconduct is taken seriously and is addressed according to the Graduate School’s policies.

Withdrawals and Leave of Absence Information

Withdrawals and leave of absence are addressed according to the Graduate School’s policies.

Academic Grievances Information

Academic grievances are addressed according to the Graduate School’s policies.

Grades and Academic Standing

Grades and academic standing are addressed according to the Graduate School’s policies.

Graduate School Deadlines

Graduate School deadlines are specified by the Graduate School.

Application for Graduation

The application for graduation is specified by the Graduate School.

Financial Assistance

A limited number of graduate assistantships are available each year. These assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis. Graduate assistants may be asked to assist with teaching, research, and/or the outreach mission of the academic unit.