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Following successful completion of the general examination,
the “advisory
committee” usually
becomes the “dissertation committee.” Changes
in membership are permitted, however, in order
to bring needed expertise to the new committee.
Prospectus
The student should identify the dissertation topic and begin
the development of the prospectus in
consultation with the major advisor and the dissertation committee.
When the major advisor
agrees that the prospectus is ready, the student distributes
copies to the doctoral committee
members and arranges a prospectus meeting. At that meeting
the committee, working with the
student, will suggest any needed modifications and sign their
approval when satisfactory. A
signed copy of the prospectus is filed with the Department
of Educational Psychology. The
student may then proceed with the dissertation research. If
modifications to the prospectus are
necessary, the committee must approve them and they must be
filed as amendments to the original
prospectus.
No thesis, prospectus, or dissertation meetings will
be held during the summer if committees
include faculty on nine-month contracts. To hold
a thesis, prospectus, or dissertation meeting
during the summer, the student must obtain written approval
for a meeting from all committee
members and the department chair prior to the first day of
final exams of the spring semester. In
agreeing to such a meeting the student and committee members
acknowledge that such action is
voluntary and is not considered an expected part of faculty
responsibilities during the summer.
Format and Process
The student should ascertain precisely the format and processing
requirements of his or her
committee. For example, the student should learn exactly how
each committee member wishes to
review work in progress, i.e. chapter by chapter or larger
portions. Careful attention should be
paid at this point to all the necessary procedural steps regarding
dissertations and defense listed on
the doctoral checklist, and all deadline dates (see calendar
in current Class Schedule Bulletin).
Having once enrolled in dissertation hours, the candidate
must maintain continuous enrollment by
enrolling each long semester in at least two hours of EDPY
6980 - Research for Doctor’s
Dissertation. If continuous enrollment is interrupted for
two consecutive semesters, excluding
summer session, the candidate is dropped from the rolls and
must reapply for admission if he/she
wishes to complete the program. On readmission the student
is governed by the Graduate
College and Department of Educational Psychology regulations
in effect at the time of
readmission.
Final Oral Examination
When approved by the major advisor, a reading copy of the
dissertation is submitted to the
Graduate College along with a completed and signed copy of
the Request for Authority form.
The Graduate College will provide a form authorizing the final
examination (oral defense of the
dissertation). Reading copies should be distributed to committee
members at least two weeks
before the final oral examination is scheduled so that their
corrections and comments can be
incorporated into the final dissertation copy.
It is the student’s responsibility to arrange with
members of his/her doctoral committee the date,
hour, and place of the examination. The student should also
submit an abstract of the
dissertation, along with a mini-vita, to the Graduate Programs
Officer for the Department at least
one week before the oral examination. Announcements of the
oral examination will be sent to
departmental faculty by the Graduate Programs Officer. Because
many faculty in the College of
Education are not on nine-month appointments, no dissertation
defenses will be conducted during
the summer unless the student obtains written approval for
a meeting from all committee members
and the department chair prior to the first day of final exams
of the spring semester.
In recent years, a trend has developed such that those students
still on internship but having
completed the dissertation enjoy a distinct advantage in the
job market. Accordingly, the
following procedure for completing the dissertation prior
to entering the internship has been
established:
1. A memo from the student’s doctoral committee chairman
to the Graduate College must
accompany the reading copy of the dissertation when it is
submitted to the Graduate
College. The memo should state that the student must complete
the internship prior to
graduation.
2. The student should be advised that the library copy of
the dissertation should not be filed
with the library until after the internship is completed.
3. The student should be advised not to pay the graduation
fee until the appropriate time in
the semester in which the student will complete the internship
and graduate.
4. Following completion of the dissertation, the student
will not be required to enroll in
further dissertation hours but will be required to maintain
continuous enrollment in the
internship course for the number of hours established by the
University.
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