Texas Tech University

Doctor of Philosophy in Addictive Disorders and Recovery Studies

ADRS Ph.D. Curriculum & Admission Details

Texas Tech's Addictive Disorders and Recovery Studies (ADRS) Ph.D. program is an emerging field and is designed to produce graduates that will excel in academic, government, and private sector careers while fulfilling the increasing need for addiction recovery scientists. The core faculty responsible for the program are nationally recognized for their contributions to the addiction recovery field. 

Application Instructions

Student Funding 

Students admitted to the ADRS program are guaranteed to be assigned either a 9-month Teaching Assistantship or a 12-month Research Assistantship, depending on funding availability and departmental needs, for the first three years of their study.  These positions will largely cover tuition and fees as well as provide a monthly stipend.  At the department's discretion and upon guidance from the ADRS faculty, additional multi-year fellowships may be granted to competitive students. Additional funding opportunities may be available through the university.

 

Application Deadline for Fall Cohorts

There is no “hard” deadline for applications to be received. However, applications received by November 1st each year will be fully considered for all possible funding awards.

The rolling deadline for application to the program to start during Fall 2024 has been finalized to be February 1, 2024.  All application materials, including letters of recommendation, must be received by then in order for an application to be considered.

 

Application Requirements

Students should have the minimum qualifications to apply to the program.  If you are not able to satisfy one or more of the below requirements and would still like to apply, it is recommended that you email the Program Director, Dr. Jon Webb (jon.r.webb@ttu.edu), to discuss your situation and the chances of admission into the program.  Importantly, admission into the program is a competitive process and satisfaction of the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission.

  • A master's degree or higher in a related field such as psychology, neuroscience, sociology, human development, social work, public health, public administration, counseling, or marriage and family therapy from an accredited institution.
  • GPA of 3.2 or higher in previous graduate coursework.
  • International students whose native language is not English must have a score of at least 550 paper-based or 79 Internet-based on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) examination.
  • Please Note:  The GRE is no longer a required component of the application process.


 

Application Materials

Applicants will submit a dossier for review which includes their curriculum vita, personal statement, and three letters of reference. Each component is described below. Please note that dossiers that are incomplete, including missing transcripts and other required forms and documents, will not be reviewed by the faculty.  

  • Curriculum Vitae:  Offers a full history of your education, employment, research, and accomplishments.  The TTU Career Center offers an example of a CV here which may guide students' development of their own CV:  https://www.depts.ttu.edu/careercenter/documents/Academic-CV-Template.pdf.
     
  • Personal Statement:  The personal statement is an essential part of students' dossier.  The statement describes students' background, research interests, and long-term goals. The personal statement is approximately 1.5 to 2 pages. Please note the following important elements of successful personal statements:
     
    • While it is important that the statement “introduces” the student to the faculty, the most important aspects of the personal statement address how completing the ADRS program aligns with students' research interests and long-term goals. 
       
    • The ADRS program is a research-intensive program* in which students will work closely with a faculty member for a minimum of three years on a number of research projects including their dissertation.  Therefore, students must identify at least two faculty members that they would like to work with and explain why they would like to work with each faculty member.  Students will not be admitted if they do not identify an ADRS faculty member to work with or fail to explain why they would like to work with this faculty member.  Faculty research interests may be found here:  https://www.depts.ttu.edu/hs/cfas/faculty.php.  However, because faculty members are constantly developing and starting new projects, students are encouraged to reach out to faculty members to learn more about their research interests.

      *Importantly, the ADRS program is not a clinical or counseling-oriented program. As such, the ADRS program is not designed to fulfill any requirements for any licensure process.

  • Letters of Reference:  Three affirmative letters of recommendation, ideally from faculty mentors who can attest to the applicant's potential for success in a doctoral program and potential as independent researchers.

 

Personal Interview

After a successful review of the dossier, applicants will be invited for an interview, which may be held either in-person or virtually.  The interview offers an opportunity for the faculty members to learn more about the applicant as well as for the applicant to learn more about the program, Texas Tech University, and Lubbock. 

 

How to Apply

The Graduate School online application system is designed to help you easily navigate through the application process and ensure you complete your application in a timely manner.

ALL documents must be submitted through the online portal and directly to the department.

 

Mentoring Admission Procedure

  1. Within two weeks after the application deadline (November 1), the ADRS Program Director will forward applicants' names/materials to each of the top 2 faculty named by the applicants in their application materials.
  2. Each faculty member will review the applicants referred to them by the Program Director and will rank order them.  The faculty member can choose to conduct individual interviews as part of the rank ordering process.
  3. The ADRS faculty will meet and each faculty member will review his/her list, and will submit 1-2 student names for the pool of applicants for all ADRS faculty to interview.
    ADRS faculty set up and conduct interviews.
  4. ADRS faculty meet.  Each faculty member admits 1-2 students into his/her lab based of funding available through the faculty member and/or the department.  ADRS faculty will vote on each admission, and if 1/3 or more of the ADRS faculty vote against, the applicant will not be made an offer.
  5. After a list of admission offers are approved by ADRS faculty vote, voting for fellowships will occur in the same meeting.
  6. Program Director/Department Chair send out official offer letters.  The goal would be to send these out before the Christmas break.

Curriculum/Course Plan

The Ph.D. program will focus specifically on addiction recovery using a family systems perspective (e.g., relational and familial underpinnings), with the intent of developing research specialists and leaders in the field of collegiate recovery.

Program Degree Requirements (3-year program):

Entering with Master's Degree

Required Courses: 51
Prescribed Electives: 9
Electives: 0
Dissertation: 12
TOTAL: 72

Program Objectives:

  1. Foster expertise in the theoretical foundation and scientific literature base related to addiction recovery.
  2. Generate scholars capable of producing high-quality scholarly research to advance the field of addiction recovery.
  3. Produce professionals capable of analyzing current issues and trends that impact the field of addiction recovery.

Required/Core Courses:

Addiction Recovery Foundational Courses (21 hours)
ADRS 5310 Issues of Addiction and Recovery - 3 hours
ADRS 6301 Couple and Family Dynamics of Addictions - 3 hours
ADRS 6315 Systemic Treatment of Addiction - 3 hours
ADRS 6320 Adolescent Substance Use: Assessment, Treatment, and Recovery - 3 hours
ADRS 6329 Eating Disorders - 3 hours
ADRS 6330 Process Addictions - 3 hours
ADRS 6342 Advanced Topics in Addictive Disorders and Recovery Studies - 3 hours

Statistics and Research Core (30 hours)
HDFS 6365 Quantitative Methods IV (Structural Equation Modeling) - 3 hours
MFT 6320 Dyadic Analysis for Clinical Relational/Systemic Research - 3 hours
MFT 6321 Longitudinal Modeling for Clinical and Systemic Research - 3 hours
MFT 6322 Family Systems II: Research - 3 hours
MFT 6323 Qualitative Research Methods - 3 hours
ADRS 7000 Research in Addictive Disorders and Recovery Studies - 15 hours

Doctoral Dissertation (12 hours)
ADRS 8000 Dissertation in Addictive Disorders and Recovery Studies - 12 hours

Prescribed Elective Courses (9 hours)
Student may choose 3 courses from those listed below for a total of 9 hours.

ADRS 5311 Problems in Addictive Disorders and Recovery Studies - 3 hours
ADRS 6342 Advanced Topics in ADRS - 3 hours
ADRS 7395 Internship in Addictive Disorders and Recovery Studies - 3 hours
FCSE 6343 University Teaching in Human Sciences at TTU - 3 hours
HDFS 5317 Adolescent Development - 3 hours
HDFS 5319 Development in Adulthood - 3 hours
HDFS 5341 Socialization and Addiction - 3 hours
MFT 5305 DSM, Psychopathology, and Assessment - 3 hours
PSY 5309 Clinical Neuropsychology - 3 hours
PUAD 5334 Healthcare Policy and Administration - 3 hours
SOC 5303 Seminar in Contemporary Sociological Theory - 3 hours

 

 Resources

 

Request Information Online

Contact the program director