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General Information

Admission to doctoral candidacy represents the evaluation by the GSC that a student is appropriately qualified to pursue original research in the form of the doctoral dissertation. Admission to candidacy includes all of the following requirements:

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In order to apply for candidacy, students must also have selected a supervisor for the dissertation, selected a topic (sufficiently developed for a comprehensible dissertation summary to be submitted), and secured agreement from the proposed members of the dissertation committee that they will serve. 

Application for Doctoral Candidacy

The Application for Doctoral Candidacy is comprised of three parts: information about the student, including the committee membership; the dissertation summary; and the program of work. The departmental approval process for the Application for Doctoral Candidacy includes all members of the dissertation committee. Once approved at the departmental level, the student will apply online for Graduate School approval. Both processes can take considerable time, especially during the summer when many faculty are not available for approvals. Be sure to plan ahead!

Program of Work

Students are given access to their Program of Work in UTBox, and it is the student’s responsibility to keep it updated each semester. Do not keep multiple versions or copies of your program of work in the UT Box folder. Your Program of Work document will be used for advising, applying for candidacy, and for approval before the final oral exam. The Graduate School requires EDP GSC Chair approval of your Program of Work before your application for candidacy is finalized. Your Area Chair will verify degree completion via your Program of Work in the semester you are holding your final oral. The GSC Chair will use that verification as the basis of signing your Report of Dissertation Committee Form (aka "Gold form") after your final oral.  

Note:  Coursework older than 6 years at the time of the application for candidacy must go through a waiver process to be approved for use. If the coursework is approved, file a copy of the approved form in your UTBox Program of Work folder so the GSC Chair can approve your application for candidacy.  Be careful what date you use for expected date of candidacy. Be careful what date you use for your expected date of candidacy: if you take longer than the approved date, you must go through the process again. Taking a very long time to complete required coursework may be interpreted as not making satisfactory progress towards your degree, and non-candidate students with coursework 6 years or older will be reviewed by the GSC each year in September. The GSC members will decide what measures need to be taken, including coursework that must be repeated.  

Candidacy-Specific Course Registration

During the semester you will be applying for candidacy, you must be registered in EDP 394R: Research, with the proposed dissertation supervisor listed as the course supervisor. These hours will be converted into dissertation hours after the Graduate School approves your application for candidacy, as long as the process is completed early enough in the semester to meet Graduate School deadlines (see chart below). 

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After students apply for candidacy in the Graduate School system and are registered for dissertation hours, they may apply for a study room in the PCL (Perry-Castañeda Library). Occasionally, students may need to share a study room with another graduate student.

Committee Membership

Membership of the dissertation committee is proposed by the student in consultation with the dissertation faculty supervisor. The dissertation committee advises on the research and writing of the dissertation. The supervisor ordinarily acts as the direct supervisor of the student’s work. Other members should be consulted when appropriate to their interest and expertise.

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TIP: Students have found that a key factor in building a successful committee is early identification of faculty members.  Faculty members are often unavailable to discuss possible committee membership during the summer, or may already be serving on multiple dissertation committees. A more extensive search than originally planned may be required. In addition, faculty who are not teaching during the summer are not obligated to be involved in academic activities.

Dissertation Summary

The dissertation summary should be concise (no more than 4500 characters, including spaces; straight text only—this will be input to the Graduate School system and no enhanced formatting will survive), and written in language understandable to the average educated layperson. The first paragraph should provide background, problem statement, relevant theory, and purpose of the proposed research. The second paragraph should address methodology, including the number of subjects and data analysis strategy. Students may add a final paragraph or sentences regarding expected results and/or importance of the research. Citations are not necessary.  

Specialized Competency

The departmental application for candidacy includes a section where you will input information about how you fulfilled the required specialized competency. Check with your faculty or dissertation adviser regarding the information for this section.  

Checklist for applying for candidacy

1. Write summary and obtain approval from supervisor(s) and any committee members who want to approve before committing to membership.
2. Update your Program of Work in your UTBox. 
3. Complete the departmental form for Application for Candidacy.  
4. Email completed Application to your committee members (be sure to copy the EDP Graduate Coordinator) and obtain approval from all committee members by return email (Graduate Coordinator does not need to be copied after initial email).
5. After all members have approved, file online for candidacy with the Graduate School.
   • If you have co-supervisors, input your primary EDP co-supervisor first in the online system. Your primary EDP co-supervisor will be input as Supervisor and the secondary co-supervisor as Co-supervisor.
   • You will search for your committee members' names by inputting the last names only and then selecting the correct faculty persons. Non-EDP GSC members and non-UT members will be added in a separate section, and you will be directed to submit their CVs and no-expense statements (members who appear in the UT Directory do not have to submit a no-expense statement).
   • The Graduate School system does not make paragraph breaks so, if it is very important to you that everyone know where a new paragraph begins in your summary, put <> at the end or beginning of each paragraph. Don't worry about the formatting: everyone involved is used to the system. This system accommodates only 4500 characters, including spaces, and does not allow for anything other than plain text.

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You can check exact Graduate School deadlines for each semester.

Candidacy Process Flowchart