Once a student has met the requirements for admission to candidacy, received approval for the dissertation/document/project research proposal, or initiated enrollment in 699 (dissertation/document research) or 739 (project research), the student must pursue completion of the dissertation/document/project without interruption by enrolling each fall and spring semester of the academic year.
- PhD and EdD students are required to register for a minimum of 3 hours each semester until reaching their program's minimum. Thereafter, they must register for a minimum of 1 dissertation hour each semester.
- DMA and DNP students are required to register for a minimum of 1 hour each semester.
Summer enrollment is expected if the student is working on the dissertation/document/project and using any University facilities or resources, including faculty time. The only time summer registration is required for dissertation/document/project research is when a doctoral student is graduating in August or defending the dissertation/document/project during the summer semester. This is true whether or not the student has formally submitted an Application for Admission to Candidacy and Plan of Study.
PhD students must complete a minimum of 18 hours of dissertation research credits but must maintain continuous enrollment until degree completion.
EdD students must complete a minimum of 12 dissertation research credits upon but must maintain continuous enrollment until degree completion.
DMA students must complete a minimum of 4 hours of document research rather and may register for one hour of document research during a semester but must maintain continuous enrollment until degree completion.
DNP Students must complete a minimum of 7 hours of project research and may register for one hour of project research during a semester and must maintain continuous enrollment until degree completion.
The amount of dissertation/document/project research for which a student enrolls in any given semester should be commensurate with the progress a student is expected to make on the dissertation, as well as reflective of the extent to which University facilities and faculty time are invested in the proposed activities.
To assist faculty and students in determining the appropriate registration for doctoral research, the following guidelines are recommended:
Three semester hours. Little or no progress will be made on the dissertation, only minimal use of University facilities will be involved, and/or there will be only slight faculty contact with the student; the work and writing of the dissertation are complete and only final grammatical corrections and the oral examination on the dissertation remain to be accomplished.
Six semester hours. The student will be devoting approximately one-half of a full-time academic load to the dissertation. Moderate progress on the dissertation is expected of the candidate, only limited use of University facilities will be involved, and/or faculty contact with the student will be limited.
Nine semester hours. The student will be devoting approximately three-fourths of a full-time load to the dissertation. Substantial progress on the dissertation is expected of the student, there will be major use of University facilities, and/or considerable faculty contact with the candidate is anticipated.
Twelve semester hours. The student will be working full-time on the dissertation. Extensive progress on the dissertation is expected, there will be considerable use of University facilities, and/or faculty contact with the student will be extensive.