Dissertation Information

Dissertation Advisor and Committee
A student’s academic advisor does not automatically become a student’s dissertation committee chair. Students must seek a chair who is an expert in the area the student wishes to investigate. Identification of a dissertation topic and selection of the chair must be by mutual consent.

Once the student and dissertation advisor have agreed on the topic of the dissertation they should proceed together to identify the full dissertation committee. The student or advisor must ask each faculty member if they are willing to serve on the committee.

All members of the final Ph.D. examining committee are expected to participate at the prospectus oral and sign the formal prospectus. Consistent with the Graduate’s School’s requirements for the final Ph.D. examination, the committee must include at least five faculty, three of whom must be Boulder campus resident faculty and one of whom must be Boulder Campus resident faculty but outside the student’s department. The chair and outside member of the defense committee must have regular membership on the graduate faculty. The other three members must have regular or special memberships on the graduate faculty. The list of prospective committee members must be approved by the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and the Associate Dean of the Graduate School prior to the prospectus meeting.

Dissertation Prospectus
The dissertation prospectus must describe the proposed study in sufficient detail so that members of the committee can judge the significance of the intended research and the adequacy of the planned study methods.

The prospectus oral is a meeting where the student and members of the committee agree to the purpose and methods of the proposed study.

After it has been reviewed and signed by the dissertation committee, the dissertation prospectus must be filed in the School of Education Office of Student Services.

If the proposed study involves human subjects, the student must obtain the approval of the Human Research Committee. Procedures for this process are available in the School of Education Office of Student Services, and on the web at www.colorado.edu/VCResearch/HRC. A copy of the Human Research Committee approval of the proposed research must accompany the signed prospectus when it is submitted to the School of Education Office of Student Services.

The Graduate School dissertation specifications are on the web at www.Colorado.EDU/GraduateSchool/Specs/Specs.html

Students can request them via email at gradinfo@spot.colorado.edu

Ph.D. Dissertation Credit
Thirty (30) hours of dissertation credit are required for all Ph.D. programs. Ten hours may be taken prior to the semester in which the comprehensive examination is taken. Ten hours may be taken in the semester during which the student takes the comprehensive examination. The section on continuous registration below gives specific guidelines for registration in periods during which the dissertation is being prepared. A grade of IP is reported on each dissertation registration until the final examination, at which time a grade for all dissertation hours is submitted to the Graduate School.

Continuous Registration
Ph.D. students who have passed their comprehensive examinations are required to be continuously registered for at least five dissertation credits each fall and spring semester until the dissertation is completed and successfully defended or the student formally withdraws from the program. This requirement includes the term in which the dissertation is defended. Off-campus students may register for only three semester hours of dissertation credit (called Off-Campus status). Off-campus status does not extend a student’s time limit for completion of the degree, and off-campus students must register for five dissertation hours during the semester of their dissertation defense.

Doctoral students who have passed their comprehensive examinations are not eligible to take part in the Time Out Program.

Doctoral students should consult with the School of Education Office of Student Services for appropriate course numbers before registering for dissertation hours.

Dissertation and Final Oral Examination
The Graduate School dissertation specifications are on the web at  www.Colorado.EDU/GraduateSchool/Specs/Specs.html

Students can also to request them via email at  gradinfo@spot.colorado.edu

Students should read carefully the Graduate School Specifications Manual (revised Feb. 2000), which is distributed upon successful completion of comprehensive exams. The form of dissertations is approved or disapproved by the Graduate School on the basis of guidelines listed in this manual.

The requirements for the composition of the final Ph.D. examination committee are described above in the section on Dissertation Advisor and Committee.

Doctoral students should obtain the required paperwork for defending the dissertation from the Office of Graduate Studies at the beginning of the term in which they will defend the dissertation. An oral examination announcement leaflet must be submitted to the Graduate School at least two weeks before the scheduled oral examination. The examination should be scheduled approximately one month before graduation. The thesis must be in the hands of the five member examining committee at least ten working days before the examination. Failure to meet this requirement may result in the postponement of the oral examination date.

Students may obtain a copy of an unofficial transcript to determine the exact number of dissertation hours on their record (Currently enrolled students may access their unofficial transcript via the PLUS+ system). A student does not have to be registered to turn in the dissertation to the Graduate School if the defense was held in a prior semester.