Ph.D. in Education Handbook. School of Education The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Transcription

1 Ph.D. in Education Handbook School of Education The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 1

2 Contents Page Program Description...4 Proceed Beyond the Master s to the Ph.D...4 Research Specializations...4 Program Milestones...6 Overview of Milestones...6 Special Notes About Committees...7 Advisement...7 Availability of Faculty..8 Program of Studies Committee and Program of Studies Coursework...8 Program of studies committee...8 Program of studies coursework...9 Electing a minor (optional)...9 Doctoral Written Comprehensive Examination (for students admitted prior to Fall 2013) 10 Negotiating claims of knowledge/areas of expertise...10 Examination questions and responses...11 The writing period...11 Exam grades...12 Doctoral Written Comprehensive Examination (for students admitted Fall 2013 and beyond)..13 Negotiating claims of knowledge/areas of expertise...13 Examination questions and responses...14 The writing period...14 Exam grades...15 First Oral Exam...16 Purpose...16 Scheduling, preparation, and oral exam conduct...16 Exam review...16 Exam failure...16 Doctoral Dissertation Committee Formation...17 The Proposal and Second Oral Exam...17 Purpose...17 Scheduling and exam structure...17 IRB Approval...18 Exam review...19 Exam failure...19 Dissertation and Final Oral Defense...19 Purpose...19 Scheduling and exam structure...19 Exam review...19 Dissertation submission Exam failure...20 Graduation

3 Transfer Credit, Residence Requirements, Registration Requirements, and Length of Time to Complete...21 Transfer Credit...21 Residence Requirement...22 Registration Requirements...22 Full-time registration...22 Required registration...22 Credit/course load...23 Full-time/continuous registration requirement for international students...24 Readmission...24 Length of Time to Complete...24 Additional Information...24 Leave of Absence...24 Maternal/Paternal Leave...25 Student Grievance Policy...25 Appeals...25 Grades...25 Reinstatement...26 Honor System...26 Assistantships, Employment and Benefits...26 Stipends...27 Tuition awards...27 Grant funded assistantships...27 Full-time employment...27 Health insurance...28 Course credit for unpaid teaching assistantships

4 Ph.D. in Education Handbook School of Education The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NOTE: Ph.D. in Education policies are consistent with The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School doctoral policies. Some statements in this Handbook are drawn directly from the Graduate School Handbook ( Program Description The Ph.D. in Education prepares educational researchers who are trained to interrogate, investigate and meet challenges facing diverse students, leaders and policymakers working from pre K to grade 16 environments. The UNC program is designed to foster collaboration among faculty and students from diverse disciplines, thus providing the opportunity to develop relevant research agendas. Graduates of the Ph.D. program are prepared for leadership positions in research and teaching at major universities and institutes. The Ph.D. in Education is organized as a single program with five research specializations: Applied Developmental Sciences and Special Education; Policy, Leadership and School Improvement; Curriculum and Teacher Education; Cultural Studies and Literacies; and Learning Sciences and Psychological Studies. Proceed Beyond Master s to the Ph.D Some students who enter the M.A. in Education program desire to continue to the Ph.D. The M.A. student must have completed the requirements of the degree before the start of the fall semester in order to enroll in the Ph.D. program. Application requirements include submission of a new personal statement, a new letter of recommendation, and the required Proceed Beyond form to the Office of Student Affairs. Deadlines follow those published by the Graduate School as does acceptance to the new program. There is no guarantee of admission and students are strongly encouraged to secure an initial advisor. No deferrals are granted for students approved to Proceed Beyond. As of Fall 2013, it is possible to apply directly to the Ph.D. without earning the M.A. first. However, there may be additional courses required for a student entering with only a B.A. or the equivalent. Research Specializations Prior to Fall 2013 The Ph.D. in Education is organized as a single program. Through May 2013, the PhD had three areas of research specialization: Culture, Curriculum and Change; Early Childhood, Special Education and Literacy; or Educational Psychology, Measurement and Evaluation. Information about those programs can be found at the following link: 4

5 As of Fall 2013, the PhD in Education, still a single program, has five research specializations: Applied Developmental Sciences and Special Education; Policy, Leadership and School Improvement; Teacher Education and Curriculum; Cultural Studies and Literacies; and Learning Sciences and Psychological Studies. The Applied Developmental Science, School Psychology, and Special Education (ADSSE) strand trains doctoral students in the interdisciplinary, theoretical foundations of Developmental Science. These foundations will provide young scholars with the tools to advance knowledge about human development from birth through adolescence, with a particular focus on studying children/students at risk for learning and behavioral challenges. This mission is accomplished by offering research perspectives in (a) the developmental trajectories of families and children/students from diverse socio-culturally backgrounds in the multiple contexts in which they live, including school, home, neighborhoods, and communities as well as a grounding in (b) evidence-based models of prevention that seek to provide equitable opportunities for learning and successful adjustment for all children by emphasizing education and instruction directed towards individual differences among learners. The Cultural Studies and Literacies strand is designed for future scholars and researchers who will study the linguistic, social and cultural contexts of education and how culture, language and education are produced locally, nationally and globally. This strand prepares future scholars, researchers and faculty who work in the areas of multiple and critical literacies, social and cultural foundations of education, the intersectionality of race, gender, language, sexual orientation and class, qualitative research methods broadly conceived, and how all to these contribute to creating social and educational inequities. Our focus is both critical and constructive. Our efforts first describe, interpret and critique current practice and belief and then move to strategizing about how to create a more equitable society and world. We prepare scholars to be first rate educators, theorists, and qualitative research methodologists-- and advocates for change. The Learning Sciences and Psychological Studies (LSPS) strand draws upon the relatively new field of learning sciences that has emerged to address the increasingly inter- and multidisciplinary nature of work within and beyond the academy. Program faculty represent a diverse set of academic backgrounds and fields (e.g., critical theory, educational psychology, psychometrics, school psychology, socio-cultural studies, mathematics and science education, technology studies, statistics). LSPS focuses on learning, a cognitive, social, and cultural activity that is distributed among the participating actors as individuals and groups within a specific context. The strand examines formal and informal learning within and across multiple contexts (e.g., teaching 5

6 and learning in classrooms, centers, communities, homes, museums, schools, virtual environments) from multiple perspectives (e.g., critical, disciplinary, design-based, postpositivist, post-structuralist, and structuralist) and informal learning occurs. Students interested in LSPS can elect to concentrate in a number of areas including Mathematics Education, Science Education, Educational Technology, Cognition, and Quantitative Methods and Evaluation. The Policy, Leadership and School Improvement (PLS) strand prepares leaders who will influence the direction of educational organizations at home and around the world. The program produces scholars, administrators, and analysts for leadership roles in K-12 systems, universities, research organizations and policy-making bodies. It does so by developing students understanding of the societal, political and economic conditions affecting schools; the capacity to analyze educational problems and their proposed solutions; and the ability to design innovations and implementation processes that work. As leaders in these areas, our faculty work collaboratively with students to develop research questions and hypotheses, study them in state and national settings, and link findings to practice. Faculty and students in PLS are engaged in the examination and critique of today s important and contested issues in education, including: teacher quality; turn-around schools; high school effectiveness; resource allocation; principal instructional leadership; and issues of class, gender, immigration and race in education. The Curriculum and Teacher Education (CTE) strand provides advanced study for students who wish to situate their research and scholarship in these fields which are sites for considerable national debate. There is a growing need for scholarship that incorporates school-based inquiry along with research that considers policy and sociocultural contexts of teaching and learning so as to inform educational practice. The strand provides a venue for advanced study and research in interdisciplinary curriculum areas and in teacher education. Students who select this strand will take additional courses in other doctoral strands in the School of Education and in other programs and colleges across UNC's campus. Graduates will be ready to assume teacher education positions and/or curriculum studies positions. Program Milestones Overview of Milestones Upon entry to the program, a student is assigned an initial advisor. The student s advisor may remain the same or may change after classes and experience with other faculty indicate a better match with a different permanent advisor. The permanent advisor will assist the student through the milestones of the doctoral degree. The milestones are as follows: 1. Prior to or during the fall semester of a student s second year, a Program of Studies is approved by a committee of faculty formed for this purpose. 2. A doctoral comprehensive exam based on student claims of expertise. 3. A first doctoral oral exam (i.e., a defense of the written exam) that together with the written exam constitute a comprehensive exam of the student s command of his or her field. 6

7 4. After formation of a doctoral committee for the dissertation (i.e., usually the three members of the program of studies committee with an additional two members added), the second oral exam (i.e., the dissertation proposal defense) takes place. 5. The final doctoral oral exam, i.e., the defense of the dissertation. Special Notes about Committees Students are responsible for scheduling all doctoral committee meetings (e.g., Program of Studies, comprehensive exam, and dissertation committee meetings). The Ph.D. in Education program has determined that Program of Studies meetings should be scheduled for one hour, oral defense of comprehension exam meetings should be scheduled for one and one-half hours, and that dissertation proposal and oral defense meetings should be scheduled for two hours. Students should inform committee members of the time needed when requesting to schedule these meetings. The entire contingent of committee members must be present at all exams and should be present for the entire meeting. The use of telephone, Skype or other distance based capabilities is allowed for only one of the committee members should that be deemed necessary (e.g., the member is at another university and it is untenable for that member to attend in person). If sufficient advance notice is given that a faculty member cannot be present at an oral exam, the exam should be rescheduled. If an emergency arises at the time of an oral exam, the Director of Graduate Studies must be contacted immediately. S/he will contact the Graduate School for direction about how to proceed. If the Director of Graduate Studies is not available, the Director of Student Affairs should be contacted, and she will contact the Graduate School. In most cases, the exam will need to be rescheduled. Oral exams may be held via distance-based capabilities in cases of extreme hardship. Advisement A student is assigned an initial advisor who typically, but not always, is a faculty member in the student s research area. Any person who has a regular Graduate Faculty appointment in the School of Education may be an advisor. The advisor meets with the student regularly and monitors the student s progress throughout the program of study. Other responsibilities of an advisor include working with the student in constituting a Program of Studies Committee and ensuring that the student meets all the Graduate School deadlines for submitting relevant paperwork during the doctoral study. Students who wish to change advisors must first speak to their current advisor about the desire for a change. Then the student must speak to the proposed new advisor. Once all three individuals have agreed on a change the student should complete an Advisor Change Form and submit this to the current and new advisors PhD in Education Program Coordinator(s) as a means of communicating the change. The Program Coordinator(s) would then sign the form and put it in the student s academic file in the Office of Student Affairs. Students who are uncomfortable speaking with their current advisor about a change are encouraged to speak to their Program Coordinator and/or the Director of GURP first, to determine an appropriate way to 7

8 broach the subject with their current advisor. A student may change the advisor as appropriate to a change in research interest. After the first oral, when the doctoral committee is officially formed, the advisor may or may not continue as the dissertation advisor. When an advisor is changed for any reason and at any point in the student s degree progress, the student should discuss the change with both the outgoing and incoming advisor. The Office of Student Affairs should receive notification of the change for the student s file. Availability of Faculty at the End of Semesters and During Summer In the interest of balancing student needs for faculty time for meetings and faculty need to complete responsibilities for the semester, faculty will be available for student milestone meetings (i.e., program of studies meetings, oral defenses, proposal meetings) through the second reading day of the final examination period of fall and spring semesters. Faculty are on nine-month contracts and, as such, are not obligated to meet with students and provide guidance during the summer months. Many faculty are willing to do so. However, if a student wishes to engage faculty during the summer months, the student must arrange such ongoing advising and help in advance of the end of the spring semester. According to Graduate School policy, a student who uses faculty resources during the summer months must be enrolled. For example, if a student is meeting with a faculty member on a regular basis during the summer, then that student should be enrolled and paying tuition for the faculty resources being used. In all cases, if a student convenes faculty for a milestone meeting during the summer months, then that student must be enrolled during the summer session when such a meeting occurs. Program of Studies Committee and Program of Studies Coursework Program of studies committee. The Program of Studies Committee is responsible for the following: Approving the Program of Studies by determining the focus during the student s doctoral studies as related to program requirements, career goals and prior background, and courses and mentored experiences; Overseeing student negotiation of Claims of Knowledge/Areas of Expertise Preparing and grading the student s written comprehensive exams Conducting and grading the student s defense of the written exam (i.e., the first doctoral oral exam). A student selects, in consultation with the advisor, a Program of Studies Committee prior to or during the fall semester of the student s second year of study. The committee is comprised of a minimum of three members, with the majority (i.e., at least two) being tenure-track faculty from the School of Education. One member of the committee may be from outside the School of Education and/or from an institution other than UNC CH. However, that individual must have earned a doctoral degree, must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies and receive a Graduate Faculty appointment from the Graduate School. 8

9 The Graduate School distinguishes the role of Advisor from that of a Chair. If the committee designates a Chair, this faculty member must be part of the graduate faculty in the student s specialty area within the School of Education. In some cases, it is appropriate for the Advisor to be someone in a fixed term faculty position or outside of the School of Education (e.g., from Allied Health). If that person has a Graduate Faculty appointment and is approved by the Director of Graduate Studies, then he/she may serve as the student s Advisor. If the student chooses a minor, one committee member must be from the minor area. A student may change Program of Studies members, or members may leave the committee. Committee constitution must fulfill all requirements at the time of the first milestone, the approval of the program of studies and thereafter. All membership changes must be noted on the Program of Studies form. The committee approves the student s program of studies prior to or during the fall semester of the student s second year of study, prior to pre-registration for the following spring semester. After the meeting, the student submits the completed Program of Studies form to the Office of Student Affairs and distributes copies to the advisor and committee members. If changes to the Program of Studies need to be made for any reason, the Program of Studies committee should communicate in writing or, if extensive changes, should reconvene to consider and approve proposed changes. If for some reason a member, or members, of a student s Program of Studies Committee should leave the School of Education, it is possible the entire committee and the program of study may have to be reconstituted and/or modified. Program of studies coursework. In many cases, 48 to 54 hours of coursework are required, not counting dissertation credits. The student and the Program of Studies Committee determine the coursework that is in addition to that mandated for all students. Students are not to sign up for dissertation credits until preparation for written comprehensive exams has begun. A student must sign up for a minimum of six hours of dissertation credit over two semesters to complete the dissertation. A student must be registered for a minimum of three hours during the semester in which the dissertation proposal is approved and three hours in the semester in which the dissertation is defended. Waivers and requests for transfer courses must comply with guidelines noted under the later section in this Handbook, Transfer Credit, Residence Requirements, Registration Requirements, and Length of Time to Complete. Transfer credit is approved by the advisor, Program of Studies Committee and the Director of Graduate Studies. A special issue concerns the relationship between student interests in education and other areas of study. Clearly, education has long been informed by many disciplines. Nonetheless, it is expected that any Ph.D. from the School of Education should have strong emphasis on education. A majority of coursework, the comprehensive examinations and dissertation should reflect this emphasis. Electing a minor (optional). With the approval of the major (Education) and minor program faculty, a student may elect to declare a formal minor in any university program that offers a graduate degree. The minor must comprise at least 15 credit hours. All credits must be for courses listed (or cross-listed) in programs other than that of the major and cannot also be 9

10 counted toward the major. A minor may consist of a set of related courses, some of which are listed by one program and some of which are listed by another. In most cases, the minor would not include courses from more than two programs. Only one program name will be listed as granting the minor, and the Director of Graduate Studies in the minor program must agree to accept any courses from outside the minor program offerings. The minor must be approved in advance by the Director of Graduate Studies in both the School of Education and the minor program area. When a satisfactory minor has been planned and approved by both programs, a copy of the proposed minor course of study (a Minor Declaration form) should be signed by the Director of Graduate Studies in the major and minor programs and sent to the Office of Student Affairs in the School of Education. At that point, the declaration is sent to the Graduate School to become a permanent part of the student s record. Please note that a faculty member with Graduate Faculty status from the minor area must serve on the Program of Studies and Doctoral Dissertation committees. Doctoral Written Comprehensive Examination (For students admitted prior to Fall 2013) The written exam and first oral are generally undertaken following the completion of coursework. During doctoral training, through coursework and professional experiences, students develop specific areas of expertise and knowledge claims. The purpose of the written examination for the Ph.D. in Education is to assess these areas and claims prior to moving forward with a doctoral dissertation. In some cases, a student may elect to take courses during or after comprehensive exams but in no case should these courses be counted toward a student s claims of knowledge or areas of expertise since there will have been no examination of coursework done subsequent to written exams. The following procedures take place to assess doctoral students areas of expertise and claims of knowledge. Negotiating claims of knowledge/areas of expertise. During the Program of Studies meeting, when students have had sufficient time to identify their desired knowledge claims and areas of expertise, they present these to the Program of Studies committee members. Through discussion, the student and the committee will negotiate which of these claims will be tested on the comprehensive examination. Areas of expertise/claims of knowledge must be substantiated by a student s coursework and experiences. The majority of faculty members on the committee must agree that the areas/claims are legitimate claims for the student to make. A form is used for students to make explicit their claims to be tested, and for committee members to sign their agreement. The form is filed in the Office of Student Affairs. The meeting in which negotiation of claims of knowledge/areas of expertise takes place must occur except in rare instances during the semester prior to which students wish to write their examination responses. 10

11 Examination questions and responses. No fewer than two and no more than four questions will be written by the committee relevant to these claims of knowledge and areas of expertise. Both the Program of Studies and Comprehensive Exam committees must be comprised of a minimum of four members, with the majority (i.e., at least three) being tenure-track faculty from the School of Education. During the Program of Studies meeting, the student and committee members negotiate the number of questions and the distribution of the student s effort to be associated with each question. More than one claim of knowledge/area of expertise can be incorporated into a single question. At least one of the responses should be written as a paper intended to be published or presented professionally. The student and committee members will decide which area(s)/claim(s) will be targeted for this purpose. Students are strongly encouraged to submit this work for review for conference presentation or publication. Specific questions will be written by all of the faculty members of the committee. Following this meeting, students are told the areas and general topics for their questions. They will receive the exact questions on the day that writing is scheduled to begin. The text of a student s responses to the set of questions (not including reference lists) may not exceed a total of 50 pages, typed in 12-point, Times New Roman font, doublespaced, single-sided, with 1 margins. Students must follow APA format in their responses. Students must indicate their adherence to the UNC-CH Honor Code through their signature on the comprehensive examination form. The writing period. Students will write their responses to their assigned questions over a sixweek (i.e., 42 days) period. In order to provide Program of Studies committee members sufficient time to evaluate student responses, and to allow students to learn the results of their written examination during the semester in which writing takes place, the following guidelines should be followed: The Office of Student Affairs will set final dates during each semester by which writing must begin and conclude. These dates reflect a five-week period of time allotted to faculty members and the Chair to evaluate and communicate feedback to the student, prior to the last day of classes. Writing may begin prior to this date in the semester, but if a student should commence writing after this date, their responses will not be evaluated by faculty during that same semester. At least two weeks prior to writing, students will identify a start and end date to writing that spans a 6-week period (42 days). This start/end date will be noted on the Program of Studies Claims/Areas tracking sheet and communicated to Program of Studies members by the Chair via . At least two weeks prior to writing, the student must generate a reading list to be circulated to all Program of Studies committee members (electronically and as hard copy). Faculty have one week to make changes to the reading list. Changes must be communicated to the Chair of the Program of Studies committee. The Chair communicates changes to the student at least five days prior to the beginning of writing. This reading list should be comprehensive and include all sources the student expects to use in his/her written exam. The Chair or Chair s designee gives the student the specific list of questions to be 11

12 addressed via , by 9:00 AM on the day on which writing is to begin. During the writing period, a student may consult written materials relevant to the topic(s). He/she may not consult live sources to inform responses. Student responses must be drafted independently. The student will turn in a hard copy and an electronic copy no later than 4:00 PM on the final day of writing to the Program of Studies Chair s support staff. The Chair or Chair s designee will distribute paper and electronic copies to committee members. The student will receive the results of the Program of Studies committee members evaluation in writing no later than five weeks following their final writing from the Program of Studies Chair. The oral defense of the written responses (i.e., the first doctoral oral) may take place during the semester that follows the written examination. The student may elect to write their responses over the summer or over winter break, if the committee members agree to the timeline and the Chair agrees to be available to obtain and supply the questions to the student during this time. Students must follow University requirements regarding registration during the time period that they write their responses. (See information on page 7 of this handbook or consult the Graduate School handbook). Written responses completed outside the beginning and end dates of classes during the fall and spring semesters will not be distributed to the faculty until the first day of classes in the following semester. Faculty have four weeks from this date to evaluate the responses and return their evaluations to the Chair. If the exam is written during breaks between academic-year semesters, students receive notification of the results of their examination within five weeks from the first day of classes. Exam grades. Two options are available to the examining committee regarding the outcome of writtens: Pass or Fail, as determined by majority of vote among committee members. In case of a tie vote, the Director of Graduate Studies is consulted. In the event that a majority of committee members determines that the student has passed the written exam, the student may proceed to the first oral the defense of the written examination. By majority vote, a committee may assign a grade of fail to the written examination. A doctoral candidate who fails a doctoral written exam may not take the exam a second time until at least three months after the first attempt. A student who fails an exam for the second time becomes ineligible for further graduate work. Upon request to and approved by the Director of Graduate Studies, the Graduate School may grant a student a third and final opportunity to take the examination. In addition, no student may continue in a program or take an examination a third time without approval by the Administrative Board of the Graduate School. The approval of a third attempt is not guaranteed. The committee may decide by majority vote that a student is likely to pass with revisions. In this case, no final outcome or determination is made by the committee prior to the revisions being completed and evaluated. This vote signifies that the committee has determined that if specified revisions are completed successfully by the student, within the prescribed time period, a pass may be conferred, but again, this is not a guaranteed outcome. To fulfill the requirements under these conditions, the revisions must be completed by the student within six weeks (42 days) from 12

13 the date of written communication about the committee s decision. The committee chair will complete a form, available in the Office of Student Affairs, that states that a Request for Revisions has been assigned, the date by which revisions must be completed, and a description of the revisions to be completed. The form must be signed and dated by the Chair, on behalf of the committee, and also by the student. A copy of this agreement must be placed in the student s file. Students are required only to revise the aspects of the written exams that were deemed unsatisfactory; they are not to rewrite entire questions. By the date specified, the student must turn in a written copy of the revisions to the Chair (or Chair s designee); the Chair will distribute the revisions to the committee members for review. Committee members must return to the Chair a vote of pass or fail for the exam, based on the revisions, within two weeks on the University nine-month academic calendar. Committees are not obligated to read revisions over summer or winter breaks. If the committee determines, by majority vote, that the student passes the written exams with the revisions, the student will be granted an official Pass, and may proceed to scheduling an oral examination. If the committee determines, by majority vote, that the revisions do not render the written examination a passable product, the student will be issued a Fail. Once an official Fail has been recorded, the student must follow the guidelines stated above. Doctoral Written Comprehensive Examination (For students admitted Fall 2013 and beyond) The doctoral comprehensive exam committee will be comprised of three faculty members with the majority (i.e., at least two) being tenure-track faculty from the School of Education. One member of the committee may be from outside the School of Education and/or from an institution other than UNC CH. However, that individual must have earned a doctoral degree, must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies and receive a Graduate Faculty appointment from the Graduate School. The written exam and first oral are generally undertaken following the completion of coursework. During doctoral training, through coursework and professional experiences, students develop specific areas of expertise and knowledge claims. The purpose of the written examination for the Ph.D. in Education is to assess these areas and claims prior to moving forward with a doctoral dissertation. In some cases, a student may elect to take courses during or after comprehensive exams but in no case should these courses be counted toward a student s claims of knowledge or areas of expertise since there will have been no examination of coursework done subsequent to written exams. The following procedures take place to assess doctoral students areas of expertise and claims of knowledge. Negotiating claims of knowledge/areas of expertise. During the Program of Studies meeting, when students have had sufficient time to identify their desired knowledge claims and areas of expertise, they present these to the Program of Studies committee members. Through discussion, the student and the committee will negotiate which of these claims will be tested on the comprehensive examination. Areas of expertise/claims of knowledge must be substantiated by a student s coursework and experiences. 13

14 The majority of faculty members on the committee must agree that the areas/claims are legitimate claims for the student to make. A form is used for students to make explicit their claims to be tested, and for committee members to sign their agreement. The form is filed in the Office of Student Affairs. The meeting in which negotiation of claims of knowledge/areas of expertise takes place must occur except in rare instances during the semester prior to which students wish to write their examination responses. Examination questions and responses. One question will be written by the committee relevant to these claims of knowledge and areas of expertise. Both the Program of Studies and Comprehensive Exam committees must be comprised of a minimum of three members, with the majority (i.e., at least two) being tenure-track faculty from the School of Education. During the Program of Studies meeting, the student and committee members negotiate the question. The response should be written as a paper intended to be published or presented professionally. Students are strongly encouraged to submit this work for review for conference presentation or publication. The specific question will be written by all of the faculty members of the committee. Following this meeting, students are told the areas and general topics for their questions. They will receive the exact questions on the day that writing is scheduled to begin. The text of a student s responses to the question (not including reference lists) may not exceed a total of 50 pages, typed in 12-point, Times New Roman font, double- spaced, single-sided, with 1 margins. Students must follow APA format in their responses. Students must indicate their adherence to the UNC-CH Honor Code through their signature on the comprehensive examination form. The writing period. Students will write their responses to their assigned questions over a sixweek (i.e., 42 days) period. In order to provide Program of Studies committee members sufficient time to evaluate student responses, and to allow students to learn the results of their written examination during the semester in which writing takes place, the following guidelines should be followed: The Office of Student Affairs will set final dates during each semester by which writing must begin and conclude. These dates reflect a three-week period of time allotted to faculty members and the Chair to evaluate and communicate feedback to the student, prior to the last day of classes. Writing may begin prior to this date in the semester, but if a student should commence writing after this date, their responses will not be evaluated by faculty during that same semester. At least two weeks prior to writing, students will identify a start and end date to writing that spans a 6-week period (42 days). This start/end date will be noted on the Program of Studies Claims/Areas tracking sheet and communicated to Program of Studies members by the Chair via . At least two weeks prior to writing, the student must generate a reading list to be circulated to all Program of Studies committee members (electronically and as hard copy). Faculty have one week to make changes to the reading list. Changes must be communicated to the Chair of the Program of Studies committee. The Chair communicates changes to the student at least five days prior to the beginning of writing. 14

15 This reading list should be comprehensive and include all sources the student expects to use in his/her written exam. The Chair or Chair s designee gives the student the specific question to be addressed via , by 9:00 AM on the day on which writing is to begin. During the writing period, a student may consult written materials relevant to the topic(s). He/she may not consult live sources to inform the response. Student responses must be drafted independently. The student will turn in a hard copy and an electronic copy no later than 4:00 PM on the final day of writing to the Program of Studies Chair s support staff. The Chair or Chair s designee will distribute paper and electronic copies to committee members. The student will receive the results of the Program of Studies committee members evaluation in writing no later than three weeks following their final writing from the Program of Studies Chair. The oral defense of the written responses (i.e., the first doctoral oral) may take place during the semester that follows the written examination. The student may elect to write their responses over the summer or over winter break, if the committee members agree to the timeline and the Chair agrees to be available to obtain and supply the questions to the student during this time. Students must follow University requirements regarding registration during the time period that they write their responses. (See information on page 7 of this handbook or consult the Graduate School handbook). Written responses completed outside the beginning and end dates of classes during the fall and spring semesters will not be distributed to the faculty until the first day of classes in the following semester. Faculty have two weeks from this date to evaluate the responses and return their evaluations to the Chair. If the exam is written during breaks between academic-year semesters, students receive notification of the results of their examination within two weeks from the first day of classes. Exam grades. Two options are available to the examining committee regarding the outcome of written examination: Pass or Fail, as determined by majority of vote among committee members. In case of a tie vote, the Director of Graduate Studies is consulted. In the event that a majority of committee members determines that the student has passed the written exam, the student may proceed to the first oral the defense of the written examination. By majority vote, a committee may assign a grade of fail to the written examination. A doctoral candidate who fails a doctoral written exam may not take the exam a second time until at least three months after the first attempt. A student who fails an exam for the second time becomes ineligible for further graduate work. Upon request to and approved by the Director of Graduate Studies, the Graduate School may grant a student a third and final opportunity to take the examination. In addition, no student may continue in a program or take an examination a third time without approval by the Administrative Board of the Graduate School. The approval of a third attempt is not guaranteed. The committee may decide by majority vote that a student is likely to pass with revisions. In this case, no final outcome or determination is made by the committee prior to the revisions being completed and evaluated. This vote signifies that the committee has determined that if specified revisions are completed successfully by the student, within the prescribed time period, a pass may be conferred, but again, this is not a guaranteed outcome. To fulfill the requirements under 15

16 these conditions, the revisions must be completed by the student within six weeks (42 days) from the date of written communication about the committee s decision. The committee chair will complete a form, available in the Office of Student Affairs, that states that a Request for Revisions has been assigned, the date by which revisions must be completed, and a description of the revisions to be completed. The form must be signed and dated by the Chair, on behalf of the committee, and also by the student. A copy of this agreement must be placed in the student s file. Students are required only to revise the aspects of the written exams that were deemed unsatisfactory; they are not to rewrite entire questions. By the date specified, the student must turn in a written copy of the revisions to the Chair (or Chair s designee); the Chair will distribute the revisions to the committee members for review. Committee members must return to the Chair a vote of pass or fail for the exam, based on the revisions, within two weeks on the University nine-month academic calendar. Committees are not obligated to read revisions over summer or winter breaks. If the committee determines, by majority vote, that the student passes the written exams with the revisions, the student will be granted an official Pass, and may proceed to scheduling an oral examination. If the committee determines, by majority vote, that the revisions do not render the written examination a passable product, the student will be issued a Fail. Once an official Fail has been recorded, the student must follow the guidelines stated above. First Oral Exam Purpose. The first oral exam serves as a rigorous defense of the written exam with elaboration of topics. The oral exam should not be used to fix a weak written exam. Performance on the oral exam should determine the candidate s fitness to continue work toward the doctorate, but should not focus on the next milestone. Scheduling, preparation, and oral exam conduct. Students should contact their advisor to discuss the structure of the oral exam, and the scheduling process, before contacting their committee to identify a specific day and time. The dissertation proposal shall not be considered at the time of the oral exam. The student may seek assistance from his or her Program of Studies Chair to prepare for the exam. Exam review. A majority vote is needed to determine satisfactory or unsatisfactory performance. If there is a tie vote, the Director of Graduate Studies is consulted. Immediately after the exam has been given, results should be sent to the Office of Student Affairs on the completed Doctoral Exam Report Form ( ). Exam failure. A doctoral candidate who fails the first oral exam may not take it a second time until at least three months after the first attempt. A student who fails the exam for the second time becomes ineligible for further graduate work. Upon request from the student to the Director of Graduate Studies, the Graduate School may grant a student a third and final opportunity to take the exam. No student may continue in a program or take an examination a third time without approval by the Administrative Board of the Graduate School. 16

17 Doctoral Dissertation Committee Formation In accordance with Graduate School requirements, the doctoral committee consists of five members. The majority of the committee must be regular members of the Graduate Faculty from the School of Education, and strong representation of the research area is highly recommended. Other individuals who are not members of the regular Graduate Faculty and/or are not faculty in the School of Education may be nominated to sit on doctoral committees. A representative in the Office of Student Affairs submits the request to the Graduate School. The School of Education Director of Graduate Studies must approve the submission to the Graduate School, where the final dispensation is made. Outside members may be selected from among scholars from other academic programs at UNC or from other institutions where scholarly work is conducted. If the dissertation involves the minor field, at least one member of the committee must represent the minor field. One member is named doctoral committee Chair and typically this is the doctoral Advisor. The Chair must be a full-time faculty member in the School of Education who is also a regular member of the Graduate Faculty in the student s specialty area (Applied Developmental Sciences and Special Education; Policy, Leadership and School Improvement; Curriculum and Teacher Education; Cultural Studies and Literacies; and Learning Sciences and Psychological Studies). At the request of the program and approval of the Graduate School, the dissertation Advisor may be a fixed-term faculty member from the School of Education or a faculty member from another UNC-CH program (.e.g., Allied Health). If that person has a Graduate Faculty appointment and is approved by the Director of Graduate Studies, then he/she may serve as the student s Advisor. The School of Education Director of Graduate Studies must approve the request and attach approval when materials are sent to the Graduate School. While many of the members of the Program of Studies Committee will continue on and become members of the doctoral committee, a student may change the composition of their committee as they form the doctoral committee. A student should inform members of his/her intentions both to continue and to replace members. Students may also work informally on the dissertation with other faculty. Committee members, of course, have to agree to be on the committee. It is incumbent upon a student to consult with his/her Advisor as to the appropriate composition of the dissertation committee and then schedule a time to speak with each faculty member to ascertain his/her desire and ability to serve on the committee. The Report of Doctoral Committee Composition must be submitted to the Office of Student Affairs for Director of Graduate Studies approval prior to the Second Oral Exam. The Proposal and Second Oral Exam Purpose. Completion of the dissertation proposal and performance on the second oral exam should determine the candidate s fitness to continue work toward the doctorate. Scheduling and exam structure. Subsequent to the successful completion of the written examination and the first oral examination, the student presents the dissertation proposal to the 17

18 doctoral committee at the second oral exam. The student submits hard and electronic copies of the proposal to the individual committee members a minimum of three weeks in advance of the proposal defense meeting. Faculty members must notify the Advisor of the evaluation of the written portion of the dissertation proposal within two weeks of receiving the document. The dissertation proposal must include the following (although the order of sections may vary): statement of purpose background of the research problem justification of the study the thesis to be explored or research questions research procedures and methodology overview or review of relevant literature significance of the proposed study. other elements such as suggested chapters may be determined by the advisor and student. IRB Approval. Once the research dissertation proposal is approved by the committee, students and their faculty advisors need to apply to the Institutional Research Board (IRB) for any research involving human subjects. The Institutional Research Board defines research as a project involving a systematic investigation, including evaluation, which is designed to develop or contribute generalizable knowledge (see IRB application). With few exceptions, research projects involving the collection of data records (e.g., tests, surveys, observation, interviews, field notes etc.) from direct interactions with children, parents, teachers, principals, administrators, community members, policymakers and any other living human to complete dissertation research will involve IRB approval. In some cases, doctoral students may be analyzing secondary data sources from existing data sources. The student will not have direct interaction with the participants for the purposes of data collection. However, if the data were previously collected by their faculty advisors and/or research team, students and their advisors need to determine if the data analyses were included as part of the original IRB approval. For these purposes, the advisor's project needs to be open through RAMeS for data analysis purposes. In other cases, students may wish to perform secondary data analyses on existing datasets. IRB approval is still needed for any data analysis of existing data collected by their advisor or publicly available data sources (e.g., Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, National Educational Longitudinal Study, etc.). As students begin their dissertation projects, it is important to discuss IRB approval with their faculty advisor. No data collection or, (in the case of secondary data analysis) data analysis can proceed until the student presents the advisor with a written approval for the project from the IRB. Ultimately, the faculty advisor is responsible for IRB approval and is listed on the IRB application. Violations of IRB procedures can have serious consequences for yourself, your faculty advisor, the SOE, and the UNC-CH as a whole. For any further information or concerns, please contact the Graduate Studies Director of the School of Education. During the second oral exam (i.e., proposal defense meeting), the student presents a summary of the written proposal and addresses questions raised by the committee. The committee may accept, request modifications, or reject the proposal. 18

19 The section for the dissertation project approval on the Report of Doctoral Committee Composition and Report of Approved Dissertation Project Form should be submitted to the Office of Student Affairs. Exam review. A majority vote is needed to determine pass or fail performance. Exam failure. A doctoral candidate who fails the second oral exam may not take it a second time until at least three months after the first attempt. A student who fails an exam for the second time becomes ineligible for further graduate work.. Upon request from the student to the Director of Graduate Studies, the Graduate School may grant a student a third and final opportunity to take the exam. No student may continue in a program or take an examination a third time without approval by the Administrative Board of the Graduate School. Dissertation and Final Oral Defense Purpose. The purpose of the final oral defense is to affirm that the dissertation offers an original contribution to knowledge in the field of education research and practice. Also it is to attest to an initial level of competence as preparation for further professional work and development. Scheduling and exam structure. The final oral defense will be held only after all members of the committee have had at least three weeks to review a draft of the doctoral dissertation. The dissertation Advisor is responsible for determining that the draft is ready to be submitted to the committee. In no case should a student submit her/his dissertation draft to the committee without prior approval from the Advisor. Faculty members must notify the Advisor of their preliminary evaluation of the written portion of the dissertation within two weeks of receiving the document so that the advisor can determine whether to proceed with the oral defense. In the event that one or more committee members feel that the written document does not warrant proceeding to the oral defense, the advisor will, in the week that follows, contact all members to determine whether the oral defense should be rescheduled. Both the student and the committee should be notified of the decision of whether to reschedule or not as soon as possible. Typically, during the oral defense, the candidate presents an overview of the study and questioning proceeds so that each member of the committee poses an initial sequence of questions. It is permissible and encouraged for visitors, especially other doctoral students, to be present during the candidate s overview of the study. Likewise, visitors may be given the opportunity to ask questions after the presentation. However, in most cases, committee questioning should not proceed until all visitors have exited the exam room. In all cases, committee deliberations must be confidential. Exam review. A majority vote is needed to determine pass or fail performance. When the committee determines that all requirements have been met, the completed Doctoral Exam Report Form is submitted to the Office of Student Affairs. 19

20 Dissertation submission. The dissertation is submitted electronically through the Graduate School submission portal. [ Graduation deadlines are always available on the Registrar s calendar at: but students should not wait until the posted deadline to submit their document. Students who submit their document close to or on the deadline, should expect a delay in the response from the Graduate School. Nonetheless, after receiving a response in regard to submissions, required revisions should be submitted immediately. If returned revisions do not arrive immediately, the student will not meet degree requirements for that term and the document will be rejected. Exam failure. A doctoral candidate who fails the final oral defense may not take it a second time until at least three months after the first attempt. A student who fails an exam for the second time becomes ineligible for further graduate work. Upon request from the student to the School of Education Director of Graduate Studies, the Graduate School may grant a student a third and final opportunity to take the examination. No student may continue in a program or take an examination a third time without approval by the Administrative Board of the Graduate School. Graduation The student must notify the Office of Student Affairs of his/her plan to graduate by submitting an Application for Graduation ( no later than the deadline shown in the University Registrar s Calendar for the semester in which they expect to graduate. Applications are valid for one semester only. If a student does not graduate in the semester expected, s/he must submit another application for graduation in a future semester. A student in an officially recognized dual degree programs must apply to graduate for both degrees at the same time, even if the requirements for one degree are completed sooner than the second degree. Academic programs are asked to provide flexibility so the student may be able to walk ceremoniously with his/her cohort even if he/she does not earn the degree that semester. The Ph.D. degree is awarded at the end of each semester and the second summer session. Formal commencement exercises are held in May and December. All students receiving their degrees in May are encouraged to participate in the May commencement ceremony. All students receiving their degrees in August and December are encouraged to participate in the December commencement ceremony. Additionally, the School of Education holds a school-wide graduate ceremony in May. Students who have passed the final defense by a May deadline announced by the School of Education Director of Student Affairs may participate in the School of Education ceremony. Students are also encouraged to participate in the Graduate School Hooding Ceremony, held in May only. This ceremony recognizes those who are graduating in May or those who graduated in the prior most recent December or August terms. Students planning to participate should contact the Graduate School. 20