Courses and Credit Hours

Credit Hours

A student entering a doctoral program who possesses a master's degree must earn a minimum of 64 semester hours of graduate credit beyond the master's degree. This includes a minimum of 48 semester hours of graduate level discipline content courses and 16 semester hours of research credit.

A student who possesses only a baccalaureate degree must earn a minimum of 94 semester hours of graduate credit beyond the baccalaureate degree (required total semester hours can vary depending on the degree program). This includes a minimum of 78 semester hours of graduate level discipline content courses and 16 semester hours of research credit.

A student who possesses a master's degree but who is attempting to obtain a second master's degree enroute to a doctoral degree must meet the same credit hour requirements as the baccalaureate only student.

A student who possesses a specialist degree may count a maximum of 21 semester hours of specialist work in the doctoral program with the approval of the Graduate School and program advisor. Schools may have requirements that exceed the minimums established by the University.

Doctoral Committee

Each doctoral student must have a Research Advisor and a doctoral committee appointed. For Ph.D., Ed.D., and D.A. students, a committee must be appointed before the written comprehensive exam is taken. Clinical doctoral programs that do not require comprehensive exams must appoint the doctoral committee at the point a student begins proposal research.

At minimum, a doctoral committee for Ph.D., Ed.D. and D.A. students must consist of:

a Research Advisor, who must be from within the program/discipline area and must hold a current Doctoral Research Endorsement [DRE] status. Faculty wishing to continue to serve as Research Advisor after retirement must hold a current Retired Graduate Faculty status with DRE (RGF/DRE).
one additional faculty Committee Member from within the program/discipline area;
one additional faculty Committee Member from within a related discipline or area of inquiry;
a Faculty Representative (needs to be outside the program discipline).

Doctoral scholarly project committees require a minimum of three committee members to include a research advisor, an additional committee member from the program or related discipline and a third faculty member or approved clinician.

All Committee Members and Faculty Representative must hold a current Graduate Faculty (GF) status. The doctoral committee is subject to the approval of the program advisor and the Graduate School.

The student and all members of the Doctoral Committee will receive confirmation of the approved committee assignments. Unless the student or Research Advisor informs the Graduate School or the Graduate School informs the student of the need for a change, the doctoral committee membership will remain the same from the written comprehensive examination throughout the dissertation or doctoral scholarly project research stages of the program.

The Graduate School reviews and confirms the membership of student's doctoral committee each time a Request to Schedule the Doctoral Examination (oral comps and dissertation defense) is submitted and upon submission of the student's dissertation proposal.

While the research advisor is the primary mentor of the student in conducting research and writing the dissertation, the entire committee is responsible for ensuring the academic rigor of the dissertation. Each member of the committee should provide guidance and feedback from their respective disciplinary view point. Each member of the committee has editorial responsibility to ensure that a student's dissertation follows the chosen style manual in formatting and citations. Doctoral committees should meet with doctoral students at least one time per year to receive a progress update from the student and file a progress report with the Graduate School. If, in the view of the research advisor or committee members, a student is failing to make adequate progress, the committee may compose an agreement between the committee and the student with milestones for adequate progress and deadlines. If the student does not meet the expectations and deadlines for adequate progress, the doctoral committee may recommend program termination.

The Graduate Dean charges the Faculty Representative with upholding the standards and expectations of the Graduate Faculty. The faculty representative is a full voting member with all the rights and responsibilities of any other member and must be present at the student’s oral examination, proposal hearing, and final dissertation defense. The faculty representative must hold Graduate Faculty status. The faculty representative is expected to actively contribute conceptual, theoretical, methodological and/or academic expertise from an alternative disciplinary perspective and provide an impartial evaluation of the student’s academic work.

No faculty member will be appointed to a doctoral committee without their consent. University faculty who have not been appointed Graduate Faculty, Clinical Graduate Faculty, Doctoral Research or Retired Graduate Faculty status by the Graduate Council shall not be appointed as members of doctoral committees. An Honorary member is not required, but is allowed when an off campus faculty member with research expertise related to the study is requested. An Honorary committee member must apply for and receive Graduate Faculty Equivalence status. The Honorary committee member is a full voting member with all the rights and responsibilities of other members of the committee and must be present at the student’s doctoral oral examination, dissertation proposal and dissertation defense.

Any change of membership or role (faculty rep, co-research advisor, committee member) requires a change of committee membership form to the Graduate School www.unco.edu/graduate-school/pdf/Change-Committee.pdf. Changes to the membership of a doctoral committee should be rare and made only after the student and the research advisor have consulted. Students who wish to replace a committee member are urged to communicate the desire and rationale for the change directly to the specific faculty member in person. If a committee member or faculty representative is unable to be present during an oral examination, proposal hearing or dissertation or doctoral scholarly project defense, the program area shall appoint an eligible member of the graduate faculty to replace the original committee member on the student's doctoral committee. The Graduate School must be notified of the replacement before the oral exam, proposal hearing or final defense. If a replacement cannot be appointed prior to the examination, proposal or defense, the exam must be rescheduled for a future date. The concerns and recommendations of all committee members, including the faculty representative, are crucial to the dissertation approval process.

Faculty Committee Load Policy

An individual graduate faculty member may serve on ten active doctoral research committees at any one time and may serve as the research or co-research advisor on no more than five of these ten committees. Exceptions to the committee maximums may be permitted only if agreed to by the graduate faculty member, school director or department chair and college dean as follows:

The faculty member involved agrees that their load (current or projected) allows adequate time to take on an additional student without adversely affecting the responsibility of the school/department to other students and to programs offered by the school/department.
The school director or department chair approves the additional student. Approval indicates that the director has reviewed the current load of the faculty member and does not feel the additional load will adversely affect the responsibility of the school/department to other students and to programs offered by the school/department.
The Graduate Dean has approved the exception(s).

An individual school/department may elect to impose more stringent limitations on its faculty with respect to the number of committees on which they may serve. "Active doctoral student" is defined as one who is currently enrolled.

Plan of Study

Student's program advisor, appointed and approved by the major school/department, shall supervise the planning of a student’s doctoral degree program. In conjunction with the appointed advisor, each doctoral student must prepare a long-range plan of study that clearly specifies core requirements, elective, transfer, double-numbered coursework, and if applicable, research tools and doctoral minor.

Doctoral degree student must follow a plan of study that clearly specifies core requirements and identifies elective, transfer, and double numbered course work. The plan includes all course and non-course requirements published in the Graduate Catalog. The student's Degree Works page should display the plan of study.

As of spring semester 2024, the Graduate School will no longer accept or process a Plan of Study form separate from the student's Degree Works page. Any changes or additions to the program course requirements or electives must be submitted to the Graduate School using the course adjustment form.

Students should take the responsibility to make sure any deviations from the Catalog are documented on their Degree Works audit.

Changes to the Plan of Study must be approved by the advisor and submitted in writing to the Graduate School on the course adjustment form found at www.unco.edu/graduate-school/student-resources/current-students/graduate-school-forms.aspx. Students should take the responsibility to make sure any deviations from the Plan of Study are documented on their Degree Works audit.

Comprehensive Examinations: Written

All examinations and the defense of the dissertation must be scheduled with the approval of all committee members. They may not be performed on weekends or when the University offices are closed for holidays. The Graduate School discourages the scheduling of written comprehensive exams prior to the start of classes each term.

Each doctoral student must pass a written comprehensive examination that is designed, administered, and evaluated by the graduate faculty of the major school/department and by other qualified individuals as specified by the research advisor. A student must maintain enrollment in the program and have active status at the time of the examination. A student on an approved Leave of Absence is not permitted to complete a comprehensive exam during the LOA period. This examination may not be taken until the student has:

been granted regular admission to the degree program;
filed an approved plan of study;
completed at least 36 semester hours (60 semester hours if baccalaureate only student) of work applicable toward the degree -- at least 24 semester hours must be UNC credit;
maintained active status in the program;
maintained a grade point average of at least 3.00 in their graduate degree program;
a doctoral committee appointed by the Graduate School;
obtained approval from the research advisor to take the exam.

The major school/department is responsible for scheduling the date, time, and place of the written comprehensive examination(s). Each student must check the school/department requirements at the beginning of their program of study. Written comprehensive examinations may not be performed on weekends or when University offices are closed for the holidays.

For comprehensive examinations that are timed, once an exam session begins, it is considered a take of the examination. If the student leaves the examination session and does not return or does not complete the exam during the allotted time frame, the examination will be considered taken and the exam will be evaluated accordingly. For take-home examinations that are not strictly timed, the school/department should determine a starting time/date and ending time/date during which the student must complete the exam.

Once the examination has been evaluated, the program advisor must submit a signed report form to the Graduate School indicating a pass or failure of the examination by the deadline established for that semester by the Graduate School.

The results of the written comprehensive examinations must be reported to the Graduate School no later than the semester following the examination or the Graduate School may require a repeat of the examination. Results of the written comprehensive examinations will not be recorded if the student's program is inactive because of non-enrollment or if the student is currently on an approved Leave of Absence.

A retake may not be scheduled during the same semester that the original examination was completed. Failure of the retake of the examination or its equivalent will result in the termination of the student's degree program.

Electronic Attendance Policy

Doctoral students’ oral comprehensive, proposal and final dissertation/doctoral scholarly project defense examinations require the attendance of the student, all committee members, including the faculty representative, external and honorary members. Attendance, for the purpose of this policy, is defined as either a physical/in-person presence on campus or an electronic presence (e.g., telephone/conference call, video conferencing by online meeting platform.

Electronic attendance by the student or committee members assume the technology is viable and works continuously throughout the examination of the student.
Should the technology fail or be disrupted in any committee meeting (orals, proposal, or final dissertation/doctoral scholarly project defense) in excess of 15 minutes the Research Advisor and/or Faculty Rep must contact the Graduate School and reschedule the examination for a later date. In such cases, the student will not be subject to the two-week period required for public announcement of the examination. If the examination continues with failed technology for more than 15 minutes, the results will not be accepted by the Graduate School and the student will need to reschedule and will be subject to the two-week period for public announcement.

Online and In-country programs

With the consent of their program, doctoral students, in programs delivered online or in country, are permitted to attend their oral comprehensive examination and dissertation/doctoral scholarly project proposal hearing electronically provided the doctoral research committee has, in advance of the hearing, received all necessary and relevant documents, visuals and or materials. Doctoral students, in online programs must attend the final dissertation defense, in person, on the main campus to allow attendance by members of the academic community. Doctoral students whose programs are delivered in country will defend their dissertation/doctoral scholarly project at a location determined by the doctoral program and Dean of the Graduate School.

Main campus programs: Consistent with the delivery method of their programs doctoral students enrolled in main campus programs must attend their oral comprehensives, proposal hearing and final dissertation/doctoral scholarly project defense, in person, on the main campus. In rare cases, doctoral students, with the support of their research advisor, may petition the Graduate School to be exempted from this policy to be permitted to attend either the oral comprehensive examination or the proposal hearing electronically. Doctoral students enrolled in main campus programs must attend their final dissertation defense in person, no exceptions.

Research Advisor/Co-Research Advisor for a student in online or main campus doctoral programs is expected to attend an advisee’s oral comprehensives, proposal hearing and final dissertation/doctoral scholarly project defense, in person, on the main campus. The Graduate School (or designee) will consider a petition for exemption from this policy in limited circumstances (e.g., the Research Advisor is out of town on sabbatical leave). If the Research Advisor/Co-Research Advisor cannot be present in person on the main campus for an advisee’s examination or defense, the Graduate School will, in most cases, require the examination or defense to be rescheduled.

Committee Members

All members of doctoral research committees (research and co-research advisors, program representatives, members from related disciplines, and external and honorary members) must be present at doctoral students’ oral comprehensive examinations, dissertation proposal defense and final dissertation/doctoral scholarly project defense. No more than two of the four committee members may, attend the oral comprehensive examination and proposal defense via electronic means. Committee members must plan ahead and discuss the desire to attend electronically with the doctoral student and the student’s Research Advisor. The Research Advisor and doctoral student work together in advance of the examination or defense to secure the needed technology and space (room, conferencing number, etc.). The student will indicate and the Research Advisor will confirm committee members’ electronic attendance on The Request to Schedule a Doctoral Examination form submitted to the Graduate School in advance of the examination. In the event of unforeseen circumstance or a weather related emergency, two of the four committee members may attend oral comprehensive examinations or proposal hearings electronically.

Comprehensive Examinations: Oral

After passing the written comprehensive examination, doctoral students must take and pass an oral comprehensive examination. The research advisor serves as chairperson of the oral comprehensive examination committee and directs the student to arrange the date, time and place of the oral examination with all committee members. After all arrangements are made, the student or program advisor will notify the Graduate School by forwarding a signed and completed Request to Schedule a Doctoral Examination form at least two weeks prior to the date of the examination.

In order for the Graduate School to approve a request for the student to take the examination, the following conditions must be met:

The committee members and faculty representative must be the same as those approved by the Graduate School.
The written comprehensive examination results must have been received and recorded by the Graduate School prior to requesting to schedule the oral comprehensive examination.
A student must be in compliance with the continuous enrollment policy by being enrolled in at least one (1) graduate credit hour.
The student's program must be active.
The student must not be on an approved Leave of Absence.
Annual progress review from program on file in the Graduate School for each year prior to students scheduling their oral exam.
The Request to Schedule a Doctoral Examination must be turned in to the Graduate School at least two weeks (14 calendar days) before the requested date of the examination to allow the Graduate School to publicize the examination. Exceptions to this rule must be accompanied by an explanation of the late request from the Research Advisor and will be considered on a case by case basis. No exam/defense will be allowed with less than one week prior notice.

The student is responsible for confirming the date and time of the examination with all of their committee members. If the committee needs to review any documents prior to the examination, the student should send materials to the committee at least two (2) weeks in advance. The Graduate School will approve and publicize the examination date, time and place in the Graduate School calendar or in any other appropriate university publication and forward a Results of the Oral Comprehensive Exam form to the student’s Research Advisor.

Any examination which is not scheduled in advance through the Graduate School will not be recognized as valid and must be rescheduled.

All committee members and the faculty representative must be present at the examination or a substitute assigned according to the guidelines for Doctoral Committees. The student’s performances on the examination will be evaluated as:

pass;
may pass when conditions are met (specific conditions and a timeline for completion must be recorded on the Results of the Oral Comprehensive Examination form before turning in to the Graduate School); or,
fail, with the option of "retake permitted" or "retake not permitted" which should be specified on the Results of the Oral Comprehensive Examination form before submitting it to the Graduate School. A decision not to permit a retake will result in the student's termination from the degree program. If the student does not pass during the first attempt of the oral comprehensive examination, and a retake is permitted by the committee, the retake may not be scheduled during the same semester that the original examination was completed. Only one retake is allowed. Failure of the examination retake will result in termination of the student's degree program.

At least three-fourths of the committee members must agree on the final evaluation.

All members of the UNC faculty are invited to attend and may ask questions of the student after the committee members finish their questioning. Other graduate students may also attend with permission from student's research advisor.

The results of the oral comprehensive examinations must be reported to the Graduate School no later than the semester following the examination or defense or the Graduate School may require a repeat of the examination.

Progress Review

Schools/departments are to evaluate and provide an annual program progress report for each doctoral student until the student passes the oral comprehensive examination.

Doctoral student advisors will be responsible for obtaining the following information for each assigned advisee:

Student’s self-evaluations of their academic performance and professional development,
Student’s grades in all graduate courses during the evaluation period,
Performance ratings from instructors for all graduate courses during the evaluation period,
Assessment of the student’s professional development from appropriate school/department faculty. Based on the data collected, each doctoral advisor will meet with each student’s doctoral committee to develop and provide a summary of the student’s strengths and area(s) for improvement. Emphasis should be placed on acknowledging accomplishments and professional growth where appropriate.

Recommendations for improvement should include specific changes expected in the student’s performance or behavior, means of assessing the changes, and the time period by which the change is expected to occur. Improvements or lack of change in areas recommended from prior progress reports should be documented. Signatures of the advisor is required on the progress report.

The progress report will include a clear recommendation to the school director/department chair of the Graduate Program Committee (GPC) of whether the student is to be continued each year without conditions, continued with conditions, or not supported for continuation. If conditions for improvement are stipulated, the student must be informed by the Graduate Program Committee (GPC), in writing, of the conditions and specific changes required to satisfy the conditions. If the school/department does not have a GPC, the report will be submitted directly to the school director or department chair.

The following procedures must be followed prior to submitting a recommendation to discontinue a doctoral student’s program for causes other than poor academic performance:

The student must be informed of the pattern of behavior or incident(s) that has given rise to concern among the school/department faculty members and that led to the recommendation for program discontinuation. These concerns should be noted in the student's annual progress review.
The student must be given an opportunity to meet with and address the observed behavior or incident with the school/departments Graduate Program Committee (GPC) or with the student’s doctoral committee for school/departments with no graduate program committee. Following the meeting, the GPC or doctoral committee must either reassert the concerns or withdraw the concerns in writing to the department chair or school director.

If the complaint arises from an unprofessional behavior or other behavioral concerns, the student will be given a clearly defined probationary period during which clear behavioral objectives are provided to either rectify the concerns or change the behavior. Clear means of assessing improvement will be provided.

If the complaint results from an egregious violation of laws or published university or school/department policy, rules or professional ethics, or responsible conduct of research, then the reviewing committee can recommend program termination. The program faculty must provide clear documented evidence of the incident(s) or violation with the recommendation for program termination.

Copies of the progress report are to be provided by the GPC or student doctoral committee to the school director or department chair no later than April 15 of each year and copied to the student. A department chair or school director may agree or disagree with the GPC’s or doctoral committee recommendation. If in agreement with the recommendation, the director or chair will approve and submit the progress report to the Dean of the Graduate School and a copy to the college dean by May 1. The student and GPC or doctoral committee will be informed in writing of the approval. If in disagreement with the GPC’s or doctoral committee’s recommendation, the school director or department chair will invite the student’s program advisor and the GPC chair or doctoral committee members to discuss the disagreement. After the meeting, the GPC chair or student’s doctoral advisor will approve and submit the original progress report recommendation to the Graduate Dean with a copy to the college dean and student.

Modify and submit the recommendation to include conditions agreed to by the school director/department chair and GPC or doctoral committee (or add conditions) to the Graduate Dean with a copy to the college dean and student.

Change and submit the recommendation as agreed to by the department chair/school director and GPC or doctoral committee with explanation any additional documentation and signed acknowledgement from the department chair/school director and GPC chair or doctoral committee members. The advisor and GPC members or doctoral committee members may submit additional comments or documentation to support the GPC chair’s decision or to express opposition to the chair’s decision. The changed recommendation will then be submitted to the Dean of the Graduate School with a copy to the college dean and student.

If there is a recommendation for program termination, the student should follow the Academic Appeals Policy.

Doctoral Dissertation

Doctoral Dissertation

All doctoral programs require either a doctoral dissertation or Doctoral Scholarly Project (DSP) pertaining to a significant topic in the candidate's major. For students in programs requiring a dissertation (i.e., D.A., Ed.D., or Ph.D.), four (4) credit hours of dissertation-proposal (797) are required. No more than four (4) credit hours of proposal (797) may be applied to the minimum credit requirements of a student's program. Programs will determine the total number of dissertation credit hours (799) for completion of a doctoral degree. Doctoral programs must require at least twelve (12) credit hours but no more than thirty (30) credit hours of dissertation. The number of dissertation credit hours (799) required for the program is listed in the graduate catalog.

Students may not enroll in more than one-half of the required 799 dissertation credit hours before advancing to candidacy. Work associated with 799 credits completed prior to candidacy must directly apply to the dissertation.

After advancing to doctoral candidacy, students may be eligible for an exception to the full-time/part-time enrollment status policy.

Students enrolled in programs requiring a doctoral scholarly project (i.e., Au.D. or D.N.P.) are not required to register for 797 or 799. The program will determine the content and methodology of the Doctoral Scholarly Project (DSP), and the total number of credit hours for the course assigned. Expectations and requirements for the DSP are listed in the graduate catalog.

Dissertation Proposal

The dissertation proposal must be presented to the student’s doctoral committee for approval prior to engaging in final data collection. In addition, the approved dissertation proposal must be filed electronically with the Graduate School. Students must have an approved IRB application or an approved IACUC (Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee) application if using human participants or animal subjects, respectively, prior to data collection. Although all 797 and 799 credits will be graded with an S or U in the semesters for which students registered for the credits, final approval of the dissertation by the Graduate School is required for a student to graduate. Students pursuing the Au.D. or D.N.P are not required to file their approved doctoral scholarly project proposals with the Graduate School.

The dissertation proposal is crucial in the dissertation process and should culminate with a formal dissertation proposal hearing. The proposal shall be presented to the student's entire committee in a timely manner as specified by the committee (typically at least two weeks prior to the proposal hearing). Students coordinate with their research advisor and doctoral committee to schedule the date, time and location of the proposal hearing which is not scheduled with the Graduate School. The full committee, including the faculty representative (for dissertation committees), must be present at the proposal hearing.

After the proposal hearing, 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.

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.

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 or capstone (including securing IRB or IACUC 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 proposal hearing is done with the program office according to the major school or departmental policies.

Filing Dissertation Proposal

In order for the Graduate School to record a student's successful proposal defense, the student shall submit an electronic copy of the approved proposal, signed signature page IRB or IACUC approval (if applicable) and signed Verification of Research Subject or Participant Compliance form www.unco.edu/graduate-school/pdf/verification-research-subject-compliance.pdf shall be submitted to the Graduate School. The student will not be entered into candidacy until the proposal and required accompanying documents are submitted. Students are also responsible for maintaining their own copy of the entire proposal in a secure location until the time of their graduation.

Doctoral Candidacy

Doctoral students advance to candidacy upon passing the written and oral comprehensive examinations and filing an approved dissertation proposal and submitting all the required paperwork for the dissertation proposal to the Graduate School. Because the term Doctoral Candidate has a specific institutional connotation, doctoral students may not use the term ‘Doctoral Candidate’ until this status is documented by the Graduate School.

The Graduate School will consider the dissertation proposal as accepted unless the Graduate School Dean objects to the proposal. If the Dean objects, the proposal will be sent to the student and research advisor with specific written request for revisions.

If a doctoral committee reports to the Graduate School that a student has failed the dissertation proposal, the committee must also send a recommendation for the Graduate School to terminate the student's program. The Graduate School will expect the doctoral committee to create a document with justification for the program termination that can be shared with the student.

Dissertation and Doctoral Defense

The student will complete the research and write the dissertation in close collaboration with their research advisor(s). Students in Clinical doctoral programs (Au.D. and DNP) will complete a doctoral scholarly project. Clinical doctoral students must meet the requirements for the doctoral scholarly project relative to their catalog year. All students must follow the school/department style guide as well as the Graduate School guidelines for writing the doctoral dissertation (or doctoral scholarly project). The Graduate School Doctoral Dissertation and Doctoral Scholarly Project Format Manual can be found on the Graduate School website. Student should discuss discipline specific formatting rules with their doctoral committee advisor.

Upon completion of the dissertation or project, the research advisor should direct the student to arrange the date, time and place of the defense of the dissertation or doctoral scholarly project with all committee members. After all arrangements are made, the student or research advisor will notify the Graduate School by forwarding a signed and completed Request to Schedule a Doctoral Examination form, currently found at www.unco.edu/graduate-school/pdf/Request-Schedule-Doctoral-Exam.pdf.

In order for the Graduate School to approve a request for the student to defend the dissertation or doctoral scholarly project, the following conditions must be met:

The committee members and faculty representative (for dissertation committees) must be the same as those approved by the Graduate School.
The student's plan of study in Degree Works must be correct and updated with any necessary course adjustments submitted by program/research advisor.
Written and oral comprehensive examination results, and dissertation proposal (if applicable) must have been received and recorded by the Graduate School.
The student must have been admitted into candidacy at least one semester prior to requesting to defend the dissertation.
The student's program must be active.
The student must be in compliance with the continuous enrollment policy by enrolling in at least 1 graduate credit. If the student has already completed all program requirements, including the required number of dissertation (799) hours, then the student shall be charged the continuous registration fee of $150.
The student cannot be on an approved leave of absence at the time of the defense.
The Request to Schedule a Doctoral examination must be turned in to the Graduate School at least two weeks (14 calendar days) before the requested date of the defense to allow for the dissertation or doctoral scholarly project defense to be publicized. The defense may not be schedule for weekends or when University offices are closed for holidays as the defense is considered a public hearing.
The defense of the dissertation or doctoral scholarly project must be scheduled at least five weeks (35 calendar days) prior to the anticipated graduation date. If it is not, the student's degree shall not be conferred until the following semester.

The student is responsible for confirming the date and time of the examination with all of the committee members. The Graduate School will approve and publicize the examination date, time and place in any appropriate university site or publication two weeks prior to the scheduled date. The Graduate School forwards a results form to the student’s Research Advisor as approval of the defense.

Any examination which is not scheduled in advance through the Graduate School will not be recognized as valid and must be retaken.

Prior to the defense date, the research advisor should discuss the nature and purpose of the dissertation or doctoral scholarly project defense with the student. Generally, the student is instructed to prepare a brief presentation of the study from the purpose to the results and discussion.

All committee members including the faculty representative must be present through the entire defense or a substitute assigned according to the guidelines for Doctoral Committee. All members of the graduate faculty may attend the defense and may ask questions of the student after the committee members finish their questioning. Other graduate students may attend with permission from the research advisor. The committee is free to ask any questions pertaining to the dissertation. The student is expected to understand and demonstrate expertise on all aspects of the study including the data analyses and theoretical or practical implications and should avoid being unaware of the procedure or logic followed in the data analyses. The dissertation committee will evaluate the student’s performance at the defense as well as the written dissertation as a "pass", "may pass with conditions", or "failed" on the results of the dissertation defense form.

Pass: If the student passes the defense, the research advisor shall obtain the electronic signatures of the research committee members on the results form, and submit the form to the Graduate School. The student shall proceed to make any corrections to the dissertation that are required by the research committee and submit the corrected dissertation to the committee members (if required) for their review. The student must provide 1 electronic of the signature page for Graduate School records.
May Pass: If the research committee requires the student to meet stated conditions, the research advisor shall list the conditions on the results form along with a timeline for completion, obtain the signatures of the committee members on the results form, and submit the form to the Graduate School. The list of conditions must include a statement regarding the number of additional defense meetings (if applicable) and the amount of additional time allowed by the research committee. The student shall proceed to make any corrections required by the research committee and submit the corrected dissertation to the committee members for their electronic signatures. The results form shall be retained by the Graduate School until either conditions are met, or the committee deems the student has not met the conditions. After the student submits the corrected dissertation, or otherwise attempts to meet the required conditions, the research advisor shall obtain the original results form from the Graduate School. If the student does not meet the stated conditions, the Graduate School shall then notify the student that the degree program is terminated.
Failed: If a student fails the defense, the research advisor shall obtain the electronic signatures of the research committee members on the results form and submit the form to the Graduate School. The Graduate School shall then notify the student that the student's degree program is terminated.
The committee must reach a unanimous decision on the final evaluation of the candidate’s dissertation defense. If the committee cannot reach consensus, then committee members may initiate the Dissertation Objection process.

The results of dissertation and doctoral scholarly project defenses must be reported to the Graduate School no later than the semester following the defense or the Graduate School may require the student to repeat the defense.

Dissertation Filing

After completing any necessary revisions and obtaining approval of the dissertation by the student's research committee, students must submit the following to the Graduate School for formatting review and final approval by the Dean of the Graduate School.

an electronic copy of the final dissertation in either MS Word or pdf
Verification of Research Subject or Participant Compliance form www.unco.edu/graduate-school/student-resources/current-students/graduate-school-forms.aspx
the IRB or IACUC approval or confirmation of IRB exemption and at least one (1) electronic signature page

The student will then be asked to make revisions and/or submit one (1) electronic copy of the final dissertation to the Graduate School for the Dean's signature. The dissertation is not approved until signed by the Dean of the Graduate School. Documents will receive two formatting reviews. Students who do not have the dissertation in the correct format by the third submission to the Graduate School shall be moved to the next semester for degree conferral.

If the dissertation is not filed with the Graduate School at least four weeks (28 calendar days) before the student’s anticipated graduation date, the student degree shall not be conferred until the following semester.

Upon filing the dissertation, the Graduate School will require each doctoral student to complete specific forms relating to the dissertation and will bill the student's UNC account for digital archiving and dissemination of the dissertation. Final submission procedures and necessary forms can be found on the Graduate School website (www.unco.edu/graduate-school/student-resources/current-students/graduate-school-forms.aspx). The dissertation will be electronically stored and the dissertation abstract will be published in ProQuest Information and Learning (formally Dissertation Abstracts) and in the University Library’s Digital UNC. The Graduate School follows an electronic only process for dissertations.

Dissertation Objection

If a dissertation is filed with all but one of the signatures of the research committee members, the Dean of the Graduate School or their designee will ask the non-signing member if they wish to enter a formal objection(s). Should the committee member file an objection, the Dean of the Graduate School will appoint a review committee to assess the specific objection(s). If the review committee rules that the objection(s) does/do not justify the rejection of the study, the chairperson of the review committee will sign the dissertation in place of the dissenting faculty member. If the review committee rules that the objection(s) is/are valid, the student must take appropriate steps to modify the dissertation in order to gain the approval of the original dissertation committee.

Research Requirements

Research Core

Doctoral students enrolled in Ph.D., Ed.D., and D.A. programs must complete a research core of at least 12 semester hours of research courses or methods of inquiry designated as appropriate to the discipline and approved by the Graduate Council. Courses numbered XXX 622 (Directed Studies) shall not be used to substitute for courses in the research core. The research core of 12 semester hours does not pertain to students in clinical doctoral programs (Au.D. and DNP).

The Graduate School will not waive this requirement but can approve appropriate substitute research courses or methods up to the full 12 semester hours. The program advisor must provide a written request to substitute an alternative course, a syllabus for each course, and rationale for the requested substitute(s) to the Graduate Dean.

Research Tools

All Ph.D. students must demonstrate competency in two acceptable research tools. A research tool is defined as exhibiting advanced knowledge and/or demonstrating a set of skills related to a specifiable technique or method that contributes to the student's ability to conduct doctoral level research in the discipline. Schools/departments will determine acceptable research tools such as languages, applied statistics, mathematical statistics, research methods, and computer languages/applications.

Collateral Field

With the approval of the major school/department and the Dean of the Graduate School doctoral students may use a collateral field of study as a substitute for one of the research tools. A collateral field of at least 12 credit hours is defined as advanced and specialized or focused knowledge and competence within a specifiable content area or skill area from a related discipline that contributes to the student's ability to conduct doctoral level research in their major discipline (e.g., advanced cognitive theory, applications of distance education technology or multimedia technology to the classroom). The level of competency and the assessment of competency is established by each school/department and must be approved by the Dean of the Graduate School.

Means of evaluating the student's knowledge or skill must be included on the plan of study to indicate how each research tool requirement is to be satisfied. Acceptable evaluation of research tools might include examinations in academic courses, competency demonstrations evaluated by advisors and committee members, or alternative testing or competency demonstration procedures developed within the school/department.

Graduation Check

Upon a student's admission to doctoral candidacy, the Graduate School will conduct a preliminary graduation check. Any discrepancies between the transcript and the plan of study must be corrected with either a new plan of study or a course adjustment form initiated by the advisor. Upon receipt of the preliminary graduation check, the student must thereafter notify the Graduate School by completing an online Application for Graduation form. The Application for Graduation notifies the Graduate School to conduct a full audit of the student's program requirements and notify the student if the application for graduation has been approved, approved with conditions, or not approved. If an application is not approved, the student will be notified of the issues. The student must file a new application for graduation one the identified issues are resolved.

All graduating students are encouraged to attend graduation. Those students participating in the graduation ceremony are required to wear appropriate academic regalia. Diplomas are not issued at the graduation ceremony. All Graduate students must complete a Diploma Request Card. The diploma will be mailed to the address provided by the student on the Diploma Request Card at unco.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eFKGypwCVx5gmji. Failure to provide a current mailing address could result in a delay in receipt of the diploma. No diploma will be issued until all requirements for graduation have been met. The university does not mail diploma covers to graduates.

Hooding. The candidate's research advisor(s) shall hood the candidate at the graduation ceremony. If the research advisor is unable to attend the ceremony, the Graduate School will identify an appropriate alternate to hood the student.

Time Limit

The maximum time allowed for completion of a doctoral degree is eight calendar years beginning with the student's first semester of enrollment after admission has been granted.

If a student has completed a Specialist in Education degree at the time they begin a doctoral degree program and if the student is permitted to include 21 semester hours of their specialist degree credits in the doctoral program, the student shall have a maximum time limit of five calendar years to earn the doctoral degree.

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Doctoral Degree Requirements