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Advancement Information

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• Administered by each program area: CSP, EPP, PHEL, and ExecEdD.  Check with your faculty advisor to determine your eligibility and method of completing this requirement. More information is available in the Specialization Paper Policy. 

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The process for completing a Doctoral dissertation is fourfold. 

1. 1. A student will prepare and defend a dissertation proposal consisting of the first three chapters before all members of the dissertation committee, including the chair.
   2. Once the proposal is approved by the committee, the student must complete the advancement to doctoral candidacy application process.
   3. Upon successful advancement, the student will conduct the research activities under the guidance of the dissertation chair and committee. 
   4. The student will defend the completed dissertation before the committee.  After successfully defending and satisfactorily completing any required revisions, the student would earn the Ph.D.

Prepare Dissertation/Treatise proposal

• Select chair/supervisor and members for the dissertation/treatise committee. Information about the composition of the dissertation committee can be found on the Graduate School website.
  • To determine if a faculty member is on the Graduate Studies Committee (GSC), which might impact their eligibility to be on your dissertation committee, talk to your advisor. It is the responsibility of the student to secure a faculty supervisor and committee that meets the requirements of the Graduate School.
  • The committee for a Doctoral dissertation must be comprised of four individuals.  The chair of the committee must be a faculty member with GSC status in the Department.  The second and third committee members must be faculty or and/or senior lecturers with GSC status in the Department. The fourth member must be an outside member, who holds a doctorate degree, who is not a member of the student’s GSC. The fourth member, if external to the University, will need to submit a curriculum vitae and a letter indicating his/her willingness to serve on the dissertation committee. 
• Prepare your proposal (traditionally, this is the first 3 chapters of your dissertation/treatise; however, you should work with your dissertation chair to determine the contents of your proposal).
• Once your dissertation committee chair approves your proposal draft, schedule a meeting for the oral proposal presentation and distribute copies to committee members.  (Your dissertation chair will assist you in determining the appropriate amount of time needed for your committee to read your proposal before making your presentation).  
• Schedule a room, with the Graduate Coordinator, in which to present your proposal.  Please see ELP Office Staff for assistance in scheduling a room.
• After a successful proposal, you will complete your doctoral advancement kit for committee signature. 

Dissertation Guidelines and Committee

In most cases, the a Doctoral dissertation will include five chapters:

• Chapter I contains an introduction to the study and its context.
• Chapter II contains an examination of the relevant literature. 
• Chapter III presents a thorough discussion of the methodology for the research. 
• Chapter IV features a careful, insightful, and comprehensive coverage of the results of the research. 
• Chapter V includes interpretation, discussion, and implications of the research results. 

Of course, the focus of each chapter and the chapter order are only what is typical and thus do not necessarily apply to all dissertations. All decisions on these matters are completely in the hands of the dissertation chair and committee.  

It is expected that the writing, the use of citations, the review and understanding of the research literature, and the research skills would reflect the highest quality standards. In addition, the style guidelines are typically those of the APA format, those made available by the University, or any other legitimate style appropriate to the study and accepted by the dissertation committee.

The process for completing a Doctoral dissertation is fourfold. 

1. A student will defend a dissertation proposal consisting of the first three chapters before all members of the dissertation committee, including the chair.
2. Once the proposal is approved by the committee, the student must complete the advancement to doctoral candidacy application process, including a one-page description of the proposal, and the IRB application.
3. Upon successful advancement, the student will conduct the research activities under the guidance of the dissertation chair and committee. 
4. The student will defend the completed dissertation before the committee.  After successfully defending and satisfactorily completing any required revisions, the student would earn the Ph.D.

Apply for Advancement to Candidacy

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• Complete and submit Advancement to Doctoral Candidacy Application Kit.
• Read all the information listed under “Human Subjects” (User Guide, Special Topics, Training, IRB Access, IRB members, IRB Policies & Procedures at UT, Forms and Templates, FAQs, and Contacts.  Read the information entitled “About IRB” (including information on Researchers, What is Human Subjects Research? and Dates & Deadlines).
• Fill out the appropriate paperwork on Human Subjects Review and complete the IRB Approval process. 
• Complete the online application to advance to doctoral candidacy.
• Take the UT Copyright and Plagiarism Tutorial and print out the certification for proof of completion. Include a copy of this certification when you submit your dissertation/treatise.
  
  

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Complete Dissertation/Treatise Research Activities

• Only AFTER you you receive IRB Approval, you may register for your first dissertation course (either 399R, 699R or 999R).An advising bar on your registration record will be in place until you meet the IRB Approval Pre-requirement./treatise course
  • Two dissertation/treatise courses are required to be taken in consecutive semesters.  The first one is the dissertation research course (399W, 699W or 999W) followed by the dissertation writing course (399W, 699W or 999W).  The treatise research course numbers are 399K, 699K or 999K and the writing course numbers are 399L, 699L or 999L. 
• An advising hold on your registration record will be in place until you meet the IRB Approval Pre-requirement.
• Work with your chair to determine your progress.
• Complete data collection and analysis (for peace of mind, be sure to back up your work).
• Write the final dissertation/treatise draft.
• Submit your draft to your chair for approval.

Dissertation Guidelines

In most cases, the a Doctoral dissertation will include five chapters:

• Chapter I contains an introduction to the study and its context.
• Chapter II contains an examination of the relevant literature. 
• Chapter III presents a thorough discussion of the methodology for the research. 
• Chapter IV features a careful, insightful, and comprehensive coverage of the results of the research. 
• Chapter V includes interpretation, discussion, and implications of the research results. 

Of course, the focus of each chapter and the chapter order are only what is typical and thus do not necessarily apply to all dissertations. All decisions on these matters are completely in the hands of the dissertation chair and committee.  

It is expected that the writing, the use of citations, the review and understanding of the research literature, and the research skills would reflect the highest quality standards. In addition, the style guidelines are typically those of the APA format, those made available by the University, or any other legitimate style appropriate to the study and accepted by the dissertation committee.

Complete Final Oral Exam

Scheduling of the Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation/Treatise) will be predicated upon the quality of the execution, analysis, and writing of the dissertation/treatise and will be conducted only with Dissertation/Treatise Committee approval. The Examination will cover the dissertation/treatise and related topics. While the Dissertation/Treatise Committee alone votes on the acceptability of the student's Final Orals, any member of the Graduate Faculty may participate during the Examination.

Oral Exams are to be scheduled by the student and the Office of Graduate Studies. The Request for Final Oral Examination must be formally submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies at least two weeks prior to the Examination. Normally, students must submit to members of the Dissertation/Treatise Committee a final draft of the dissertation at least four weeks prior to the Examination.

• Submit the Degree Candidate Form (application to graduate) Doctoral Application to Graduate the first week of the semester in which you plan to graduate).  This form is available on the Graduate School's website. Get your committee chair’s approval of your final draft.
• Submit your dissertation/treatise to your Dissertation Committee at least four weeks before your defense.
• Schedule your Final Oral Examination two weeks before the desired date using the “Request Request for Final Oral” (formally known as the 'pink form'), signed by each committee member and the graduate advisor (attach all the required documents), once the chair and committee members agree to meet.  Their signature Oral form. Your committee signatures signifies that they approve of your request for the final oral exam and serves as a receipt that they received your dissertation/treatise draft. The typed Request for Final Oral Examination form must be submitted to the Graduate School at least two weeks before the date of your final examination.
  
• Please send the “request for final oral” form to your committee for signature via Docusign, a digital workflow software that allows faculty to electronically sign official university forms. This is a student-initiated process.
DocuSign Request for Final Oral Examination PowerForm Link:
http://links.utexas.edu/bmswkih
• For instructions on how to submit the form to your committee via DocuSign, please visit the instructions detailed on the Submit Request for Final Oral Exam via DocuSign wiki page.

• As soon as the committee and Graduate Advisor sign the form, you will receive an alert via Docusign. Please then submit the Request for Final Oral Examination form, along with the Dissertation “front matter” to the Graduate School at GradStudentSvcs@austin.utexas.edu at least two weeks before the defense date.

• Work with your chair to determine the elements and presentation method needed for your final oral exam.
• Present your research results to your dissertation committee.  Be sure to have the necessary forms for them to sign at your final oral exam.
  • Effective Fall 2020, the Graduate School will not schedule your final defense within two weeks of the last class day of the semester. Reference the UT Academic Calendar for deadline information.

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After a successful defense,

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• Make the appropriate corrections to your dissertation/treatise as suggested by your committee and upload the formatted dissertation/treatise by the deadline to the Texas Digital Library website, https://utexas-etd.tdl.org/.
• Seek signatures from your committee on the "Report of Dissertation/Treatise" form and submit by the Graduate School deadline: Report of Dissertation form via DocuSign.
• Submit all paperwork to the Office of Graduate Studies (GradStudentSvcs@austin.utexas.edu) following the deadlines of the semester in which you wish to graduate. For more information on final paperwork, please see the Graduate School website: https://gradschool.utexas.edu/academics/graduation/deadlines-and-submission-instructions
• Submit IRB Protocol Closure Report (Electronic Closure) to Office of Research of Support and Compliance.  

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