Governance

Program Director

The Program Director oversees the program in general, ensuring compliance, appointing committees, assigning the Moderator, and organizing admissions.
The Program Director may be a member of a Doctoral Committee, but may not be the Moderator.
The Dean of Academic Affairs is the Program Director.

Doctoral Committee

Each student is guided by a Doctoral Committee comprised of 3–5 faculty, each of which holds a doctorate degree. The majority Doctoral Committee members should be from Franklin. The Doctoral Committee

appoints the Primary Supervisor
supports the student’s progress through the program, in both research and coursework
via the Primary Supervisor, regularly updates the Program Director on the progress of the work and promptly communicates any problems
appoints faculty members as first and second reviewers for the dissertation
assigns the grade on the dissertation and defense
keeps minutes of all decisions of the Committee relating to the doctoral procedure, the review of the dissertation, and the course and results of the defense

Primary Supervisor

The Primary Supervisor is a liaison between the Doctoral Committee and the student, and between the Doctoral Committee and the Program Director
The Primary Supervisor will annually review the Ph.D. Agreement to ensure compliance and to initiate any necessary amendments

Moderator

The Moderator is a neutral faculty member or affiliated research at Franklin who mediates conflicts between the student and the Doctoral Committee or any member thereof
The Moderator ensures that, at all times, the student and the committee members conduct themselves professionally and according to the procedures and agreements specific to the research project
The Moderator cannot be a Doctoral Committee member and cannot be the Program Director
If there is an unresolvable conflict with a member of the Doctoral Committee, the Moderator, the other members of the Committee, and the student will choose a replacement from the eligible faculty