Ⅲ. Guidelines for Doctoral Degree Conferral Process
1. Graduate School of Fine Arts
1.1. Program Design and Requirements
The practice-based doctorate program in Fine Arts is designed such that students are engaged in both artistic practice and research activities, which is based on a personally selected theme in order to acquire depth of insight and new knowledge. To obtain doctoral degrees, students must complete the program requirements and pass the final examination.
1.2. Student Advising and Monitoring
- Procedures for student supervision are determined by each graduate course.
- Each graduate course monitors student progress through regular review sessions, and the results are reported in the form of annual grade points.
- Advisors submit annual reports for each student to the Graduate School Steering Committee.
1.3. Degree Application
- Preliminary application: Advisors submit a preliminary application (by the end of January) for second-year students who wish to proceed to their final examination procedures during the following year.
- Degree application: Third-year students, whose preliminary applications have been approved, submit degree applications by the end of April. For the application, they are required to submit application forms, a thesis summary (less than 2,000 Japanese characters), and an updated resume.
- Each application (student’s summary and student advisor’s review) is assessed and approved by the expanded Graduate School Steering Committee.
1.4. Degree Examination
- Reviewed items: Artistic work(s) and dissertation. For artistic work(s), students consult their advisors regarding the scale and number of works based on each graduate course’s guideline and the plans are approved in the degree application.
- Examination Committee: The Examination Committee consists of three or more full-time professors (according to Article 7 of the Degree Regulations). The members are approved in the degree application process with the expanded Graduate School steering committee.
- In the Examination Committee, the advisor serves as the principal examiner and two other members are assigned as assistant examiners, who are respectively in charge of artistic works and dissertations.
- Interim review: After the dissertation is submitted in August, interim reviews are conducted in October. The results are reported and approved by the expanded Graduate School Steering Committee toward the end of October.
- Final review: Final assessments comprise three parts: artistic work(s) in a doctoral program final exhibition, revised dissertation after the interim review and public presentation of the dissertation, and final examination (written or oral).
- Results: the Examination Committee submits the following reports: a review of the artistic work(s), a review of the dissertation, a final examination report, and a comprehensive review.
- The reports of the Examination Committee are approved by the expanded Graduate School Steering Committee and then by the Graduate School Faculty.
- Approval requires the attendance of two-thirds of the faculty and the agreement of three-fourths of the attendees.
1.5. Publication of Research Outcomes
Three bound copies of the doctoral dissertation are submitted to the Office of Educational Affairs by the end of April. They are stored in the University library, the Graduate School of Fine Arts, and the National Diet Library.
1.6. Graduate School of Fine Arts
| 1st year | 2nd year | 3nd year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| April | Final doctoral degree application Application, dissertation summary, and resume |
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| May | Expanded Graduate School Steering Committee accepts final applications | ||
| June | |||
| July | |||
| August | Submission of doctoral dissertation Multiple copies of dissertation (in temporary binding) and dissertation summary for Examination Committee members One photo of the creative work |
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| September | Evaluation of dissertation commences | ||
| October | |||
| November | Interim reports to expanded Graduate School Management Committee | ||
| December | Doctoral Program Final Exhibition (open to public) Exhibition of artistic work, public thesis presentations, dissertations available for viewing |
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| Winter Break | |||
| January | Preliminary doctoral degree application Applicants who have exceeded the standard number of years of enrollment must submit extension petitions |
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| February | Expanded Graduate School Steering Committee approves degree applications | ||
| March | Degree conferral Student presents three hardbound copies of doctoral dissertation by late April | ||
