The normal requirements for the Recreation and Leisure Studies PhD program include coursework, milestones, and a doctoral thesis.
Course requirements
The PhD program requires a minimum of 9 graduate courses (0.5 unit weight) beyond the Honours BA level. These must include:
- REC 600, Integrative Seminar in Recreation and Leisure Studies (fall term)
- REC 700, Foundations of Knowledge in Leisure Studies (fall term)
- one of
- REC 772, Quantitative Research Data Analysis and Interpretation (winter term)
- REC 773, Designing Advanced Qualitative Inquiry (winter term)
- or an equivalent
- 1 elective
Students entering the PhD program following completion of the MA thesis degree in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies (University of Waterloo), or its equivalent, will usually have already completed 5 of the 9 required courses, and therefore will need a minimum of 4 additional (0.5 unit weight) graduate courses. If students have not previously taken the above requirements, these courses would take precedence over elective courses. Elective courses can be selected from those offered by the Department (typically offered winter and spring terms), a "Selected Topics" (REC 695) or "Internship" (REC 609) course, or a graduate course at either the 600 or 700 level from another department at the University of Waterloo, or a graduate course from another Ontario university as a visiting graduate student.
Students entering the PhD program should arrange to meet with their supervisor and the Graduate Program Manager as soon as possible after their arrival to talk about specific course selection for their program of study. Also, the graduate Academic Integrity Module (AIM) must be completed through Learn within the first 8 weeks of the first term.
The PhD program may be completed either on a full-time or part-time basis, but must be completed within the following time periods from completion of the MA degree unless an extension has been granted (See Graduate Studies Calendar, Academic Regulations, Time Limits):
- Full-time - 12 terms
- Part-time - 18 terms
A program checklist is available on Waterloo Learn or on the Health policies and procedures website (with embedded links).
Milestone requirements
The PhD program requires students to complete four major milestones. Details of these milestones can be found in the Academic Calendar. Students should refer to the Graduate Student Handbook for complete details on the Comprehensive Examination milestone procedures and requirements in the Recreation and Leisure Studies department.
PhD thesis
A PhD thesis proposal is required of all PhD students after passing the comprehensive examinations, and before proceeding to data collection. The proposal should contain a detailed statement of the research problem and its significance for a body of leisure-related theory, a precise account of the methodology or research techniques to be employed, plus a detailed outline of the proposed data analyses. The candidate will be required to present and defend this proposal before the thesis committee. The final thesis report based on the completed research must also be successfully defended to satisfy the thesis requirement.
Student evaluation
A review of each student's progress takes place during the month of June each year. Students are evaluated on several criteria, i.e., coursework and resulting grades, progress with regard to the comprehensive examination and thesis work and, where appropriate, reports submitted by the students regarding their research and teaching assistantship activity. A cumulative grade average of at least 75% must be maintained.