- Two Content Program Courses (8 weeks each)
- 聽DOC/741 (8 weeks) Doctoral Seminar III - Deliverable: Dissertation Chapter 3 (Proposal QRM Approval)
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College of Doctoral Studies
Traditional Dissertation Pathway聽
Welcome to your doctoral journey and the Traditional Dissertation Pathway! We鈥檙e so proud that you鈥檝e decided to take this step in your career. Our mission is to develop doctoral leaders who conduct research for creative action and provide guidance to diverse organizations through effective decision-making.
Effective August 1, 2026, the College of Doctoral Studies will offer two dissertation pathways: the Traditional Dissertation and the Applied Dissertation. As you progress through your coursework, your doctoral faculty will provide detailed information about each pathway along with guidance to help you determine which option best aligns with your goals.
Watch: Doctoral Demeanor
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The Dissertation Process
The Traditional dissertation pathway (TDP) process occurs in five phases. Students should use the courses in each phase to build upon each phase deliverable and can dovetail course materials from content and research courses. Students should view the for further alignment support.
The five phases are:
- Research Plan (Prospectus)
- Dissertation Chapter 1 (Pr茅cis)
- Dissertation Chapter 2 (Concept Review)
- Dissertation Chapter 3 (Quality Review Methods QRM: Proposal)
- Full Dissertation and Oral Defense (Institutional Review Board Approval, Quality Review Final, Full Dissertation, and Oral Defense)
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Select the phase you would like to review
Role Of Doctoral Student
Doctoral students are accountable for writing all chapters of the proposal and dissertation while enrolled in dissertation classes and independently outside of designated dissertation courses. Students select dissertation topics that reflect gaps in the literature or problems identified from their practitioner experience. Students must choose dissertation topics aligned with their degree programs.
Doctoral students rely on committee feedback to build robust, cohesive, and quality research projects aligned with the CDS鈥檚 mission to enhance their positions as Scholar-Practitioner-LeadersSM (SPL) in their industries.
Dissertation Committee Roles
Students enrolled in the College of Doctoral Studies at the 91制片厂 are expected to be dedicated, self-motivated, responsible, and independent learners accountable for the development of their dissertation. Doctoral faculty members are dedicated to supporting and guiding students to the completion of the doctorate.
Doctoral seminar courses are writing-intensive classes for students. The faculty provides guidance, review, and feedback on dissertation deliverables to support the student in building a quality, robust dissertation. Students should be in doctoral seminar classes for full reviews.
The Commitee Includes:
- Dissertation Chair 鈥 Provides primary academic leadership, methodological guidance, and oversight
- Committee Members (University Research Methodologist (URM) and Panel Validator (PV))聽聽鈥 Contribute subject matter expertise and support research quality and alignment
Students who selected their own committee members prior to September 2019, will continue to work with those faculty members.聽 If a faculty member resigns or students wish to change a faculty member, students will be assigned a staff faculty member. There are situations where changes in dissertation committee faculty may delay student progression based on new faculty feedback and incomplete student documents.
Key Responsibilities:
- Guide development of the research plan and applied design
- Ensure alignment between problem, purpose, and methodology
- Support ethical research practices and IRB compliance
- Provide feedback on deliverables and applied outputs
- Evaluate readiness for final defense
Watch: Ensuring Consistent Progression Through the Doctoral Journey
奥补迟肠丑听 video.
Phase 1: Research Plan (Prospectus)
Establishes alignment among the problem, purpose statement, research questions, design selection, theoretical or conceptual framework, and feasibility.
Tools for Success
Courses
- BUS/700, EDD/700, DHA/700 (8 weeks)
- LDR/711A (8 weeks) Leadership Theory and Practice
- RES/709 (8 weeks) Research Conceptualization and Design
- DOC/714S (8 weeks) Symposium I
- Deliverable: Research Plan
Phase 2: Dissertation Chapter 1
Introduces and contextualizes the research problem within the scholarly literature and establishes the rationale for the study.
Tools for Success
Courses
- RES/724 (8 weeks)
- RES/710 (8 weeks)聽
- Program Content Requirement Course (8 weeks)
- Program Content Elective Course (8 weeks)
- DOC/715 (8 week) Doctoral Seminar I - Deliverable: Dissertation Chapter 1 (Pr茅cis)聽
Phase 3: Dissertation Chapter 2 (Concept Review)
Develops the theoretical and conceptual framework through critical synthesis of scholarly literature.
Tools for Success
Courses
- Two Content Program Courses (8 weeks each)
- DOC/723 (8 weeks) Doctoral Seminar II
Phase 4: Dissertation Chapter 3 (Proposal QRM Approval)
Full dissertation proposal including the introduction, literature review, and methodology. Students must obtain IRB approval before proceeding to data collection.
Tools for Success
Courses
Phase 5: Full Dissertation and Oral Defense (IRB Approval, QRF Approal, Full Dissertation, and Oral Defense)
Complete five-chapter dissertation and oral defense presented to the doctoral committee.
Tools for Success
Courses
- IRB Review and Approval (occuring concurrently)
- One Content Program Course (8 weeks)
- DOC/719S (8 weeks)
- DOC/742 (8 week) Doctoral Project IV
- Deliverable:聽Dissertation and Oral Defense 鈥撀燙heckpoint Phase Deliverable
Recommendations in the dissertation process
The 91制片厂 IRB is guided by 聽and focuses on respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. The University holds Federal Wide Assurance filed with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (FWA: 00004202). Students should register for the UOPX IRB at 聽and access the forms and templates within the IRBNet library.
Following IRB approval, doctoral candidates can begin data collection.
For more guidance on writing Chapters 4-5, please review the College of Doctoral Studies Dissertation Guide and Alignment Handbook. Doctoral candidates writing Chapters 4-5 should review all chapters for alignment.
In Phase 5, doctoral candidates should review the following:
- 聽(Login Required)
- CDS Dissertation Guide for Chapters 4-5
- CDS Dissertation Guide for Final Dissertation Edit (FDE)
- Oral Defense Rubric
- Oral Defense Tutorial
- Oral Defense Video Example
- Review all Dissertation Chapters for alignment.
DOC/742 is a writing-intensive class for students. The Dissertation Chair, URM, and PV provide guidance, review, and feedback on the dissertation proposal to support the student in building a quality, robust dissertation. For students who do not gain approval in DOC/742, DOC/742A, and DOC/742B are required iterations to continue work on the dissertation.
To ensure passage of this stage, the doctoral candidate should review the Dissertation Criteria Assessment (DCA) Final Dissertation Editing (FDE) Checklist.
Upon approval of the Oral Defense and before FDE Review, students may decide to use a Copy-Editing Service, which is at the student鈥檚 discretion and is not mandatory for completion. Costs associated with such service are the sole responsibility of the student.
Following completion and approval of the FDE Review in Teams 365, the student then emails the updated Final Dissertation Microsoft Word to Document 聽顿颈蝉蝉别谤迟补迟颈辞苍厂别谤惫颈肠别蝉蔼辫丑辞别苍颈虫.别诲耻听聽鈥 for the routing of the e-signature page. The student should include the following in the email:
- Subject title: Final Dissertation Document for e-signature page
- Attachment: The final dissertation document in Microsoft Word庐 with all completed edits*
- Cc: The FULL committee on the email
Failure to provide all the required information may result in a delay in e-signature page routing.
As a quality assurance measure, random dissertations undergo a College of Doctoral Studies 鈥 Dissertation Quality Assurance Review.