Research Proposal and Dissertation
The student should confirm the composition of the doctoral committee prior to registering for any 797 (proposal) hours. The same doctoral committee will serve as the oral comprehensive examination committee and research committee unless a change is deemed necessary as explained in Doctoral Committee section.
A dissertation proposal and final dissertation should be developed pertaining to a significant topic in the candidate’s major and is required of all doctoral students. Minimum credit for the dissertation proposal (797) is 4 semester hours, and for the final dissertation (799) is 12 semester hours.
The dissertation proposal should be presented to the student’s doctoral committee and the Graduate School for approval prior to engaging in final data collection. Preliminary data collection prior to approval of the proposal is acceptable only as far as it is necessary for developing appropriate skills and methods of research. All 797 (proposal) and 799 (dissertation) hours will result in a grade of "NR" until the final product of each has been approved by the Graduate School. Once the proposal and final dissertation have been approved by the doctoral committee and the Graduate School, the Graduate School will authorize the Registrar to change all prior grades to "S".
The dissertation proposal is crucial in the dissertation process and should culminate with a formal and public dissertation proposal hearing. The proposal shall be presented to the student's entire committee in a timely manner. Students coordinate with their research advisor to schedule the proposal hearing. The student is responsible for scheduling the dates, time and location of the proposal hearing. The faculty representative must be present at both, the proposal hearing and the final dissertation defense. Approval of the dissertation proposal establishes the expectations for the final dissertation and assures agreement among the committee with the student’s methods and research strategy prior to proceeding to the final stages of the dissertation (including securing IRB approval prior to data collection). The proposal hearing also allows the committee to introduce required changes or additions to a student’s proposed project while changes are still possible. Scheduling the defense hearing is done with the program office according to the major school policies.
After the proposal hearing, the proposal is to be revised according to committee requirements. During the proposal hearing, committee members will direct questions to the student and point out concerns regarding the proposed project. It is a good idea for the student to take careful notes of all comments and concerns made and then review the notes with the committee before the hearing is over to insure that all the requested changes are included. It will be the student’s responsibility, in consultation with the research advisor, to address those concerns in a revised proposal. It is recommended that the student summarize the changes that have been incorporated into the revised proposal to assist the committee in identifying and locating the changes that have been made.
The revised proposal should then be circulated with a signature page to the committee for review and signature if they approve of the revisions. A second committee meeting is optional but could be required by the committee due to the extensive nature of the expected changes or to expedite the approval process. All committee members’ signatures are required.
Filing Proposal. An electronic copy of the approved proposal, signed signature page and signed non-plagiarism affirmation shall be submitted to the Graduate School. The student shall sign the non-plagiarism affirmation when the proposal is filed with the Graduate School Office. All doctoral students must submit a paper copy of the signature page with signatures of all committee members. Students must also assume responsibility for maintaining their own copy of the entire proposal in a secure location until the time of their graduation.
Electronic submission. Students should submit an electronic copy of the proposal narrative to the Graduate School. Doctoral students should be prepared to submit a paper copy at any time if requested to do so by the Graduate School or by a member of their committee.
Doctoral Candidacy. Doctoral students advance to candidacy upon passing the written and oral comprehensive examinations and filing an approved dissertation proposal in the Graduate School. Upon meeting all requirements of the Registrar’s Office is authorized to change all prior grades for 797 hours to "S".
The Graduate School will consider the proposal to be accepted unless the Graduate School Dean objects to the proposal. If the Dean objects, the proposal should be sent to the student and research advisor with specific written request for revisions. Students register for prefix 799, Doctoral Dissertation hours with the approval of their research advisor. Approval from the appropriate institutional review board (IRM for human subject research or IACUC for animal research) must be obtained prior to collecting data for the dissertation.