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Doctor of Philosophy

General Course of Events Leading to a Ph.D.

The following summarizes the requirements and processes leading to the Ph.D. degree.  Explanatory text follows the chart. Every Ph.D. student should also review the summary of the Graduate School’s doctoral degree requirements found here: http://www.grad.washington.edu/stsv/quickref.htm.

Enrolling in First and Second Year Courses

Upon admission to the Ph.D. Program, a student is designated Post-Masters, meaning that the student has been assigned to an advisor, but does not yet have a doctoral Supervisory Committee. The goal of the post-master's phase is to arrange research/inquiry experiences and course work that will qualify the student for Prospective Candidacy. Each student is assigned a first year advisor whose research and scholarly activities are in the student’s field of intended specialization. During the first year of study, the advisor will be a central figure, helping to plan academic life.

Working together with an advisor, the students will: 1) identify a research topic and secure ways and means for participating in your selected project, (2) select first year courses, and (3) prepare papers for presentation to your area for consideration for advancement to Prospective Candidacy.

In certain College of Education programs, post-bachelors students may be admitted to work towards the Ph.D. without formally completing a master’s degree program.  Post-bachelors applicants to the prospective Ph.D. track are expected to have research experience and/or research potential, as well as research interests that align with faculty expertise.

Post-baccalaureate students working within the prospective Ph.D. track will complete a qualifying paper no later than the quarter in which they complete 45 credits. The qualifying paper is designed to be equivalent to a master’s exam or master’s thesis in quality and must be evaluated by two members of the graduate faculty.

Advancing to Prospective Candidacy

A student may be considered for advancement to Prospective Candidacy after completing 24 credits of study, including the Inquiry Seminar Series (EDLPS 525 and 526), and a minimum of 9 credits within the chosen field(s) of study. Individual areas may require additional coursework and the advisor will inform the student of any additional requirements early in the first quarter of study.  Once the student has met the minimum requirements, the advisor will help the student prepare records for presentation to the area faculty, and prepare a written recommendation for advancement to Prospective Candidacy. This recommendation and a summary of the student’s records are submitted by the advisor to the respective Area for consideration. The Area faculty will review the student’s work, judge the adequacy of the student’s progress, and make a recommendation on advancement to Prospective Candidacy to the Graduate Program Coordinator. Once advanced, students become Prospective Candidates.

Forming the Supervisory Committee

Once advanced to Prospective Candidate, the student should direct attention to forming a Supervisory Committee. In concert with the advisor, the student should explore with members of the graduate faculty their willingness to serve on the Supervisory Committee. Each member of a Supervisory Committee will devote substantial time to working with a Ph.D. student and each should formally indicate willingness to serve. The Chairperson of the Supervisory Committee, who must be a graduate faculty member from the College of Education, should express a willingness and availability to supervise a dissertation, since this is normally the most time-consuming responsibility.

Supervisory Committees will be formed in accordance with Graduate School Memorandum #13 (http://www.grad.washington.edu/Acad/gsmemos/gsmemo13.htm) and according to the following principles:

• A minimum of four voting faculty (at least three with graduate faculty appointments) must represent, respectively, the student’s (a) specialization within their broad area of study, (b) first cognate, (c) second cognate, and (d) specialization outside of the College of Education (definitions of broad area, specializations, and cognates can be found on-line at http://education.washington.edu/current/graduation/phd/adproscandidacy.html#definitions); 

• No more than two voting faculty from the student’s broad areas may be on the Committee; and

• An additional graduate faculty member, the Graduate School Representative (GSR), must also serve on the committee.  GSRs must be members of the graduate faculty with an endorsement to chair doctoral committees, and must have no conflict of interest (such as budgetary relationships or adjunct appointments) with the College of Education.  Members of Supervisory Committees representing students’ specializations outside of the College of Education may also serve as GSRs, provided they are qualified to serve in both roles.

Once a student has identified appropriate graduate faculty who are willing to serve, their names should be submitted to the Office of Student Services using the appropriate form available on the College website (http://education.washington.edu/current/forms/#reading).  Each student should form a Supervisory Committee as soon after advancement to Prospective Candidacy as feasible.  Supervisory Committee formation must be accomplished (a) within one calendar year following advancement, (b) no later than one quarter prior to the Research and Inquiry (R&I) presentation, and (c) no less than four months prior to the General Examination.
The next task is to meet with the Supervisory Committee to plan a course of study in preparation for a General Examination and to develop a research program for the Research and Inquiry presentation. Between Supervisory Committee meetings, Chairpersons are responsible for serving as the student’s advisor.

Completing the Research and Inquiry (R & I) Presentation

Research preparation is the foundation of the Ph.D. program, as research will play a paramount role in students’ professional careers. Once the student has formed the Supervisory Committee and has developed a course of study, the student will need to begin planning for the Research and Inquiry Presentation.
Training to be an effective researcher requires (a) concentrated focus to learn the various methods of inquiry and practice and (b) employment of these methods in various research projects while pursuing your degree.  The student will begin research activities during the first year of the program, and will continue to develop skills by conducting various research projects, culminating with the dissertation. A major product of research preparation effort is the Research and Inquiry Presentation. The purposes of Research and Inquiry are to:

• Immerse the student in issues of content and method directly pertinent to the student’s chosen specialization;

• Provide the student with practical experience in the use of methods and the application of content learned in coursework;

• Convey those aspects of substance and method that characterize the topic studied but that are not taught in general method or content courses; and

• Afford an opportunity for the student to present research to a professional audience and for the audience to learn about the research.  R&I is the opportunity to begin integrating knowledge pertinent to specialty areas.

The design, implementation, and presentation of the R&I research shall be under the supervision of the Supervisory Committee. A thoroughly developed research project must be presented prior to taking the General Examination. Successful completion of at least one research presentation will be a required part of preparation for advancement to Candidacy; in some cases, a Supervisory Committee may require additional research presentations. All members of the faculty are invited to attend the presentations. In addition, other graduate students are also welcome to attend as non-participating observers.
In general, a student’s plan of research and inquiry should hold substantial promise of contributing to preparation for a dissertation, and at its inception should have a good chance of being reportable at a professional meeting or being publishable in a juried journal. At each meeting, members of the Supervisory Committee will reassess the extent to which the student’s research and inquiry activities are contributing to stated goals, and will provide advice in accordance with their assessment. Between committee meetings, the Chairperson will assume primary responsibility for advising and assisting students with preparation of a research and inquiry plan.

Completing the Written General Exam

When both the student and the Supervisory Committee concur that the student is prepared, and the student has completed all course requirements except the dissertation – including the completion at least 60 credit hours of coursework, per Graduate School requirements (or 30 hours if the student already completed a master’s degree) – there will be a Written and Oral General Examination covering all major portions of the program of study.  The student’s Course of Study and research activities will be evaluated through written and oral examinations conducted by the Supervisory Committee.  The student should meet with the committee to discuss the content, scheduling, and format of the examinations.  The chairperson will then forward a copy of the examination plan to the Office of Student Services.

The General Examination is given in two parts. The first part is written and examines content area in the student’s broad areas, specialty areas, and cognates. Upon satisfactory completion of the written portion of the General Examination, the oral portion may be scheduled.

Completing the Oral General Exam

The student is responsible for scheduling the oral portion of the General Exam (locating an adequate room, determining a date and time that is acceptable to all members of the Supervisory Committee, etc.), as well as notifying the Graduate School of the date, time, and location of the General Exam.  The students should notify the Graduate School at least three weeks prior to the date of the General Exam, by using the form designated for this purpose (the form may be found on-line at http://www.grad.washington.edu/forms/genexam.pdf).  The student should follow form instructions carefully.  Students should also note that they must be enrolled for credit hours during the quarter of the General Exam.  If a General Exam occurs during a period between academic quarters, then the General Exam will be considered to have taken place the following quarter, and students must register for that quarter. 

During the oral examination, members of the Graduate Faculty may ask any question they choose. By majority vote, the Supervisory Committee will rule whether students pass the Oral Examination.

Preparing the Dissertation Proposal

Within one calendar year of successfully completing the Oral portion of the General Examination, the student shall submit and the Supervisory Committee approve a dissertation proposal. The purpose of the dissertation proposal is to provide the student with constructive criticism from the entire Supervisory Committee prior to the execution of dissertation work. The written dissertation proposal should be approved unanimously by the Supervisory Committee members; the approval will be indicated by submitting to the Office of Student Services a copy of the proposal cover page, signed by each member of the committee (a proposal cover page template can be found here: http://education.washington.edu/wordforms/Thesis.doc).  Approval of the proposal does not guarantee that the Supervisory Committee will approve the dissertation at the Final Oral Examination, but it does guarantee that the Committee may not later disapprove the dissertation on the grounds that the research was poorly conceived. The approved proposal becomes the working paper for conducting dissertation research.

Once the proposal receives Supervisory Committee approval, the student will likely need to submit and application for review and approval by the Human Subjects Division.  On its web site, the College of Education has summarized some of the most important aspects of the human subjects review process.  That web page can be found here: http://education.washington.edu/intranet/hsubjects/.  The student should also the consult the web site of the UW’s Human Subjects Division, found at http://www.washington.edu/research/hsd/sitemap.html. 

For additional information about the process, the type of review suitable for a given project, application forms, and general assistance, a student may also contact Louise Clauss via email (lclauss@u.washington.edu), or telephone (206-616-8291).

Forming the Reading Committee

The three-person Reading Committee will be selected from among the student’s Supervisory Committee members, and will include the Chair of the Supervisory Committee. It is advisable to include a member who is knowledgeable in the chosen research methodology. The Reading Committee will read and review the dissertation in detail and make a recommendation to the larger Supervisory Committee about readiness to schedule the Final Examination.  Once the student has identified appropriate graduate faculty who are willing to serve on the Reading Committee, their names should be submitted to the Office of Student Services using the appropriate form available on the College website (http://education.washington.edu/current/forms/#reading). 

Conforming to Stylistic Standards

It is the student's responsibility to ensure that the dissertation meets current Graduate School requirements.  The student may obtain a free copy of the Style & Policy Manual for Theses and Dissertations from the Graduate School (G-1 Communications Bldg) or online at http://www.grad.washington.edu/stsv/stylman/00stylman.htm.

Completing the Final Exam (dissertation defense)

It is expected that the student will pass the Final Examination. The final defense of the dissertation is intended as an opportunity for all involved to celebrate the good results of their work during the student’s career in the College.

The student should schedule the Final Examinations after submitting the dissertation to the Supervisory Committee.  The student is responsible for scheduling the Final Exam (locating an adequate room, determining a date and time that is acceptable to all members of the Supervisory Committee, etc.), as well as notifying the Graduate School of the date, time, and location of the Final Exam.  The student should notify the Graduate School at least three weeks prior to the date of the General Exam, here.  The student should follow form instructions carefully.  The student should also note that she or he must be enrolled for credit hours during the quarter of the Final Exam.  If a Final Exam occurs during a period between academic quarters, then the Final Exam will be considered to have taken place the following quarter, and the student must register for that following quarter. 
The Final Examination will cover the dissertation and related topics, and it may cover other areas deemed appropriate by the Supervisory Committee. While the committee alone votes on acceptance of the dissertation, any member of the graduate faculty may participate in the Final Examination.

Submitting the Dissertation to the Graduate School

Once the student has passed the Final Exam and has completed any revisions requested by the Supervisory Committee, the remaining step is to submit the dissertation to the Graduate School. 

In preparation for submitting the dissertation, the student should keep the following Graduate School policies in mind:

• The dissertation must be submitted to, and accepted by, the Graduate School within 60 days of the Final Examination.  Failure to do so will result in having to retake the Final Exam (in extraordinary circumstances, students may petition the Graduate School for exceptions to this requirement).

• A student wishing to submit the dissertations in the same quarter as the Final Exam should make note of the submission deadlines established by the Graduate School.  These can be found on-line at http://www.grad.washington.edu/area/qtrdeadlinesgrid.pdf.

• A student who decides to submit the dissertations during the quarter following the Final Exam may be able to take advantage of the Graduate Degree Late Fee.  The Late Fee option is available to a student who has completed all other requirements except submission of the dissertation.  The Late Fee option is only available until the Fourth Friday of the quarter; after the Fourth Friday, a student must enroll for credit hours in order to graduate.  (Note that the 60-day regulation noted above supersedes the Fourth Friday deadline.)  Complete information about the Graduate Degree Late Fee can be found here: http://www.grad.washington.edu/area/degreelatefee.html.

Submission of the dissertation involves two steps: the preliminary review and the final submission.  The preliminary review is a service offered by the Graduate School where a thesis adviser will assess the formatting of your document according to the Style and Policy Manual noted above.  The student should drop off a copy of the dissertation in Graduate School’s Office of Student Services (G-1 Communications Building), and an e-mail message will be sent when the document is ready to be picked up.  A blue Preliminary Check Receipt will accompany the returned document, listing any necessary changes.

Once the necessary changes have been made, the student should make a final submission appointment with the Graduate School.  During finals week, final submission is on a drop-in basis only, which may require having to wait for an extended period of time.  The student should review Graduate School instructions on dissertation submission: http://www.grad.washington.edu/area/thesissubmittips.html.

Once the dissertation is submitted to the Graduate School, the student should submit a copy of the dissertation abstract, along with the Post-Graduation Information form (http://education.washington.edu/wordforms/postgrad.doc) to the College’s Office of Student Services (206 Miller Hall).  These items will be included in the student’s files.

Maximum Allowable Time

In planning your program, keep in mind that all requirements for the Ph.D. must be completed within a 10-year time limit and in accordance with the following timeline.

Extensions beyond the ten-year time limit are possible, but require Supervisory Committee recommendation and approval by the Graduate Program Coordinator.  Requests for extensions must be petitioned to the Graduate School.

• Overview
• General Course of Events Leading to a Ph.D.
• Enrolling in First and Second Year Courses
• Advancing to Prospective Candidacy
• Forming the Supervisory Committee
• Completing the R&I Presentation
• General Exam
• Completing the Oral Exam
• Preparing the Dissertation Proposal
• Reading Committee
• Conforming to Stylistic Standards
• Final Exam
• Submitting Dissertation
• Time Allowance