Doctoral Dissertation and Capstone
A dissertation or capstone proposal and final dissertation or capstone should be developed pertaining to a significant topic in the candidate’s major. A dissertation or capstone is required of all doctoral students. For students in programs requiring a dissertation (i.e., D.A., Ed.D., Ph.D) minimum credit for the dissertation proposal (797) is 4 semester hours, and for the final dissertation (799) is 12 semester hours. No more than 4 hours of proposal (797) and 12 hours of dissertation (799) semester hours may be applied to the minimum credit requirements of a student's program. Students in programs requiring a doctoral capstone (i.e., Au.D. or D.N.P.) are not required to register for 797 or 799.
Dissertation or Capstone Proposal
The dissertation proposal or capstone 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. 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 dissertation 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". Student pursuing the Au.D or D.N.P are not required to file their approved capstone proposals with the Graduate School.
The dissertation or capstone proposal is crucial in the dissertation process and should culminate with a formal dissertation or capstone 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 schedule 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 or capstone proposal establishes the expectations for the final dissertation or capstone 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
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 http://www.unco.edu/graduate-school/pdf/Verification-of-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 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, 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. Upon meeting all requirements for the doctoral candidacy, the Graduate School notifies the Office of the Registrar is authorized to change all prior grades for 797 hours to "S".
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.