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Overview / Quick Links
Graduate School 's Dissertation information
Dissertation Proposal Meeting Report (DocuSign) - submit on day of Dissertation Proposal
Office of Research Support & Compliance (IRB Info)
Deadlines
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& Time to Completion
Ph.D. degree is students are expected to complete the dissertation requirement within within two years after of admission to candidacy.
If the student has not completed their dissertation within two years of admission to candidacy, the Graduate School will ask the GSC whether to extend the student’s candidacy. The GSC may recommend that the student's candidacy be extended for one year or that the candidacy be terminated for lack of satisfactory academic progress. Recommendations are forwarded to the Graduate Dean for approvalrequest a recommendation from the Graduate Studies Committee (GSC), which may:
Extend candidacy for one additional year, or
Recommend termination for lack of academic progress
Final decisions are made by the UT Graduate Dean.
Dissertation Format Options
EDP students may submit their dissertation in one of 2 formsYou and your dissertation supervisor will choose one of two formats for your dissertation:
Traditional format: follows the
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standard structure with full chapters, and a single study or set of studies
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.
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Students are
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encouraged to submit the completed dissertation
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as a journal article or
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book manuscript
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after the defense.
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Article format:
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Designed to resemble a journal-length article or series of articles
Still focuses on a single cohesive project or set of studies
Follows formatting and length guidelines of a target journal
Not intended for brief reports
Important Notes for Article Format:
The proposal document should include a full literature review and methods section, just as in the traditional format.
For the final dissertation
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,
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you’ll work with
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your supervisor (and possibly
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your committee) to
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Students and dissertation supervisors are required to communicate with their committee about which format will be used, and clarify expectations regarding the format chosen. After the dissertation proposal, changing from one format to the other requires the consent of the full dissertation committee.
Dissertation Proposal and Proposal Meeting
Students complete their dissertation proposal under the supervision of their dissertation supervisor. The dissertation proposal meeting is an examination of the proposal and proposed study by the committee as a whole. It is also a collaborative work session in which potential problems in the proposal can be faced and addressed. Occasionally, the dissertation committee will view the revisions necessary to the proposal to be substantial, and the members will request a second dissertation proposal meeting. More commonly, the outcome of this meeting will be approval of the dissertation proposal with revisions that should be documented by the student and the supervisor.
Please note that decisions made at the dissertation proposal meeting are obligatory. To change decisions determined at this meeting (e.g., sample size, measurement devices), it is appropriate to communicate with all committee members and obtain their consent.
Dissertation Proposal Contents
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determine what goes into the article, and what supplementary materials should be placed in appendices for committee review (e.g. extended literature review, detailed methods, or results).
Once your dissertation proposal is approved, switching formats requires full committee approval.
The Dissertation Proposal Meeting
With your supervisor’s guidance, you’ll write a dissertation proposal and schedule a proposal meeting with your committee.
This meeting:
Serves as an evaluation of your study plan and collaborative work session
Provides a chance for feedback before the dissertation defense
Often results in approval with revisions
Occasionally, the committee may request a second meeting if major revisions are needed. Once approved, all decisions made in the proposal meeting (e.g. sample size, measures) are binding. If you need to make changes later, you must notify the full committee and get their consent.
Proposal Document Content
Most proposals include the first three chapters of the dissertation, written in APA format: Introduction, Literature Review, and Method. Dissertations in the Department of Educational Psychology are written in accordance with APA style. A source for the dissertation process is
Introduction (~10 pages): Explains the purpose and significance of your study
Literature Review (~20-40 pages): Reviews the research relevant to your topic
Method (~10-20 pages): Details your methodology
For writing support, consider Dissertations and Theses from Start to Finish, by Cone and & Foster (APA, 1996), available at www.apa.org. This book guide students through selecting a topic, choosing committee members, writing a proposal, and making it though the dissertation defense.
Introduction – The first chapter should explain why your study is necessary, and should be about 10 pages.
Literature Review – When working on this chapter (20-40 pages).
Method – This section is 10-20 pages and presents your methodology.
Scheduling the Proposal Meeting
When the dissertation
Scheduling Your Proposal Meeting
Once your supervisor and committee agree that the proposal is close to completion, the student should schedule the dissertation proposal meeting and send a copy of the proposal to the members at least two weeks prior to the meeting date.
It is extremely important for all committee members to be present at the proposal meeting as that is where agreements are made for finalizing your dissertation. If a member cannot participate, then it's the responsibility of the student and supervisor to ensure that the missing member has all the information from the meeting, and that the missing member's feedback is incorporated as you move forward.
TIP: Be sure to start early in scheduling the dissertation proposal meeting. Once your committee members agree on a time, you may schedule a room for your dissertation proposal meeting through EDP (but never on Friday afternoons without prior approval of the EDP Department Chair).
Proposal Meeting Results
The day of your Proposal Meetingyour proposal is ready:
Schedule your meeting - at least 2 weeks in advance
Send the full proposal to all committee members at that time
Reserve a meeting room through the EDP Department (note: Friday afternoons require prior approval from the Department Chair).
All committee members should attend the proposal meeting. If someone cannot be present, you and your supervisor are responsible for ensuring their feedback is included and documented.
TIP: Start the scheduling process early!
Submitting the Proposal Meeting Report
On the day of your proposal meeting, submit the Dissertation Proposal Meeting Report via Docusign.
Your dissertation supervisor and co-supervisor will use this form to report the results of your Proposal Meeting meeting outcome to the department. Once the form is complete, you will Department. You’ll receive a copy - students should save a copy for their records as wellfrom DocuSign once all signatures are complete - be sure to save it for your records. The report will include feedback and next -steps for your dissertationsteps and any required revisions and feedback.
Dissertation Enrollment
Once you are admitted to candidacy, the Graduate School requires you continuously register for the dissertation course (EDP 399W, 699W, or 999W) in each long semester (Spring/Fall) until you graduate. Summer registration in dissertation is required if your faculty adviser believes it necessary, if you will hold your proposal meeting in the Summer, or if you will graduate during the summer.
Use of Human Subjects and the Institutional Review Board
After approval from your committee at the Dissertation Proposal meeting, you are ready to carry through with original data collection and analyses for your dissertation. It is expected that you will continue to do so under the close supervision of your dissertation supervisor. Under most circumstances, students are not allowed to begin original data collection in connection with their dissertation until they have conducted a successful dissertation proposal meeting.
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All research projects will fall into one of three categories:
Exempt (Minimal Risk – subject to expedited IRB review procedures)
Expedited (Minimal Risk – subject to expedited IRB review procedures)
Full Board (More than Minimal Risk – subject to Full Board review and limited meetings)
Tips for completing the application are available to help you complete the application.
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