# Handbook for Doctoral Students in Education/Program Checklist with Forms and Links

Student Program Checklist with Embedded Timeline
The admission process consists of the following steps (1a-1e):
1a. ______ An informal preliminary interview with the Director of the School of Teacher Education, who will try to match applicant’s interest with those of STE faculty.
1b. ______ An informal interview with an STE faculty member willing to serve as the initial academic advisor.
1c. ______ Complete the free STE application at http://www.unco.edu/cebs/teachered/grad.html
1d. ______ Ask your references to complete a short recommendation form for you at http://www.unco.edu/cebs/teachered/references.html
1e. ______ Complete the formal application through the Graduate School at https://www.unco.edu/applications/graduate/index.aspx
2. ______ Upon acceptance to the program, contact your advisor to set up a meeting to complete your tentative Plan of Study and select courses to take for your first semester. http://www.unco.edu/grad/forms/Planofstudy.pdf
3. ______ At the end of the second semester of doctoral course work, you must submit the official Plan of Study to be filed with the Graduate School and a copy placed in the student files in the STE office. http://www.unco.edu/grad/forms/Planofstudy.pdf Date Plan of Study was filed: ____________ If you deviate from this plan, a memorandum must be filed for a revision of the Plan of Study.
4. _____ The semester prior to completing coursework you should select and file a list of committee members to serve on the dissertation committee. You will need at least on Graduate School Representative from outside STE. (See handbook section on selecting an advisor, doctoral committee, and dissertation topic) This form is available online from the Graduate School at http://www.unco.edu/grad/forms/RequestDocCommittee.pdf .
Dissertation Committee Members:
(1) ___________________________Chair
(2) ___________________________
(3) ___________________________
(4) ___________________________Grad. School Rep.
If, at any point in the student’s program, a dissertation member must be replaced, the form can be found online from the Graduate School at http://www.unco.edu/grad/forms/ReqChgCommittee.pdf .
5a. _____ At or near the end of program course work, the student must file a request to take the Comprehensive Exam with the Graduate School at least three weeks prior to the beginning of the exam writing period. http://www.unco.edu/grad/forms/ReqSchedDocExam.pdf All coursework must be completed before taking Comprehensive Exams. The written portion of Comprehensive Exams will be held in the in-house or take-home format, as determined by the dissertation committee. Four questions will be given by the Dissertation Committee members. a. The in-house exam will take place in two consecutive days, two questions each day. Normally, a student will be allowed 3 hours per each question; this time limit may be increased for ESL students and students with documented disability. No internet access or notes will be allowed. b. The take-home exam will take no longer than 4 weeks.
Committee members must be given two weeks to read and provide a pass/fail to the advisor. This must be done before step 5b.
Scheduled Date of Comprehensive Exam: ________________________
5b. _____ After the advisor has obtained feedback from all readers, if the readers agree that the student has passed the written portion of the Comprehensive Exam , then the Request to Schedule a Doctoral Exam must be completed and filed with the Graduate School at least two weeks prior to the date of the Oral Comprehensive Exam. This form is online at http://www.unco.edu/grad/forms/ReqSchedDocExam.pdf .
Date of Request to Schedule a Doctoral Exam filed: _______________________
Date of Oral Doctoral Exam: _______________________________
If the Oral Doctoral Exam is successfully completed, the advisor will complete the permit to take the exam with the grade and forward it to the Graduate School. Date of Completion of Oral Exam filed: _____________________________
6. _____ Please be aware of the schedule and deadlines that can be found at http://www.unco.edu/grad/pdf/deadlines.pdf. For example, if you are planning on graduating in the spring semester, you will need to file your application for graduation and dissertation proposal in December. You will need to file a request for the defense of dissertation in early March, defend your dissertation by the beginning of April, and file the dissertation the first week in April.
7. _____ To submit a dissertation proposal, the student should work with the advisor to determine when the proposal is sufficiently developed for presentation to the dissertation committee. When the advisor deems the proposal ready for presentation, the student will provide each member with a hard copy of the proposal and schedule a time for the proposal hearing. Committee members should be given a minimum of three weeks to review the proposal prior to the proposal defense. There is no form or request to schedule issued through the Graduate School for the Proposal. You schedule the proposal defense with your committee. The signatures to indicate the passing is created by you, and a sample of the page is in the Dissertation Manual, http://www.unco.edu/grad/current/DissertationThesis.html, scroll down to the Manuals and click on Doctoral Dissertation, it's on pg 14. Turn in the hard copy (save yourself a copy) of the signed signature page and either an electronic copy or a paper copy of the proposal to the Graduate School. Email the electronic copy to the Graduate School for your file.
8. _____ If a student wishes to go through the graduation ceremony, an application for graduation must be filed with the Graduate School at the end of the semester prior to the semester they wish to participate in the ceremony. The application can be found under the Graduate School at http://www.unco.edu/grad/forms/docapplicationforgraduation.pdf .
9. _____ As you work on your dissertation, you should maintain regular contact with your advisor. Typically, several drafts of the dissertation are reviewed before the advisor gives approval to share a final draft with other committee members. The dissertation hearing should be scheduled only when the advisor feels the dissertation is fully and well developed. The student will provide hard copies to all committee members at least three weeks prior to the hearing. The advisor and student will file the request for a hearing using the same form as listed above for the Oral Exam.
Date of Dissertation Hearing Request filed: ____________________
Date of Dissertation Hearing: __________________________
Dissertation format and guidelines can be obtained from the Graduate School at http://www.unco.edu/grad/forms/GS1008.pdf .
10. _____ After successful defense of the dissertation, your advisor will make sure that all committee members sign off on five copies of the Dissertation signature page. (A sample of a signature page is included on page 38 of the Dissertation Manual, http://www.unco.edu/grad/forms/GS1008.pdf .)
It is highly recommended that you obtain copies of all of the above forms when completed for your own files.