Program Milestones
Doctoral students have four major milestones in the program. This page brief summarizes each stage and links to content elsewhere in this guidebook.
- Coursework & Pre-Comprehensive Examination
- Comp Exam & Pre-Proposal
- Dissertation Research Proposal
- Dissertation
Milestones
1. Coursework & Pre-Comprehensive Examination
Students in both programs must complete a significant number of credit hours through coursework. Although each program has a slightly different number of hours associated with each aspect (Core, Research, Cognate or Electives, and Dissertation), you will complete approximately just half of the total required hours (~33) prior to the Comprehensive Examination (aka “Comps” or “Comp Exam”). As you reach the end of the course requirements, you should work with their advisor or mentor to assemble a full, three-person research committee.
To become eligible to enroll in Comps, you must complete all core courses, all but one research course, doctoral seminar hours*, and the cognate requirement**. EdD EdTech students enrolled in doctoral seminar use some of the time in it to help prepare for the portfolio-based comp exam.
In the semester prior to eligibility to enroll in 691, you and your full supervisory committee (advisor and two other faculty) should have a meeting about the components required for the Comp Exam, as well as when it should be submitted. If you and/or you advisor feel you’re not quite ready to start your Comps, that will be discussed; there’s no obligation to enroll just because you’re eligible to do so. You can work on the comps prior to being enrolled in 691, but as per Graduate College policy, you must submit your comp exam work during the semester they’re enrolled in 691. It’s not common to have more than six months (total) to complete their comp exam, and you will need to enroll in 691 in the next available semester after completing the work for it.
* EdTech students only
** C & I students must complete at least 12 credit hours of the required 26
2. Comprehensive Examination & Pre-Proposal
Once you’re eligible for Comp Exam enrollment and have already met with your supervisory committee about the approach to Comps, you can enroll in EDU 691 or EDTECH 691. There are various ways to complete Comps, although the EdD EdTech program converted to a portfolio-based approach starting in 2023. In most cases, students in the C &I program are completing a literature review. If you are attempting an article-based dissertation, or a design-based dissertation, the committee will help ensure that what gets submitted is synergistic with the chosen approach.
The comps might also include, as a separate document submitted at the same time, a “pre-proposal.” While not required, it has been found to be extremely helpful. With it, the committee can get a sense of what research questions you’d like to ask, what your theoretical foundation is, and what your methodological approach might be. If implemented, the pre-proposal is purposively brief (two to seven pages). Once the committee evaluates the documents, you can take the feedback from comps (after it’s graded) and the pre-proposal and begin work on your proposal.
Once you submit the Comp Exam, the committee has a minimum of two weeks to assess it and provide feedback. Historically, faculty and students in the EdD C & I program have participated in an in-person (or synchronous) meeting for the Comps. While the supervisory committee is free to require such a meeting, it should be decided prior to the your enrollment in comps. The EdD EDTECH program does not require a synchronous meeting between the committee and the student for the purpose of discussing the comp exam submission.
The program has rubrics for faculty to evaluate the portfolio-based and literature review comps, and these will be distributed to members of the committee (or they can make their own copies).
PLEASE NOTE:
- The Comp Exam and the Dissertation Research Proposal are separate submissions. They are not to be evaluated at the same time.
- The student is expected to work alone on the comp exam submission
- For the ease of administrative purposes, EDU 691 and EDTECH 691 always appear under the name of the EdD program coordinator.
- 691 is only offered in Fall and Spring
- A student who passed the comps is known as a “doctoral candidate.”
3. Dissertation Research Proposal
The program has an outline, template, and rubric for the research proposal. Although it can take a different form for students engaged in an article-based dissertation, or a design-based dissertation, in most cases the proposal will be a three-chapter document of significant depth. If a three-chapter proposal, it should include an introduction, a literature review, and a methods section.
Unlike the comps, you (now a doctoral candidate!) work with your advisor (and sometimes additional supervisory committee members) to assemble your proposal. Once your advisor is satisfied with the document, it will be circulated to the committee members for feedback. If the members believe it is not yet ready for a defense meeting, you and advisor can continue to revise it.
Once the document is deemed ready for review, the committee will have at least two weeks to read it. You, your advisor, committee members will work together to set up a date and time for the proposal defense meeting. For the meeting, you’re expected to create a 15-20 minute presentation for the meeting; this can be pre-recorded (required for Ed Tech), or can be presented synchronously, during the meeting.
At the discretion of the advisor, you might be able to start work on your IRB submission (if necessary) prior to the proposal defense meeting. If pieces of the IRB need revision after the proposal defense meeting, an addendum is possible. Students go through CITI training early in the program, so it might be necessary for you to renew your training prior to submission (CITI training is valid for 3 years).
PLEASE NOTE:
- A candidate should be enrolled in at least one credit hour of 693 during the proposal defense (in the advisor’s section)
A proposal document can be submitted in the summer if the committee members agree to make themselves available for the evaluation of it and the proposal defense meeting. - There is no grade associated with the successful defense of a dissertation research proposal as the programs do not build it into the degree box.
4. Dissertation
See more about the Dissertation
(being updated)