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The IUMN PhD Program is an advanced research-oriented degree that prepares students for scholar positions in universities or research institutions.
Goals of the program
  1. Develop the research capability for students and help each student arrive at correct conclusions using universally-adopted scientific research methodologies.
  2. Fulfill the increasing demand for qualified and specialized researchers in the fields of Islamic Studies and Arabic Language.
  3. Graduating capable researchers and strong specialists that can effectively strengthen the fabric of the Muslim community in the west by acting as qualified jurisprudential and judgmental references.
Specializations / Majors
  1. Islamic Law and Fundamentals of Islam
  2. Islamic Education and Arabic Language
Admission Criteria
IUMN is looking for highly-qualified students. The PhD program is intensive and research-oriented. Below are the conditions for applying:
  1. A Master's degree from an accreditaed University with a GPA of 3.2.
  2. Two recommendation letters from professors.
  3. Pass a qualifying test.
  4. Pass a qualifying interview.
Degree Requirements
In order for the student to complete the program and earn his/her PhD degree, the following components must be finished successfully:
  1. Accumulate 48 credit hours distributed as following:
    • 21 credit hours of doctorate level course work with a total GPA of at least 80% and a grade of at least 75% for each individual course.
    • 27 credits of research work, including the PhD dissertation.
  2. Defend the PhD dissertation successfully.
Program Policies
  1. General Policies
    • The maximum period of time that a student can spend in the Doctoral Program is 7 years.
    • A PhD student may determine the research area and the topic of the dessertation at any time during the program, based on coordinantion with the Comittee of Higher Studies and directions from advisor.
    • A student may re-take up to 6 credit hours to raise his/her GPA to 3.2
    • Courses failed by the student will not count in GPA of the student; such courses will be designated with the letter 'R' in the student's transcript.
    • In case the student finishes all course work but could not achieve a GPA of at least 3.2, his/her registration for dissertation will be cancelled and shall graduate with only a Masters’ degree (with no GPA) in the area of specialization.
    • A student cannot be simultaneously admitted to more than one graduate program.
    • Punctuality is essential for any student admitted to a graduate program based on direct teaching. A student is not allowed to be inexcusably absent from classes for more than 15% of required hours for each course or will be considered to have dropped the course. A student may be allowed absence-with-excuse for up to 25% of required hours for each course, based on the approval of the department teaching the course.
  2. Policies of dropping and/or adding courses
    • Students are allowed to add and/or drop courses during the initial designated period of registration at the beginning of each semester. Student's transcript will not show dropped courses.
    • A student is allowed to withdraw from a course only during the first eight weeks after the designated registration period of winter or fall semesters and two weeks after the designated registration period of summer semester.
  3. Policies of credit transfer
    • A student may transfer credits either from IUMN or only from accredited university or institution.
    • In the case a student is transferring from another university, a vacancy has to exist at the IUMN department to which the student desirs to transfer.
    • A student transferring to a graduate IUMN program will have to meet admission conditions applicable at the time of transfer.
    • IUMN will not accept transferring students fired from other universities.
    • The IUMN department to which the student is transferring should decide about the number of transferrable credits.
    • Transferred students can be admitted only at the beginning of a semester.
  4. Policies of changing department, or specialization
    • Students changing their specialization area should meet the initial admission crieteria of the department to which they desire to move.
    • The new department - to which the student transfers - may accept transferring all the credit hours accumulated by the student from other departments as long as such credit hours conform with the coursework requirements of the department. The transferred credit hours shall count in the student's GPA.
    • The time spent by a student in his former department or specialization will be counted when calculating the maximum period of time the student can spend in a certain program.
    • A student may change departments or specialization areas only once.
Dissertations  
  1. Research Plan
    • The chair and managing committee of each college approves the research plan of the student on basis of recommendations from the Committee of Higher Studies and student's advisor.
  2. Advisory
    • A PhD student can have either one or several advisors. Each advisor should be a professor, an associate professor, or an assistant professor who has at least three years of professorship experience as well as at least two research articles published in refereed journals. A student who needs to change advisor(s) may be allowed to do so on basis of a report from the Higher Studies Committee supporting his/her need.
    • IUMN pays close attention to the progress of each PhD student towards acheiving his/her individual academic goals. Every semester, the student's advisor submits a full report about the progress of the student. IUMN reserves the right to take suitable actions when student report does not show satisfactory progress. IUMN also reserves the right to take suitable actions towards any student that violates any of the Academic Integrity rules.
  3. Defense
    • When the student is ready for final defense, his/her advisor should submit a report supporting such readiness. This report should include suggested names for the members of the defense committee. The head of the committee should be appointed on basis of academic position and then age (with the older faculty getting the priority in case academic positions were equal).However, the department chair and his council can override, when needed, the basis on which a committee head is chosen.
    • The defense committee has to include the following members:
      1. The student's advisor.
      2. One IUMN faculty member that meets the criteria of defense committee membership clarified above (under the advisory section).
      3. One committee member from outside IUMN. Such member should also meet the criteria clarified above (under the advisory section). In case an external advisor is not available, an internal IUMN advisor can be appointed instead.
    • Upon receiving the desertation, the committee is given one month to approve its validity for final defense. If the committee approved the dissertation, an appointment will be set for final defense, within one month of approval.
    • The final defense takes a public form and has to be managed in the following fashion:
      1. A presentation from the student in which s/he demonstrates the question of the research, methods followed, analysis, results, and conclusion reached.
      2. A discussion between the defense committee and the student, moderated by the head of the defense committee.
      3. A session of deliberations among the committee members to take a decision regarding granting the degree or not.
      4. A final decision that has to be adopted by the majority of the committee in the presense of the student. The decision bears only three results, pass, fail, or modifications are required.
      5. In case modifications were required, a student is allowed no longer than three months to perform such modifications.
      6. In the rare incident of failure, a student is not allowed to defend his/her dissertation again except after six months from the first defense. A student is allowed only TWO chances to pass the final defense.
  
More Questions?
If you still have any questions about our Doctoral program, or to request an application package, please do not hesitate to call IUMN via phone at: +1 (612) 788-1682, or via email at: PhDProgram@iumn.net
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