The capstone experience of the EdD in Educational Leadership is the writing of a dissertation. Once a doctoral student has been Advanced to Candidacy, he or she can begin the process of getting a doctoral proposal approved. While the dissertation proposal may not be formally approved prior to being Advanced to Candidacy, students are well advised to begin consideration of possible dissertation topics and conducting preliminary literature reviews as early in the program as possible; ie., it will be to the student’s advantage to have a plausible dissertation topic in mind at the time the student is Advanced to Candidacy.
Once the proposal is approved and all other approvals have been granted (for example, from the site where the data will be gathered, from the participants in the study, from UHCL’s Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects, etc.), the student can begin the actual study. The point to be made is that one should allow at least one year for the completion of one’s dissertation. Since UHCL’s EdD uses the practitioner-research model, the Texas Higher Education Coordinator Board says the following in describing an appropriate dissertation:
The dissertation may be appropriately related to the immediate operational program of the schools, either in an analysis and solution format or in a application of theory or research context. The professional degree in Education, as with other professions, should emphasize problem solving or applied research.
It is important that the student work with his or her faculty advisor to create the best possible dissertation committee. The student and the dissertation committee work together to develop the dissertation. When the dissertation is completed and with the approval of the dissertation chair, an oral defense of the dissertation will be scheduled for the student with the dissertation committee. Completion of the dissertation requirement will occur when the dissertation is approved by the dissertation committee and copies have been submitted to the university as required by policy.
A student must enroll for a minimum of 12 hours of dissertation credit to fulfill degree requirements. A student also must be continuously enrolled in a minimum of three hours of dissertation credit from the semester in which the dissertation proposal is approved through the semester in which the student graduates.
