1.4.c9 Key Assessments: Ph.D. Educational Administration

Ph.D. Educational Leadership

Assessment Points

1. QUALIFYING EXAM

Students qualify for continuation in the program by passing a written exam in the semester of enrollment in the 12th credit hour. The exam requires that students demonstrate the ability to reflect on coursework to date through a well-written articulation of a coherent and concise argument around some topical area in the field. Student completes Request for Qualifying Exam form and sends to Advisor to begin the process. Students must pass the qualifying exam to remain enrolled.

2. DISSERTATION PROSPECTUS

The dissertation prospectus is a 15 page manuscript which describes in a clear, concise, and compelling way the topic of the student’s proposed research. Students work independently on the prospectus in consultation with their advisor. EDAD 6890 can also be taken to aid in the writing of the prospectus. Once the prospectus is approved, the student is eligible to take the general examination, and enroll in the advanced seminar EDAD 6997.

3. GENERAL EXAMINATION

The graduate faculty in educational leadership view the General Examination as a culminating event that signals that students have not only developed the characteristics of the critically-thinking researcher/ practitioner but are also ready to take on an independent, original piece of research. The General Examination is taken at the completion of coursework once the prospectus is approved by the advisor. Students must pass the general exam in order to formally advance to the dissertation stage of their program. To sit for the General Examination, a student must meet the following criteria:

  • The student must be enrolled
  • All doctoral core courses must be completed.
  • The dissertation prospectus must be approved by the faculty advisor prior to setting a date

for the General Examination.

  • The student must be currently enrolled in, or must have completed, all course work

designated as concentration courses, research courses, and elective courses. An exception

can be made by the faculty advisor if no more than 6 units of concentration and elective

courses are yet to be taken.

The date for the exam is set by the advisor in consultation with the student.The Expectations for Performance on the General Examination and Criteria for JudgingScholarly Work will be provided to student in advance of the exam. When the Report of the General Examination is accepted by the Graduate School the doctoral student becomes a Candidate for the doctoral degree.

4. DISSERTATION PROPOSAL

Having achieved doctoral candidate status, the student produces a proposal for a dissertation which is presented in written and oral form to the student's dissertation committee. The three chapter proposal generally includes the study purpose, significance, conceptual framework, review of literature, and methodology. Once the student’s dissertation committee chair deems the proposal ready for defense, the student arranges a meeting of allcommittee members. The meeting is scheduled no sooner than two weeks after the proposalis in the hands of committee members.

After the dissertation proposal is approved by the doctoral committee at a formal hearing that constitutes the oral defense of the proposal, and the student receives clearance from the UNO Committee for the Protection of Human and Animal Subjects, the student carries out the dissertation research proposed, and the dissertation results are reported to the advisor and subsequently to the dissertation committee.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Committee for the Protection of Human SubjectsIRB approval must be received before the research approved in the dissertation proposal can commence. UNO’s IRB has established research standards to ensure that no research sanctioned by the university will infringe on individual rights or result in physical or emotional harm to any research subject. Each doctoral research proposal must be approved by the IRB. To obtain approval, the student obtains the appropriate forms from the IRB website ( ) and files an application describing the dissertation project in detail. This application must be filed through the student’s advisor who signs as the Principal Investigator. Once IRB approval is received the student can begin the research.

5. DEFEND THE DISSERTATION

The completed dissertation is defended in an oral examination (Final Examination) and is considered complete when the student's major professor and the dissertation committee approve it and the Graduate School accepts it. The dissertation is expected to be a scholarly study. It will be of sufficient depth and quality to contribute to educational leadership theory and practice.

The Final Examination constitutes the last phase of work for the degree. It is traditionally conducted as an oral test that is concerned with the dissertation and related scholarly work in the field. The content of the examination may be varied in any way that the committee decides and may extend into subject matter related to the major field even though well-removed from topics suggested by the dissertation. Should committee members deem significant additional work is needed on the study, a second final examination may be required. Candidates are allowed a maximum of two final examinations to defend their work.

Procedure: Once the advisor indicates the research is ready to defend, the student completes the Request for Doctoral Examination form, and Thesis and Dissertation Approval form, and submits both to their advisor. Similar to the proposal defense, the manuscript should be in the hands of committee members at least two weeks before a defense date is scheduled. Once the manuscript is finalized, it must undergo a format review by the Graduate School. In the semester a student plans to defend the dissertation they should make sure they are informed about all deadlines related to filing the final manuscript and graduation as adhering to these deadlines is the responsibility of the student. These deadlines are to be found on the Graduate School website.