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Graduate School Dissertation information
Dissertation Proposal Meeting Report (DocuSign) - submit on day of Dissertation Proposal
Office of Research Support & Compliance (IRB Info)
Ph.D. students are expected to complete the dissertation within two years of admission to candidacy.
If not completed within two years, the Graduate School will request 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.
You and your dissertation supervisor will choose one of two formats for your dissertation:
Traditional format: follows the standard structure with full chapters, and a single study or set of studies. Students are encouraged to submit the completed dissertation as a journal article or book manuscript after the defense.
Article format:
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, you’ll work with your supervisor (and possibly your committee) to 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.
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.
Most proposals include the first three chapters of the dissertation, written in APA format:
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 & Foster (APA, 1996), available at www.apa.org
Once your supervisor and committee agree your 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!
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 meeting outcome to the Department. You’ll receive a copy from DocuSign once all signatures are complete - be sure to save it for your records. The report will include next steps and any required revisions and feedback.
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.
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.
If you are using existing data for which you have IRB approval, you are welcome to conduct preliminary data analysis on your expected topic of research prior to holding your proposal meeting. Indeed, such familiarity with your data should allow you to discuss your dissertation plans more completely and confidently. Examples of acceptable preliminary data analyses include, but are not necessarily limited to, descriptive statistics (e.g., means, standard deviations, ranges, graphical displays, correlations), outlier diagnostics, missing data diagnostics, and assumption checking. Students should not test proposed hypotheses prior to the proposal meeting. Additionally, students should be prepared to modify their data analysis work should weaknesses be found during the proposal meeting.
Researchers should become familiar with the Institutional Review Board (IRB) Policies and Procedures Manual and complete the online training.
All dissertations that involve data from human participants require filing an application with The University’s IRB, so you should discuss this with your dissertation supervisor early. If you are using existing data, you may contact the IRB directly to find out how to proceed. Approval to be excluded from the application process is done on a case-by-case basis only by the IRB. Note that a faculty member must be designated as the PI of the IRB proposal. This is likely your dissertation supervisor. This faculty member may designate you as a PI proxy by following the instructions provided by UT Research Management Suite.
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.
If your project must receive Full Board review, other deadlines apply. The University’s IRB meets monthly for Full Board reviews, and the deadline for submission of materials is very strict and well in advance of the meeting. If revisions are necessary, a second IRB review will take place, according to a set meeting schedule. For questions about deadlines, email the Office of Research Support and Compliance.
In conducting original research and/or completing the dissertation, student researchers may request the use of the department’s Subject Pool.