UM SOE: Dissertation Procedures

Dissertation Procedures for School of Education Students

** ES and CSHPE Doctoral Students Only **

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Note: The Horace H. Rackham Graduate School is making their forms for forming dissertation committees, advancing to candidacy, etc. available on their web site. If you view these forms and download them, please refer to them for information purposes only. Access to these forms via their web site does not change the current School of Education approval process for graduate students in Educational Studies (ES) or the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education (CSHPE). All Rackham forms are to be processed through the Office of Student Services, 1033 SEB.

This document as well as the internal (School of Education) documents and forms mentioned in this document are available in print format from the Office of Student Services, Room 1033 SEB. Questions about these procedures should be addressed to Joan McCoy ( jemccoy@umich.edu ) or by calling (734) 764-7563.

It is recommended that all doctoral students periodically review the Doctoral Students sections of the Rackham web site ( http://www.rackham.umich.edu/doctoral_students/ ) as you engage in the dissertation process.

Of particular interest are:
Helpful Tools and Information
Dissertation Committees
Oral Defense

There are many other resources on this page that may be of interest to you. If you have any questions about these or other resources, contact the Office of Academic Records and Dissertations, 0120 Rackham, via email ( OARD.questions@umich.edu ) or by calling (734) 763-0171.

Note: If you have not achieved candidacy, contact the Office of Student Services regarding the process. You may form your dissertation committee as a precandidate. However, you should be a candidate at least one term prior to the defense of your dissertation.

A. SELECTING DISSERTATION CHAIR AND DISSERTATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS

1. The student should obtain the School of Education’s internal document:

Guidelines for Forming a School of Education Dissertation Committee
( http://www.soe.umich.edu/es/resources/dissertation/commguidelines/index.html )

The student should also refer to the Rackham web site for their guidelines:
( http://www.rackham.umich.edu/doctoral_students/ )
View section titled Dissertation Committees

2. The student consults with a potential dissertation chair and discusses the research topic.

The potential chair will expect the student to define the problem clearly and to demonstrate the necessary analytic and communication skills to complete the project successfully.

3. The student consults with the dissertation chair about possible committee members. All potential members of the committee must sign the School of Education’s internal form, Request for Approval of Dissertation Committee ( http://www.soe.umich.edu/es/resources/graduate/index.html )

The student is responsible for submitting this form and a one (1) page statement about the dissertation topic that includes the tentative title of the dissertation to the Office of Student Services.

4. The Office of Student Services will obtain approval of the School of Education and Rackham.

5. Rackham notifies the student when the dissertation committee has been approved.

NOTE: If you need to revise your dissertation committee, the student is responsible for obtaining the School of Education’s internal form, Request for Revision of Dissertation Committee ( http://www.soe.umich.edu/es/resources/graduate/index.html ), and submitting it to the Office of Student Services when you have obtained the signatures of all committee members. The Office of Student Services will obtain approval of the School of Education and Rackham.

B. DEVELOPING AND APPROVING THE DISSERTATION PROPOSAL

The student and chair refine the research problem and prepare a full proposal in consultation with the dissertation committee. This consultation may include one or more meetings of the committee to review the research problem, potential research designs, and working procedures for the committee. The complete proposal should include problem statement, its significance, literature review, research design, method of analysis, and expected results. When the proposal is ready for approval, a dissertation committee meeting is scheduled to approve the proposal. All committee members will sign the School of Education’s internal form, Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Approval Form ( http://www.soe.umich.edu/es/resources/graduate/index.html ).
The student is responsible for submitting this form to the Office of Student Services when the
proposal has been approved.

School of Education dissertation research using human subjects requires approval from the University's Behavioral Sciences Institutional Review Board (IRB-BehavSci). Their contact information is 540 East Liberty, Suite 202, (734) 936-0933, irbhsbs@umich.edu. For additional general information and application forms view their web site: http://www.irb.research.umich.edu/IRB_Behavioral/New/IRB_Behavioral.html

PROGRESS OF DISSERTATION

1. When all approvals and reviews are complete, the student may begin researching and writing the dissertation. The student will work closely with the dissertation chair and committee to assure that the dissertation is completed according to the standards of the School of Education and Rackham. The student may not proceed to any major step in the process without the knowledge and approval of the dissertation committee chair.

2. While researching and writing the dissertation, the student is expected to maintain contact with the dissertation committee. Under normal circumstances, the student may expect the chair and committee members (when appropriate) to comment on materials within three weeks. The student should consider and respond to all queries from all committee members. The student or the chair may request a meeting of the committee to resolve any difference among faculty members, to make sure the student is interpreting all members correctly, and to engage in collegial interchange about the research problem.

D. RACKHAM DISSERTATION RESOURCES FOR FORMATTING AND DEADLINES, ETC.

The student should refer to the Rackham web site ( http://www.rackham.umich.edu/doctoral_students/ ) . Scroll down to Oral Defense and choose Dissertation & Abstract Format Guidelines.
Students should be aware of the dissertation deadline dates, which are set by Rackham for each term. The student should refer to the Rackham web site ( http://www.rackham.umich.edu/doctoral_students/ ) for the Doctoral Degree Deadline dates.

Note: When scheduling your defense, you should schedule the defense before the end of the term. The grace period is to be used for completing final degree requirements, not the defense of the dissertation. The web site mentioned above provides information on the approval process to follow in case you need to defend your dissertation after the last day of exams in a term.

E. SCHOOL OF EDUCATION PRE-ORAL MEETING WITH DISSERTATION COMMITTEE

When completion of the final draft is near, the student and dissertation chair will schedule a pre-oral/last data committee meeting to review the draft. The student will provide each member with a copy of the final draft at least three weeks before the meeting. At this meeting, any concerns or questions about the research, methodology, data, or presentation will be discussed and revisions (if needed) will be outlined. The committee will then meet in Executive Session to satisfy itself that the student is ready to present an oral defense and will agree specifically on what, if any, changes are to be made before the defense. If satisfied that the dissertation is ready to be defended, all dissertation committee members will sign the School of Education’s internal form, Authorization of Dissertation for Rackham Pre-Dissertation Defense Meeting and Oral Defense (http://www.soe.umich.edu/es/resources/graduate/index.html ), indicating that the student is ready for the Rackham Pre-Dissertation Defense Meeting and the oral defense. The student is responsible for submitting this form to the Office of Student Services, Room 1033 SEB.

F. PRE- AND POST- DISSERTATION DEFENSE MEETINGS AND ORAL DEFENSE

1. The student is responsible for scheduling the Rackham Pre-Dissertation Defense Meeting, oral defense, and Rackham Post-Dissertation Defense Meeting. Refer to the Rackham web site ( http://www.rackham.umich.edu/doctoral_students/ ) for further information. Rackham requires the Pre-Dissertation Defense Meeting to be scheduled at least 10 working days in advance of
the oral defense. You must enter provide a defense date when scheduling the Pre-Dissertation
Defense Meeting.

2. The student is responsible for scheduling a room in the School of Education for the oral defense. For a list of meeting rooms with description and capacities, refer to the SOE web site ( http://www.soe.umich.edu/rooms/index.html ). The Brownlee Room is the preferred room for dissertation defenses. Other rooms available in the School for a defense are the Tribute Room   or the Deans’ Conference Room. Please try to reserve a room at least 4 weeks prior to the scheduled defense.

            To request a meeting room in the School of Education, the student should fill out the electronic request form ( http://www.soe.umich.edu/rooms/schedule/meetingroom/index.html ). Questions regarding the room request process may be directed to Joyce Coury, 1034 SEB, (734) 763-1228.

3. The oral defense of the dissertation is a public event open to all interested students, faculty, and staff. The student is responsible for notifying the School of Education about the defense by completing the online Dissertation Defense Notice form accessible via our web site (http://www.soe.umich.edu/events/dissertationdefense/index.html ) or sending an email with the following information about the defense to soedefense@umich.edu:

Your Name and E-Mail Address
Defense Date/Time/Location
Name of Dissertation Committee Chair/Co-Chairs
Title of Dissertation

Public notice of the event will be posted on the SOE calendar on our web site.

4. The student is responsible for providing the Deans’ Office with 1 unbound print copy of the disserta- tion and 2 copies of the abstract no less than 10 days before the oral defense. The Deans’ Office will not accept electronic versions of the dissertation. If you would like to retain the copy of the dissertation that you provided to the Deans’ Office, you must make arrangements with Becki Spangler ( spangler@umich.edu ) or Mary DeLano ( mdelano@umich.edu ).

5. At the oral defense, the student will be expected to present a brief summary of the dissertation and should be prepared to answer a variety of questions (general and specific) about the study. Discussion may cover major findings, plans for further research, ideas for publication, implications of the study, etc. The dissertation chair conducts the oral defense and explains the ground rules. Normally, time will be provided for faculty and students in attendance to participate in the discussion.

6. After the oral defense is successfully completed, the dissertation committee members will sign the appropriate approval forms. If there are minor revisions or changes to be made, the dissertation chair and student will meet to arrange for these. The student is responsible
for scheduling the Rackham Post-Dissertation Defense Meeting ( http://www.rackham.umich.edu/doctoral_students/ ) and meeting Rackham's final deadlines and requirements. The completion of the dissertation and the public defense formally marks the graduate student's full entrance into the scholarly community.

Revised: August 16, 2007

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