Candidacy Application

Admission to PhD Candidacy

 
Candidacy is the final stage in your Ph.D. program.  Students who are Post Master's should begin preparation to enter candidacy when they have completed approximately 36 credit hours. Post Bachelor's students should begin preparation after completing approximately 60 credit hours.  Preparation for candidacy includes passing qualifying exams, forming a dissertation committee (committee must contain at least 3 department faculty and 1 member outside of the department ALL members must have a Ph.D), choosing a dissertation director, preparing a dissertation proposal which is approved by the committee, discussing and creating an appropriate timeline to complete your dissertation with your committee chair/advisor.
 
Below you will find a link to the DocuSign Powerform which will take you through the application process. Before you click into the form please have:
1) A list of your committee member's names and email addesses
2) Access to electronic versions of the required PhD Candidacy supporting documents (listed below).
 
Committee members' names and emails:
The CAS graduate office requires approval of your dissertation timeline and proposal. This requires committee members' signatures to indicate their approval and willingness to serve on your committee. You will need to enter the names and email addresses for each of your committee members into the DocuSign form. Signers will receive an email inviting them to sign this document. Docusign does NOT recognize a Lehigh email alias address (DoeSmith@lehigh.edu) therefore you must enter the faculty members given Lehigh address (dms111@lehigh.edu or dms1@lehigh.edu). 
To check that an email is not an alias, go.lehigh.edu/email.
 
Candidacy Application Materials (supporting documents):
You will need to have access to the following documents in electronic format (e.g., PDF/Word) in order to attach them to the DocuSign submission. Please make sure you have these materials ready to attach before you click the link below.

Dissertation Timeline
Proposal
Your up-to-date CV
General Exam Form Form (if taken)
 
All signees, the CAS graduate office, and your department coordinator will automatically receive a completed copy of your DocuSign application.
 
*Graduate students must file for Candidacy at least seven (7) months prior to graduation.)
 

Link to Candidacy Powerform