University General Course Catalog 2025-2026 
    
    Dec 05, 2025  
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University General Course Catalog 2025-2026

Human Development and Family Science, Ph.D.

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The doctorate (PhD) in Human Development and Family Science (HDFS) aims to prepare researchers with a foundational understanding of developmental and family science, and promote best practices in these domains through both empirical research as well as advocacy and public policy. This doctoral program is suited for students hoping to conduct developmental and family science research in a variety of settings, including academic faculty, public policy institutes, early childhood and K12 educational institutions, non-profits, and corporate environments.

The HDFS doctoral degree is centered on the importance of a strong theoretical foundation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and extensive training in both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. The HDFS doctoral program follows an apprenticeship model, in which students work in close collaboration with a faculty mentor initially identified during the application process. This program promotes early and extensive research activity from the beginning of the program – it does not provide any clinical or counseling training.

Students are encouraged to tailor their course of study to best align with their long-term research goals. Students are required—with the support of faculty mentors—to submit at least one application for external grant funding and initiate an original research project within the second year of the doctoral program. Students also have a variety of options for fulfilling their research product requirements, including a traditional dissertation, or a series of journal article manuscripts

Coursework is broken into five categories:

  1. Research methods and statistics courses: 27 credits.
  2. HDFS Core courses: 16 credits.
  3. Elective Credit courses: 15 credits
  4. Comprehensive Exam: 1 credit
  5. Research Experience and Dissertation Hours: 14 credits.

Students must also complete a Second Year Project and a Dissertation.

Program Learning Outcomes

  1. Theoretical foundations: Graduates will be able to understand the theories guiding the study of developmental and family science, including the ability to interpret research findings through the lens of different theoretical orientations, and the capacity to develop and conduct research based on theory.
  2. Analytic skills: Graduates will be able to interpret and conduct both quantitative and qualitative statistical techniques, including selecting appropriate analytic techniques for a given research question, applying these techniques, and evaluating findings.
  3. Research and Application: Graduates will be able to conduct all steps necessary to successfully conduct primary research, including (but not limited to), a. applying for external grant funding, b. conducting a comprehensive literature review and evaluation, c. developing and conducting a primary data collection, d. analyzing results, e. interpreting results and synthesizing findings with existing research
  4. Writing Skills: Graduates will be able demonstrate excellence in technical writing.
  5. Principles of Adult Learning: Graduates will be able to develop and teach coursework at the undergraduate level or develop and teach professional workshops designed for adult community members.

Admission Requirements

Applicants for the HDFS doctoral degrees must meet general university requirements for admission, Graduate School requirements, College of Education requirements and program requirements.

Each applicant must satisfy the regular graduate admission requirements listed for doctoral programs and the following special requirements:

Preference for applicants who hold a master’s degree from a regionally accredited institution in an area appropriately related to the chosen emphasis area. Emphasis of prior degree area(s) should be appropriately related to the chosen emphasis area. Submission of GRE scores is not a requirement of admission, however students with commendable scores will be given priority in admission decisions.

Students must gain recommendation by the graduate faculty of the HDFS Program and gain approval of the doctoral admissions committee. At least one faculty member in the area of emphasis must be willing to serve as chair of the applicant’s committee. Additional details regarding the application process and admission criteria are included in the HDFS Doctoral Student Handbook. Please contact the HDFS Graduate Studies Director for more information.

Degree Requirements

Requirements for completing the degree include a total of 73 credit hours (minimum), passing a comprehensive exam, and completing both a second-year project and a culminating dissertation project.

Students must complete a minimum of 57 credits of traditional coursework, broken up into three categories: Research Courses (27 credits), Human Development and Family Science Core Courses (16 credits), and Advanced Electives (15 credits).

Transfer Credits

Transfer credits are credits transferred from another institution. Credits completed at UNR in another program or as a graduate special do not need to be transferred. Up to nine transfer credit can be requested on the Graduate Credit Transfer Evaluation Request form available on Graduate School website, and must be signed by the student, major advisor, and graduate director. Transfer credits applied from a master’s program must comply with the time limitation on master’s work (6 years). Thus, if a student took a course five years prior to admission, they would have to complete the degree within one year for the course to apply to the degree. Credits from a completed master’s degree will be exempt from the 8-year time limitation for those students pursuing a doctoral degree.

Students who have completed an HDFS M.S. program prior to enrolling in the Doctoral degree should coordinate with their advisor to identify what coursework can be applied to this degree, and to ensure they have a well-established plan for filling and missing coursework requirements. Students can transfer up to 24 credits, as per the UNR Graduate School policy. Students should verify that the applied credit fulfills the Graduate School’s requirements, details can be found at the Graduate School’s website.

Timeline to Degree Completion

The timeline for completing the HDFS doctoral degree is created by the student and faculty advisor, and tailored to the students goals. However the Program of Study for the HDFS doctoral program has been designed to be completed in five years (by full time students), and can be completed in four years if students are adequately motivated and plan carefully.

Committee Selection Guidelines

The Advisory Committee is comprised of a minimum of five (5) members. The student’s primary faculty advisor will serve as the chair. At least two (2) committee members must be members of the HDFS program, and at least one (1) committee member must be from an external program (but related field), and at least one (1) Graduate School representative. The Graduate School Representative cannot have a primary appointment in the same program as the student’s committee chair. Formal approval of the Dissertation Committee is made by the Graduate Dean. The committee is generally formed during the beginning of students’ second year. The committee must be formed no later than the end of the fourth (Fall/Spring) semester. Although the committee is not required during the conceptualization and initiation of the second-year project, the committee must be in place in order to evaluate a completed draft.

The Advisory Committee is intended to (1) provide support and guidance to the graduate student throughout their degree, (2) ensure the student has access to perspectives, insight, advice, and supervision beyond just their faculty advisor, and (3) to ensure that the student fulfills the degree requirements in a manner that is sufficiently rigorous. Although the committee will provide advice and supervision throughout student’s degree, they will be explicitly tasked with administering and evaluating three specific tasks:

  1. The Committee will assess if the second-year project is adequately completed. If a student enters the program having already completed a Master’s Thesis, the committee will evaluate if the thesis is of sufficient quality to replace the second-year project. Agreement of four out of five (4 or 5) committee members is required for the student’s second-year project to be considered complete. For students who enter the program with a completed Master’s Thesis, four out of five (4 or 5) committee members must agree that the Thesis is sufficient to substitute for the second-year project.
  2. The Committee will develop and administer the Comprehensive Examination. The comprehensive exam is administered after the student has completed approximately 75% of their coursework (excluding Graduate Research/Dissertation hours; approximately 45 credits). This is typically done during the Spring semester of the third year. The committee will be tasked with developing a 3-5 questions that highlight the students’ particular research area.
  3. The Committee will oversee the development, execution, and defense of the students’ dissertation. The student will coordinate with the dissertation committee on selecting the dissertation option, developing the appropriate study, conducting data collection & analysis, and writing up the final document(s). The committee will also evaluate that the student has sufficiently completed the dissertation requirements, with at least a four out of five (4 of 5) vote.

Comprehensive Exams

The Comprehensive Examination (hereafter referred to as “Comps”) is designed to assess student’s mastery and understanding of the content of the degree before they undertake completing their dissertation. Accordingly, the student’s Advisory Committee should develop questions that are tailored to the course of study and research projects that have defined the student’s degree. The Comps should adhere to the guidelines below:

  • Exams should be comprised of between 3-5 questions.
  • At least one question must focus on a research methods/analysis topic.
  • At least one question must focus on integrating/applying relevant theory.
  • The exam should be completed by the student within one week (7 days) of receiving the questions from the Advisory Committee.
  • Students are permitted to use resources from their previous classes and research activities. However, students should complete the exam completely independently, without assistance from faculty, the committee itself, or other students. If the student requires clarification on any questions, they should contact the entire committee, so as to ensure all members are aware of what additional information is provided.
  • Students who are not full-time or have other life-circumstances that may make an intensive 1-week Comps prohibitively difficult can request an alternative format that takes these circumstances into account. The advisor and committee members should work with the student to find a Comps system that will fit their circumstances. However, the alternative Comps exam should not reduce the rigorousness of the exam, and the expectations of the exam should be reflective of any additional time the student receives. Alternative Comps exam formats must be approved by the Program’s Director of Graduate Studies.

If a student fails their comprehensive exam, they will have one chance to retake it, using a new set of questions provided by the Advisory Committee. If they fail their second attempt at Comps, they will be dismissed from the program. They will be eligible to receive their Master’s degree in HDFS (assuming they have completed the necessary coursework and program requirements). Students are encouraged to verify that they have completed all of the requirements of the Master’s degree prior to taking their Comps.

Second Year Project & Dissertation

Students are required to complete two comprehensive research projects, the Second Year Project and their Dissertation.

Second Year Project:

The second-year project is intended to get students actively engaged in the research process from the beginning of their time in the doctoral program. The goal is to create a pattern of scholarly activity that continues throughout their time in the program, and results in substantial research productivity. The second-year project provides an opportunity to develop and hone skills needed for a career in research. Students who enter the Program with a master’s degree and who previously completed a Master-level thesis can substitute the second-year project with their thesis as long as it is of sufficient rigor. The student’s Advisory Committee will must accept the Master’s Thesis with a four of five (4 of 5) vote. Students who are entering the program with a Master’s Thesis they would like to apply should consider forming their committee earlier than normal to ensure the thesis will fulfill the second-year project requirement.

Students will work closely with their faculty advisor for the duration of the second-year research project. Students will begin conceptualizing their research project during their first year as part of their HDFS 701 classes (in both Fall and Spring), and in collaboration with their advisor. The goal is to have a fully developed project proposal (including IRB documents) by the end of the second semester, so data collection or analysis can begin before the second year. The research paper may derive from the faculty’s ongoing research program or be freely negotiated between faculty and student. The work is expected to be collaborative. That is, the student should play a major role in the negotiated project that includes preparation of a written proposal, initiative in securing/collecting data, and responsibility for analyzing the data and drafting a report. These activities are expected to be under the supervision of the faculty advisor. Although analyzing existing data (secondary-data analysis) is permissible for the second-year project and/or the dissertation, students must collect primary data in at least one of the research projects (e.g. second-year project, dissertation monograph, or one of the manuscripts from the “three-research projects” dissertation options). If students are collecting data as part of their advisor’s larger, ongoing research project, this can qualify as collecting primary data as long as the student has a role in the data collection (e.g. directly dealing with relevant research participants).

The research paper requirement includes a presentation of the results of the project by the student to an appropriate audience. Ideally the project will result in a presentation at a professional meeting and/or a publication. Students can also fulfill this requirement presenting their findings at one of the brown bag luncheons sponsored by the program. The order of authorship should be discussed in advance of the project. All publications and presentations resulting from this project should follow APA guidelines of authorship, with the student and faculty member receiving appropriate authorship and reflecting the relative contribution of the student and advisor.

Students should plan to develop and initiate their second-year project during the first year as a requirement of HDFS 701 and via Graduate Research (HDFS 752) during their first year. Students must complete their research paper no later than the end of the fall semester of their third year, but it is preferred if students finish by the end of the second year. Exceptions may be made to their deadline but must be approved by the student’s Advisory Committee and the Graduate Director.

Dissertation:

Students in the HDFS PhD program have the option of choosing between three different dissertation strands, outlined below. It is important that students coordinate with their academic advisors to select the best option as early as possible. If students do not explicitly communicate a preferred option to all members of the dissertation committee, the Traditional Dissertation will be considered the default. The student can switch between any format at any time, assuming the dissertation committee approves the change.

  • A traditional dissertation monograph format: The traditional format of a dissertation is a monograph with a five chapter structure. Traditionally the dissertation is comprised of one empirical study or a series of related studies. The length of the dissertation varies with the nature and scope of the dissertation. Most dissertations are 80-150 pages in length (text only), plus front matter, abstract, references, figures and tables (if not already integrated into the text), and appendices.
  • A three-article dissertation format: The three-article dissertation should be comprised of a minimum of three (3) articles. The student should be first author on all three articles. The articles should reflect a cohesive body of work that supports a theme or themes that are expressed clearly in the introduction of the dissertation (Chapter 1). The need for three articles should be clear and approved by the dissertation committee, and not merely represent minor tweaks of a work that would be more appropriately reported in just one or two articles. Similarly, the relevance and relatedness of the three articles should be clear, creating a meaningful narrative (and not simply three separate articles). Each article should be viable as a stand-alone manuscript. The criterion for viability is the judgment of at least four of five (4 of 5) dissertation committee members that an article is suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The dissertation must include an introduction (Chapter 1) and a conclusion (Chapter 5) that discusses the synthesis of what is to be learned from the three articles. Each of the articles must have an abstract.
  • A professional publication and two-article dissertation format: The “professional publication and two-article” dissertation is intended to allow students who are interested in pursuing careers outside of research/academia to apply other empirical products towards their dissertation. If this dissertation format is selected, an empirically-based program/curriculum evaluation, white paper, or policy publication can be included in the dissertation in-lieu of the third empirical paper. In this option, the professional publication and the two empirical manuscripts should be related enough so that the student can be clearly and cohesively integrated and synthesized in the Introduction (Chapter 1) and the Discussion (Chapter 5) of the dissertation. Although a variety of products could fulfill this requirement, examples include:

- Evaluation of a curriculum (working in collaboration with the entity using/developing the curriculum, not simply using available information and data)

- Formal needs assessment or evaluation of a program in the community (working in collaboration with the entity conducting the program, not simply using available information and data).

- Writing and submitting a significant, national grant on behalf of a community organization. The Advisory Committee is responsible for evaluating if a grant application is significant enough to be comparable to a journal article.

- A policy analysis of a policy relevant to the student’s research interests.

All completed dissertations must be formatted following University Guidelines. When individual articles are included in the dissertation, they must be formatted with the same font and format as the rest of the dissertation. Students cannot simply include PDF’s of their published article(s).

Graduate Assistantship

The HDFS program supports both research and teaching assistantships through a vaiarety of funding streams, including state funds, grant funds, or other departmental funds. Applicants interested in receiving an assistantship must submit an Assistantship Application to the College of Education and Human Development at the same time they submit their application to the doctoral program.

All graduate students holding an assistantship (teaching GTA or GRA) are considered Nevada residents for tuition purposes. Non-resident tuition is only waived for the duration of the assistantship. To be eligible for an assistantship, students must be admitted to a degree-granting program and be in good academic standing. The student must have an overall GPA of at least 3.0 and must be continuously enrolled in at least 6 graduate level credits (600-700) throughout the duration of the assistantship. 

State-funded assistantships (GTA/GRA) may be held for a maximum of: three (3) years for master’s degree students and five (5) years for doctoral degree students.

Additional information on graduate assistantships can be found at the Graduate School website: General information and the Graduate Assistantship handbook.

Health Insurance

All domestic degree-seeking graduate students, who are enrolled in six or more credits (regardless of the course level) in a semester, will be automatically enrolled and billed for the University-sponsored health insurance for each term they are eligible (fall & spring/summer). If a student has other comparable coverage and would like to waive out of the student health insurance, it is the student’s responsibility to complete the University online waiver form prior to the deadline. If approved, a health insurance waiver is good for the current academic year only. A new waiver must be submitted each academic year. All international graduate students are required to carry student health insurance, and the cost will be automatically added to your student account. Any international graduate students with insurance questions must contact the Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) directly.

Leave of Absence

Continuous Enrollment: To maintain “good standing” all graduate students are required to enroll in a minimum of three (3) graduate credits each fall and spring semester until they graduate. International students may be required to enroll in nine graduate credits each fall and spring semester depending on the requirements of their visa. All students holding assistantships (whether teaching or research assistantships) are required to enroll in a minimum of six (6) graduate credits each semester they hold the assistantship.

Leave of Absence: Students in good standing may request a leave of absence by completing a Leave of Absence form during which time they are not required to maintain continuous registration. Usually, a leave of absence is approved for one or two semesters. The leave of absence request may be extended by the student filing an additional leave of absence form. Students applying for a leave of absence should not have any “incomplete” grades which could be changed to “F” and have a detrimental impact on their cumulative GPA. Requests for leave of absences must be received by the Graduate School no later than the last day of enrollment for the semester the leave is to begin.

Reinstatement: When a student has been absent for one semester or more without an approved leave of absence, he or she may request reinstatement via the Reinstatement form. This form allows the program the option to recommend the student be re-admitted to their graduate program based on their previous admission OR require the student to re-apply for admission which would require students to submit a new application for admission and pay the application fee. The Notice of Reinstatement to Graduate Standing must be received by the Graduate School no later than the last day of enrollment for the semester the reinstatement is to begin.

Graduate Student Association

The Graduate Student Association represents all graduate students and promotes the welfare and interests of the graduate students at the University of Nevada, Reno. The GSA works closely with appropriate university administrative offices, including the Graduate School and Student Services and reports to the President of the University. The GSA government functions through the Council of Representatives, Executive Council and established committees.

Graduate School Forms

All Graduate School Forms can be accessed from this link: https://www.unr.edu/grad/student-academics/forms

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