Graduate Student Handbook for Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology (2025-2026)

Section 3: Required Research and Exams

Department of PsychologyPhD in Clinical PsychologyGraduate Student Handbook (Clinical Psychology)Handbook, Clinical Psychology (2025-2026)Required Research and Exams (2025-2026)

Filing Your Program Paperwork

Students obtain the following forms from the Graduate School webpage with the exceptions of numbers 2, 3, 6, and 8. The Graduate School webpage will note the specific deadlines each semester for the completion of the scheduling forms for the final defense of the master’s thesis, the preliminary examination, and the doctoral dissertation. Students should consult the webpage of the Graduate School for these deadlines (gradschool.wsu.edu).

All forms should be turned into the Graduate Program Coordinator who will review and approve before obtaining the signature from the DCT. Note that the DCT signs all of the following Graduate School forms related to clinical psychology doctoral students (i.e., on the signature line for chair/director). The DCT signs only after the Graduate Program Coordinator’s review. You do not need to obtain the DCT’s or the Department Chair’s signatures. All of the Graduate School Forms may be found at Graduate School forms website.

Program of Study for Master’s Degree (Graduate School Form; see Graduate School website) needs to be completed during the second semester in the program.

  1. Thesis Prospectus (Departmental Form; Appendix D; see departmental SharePoint website)
    • This form is completed by the student to submit their thesis project idea to the predetermined committee for approval before pursuing the thesis proposal. An example of the Thesis Prospectus is found in Appendix D. However, students should download the editable Word document form directly from SharePoint (Graduate Student Resources: General)
  2. Thesis Proposal (T1) Approval Form (Departmental Form; Appendix E; see departmental SharePoint website).
    • The student provides this form to their committee for completion after the successful completion of the thesis proposal. The student files the form with the Graduate Program Coordinator within 5 business days. An example of the Thesis Proposal (T1) Approval Form is found in Appendix E. However, students should download the form directly from SharePoint (Graduate Student Resources : General).
  3. Scheduling Exam Form: Thesis Final Examination (Graduate School Form; see Graduate School forms website)
    • This graduate school form needs to be completed and filed with the Graduate Program Coordinator at least 12 working days prior to the final defense of the master’s thesis.
  4. Program of Study for Doctoral Degree (Graduate School Form; see Graduate School forms website).
    • This form is completed after the completion of the master’s degree and 4 months prior to preliminary exam date.
  5. Preliminary Exam Proposal (P1) Approval Form (Departmental Form; Appendix F; General)
    • The student provides this form to their committee for completion after receiving approval from the committee to pursue their Prelim project. The student files the form with the Graduate Program Coordinator within 5 business days. An example of the Preliminary Exam Proposal (P1) Approval Form is found in Appendix F. However, students should download the form directly from SharePoint (General).
  6. Scheduling Exam Form: Preliminary Examination (Graduate School Form; see Graduate School forms website)
    • This form is completed after the filing of the “Program for Doctoral Degree” form. It must be filed with the Graduate Program Coordinator at least 12 working days prior to the exam date and a minimum of 4 months after your Program of Study for Doctoral Degree form and a minimum of 4 months prior to your final defense.
  7. Dissertation Proposal (D1) Approval Form (Departmental Form; Appendix G; see departmental SharePoint website General)
    • The student provides this form to their committee for completion after the successful completion of the dissertation proposal. The student files the form with the Graduate Program Coordinator within 5 business days. An example of Dissertation Proposal (D1) Approval Form is found in Appendix G. However, students should download the form directly from SharePoint (Graduate Student Resources SharePoint webpage General).
  8. Scheduling Exam Form: Dissertation Final Examination (Graduate School Form; see Graduate School forms website)
    • This graduate school form needs to be completed prior to the final defense of the dissertation. It must be filed with the Graduate Program Coordinator at least 12 working days prior to the exam date and a minimum of 4 months after your preliminary exam. The final Ph.D. exam must be scheduled within 3 years of successfully completing the preliminary exam.

Graduate School Resources

Master’s Degree

All students are expected to obtain an MS degree en route to the PhD, unless they come with an acceptable master’s degree (including approved empirical thesis) from another institution. The MS degree program (thesis option) must consist of not less than 30 hours of approved graduate credit, including a minimum of 21 hours of graded coursework (our students typically have well above this minimum) and 4 hours of PSYCH 700 Master’s Research. It also requires the completion of two semesters of practicum at both the University Counseling and Psychological Services (PSYCH 546) and the WSU Psychology Clinic (assessment practicum; PSYCH 545).

The master’s thesis should be a report of an original piece of empirical research performed by the student. Although the demands for comprehensiveness of treatment, scope, and impact on the field are less than in the dissertation, the research should be original and of publishable quality. Every effort should be made by the student and their chairperson to publish the work. Typically, it is a better strategy in the planning and execution of master’s research to address a single question in an elegant and clear manner than to attempt to answer several questions in an unclear and inconclusive manner. The usual emphasis should be on simplicity and elegance rather than on comprehensiveness.

Most decisions regarding format, length, and organization are up to the master’s committee. The thesis document should be written in the style described in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

Master’s Thesis

During the first year of residence, the student selects a faculty member to chair their master’s committee and direct the master’s thesis. The chairperson must be a member of the Department of Psychology faculty. Typically, the chairperson is the major professor identified at the time of admission.

The master’s committee consists of a minimum of three faculty members, including the chairperson, with committee members selected from the Psychology Faculty and other approved committee members (exceptions must be approved by the Clinical Faculty and the Department Chair, with final approval from the Dean of the Graduate School). During the Spring semester of their first year, students complete a brief Thesis Prospectus (see Appendix D), which must be approved by the committee members and DCT before completing the thesis proposal.

After the chair has approved the student’s thesis proposal, the student gives the other committee members a copy of the proposal. After the committee members have had an appropriate amount of time to read the proposal (i.e., at least 10 working days), the student then schedules a thesis proposal meeting (T1 meeting). With the approval of the master’s thesis proposal by the committee, the members of the committee then sign the Thesis Proposal (T1) Approval Form (Appendix E) General. This form is turned into the Graduate Program Coordinator within 5 days of the T1 meeting and placed in the student’s file.

With the successful completion of the thesis proposal and approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) when applicable, the student then begins the data collection process. Students do not begin the collection of thesis or dissertation data until their proposal has been approved by all of their committee members as well as the IRB. Students planning to use archival data should consult with their committee chairperson about the appropriate procedure for informing their committee.

Important: Human subjects data collection may not begin until the approval form has been received from the IRB.

After the research and thesis document are completed, an oral examination is conducted (the T2 meeting). Students must post an announcement of the T2 meeting along with an electronic copy of the thesis on the program listserv at least one week prior to the meeting. All Department of Psychology members are welcome to attend. All final examinations are public, and all faculty members, regardless of discipline, are encouraged to attend those of interest to them. Although any member of the public at large, including students, may attend final examinations, they may only be present during the initial student presentation. They may not be present for the questioning and committee deliberation portions of the meeting, for which only faculty are permitted to attend. It is expected that the student will complete the T2 by the end of the second year of residence.

An electronic copy (PDF) of the master’s thesis document must be sent to the Graduate Program Coordinator of the Department of Psychology at least 1 week before the oral examination. An electronic copy (PDF) of the final version of the thesis must be given to the Department of Psychology to be made available on the department SharePoint site.

The student should consult the “Policies and Procedures” of the Graduate School for university requirements. Given specific requirements change periodically, the student should contact the Graduate School for information about program, examination, and graduation forms to be filed and deadlines for each. All students must apply for graduation in the semester in which they will take their final exam. Currently, the forms to schedule the thesis final examination must be turned into the Graduate School a minimum of ten business days prior to the defense. This is why the department requires them to be turned into the Graduate Program Coordinator 12 business days prior to the scheduled defense date. The final T2 document should be provided to the committee prior to the time the scheduling form is signed, with ample time to review.

Doctoral Degree

The PhD Program of Study must include at least 72 credit hours of course work and research, including a minimum of 34 hours of graded course work. In addition, a preliminary examination and dissertation are required. Preliminary examinations typically occur during the fourth year. The prelim committee and the dissertation committee do not have to be the same, but if you have a different committee for your dissertation, you will need to complete and file a Committee Change Form with the department, who will then send to the Graduate School (available at Graduate School forms).

Preliminary Examination

Students will usually take their preliminary examination during their fourth year. Because the knowledge domains of clinical psychology are constantly changing, it is important that students demonstrate their ability to master particular areas of clinical psychology in an independent manner that goes beyond the knowledge taught in the clinical courses. This goal represents one way that the program attempts to meet the objectives of the American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation’s Standards of Accreditation.

The prelim portfolio meets the requirements of the preliminary exam for the Clinical Program. The Prelim Portfolio includes the following components (six written portions and one oral exam).

Note that for Components 1 through 3 specifically:

  • All work products must have been from work conducted since initiating the doctoral program at WSU.
  • If there are various options from which to choose, students should select work products that show the most cohesive snapshot of their research program. However, it is acceptable for the work products of each of these components to be diverse from one another in content as long as they meet the other criteria for each given component.

Preliminary Portfolio Components

Component 1: First-authored Professional Conference Presentation or Mentor-Approved First-Authored Publication
If fulfilling this component with a first-authored conference presentation:
  • This component requires acceptance and presentation at a conference.
  • The conference can be regional, national, or international but should require a submission review process (i.e., the student must have the work formally accepted at the conference).
  • The student must be the first author on the presentation used to fulfill this requirement.
  • The presentation may have any number of additional co-authors, including other students.
  • The student must be the presenter at the conference for the presentation used to fulfill this requirement.
  • The presentation can be a talk or a poster.
  • The presentation must be based on original empirical research but can be conducted using a preexisting data set.
  • The Prelim Portfolio must include the submitted abstract and the presented poster (smaller reprint) or presentation slides (if a talk) and evidence of acceptance.
  • Depending on timing of the conference relative to the preliminary exam, it is acceptable to include a future presentation in the Prelim Portfolio provided that it has been accepted.
If fulfilling this component with the first-authored publication
  • Before selecting this option, the student should get approval from their major professor that this option is consistent with their academic and career goals (i.e., if the major professor believes that it is essential for a student to present at a conference, they can require the conference presentation option).
  • The paper must have been accepted for publication–it is not sufficient to have submitted the paper.
  • The student must be the first author on the paper used to fulfill this requirement.
  • The paper may have any number of additional co-authors, including other students.
  • The Prelim Portfolio must include a copy of the manuscript along with confirmation of acceptance, or a copy of the preprint/reprint.
  • The committee must agree that the publication involves sufficient effort and value to meet this component (e.g., a brief encyclopedia entry would likely not be approved).
Component 2: First-Authored Manuscript of an Empirical Study
  • This component requires submission of a manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal. However, it does not require acceptance of the manuscript for publication.
  • The journal must conduct a peer review; the journal cannot require a fee for review or publication (i.e., no “pay journals”).
  • The student must be the first author on the manuscript used to fulfill this requirement.
  • The manuscript may have any number of additional co-authors, including other students.
  • The manuscript must describe the results of an original empirical research study but can be conducted using a preexisting data set.
  • It is acceptable for the manuscript to be the product of the student’s master’s thesis.
  • The Prelim Portfolio must include the manuscript as well as confirmation of submission or acceptance (e.g., journal-created PDF, email).
  • The student should submit the manuscript in the most finalized format available at the time that the Prelim Portfolio is submitted to the committee (submission manuscript, page proofs, in press online version, or final printed article).
Component 3: Additional Co-Authored Manuscript or F31 Grant Application
If fulfilling Component 3, with a co-authored manuscript:
  • This component requires submission of a manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal. However, it does not require acceptance of the manuscript for publication.
  • The journal must conduct a peer review; the journal cannot require a fee for review or publication (i.e., no “pay journals”).
  • The student can be a co-author in any position on the manuscript, including first author.
  • The manuscript may have any number of additional co-authors, including other students.
  • The student must describe their contribution as a co-author (i.e., include an Author Contribution Statement that specifically details what they did for the study and manuscript). It must be apparent to the committee that the student’s contribution was substantial enough for consideration in the Prelim Portfolio.
  • Two or more students may use the same manuscript for their respective portfolios (e.g., Student 1’s first authored manuscript may be Student 2’s co- authored manuscript; Student 1 and Student 2 may submit the same co- authored manuscript with another person as first author). However, it must be clear that each student made a substantial contribution to the given manuscript. This manuscript choice should be carefully vetted by the committee chair with feedback from the doctoral committee.
  • The manuscript can describe the results of an original empirical research study (but can be conducted using a preexisting data set) or can be a conceptual article, a review article, or a book chapter.
  • The Prelim Portfolio must include the manuscript as well as confirmation of submission or acceptance (e.g., journal-created PDF, email).
  • The student should submit the manuscript in the most finalized format available at the time that the Prelim Portfolio is submitted to the committee (submission manuscript, page proofs, in press online version, or final printed article).
If fulfilling Component 3, with an F31 Grant Application:
  • This component can be met by the student submitting an extramural funding proposal (i.e., grant application).
  • The prototypical graduate student grant application is the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards for Individual Predoctoral Fellows (F31), and this mechanism meets the requirements for Component 3 of the Prelim Portfolio.
  • These applications are formatted similarly to faculty grant awards and require sections in which existing scientific literature is reviewed.
  • Most other student funding mechanisms, such as the Graduate Council Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation, though encouraged, are too limited in scope to meet requirements of the Prelim Portfolio.
  • Students who wish to consider applying for a fellowship from some other agency and to use that application for the Prelim Portfolio Component 3, must receive clearance from the doctoral committee in advance.
Component 4: Research Executive Summary
  • The Prelim Portfolio must include a research executive summary (of no more than two typed written pages; single-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins) that overviews the student’s research program (which should focus on the work submitted for components 1 through 3 but can also address other work more broadly) and that integrates and summarizes key points.
Component 5: Curriculum Vita
  • The Prelim Portfolio must include an updated CV, which will provide information about the student’s full training context and accomplishments (research and clinical).
Component 6: Clinical Case Conference Overview
  • Students will complete the program’s required clinical case conference (on a therapy or assessment case) during their third or fourth year in the program unless they have negotiated a different timeline in progressing through the program.
  • The clinical case conference requirement is its own doctoral program milestone that is distinct from the preliminary examination; expectations for the clinical case conference are outlined elsewhere in the handbook.
  • At the time of the clinical case conference, all attending faculty will complete the Clinical Case Conference Evaluation Form, the results of which will be summarized (both quantitative and qualitative feedback) and provided to the student.
  • The Prelim Portfolio must include the clinical case conference evaluation summary and the clinical case conference presentation slides.
  • If the student fails the clinical case conference, a second one will be completed, consistent with the guidelines for the clinical case conference milestone. In that circumstance, the student should include only the most recent clinical case conference evaluation summary and case conference presentation slides in the Prelim Portfolio.
  • Note that the clinical case conference presentation itself is not directly part of the preliminary examination process. Rather, the doctoral committee’s review of the written evaluation summary and the written presentation slides are part of the preliminary exam process.

Important: The written portions of the Prelim Portfolio should be provided to the committee prior to the time the scheduling form is signed, with ample time to review.

Component 7: Oral Examination
  • Students will be required to provide an oral presentation and answer questions from the doctoral committee (oral exam) about the Prelim Portfolio, which will serve as the preliminary examination meeting (P2).
  • The doctoral committee should have approximately one week to review the Prelim Portfolio before signing the preliminary examination (P2) scheduling form. The doctoral committee will then have the additional 12 working days after the scheduling form is submitted to fully review the Prelim Portfolio and prepare questions.
    • The doctoral committee will complete the preliminary exam evaluation form when reviewing the Prelim Portfolio.
  • During the oral preliminary examination meeting students will present a brief presentation that overviews the Prelim Portfolio. Although a focus will be on the work products submitted for Components 1 through 3 (conference presentation and manuscripts), the student can discuss any research products (covered in Components 4 and 5; research executive summary and CV). Student can also discuss how their research informs their practice and vice versa, integrating Component 6 (clinical case conference overview).
  • The doctoral committee will then be able to ask questions about the presentation or any of the six written components.
  • The doctoral committee will then ballot (pass or fail) for the results of the preliminary examination based on their review of the written Prelim Portfolio and the oral examination.
    • If the student has not satisfactorily met a component of the Prelim Portfolio, the committee member can vote to fail the student on the preliminary exam ballot.
    • Per the WSU Graduate School, a minimum of three-fourths of those voting must pass the student for the student to pass the preliminary examination.
    • In the event of a failed examination, a student will be re-examined for a second and final attempt (per WSU Graduate School guidelines). They will receive summary feedback about the components that were deemed unsatisfactory and can revise those components and resubmit to the committee.

Important: Students cannot apply for internship until the preliminary exam has been passed.

Dissertation

Following successful completion of the preliminary examination, the student officially becomes a candidate for the Ph.D. degree. The dissertation must be completed within three years of passing the preliminary exam. Many of the considerations that define an appropriate dissertation and its approach, type of data, design, etc. are dictated by the nature of the problem chosen for study and cannot adequately be anticipated or delineated in a formal policy statement. However, in general, the dissertation is a scholarly, original study that represents a significant contribution to the knowledge base of psychology. It should be a major piece of research, comprehensive in scope. Generally, a dissertation should be designed with strong theoretical underpinnings, rather than being strictly exploratory.

Important: Students cannot apply for internship until the dissertation proposal has been approved.

The dissertation committee consists of a minimum of three faculty members, including the chairperson, with committee members selected from the Psychology Faculty and other approved committee members (exceptions must be approved by the Clinical Faculty and the Department Chair, with final approval from the Dean of the Graduate School). If your dissertation committee is different than your prelim committee, a change of committee form is required by the Graduate School. The dissertation must deal with a problem that lies within the doctoral committee chairperson’s direct expertise and not in an area with which they are only marginally acquainted.

After the chair has approved the student’s dissertation proposal, the student then gives the other committee members a copy of the proposal. After the committee members have had an appropriate amount of time to read the proposal (i.e., at least 10 working days), the student then schedules the dissertation proposal meeting (D1 meeting). With the approval of the doctoral dissertation proposal by the committee, the members of the committee then sign the Dissertation Proposal (D1) Approval Form (Appendix G). This form is turned into the Graduate Program Coordinator within 5 days of the D1 meeting and placed in the student’s file.

With the successful completion of the dissertation proposal and approval from the Institutional Review Board, the student then begins the data collection process. Students do not begin the collection of thesis or dissertation data until their proposal has been approved by all of their committee members and the IRB (if the study involves human subjects research). Students planning to use archival data should consult with their committee chairperson about the appropriate procedure for informing their committee.

After the research and dissertation document are completed, a final oral examination is conducted (the D2 meeting). Students must post an announcement of the D2 meeting along with an electronic copy of the dissertation on the program listserv at least one week prior to the meeting. Although any member of the public at large, including students, may attend final examinations, they may only be present during the initial student presentation. Only faculty members may be present for the questioning and committee deliberation portions of the meeting and only faculty members may ask questions and vote.

At least 10 working days prior to the oral defense (D2), the student must email a PDF copy of the dissertation to the Department Graduate Program Coordinator. Following the oral examination, an electronic copy (PDF) of the final dissertation must be provided to the Department of Psychology Graduate Program Coordinator no later than the date of graduation. This copy will serve as the public copy and be added to SharePoint by the department or emailed upon request.

The student should consult the “Policies and Procedures” of the Graduate School for university requirements. Given specific requirements change periodically, the student should contact the Graduate School early in the dissertation project for information about program, examination, and graduation forms to be filed and deadlines for each. All students must apply for graduation in the semester in which they will take their final exam. Depending on the timing of the final dissertation defense and internship leave, graduation application/date may need to be updated with the Graduate School. Currently, for example, the forms to schedule the dissertation final examination must be turned into the Graduate School a minimum of ten business days prior to the defense. This is why the department requires them to be turned into the Graduate Program Coordinator 12 business days prior to the scheduled defense date. The final D2 document should be provided to the committee prior to the time the scheduling form is signed, with ample time to review.

Preparation and Evaluation of Thesis and Dissertation Proposals

As mentioned above, both the thesis and dissertation require a formal research proposal that is evaluated in a meeting of the master’s or doctoral committee. The following is a guide to the preparation of such proposals and the conduct of the appropriate meetings. It is intended as a guide only, and the degree to which it is adhered may vary somewhat, depending on the chairperson of the relevant committee.

  1. Orientation
    1. The meeting at which the thesis proposal is presented to the master’s committee generally is referred to as the T1 meeting, and that at which the dissertation proposal is presented to the doctoral committee is referred to as the D1 meeting.
    2. The function of the T1 or D1 meeting is discussion and evaluation of the proposal, resulting in a judgment of feasibility and scientific merit and an action accepting the proposal, recommending changes, or rejecting the proposal.
  2. Selection of the Committee
    1. The selection should involve faculty most knowledgeable in the area of the research.
    2. The student and the committee chair will develop a list of possible committee members. Thereafter it is the student’s responsibility to contact these nominees to determine their willingness to serve and to prepare all necessary forms.
  3. Preparation of the Proposal
    1. The relative involvements of student and chairperson may vary rather widely, depending on the people involved, the student’s background, and the nature of the research problem. It is of value to discuss relative contributions, responsibilities, and authorship at this stage. The American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists should be the guide.
    2. The student, under the direction of the chairperson, is responsible for a literature search, identification and contact with current researchers, preparation of the proposal, and ensuring the development of required skills and competencies. The student is also responsible for consideration and solution of logistical problems related to the research.
    3. Other members of the committee may be involved at this stage in a “consultant” capacity.
    4. The chairperson of the committee should edit and provide preliminary approval of the proposal before it is submitted to the other committee members.
  4. Format of the Proposal
    1. Title, name of investigator, and abstract.
    2. Statement of the major objectives of the work and its significance in relation to the present state of knowledge in the field and to other work in the field.
    3. Summary of relevant research literature, including details germane to the proposed research. Considerable care should be taken with this, for it is used as an index of scholarly preparation for the project.
    4. A step-by-step heoretical and/or empirical development of the questions or hypotheses to be investigated.
    5. Method
      1. Participants, including relevant background information concerning development, health, age, gender, birth, sex, species, and the like.
      2. Measures.
      3. Equipment.
      4. Design.
      5. Procedure. This should include a step-by-step analysis of preliminary and experimental treatments, and a rationale for what is to be done, including controls. Procedural contingencies, depending on outcomes, also should be described.
      6. Principal procedures for data analyses should be described, including supplemental analyses where appropriate.
    6. A statement of expected results or (when possible) preliminary results. It is usually a good idea to consider other outcomes and show how something productive can be said about the problem regardless of outcome.
    7. A general statement of the significance of the potential outcome(s).
  5. Preparation for the T1 or D1 Meeting
    1. The T1 and D1 meetings will include the student, their committee, and any other faculty who wish to attend the meeting.
    2. Multiple copies of the complete proposal should be prepared, one for each member of the committee.
    3. It is the student’s responsibility to determine the availability of committee members and to schedule a time and place for the meeting. The chair of the committee will notify the clinical faculty as to the time and location of the T1 or D1 meeting.
  6. Procedures in the T1 or D1 Meeting
    1. Generally, the meeting is informal, but the degree of formality varies with chairpersons and committees. The D1 is more formal than the T1.
    2. Regardless of the formality, the student usually is asked to cover most of the following list of topics in a presentation that lasts approximately 30 minutes. Most of these topics concern what already is available in the proposal, but they remind the committee of details, help maintain a logical order, and permit the student briefly to summarize the proposal.
      1. Statement of background, interests, and professional goals of the student (this should be very brief). Why do you have a particular interest in this problem area? How is it related to your goals?
      2. Theoretical or empirical background, leading to a precise statement of hypotheses or questions to be investigated.
      3. Statement of procedures, including subjects, apparatus, steps in procedure, and time schedule.
      4. Description of design, showing how the design will answer questions.
      5. Statement of predicted results.
      6. Description of proposed statistical treatment.
    3. Committee questions may relate to any of the above points, or to any other matters relevant to the dissertation and/or the student’s graduate and professional experience.
  7. The Committee’s Role and Responsibility:
    1. The committee members judge the significance, soundness, and feasibility of the proposed research and the ability of the student to carry it to a successful conclusion.
    2. The action of the committee at this meeting may be:
      1. To accept the proposal as presented.
      2. To suggest changes in the procedure.
      3. To suggest limitation or expansion in the scope of the research.
      4. To suggest a different emphasis or direction.
      5. To reject the proposal.
    3. Actions 2, 3, 4, or 5 (ii, iii, iv, or v) above may or may not require additional meetings of the committee.
      1. If an additional meeting is scheduled, responsibilities for scheduling, distribution of materials, etc. should be as described above.
      2. If an additional meeting is not required but changes are needed, the student should prepare a statement of those changes and distribute a copy to each committee member.
  8. Rejection of the proposal generally results in the selection of a new problem. Depending on how much this deviates from the original problem, a change in committee or chairperson may be warranted.
  9. Roles and Responsibilities of the Student, Chair, and Committee
    1. The chairperson should be cognizant of progress in all stages of the research.
    2. Periodic informal reports of progress should be made to other committee members, either by the student or the chairperson.
    3. Significant changes in design or procedure should be reported to each member of the committee. The determination of “significant” will be made by the student and their chairperson.
    4. Additional meetings of the committee may be called at the discretion of the chairperson. Otherwise, the other committee members serve in a consultant capacity.
  10. Grievances and Conflict Resolution
    • Grievances by the student, if not resolvable, may be discussed with one or more of the following people: The committee chairperson, the DCT, Psychology Graduate Resource Coordinator, and the department Chair. The student can also seek guidance from the CTC if desired and requested (See Grievance and Conflict Resolution Procedures section for additional information). If the matter cannot be resolved at the Department level, the student can seek resolution at the College or University level, as described in the WSU Graduate School’s Policies and Procedures Manual (Chapter Twelve, Graduate Student Rights and Responsibilities).
    • Please see the Graduate School website.

Milestone Timeline

The Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program Milestone Timeline, which covers expectations for satisfactory progress on major program milestones, is found in Appendix H. This timeline indicates deadlines for various components of the thesis, preliminary exam, and dissertation. Suggested guidelines are provided for completion of each major milestone. There are also warning dates (no consequences, just a warning) and dates at which the student fails to meet expectations (and would not be considered in good standing until remediated). For extremely delinquent progress, there are also dates for termination review or termination.

Review and Approval of all Research with Human or Animal Subjects

The WSU Institutional Review Board (IRB) must review and approve all research conducted using human subjects. The WSU Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) must review and approve all research using non- human subjects. Such approval must be obtained prior to the beginning of any data collection.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association

The acceptable guide which governs much of the format of the thesis and dissertation, and which has been endorsed by the Graduate School as appropriate for theses and dissertations in Psychology, specifically, is the current version of Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. In addition to the thesis and dissertation, much of the other work in which you will be engaged during your program of study at WSU will require mastery of the APA Publication Manual, and you are advised to acquire a copy early in your graduate career (i.e., during your first semester in the program).

Go to Section 4: Clinical Work