Your formal dissertation research (DR) work will usually start when you have completed all your non-dissertation coursework or only have up to 5 courses remaining. You will need to first identify your dissertation chair to get enrolled in a DR course. There are 8 DR courses in total, which are required to be continuously taken while you are active in the program. In the first DR course, under your dissertation chair’s guide, you will be mainly working on your comprehensive exam, which is required by the program and is a good preparation of your dissertation proposal. The other dissertation committee member/Reader will be required to review your dissertation draft, attend and assess your proposal defense as well as final defense. Lastly, you will need to submit your final dissertation manuscript to the university library through the library clearance process.