Candidacy

Candidacy status is an indication that a doctoral student has developed sufficient mastery of a discipline to produce an original research contribution in his or her field. 

Deadline: September 15 at the Start of a Student's Fourth Year

Students should enter candidacy as soon as all requirements have been completed. Students must reach candidacy by September 15 at the start of their fourth year. 

Programs may set earlier deadlines. Always check your program’s policies about student progress to make sure you are meeting the deadlines that apply to you.

Note: If you entered the Laney Graduate School before Fall 2017, scroll down to the bottom of this page for information pertinent to you.

How to Apply for Candidacy

Before you apply, make sure you are eligible: scroll down for eligibility criteria.

The candidacy form is available in the Laney Connect Hub, in the "Milestones" section.  Log in with your Emory credentials and follow the instructions to locate and submit the form.

You will be considered "in candidacy" when LGS has approved your candidacy application.  At that point, candidacy will appear on your transcript as a milestone.

Eligibility

To be eligible for candidacy, a student must meet the following requirements:

  1. Complete all program requirements for candidacy: coursework and other training required by the degree program, including program required JPE training
  2. Complete qualifying examinations required by the degree program
  3. If required by the degree program, obtain approval of a dissertation prospectus
  4. Complete TATTO 600, TATTO 605, and JPE 600 (also see item 1)
  5. Resolve any Incomplete (I) or In Progress (IP) grades
  6. Be in good standing with a minimum cumulative 2.70 GPA
  7. Have earned at least 54 credit hours at the 500 level or above

TATTO 610 and JPE 610 may be completed after entering candidacy. In addition, programs may reserve the dissertation prospectus and committee requirement to be completed after candidacy.

Timing

Students should enter candidacy as soon as all requirements have been completed.  Students must reach candidacy by September 15 of their fourth year.  Students who do not meet this deadline will be placed on academic probation, will not be eligible for PDS funds, and may forfeit financial support.  These sanctions will be lifted when the student enters candidacy.

Candidacy Extension

If students cannot reach candidacy by September 15th of their fourth year, they can request an Extension for the Candidacy Deadline. If students need an extension to the deadline for Candidacy, they must complete the following steps:

Step 1: Meet with your DGS and Advisor/PI to discuss a new timeline to complete the requirements for candidacy. You will need their approval on the Extension for Candidacy Deadline form. Please note: If your extension request is more than 30 days, a detailed academic plan on how you will meet the extension date is required.

Step 2: Submit the “Extension for Candidacy Deadline” form in the LaneyConnect Hub, including the new timeline for reaching candidacy. Log in with your Emory credentials and follow the instructions to locate and submit the form.

After students submit the form, it will be routed to your Program DGS for approval, and then the LGS Student Affairs Team will oversee the final review process.

Effective Date and Previous Policy

This policy on this page became effective starting fall semester 2017.  Students who started their programs before the fall of 2017 must meet the candidacy deadline in effect when they first enrolled, and must be in candidacy no later than August 1 before their fifth year of study.  Students who started their programs before the fall of 2017 will not be placed on probation if they fail to meet the candidacy deadline.

To preserve a record of past policies, the previous policy is archived and accessible on the LGS Handbook candidacy page.