Students are responsible for contacting their advisor to convene a Program Committee for the Preliminary Examination. The student can request the Preliminary Examination after completing nine hours of course work, including at least one doctoral seminar. Guidelines for the Annual Reviews and Preliminary Examination are set forth in the EDLI Student Handbook. If unable to register for at least five credits, they must request a leave of absence from the Ph.D. program until able to complete the minimum dissertation requirements. Students may take up to a year's leave of absence before they are disenrolled from the program.
Students select a dissertation advisor to supervise and guide the dissertation process.
The dissertation advisor must hold graduate faculty status in the School of Education. The advisor and student invite additional committee members as needed to provide the substantive and methodological support to complete the dissertation. The dissertation advisor and the student will set a time for the final examination after the dissertation has been accepted by the dissertation advisory committee. The examination will be conducted by a Committee appointed by the Graduate Dean and will consist of at least five members of the Graduate Faculty, one of whom must be from outside the student's program and represent the regular Graduate Faculty of the University at large. This committee would normally be composed of the dissertation advisory committee and additional persons for a total of at least five.