Doctoral Degrees Available in EDC:
An Overview of the Doctoral Experience
General Information
- All Graduate School forms require the signature of the Director of Graduate Studies.
- EDC offers Ph.D. and Ed.D. in several areas: Business, English, Instructional System Design, Literacy (Reading and Writing), and Social Studies
- The correct program name for all forms is Instruction and Administration, major code INAD. The correct degree or degree code is Ed.D.
- Official examinations may be scheduled only on dates when classes are in session.
- Familiarize yourself with the general guidelines for doctoral work outlined in the UK Graduate Bulletin: www.research.uky.edu/gs/bulletin/bullinfo.shtml
- Refer to the UK Registrar’s academic calendars for specific Graduate School dates and deadlines: www.uky.edu/Registrar
Phase I – Initial Coursework
- Plan your first 18 hours and pre-qualification residency with your initial advisor.
- Complete the initial credit hours.
Phase II – Doctoral Committee and Program of Studies Plan Doctoral Committee Doctoral Advisory Committee Request, www.rgs.uky.edu/gs/gsforms.html
- Upon (or prior to) completion of the initial 18 credit hours, constitute a doctoral committee consisting of:
- A full Graduate Faculty member from Curriculum and Instruction (chair);
- One additional Curriculum and Instruction faculty member (indicate if co-chair);
- One additional faculty member chosen from either Curriculum and Instruction or Administration and Supervision;
- One UK faculty member from the College of Education (but outside the Department of Curriculum and Instruction) or choose from outside the College of Education.
- All four members of the core committee must be members of the UK Graduate Faculty. Three of the four committee members must be full members. (Full membership essentially means that the faculty member is tenured.) Additional faculty members who do not hold Graduate Faculty status may serve as non-voting members of the Advisory Committee only.
- The Graduate Faculty Roster is available online at www.rgs.uky.edu/gs
- The core of the Advisory committee must be kept at its full complement throughout the graduate career ofthe student. In the event of a vacancy due to resignation, faculty leave or inability to serve, an appropriate replacement must be made prior to the making of any committee decision.
Doctoral Program of Studies Plan
www.uky.edu/Education/EDC/edcforms.html
- Meet with your chair to plan your additional coursework. Arrange a meeting of your complete doctoral committee to approve your coursework. Contact the Instructional Technology Center (257-7967) for a room reservation. After you have the approval of your chair, submit a copy of the completed Doctoral Program of Studies Plan to each committee member prior to your scheduled meeting. Bring additional copies to the meeting. Complete the Doctoral Program of Studies Plan and return it to the Director of Graduate Studies.
- Complete your additional coursework, including any required colloquia and/or internship as indicated in your approved program plan. A coursework residency must be completed. Refer to the Residency Requirements in the UK Graduate School Bulletin for details of the models for completing the coursework residency. The requirements are also indicated on the Doctoral Program of Studies Plan.
Phase III – Qualifying Exam
- Written Examination: Consult with your chair to establish parameters and expectations for the qualification examination with your committee. Your committee chair will solicit examination specifics from your committee members and administer your written qualification examination.
- Request to schedule the QE for EDC 767 students must occur within the first six weeks of the semester. The exam may be taken at any time during the semester.
- Oral Examination: Establish a meeting date and time with your doctoral committee for the oral examination. Contact the Instructional Technology Center for a room reservation (257-7967).
Recommendation for Qualifying Examination, www.rgs.uky.edu/gs/gsforms.html
- The oral examination can be taken only twice. A second examination must be successfully completed no less than four months from the original examination and no more one calendar year.
- Successful defense of your oral qualifying examination starts your “clock”. That means that you have until the fifth anniversary of the qualifying exam semester to complete all requirements for the Ed.D degree.
Phase IV – Post-qualifying Residency and the Dissertation Proposal
Post-qualifying Residency
- Fulfill your post-qualifying residency requirement by enrolling in EDC 769 for nine credit hours for each of two semesters or three consecutive semesters of six credit hours each or enroll in EDC 767. Enrollment in two credits of EDC 767 constitutes full-time enrollment. The office of the Director of Graduate Studies will assist you with registration.
- Refer to the Graduate Bulletin for complete details about the options for completing the post-qualifying residency requirement.
- Students who enrolled prior to Fall 2005 must successfully complete the Qualifying Exam within six weeks of the beginning of classes in the fall or spring semester (or within 3 weeks of the 8-week summer term) in order to have enrollment in EDC 769 count for that term. Otherwise, the enrollment must be dropped.
- Upon completion of 18 credit hours of post-qualifying residency, doctoral candidates are continuously enrolled (i.e., fall and spring semesters) by the office of the Director of Graduate Studies in EDC 769/749 for 0 credit hours until successful defense of the dissertation. International doctoral candidates will be enrolled for 0 credits in EDC 749 only.
- Domestic candidates may request enrollment in EDC 749 in lieu of EDC 769 for 0 credit hours in order to be considered full-time for the purpose of deferment of student loans. However, this registration is limited to six semesters. After six semesters, domestic candidates are returned to enrollment in EDC 769 for 0 credit hours until successful defense of the dissertation.
- Students who enrolled in the doctoral program during Fall 2005 and subsequently, after passing the QE must enroll for two hours of EDC 767 each semester until the dissertation is defended
- Students must complete a minimum of two semesters of 767 before graduating
Dissertation Proposal
- Study the Graduate School's publication, Preparation of Theses and Dissertations, www.rgs.uky.edu/gs
- Become an expert in the current edition of the APA Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association: www.apastyle.org/pubmanual.html.
- Explore research interests with your research committee chair.
- Conduct a thorough literature search to establish a working knowledge base of your research interests.
- Prepare a dissertation proposal that establishes a rationale for your research questions, demonstrates a command of the related professional literature, and outlines your research methods. Request the approval of your chair to formally distribute the proposal.
- Schedule a meeting(s) of your committee to present your proposal. Obtain approval of your committee before proceeding to data gathering. Schedule a room with the Instructional Technology Center (257-7697) for this meeting.
Phase V – Data Gathering
- Conduct the data gathering and data interpretation of your research. Work with your chair to prepare a working draft of your dissertation.
- Complete your dissertation.
Phase VI – Defense and Dissertation Submission
- Submit the Graduate School Application for Degree early in the semester or the semester before you plan to graduate to the Director of Graduate Studies.
- Graduate School Application for Degree, www.rgs.uky.edu/gs/gsforms.html Be sure to sign both signature lines. Applications remain effective for one semester. If a student does not successfully defend the dissertation within this time, a new application must be submitted.
- File a Notification of Intent to Schedule a Final Doctoral Examination with the Graduate School at least 8 weeks prior to your indicated earliest anticipated defense date.
- Notification of Intent to Schedule a Final Doctoral Examination, www.rgs.uky.edu/gs/gsforms.html The purpose of this form is to prompt the Associate Dean of the Graduate School to search for and assign an Outside Examiner. The degree candidate, Director of Graduate Studies and committee chair(s) will be informed of the assignment.
- Word process and paginate the draft. For complete and current dissertation format instructions, see the instructions for Preparation of Theses and Dissertations, www.rgs.uky.edu/gs
- Distribute the dissertation to your core committee members only and the Outside Examiner at this time.
- Once the Outside Examiner is assigned, that person is to be treated like a member of your committee
- Establish the exact date and time of the final examination with the core committee and the outside examiner. Contact the Instructional Technology Center for a room assignment (257-7697).
- The following three items are submitted simultaneously no later than two weeks (14 days) prior to the date of the final examination:
1) Dissertation Approval Sheet (requires signatures of a majority of the core committee and the Director of Graduate Studies);
2) Request for Final Doctoral Examination; and
3) Dissertation Approval Sheet www.rgs.uky.edu/gs/gsforms.html
- Defend the dissertation successfully
Make an appointment with the Assistant Dean of the Graduate School for the dissertation review which takes between 24 and 48 hours.
- Submit two unbound, final copies to the Graduate School within sixty (60) days of successful defense of the dissertation.
- Your committee chair and the Dean of the Graduate School must sign the final copies.
