Department of Adult, Career and Higher Education

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Career and Workforce Education (Ph.D.)

                     Dissertation Research:

The Beginning of Rewarding Careers

After completing all coursework and passing the qualifying exam, the student is "admitted to candidacy." At this point, the student will prepare a dissertation proposal that identifies the research problem, surveys and evaluates the relevant literature, and describes the plan for conducting the research. While working on the dissertation, the student enrolls for a minimum of 24 Dissertation credit hours. If the dissertation has not been completed by the time the 24 dissertation hours have been accrued, the student must enroll continuously including the summer term, for a minimum of 2 dissertation hours per semester until graduation. Exceptions to the continuous enrollment policy are possible, but a formal request must be made in writing to the student's Major Professor.

The student will defend the dissertation before a committee comprised of a minimum of four members. The Dissertation Committee members do not necessarily have to be the same as those on the student's Program of Study Committee. In some instances, a student's interest in a topic changes as s/he progresses through the program and the student may wish to ask different faculty members to be a part of his/her Dissertation Committee, especially if these faculty members conduct research and/or have expertise in the student's dissertation topic.