Requested Change in Statement of Affiliation Status
Eastern Michigan University seeks a change in its Statement of Affiliation Status with the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association to include the doctorate (research curriculum). As previously stated, one of the purposes of this current self-study is to assess the readiness of the University to offer the doctoral degree it proposes. This chapter presents the rationale and structure of the proposed degree as well as the policies and procedures that have been developed to implement it.
Eastern Michigan University seeks to offer a Doctorate (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership specifically designed to enable the experienced practitioner to become a more competent educational leader while remaining employed in his or her school district. The program will contribute markedly to the improvement of educational practice by allowing selected practitioners to learn about and then apply the best techniques known about successful school administration. This doctoral program design represents a positive and needed response to the concern about the quality of leadership in the nation's schools.
Doctoral students will have the opportunity to work with faculty who can combine theory and practice based on their own research and leadership experiences. Students will also become familiar with the body of knowledge and research about the discipline of educational leadership as a means of enhancing their ability to lead effectively. They also will be consumers and producers of applied educational research.
A Rich Tradition in Education
Eastern Michigan University has a long and distinguished history in the preparation of personnel for employment in the school setting. Established in 1849, it was the first teacher-training institution west of the Alleghenies. In the nation, it was the first normal school to prepare teachers of handicapped children. It was first, also, to offer teacher-training courses
in physical education; and it was the second normal school in the nation to become a four-year college-level institution. In Michigan, it was the first to establish a Department of Special Education, first to offer extension courses for teachers, and first to receive a special legislative allocation to assist local school districts with professional development programs.
It was on the Eastern Michigan University campus (Michigan State Normal School) that the Michigan Education Association was founded in 1852 and that a meeting was held which created the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in 1894.
Graduate instruction at EMU has a shorter but equally respected tradition. Graduate-level courses in education have been offered since 1938, a period of 52 years. The Master of Arts degree program has been in existence since 1953 and the Specialist of Arts degree since 1964. Eastern Michigan University was the first college in the nation to offer a graduate program for the preparation of community school educators in 1952. Eastern now seeks to become the first State institution to offer the Doctorate of Education degree designed exclusively for the full-time practitioner, with a focus on improving leadership practices in his or her school district.
An Established Record of Quality
The quality of Eastern Michigan University's programs for school personnel is well-documented. The undergraduate programs have been accredited continuously since 1915 by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. In addition, the NCA has accredited all education graduate programs as they have become eligible. Since 1954, all education undergraduate and graduate programs have been accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). The most recent visit from NCATE (March, 1983) resulted in several commendations and the extension of accreditation until 1991, the maximum allowable period. The quality of the Doctorate in Education will continue this rich tradition.
A Sizeable Client Base
The reputation of Eastern Michigan University's programs has attracted large numbers of students interested in education. Annual reports from the Michigan Department of Education indicate that Eastern Michigan typically recommends more teaching certificates than any other Michigan university. In fact, according to a recent report, the Eastern Michigan total represents more than the combined total of 24 of the other 31 recommending institutions in Michigan. According to reports from the
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, Eastern Michigan University is the largest producer of educational personnel among its more than 700 members.
The specific graduate programs in educational leadership have attracted 2,127 students during the past decade with 1,772 at the Master's level and 355 at the Specialist level. During the same time span, 1,204 educational leadership students were awarded degrees, representing a total of 981 Masters and 223 Specialists.
A Strategic Geographic Placement
Eighty-three public school districts enrolling more than one-third of all K-12 public school students in Michigan are located within a 35-mile radius of Eastern Michigan University. These districts employ 2,435 administrators, all of whom can travel to the campus in less than an hour. Moreover, many Eastern Michigan graduate students commute easily from school districts farther away than 35 miles, thanks to a modern and accessible highway system. Consequently, Eastern Michigan University is strategically located to serve a significant proportion of the State's teachers and administrators.
A Record of Serving the Employed Student
Ninety percent of the graduate students currently enrolled in the College of Education are employed full-time. To serve this population, all of the College's graduate courses are scheduled after 5:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and during the day on Saturdays. Nearly 5,000 University students are enrolled in evening courses.
Eastern Michigan has a long tradition of serving part-time, evening students in a safe, efficient, and responsible manner. This tradition will be extended to those quality students who are selected to pursue the doctorate.
The Need for the Doctorate
An expanding knowledge base, a better-educated citizenry, and an accelerating demand for better schools all combine to require markedly improved understanding and skill on the part of educational leaders. It is essential that larger numbers of today's practitioners acquire the competence necessary to shape schools to meet the demands of the 21st century. This doctorate is developed to assist in achieving that goal.
Currently, less than 10 percent (716 out of 7,245) of all Michigan school administrators hold a doctorate of any kind. There are 6,489 persons in administrative positions in Michigan schools who do not have a doctorate, many of whom would benefit from an accessible, job-related doctoral degree program. Some 2,125 of these people are employed
within 35 miles of Eastern Michigan University. A survey instrument mailed on November 3, 1987, to these 2,125 administrators resulted in 714 responses. Of these, 378 (53%) indicated that the doctorate was relevant to their professional needs.
Of the 716 Michigan school administrators who do hold the doctorate, 177 (24%) are women and 152 (21%) are minorities. Two hundred and twenty-two (31%) are 55 years of age or older. Of the 310 with the doctorate who are employed within 35 miles of EMU, 121 (39%) are 55 years of age or older. It is important to note, also, that in 1987 the Michigan Department of Education reported that over half of the 7,245 school administrators will be eligible to retire by 1991.
The national demand for excellence in schools defines an urgent need for improved educational leadership. Eastern Michigan University's tradition, quality, location, and commitment to the practitioner place it in a unique position to respond to this challenge by offering a relevant doctorate for educational leaders in Southeastern Michigan.
Within the University
All the regular faculty within the educational leadership program hold an earned doctorate. They are educational administrators who have provided leadership in local, State, and national professional organizations. Each is or has been a consultant to school systems and is a published scholar. Seven full-time equivalent faculty positions have been allocated to the program, a sufficient number to initiate the doctorate. In addition, one new faculty position will be added during each of the next three years.
The University's Library meets the needs for this currently proposed doctorate. Planned expansion of the Library and recent enhancements in acquisition budgets will ensure appropriate support of doctoral programming. The University Computer Center and the College of Education's Microcomputer Center serve instructional and research needs.
In order to guarantee that the program will have the financial and programmatic support which will enable it to meet the highest standards of quality, the Provost and the President have authorized a special above-base budgetary allocation which provides for marked increases in secretarial services; in doctoral fellowships; in the supplies, services, and materials budget; in funding for faculty professional development; and in equipment for the department (a personal computer has been purchased for each faculty member).
In anticipation of the new doctoral program the University, during 1989/90, hired a new administrative head of the Department of Leadership and Counseling. That
individual has extensive experience in the conduct of doctoral programs in the field of educational leadership. In addition, a coordinator of the proposed doctorate was hired. That individual also has substantial experience with doctoral-level programming. During the 1990/91 academic year still another new faculty hire has been authorized. This will be a faculty position requiring the successful candidate to demonstrate substantial experience in teaching at the doctoral level. Complete vitae of faculty who will provide leadership for the proposed doctorate are included in a special appendix to this report.
Within the Profession
Executive boards or governing councils of five State professional organizations officially endorsed the proposal for the doctorate in educational leadership. They are the: 1) Michigan Association of School Administrators, 2) Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals, 3) Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association, 4) Michigan Association of School Personnel Administrators, and 5) the Michigan Negotiators Association.
Among Prospective Students
A petition initiated and circulated by two students collected nearly 200 names of enrolled graduate students who were eager to record their support for the doctorate. In addition, the survey instrument&emdash;mailed to the 2,125 area administrators without the doctorate which resulted in 597 responses&emdash;revealed that 241 of the respondents said they "were likely to apply for the proposed program."
Among Other Universities
There are fifteen State-assisted Universities in Michigan. The Presidents of these Universities meet quarterly as a Presidents' Council. Their Vice-Presidents for Academic Affairs also meet quarterly as a separate group to review and pass judgment on proposals for new academic programs which come from any of the fifteen institutions. A new program must receive a majority vote from both groups before it will be authorized. The Academic Affairs Vice-Presidents recommended the Eastern Michigan University doctorate to the Presidents' Council which in turn endorsed the proposal.
Eastern Michigan University plans to build on its rich tradition of service to schools through an innovative doctorate which will improve the practice of educational leaders. The program is responsive to the requests and judgments of current and former students,
employers who are familiar with the high quality of Eastern Michigan graduates, and leaders of professional organizations who know about Eastern Michigan's capacity to provide instruction which is relevant to the real needs of practitioners. The program is the timely, logical, and inevitable expression of the University's history and strengths.
A doctoral student's individualized course of study is normally expected to encompass 60 semester hours of coursework beyond the master's degree. The exact number of hours will be determined by the student's program advisor, based on a review of previous graduate transcripts, the student's professional and personal aspirations, and Ed.D. degree requirements as set forth by the Graduate School and the Leadership and Counseling Department (EDL). Therefore, some plans of study will have only 60 semester hours while others may include additional hours (either courses designed to remove deficiencies or classes focused on enhancing opportunities for leadership success) at the discretion of the program advisor and doctoral committee members. The typical program of study will be divided into the following five components:
Component
Semester Hours Required
Major (Educational Leadership)
20 semester hours
Cognate
10 semester hours
Research
10 semester hours
Dissertation Research
16 semester hours
Internship
04 semester hours
Major (Educational Leadership)
Of the 20 hours included in the major, 10 semester hours of coursework are typically required. These courses are:
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EDL 710: |
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Leadership Theory |
2 semester hours |
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EDL 712: |
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Analysis of Research in Administration |
2 semester hours |
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EDL 713: |
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Field-Based Research |
2 semester hours |
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EDL 795: |
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Advanced Seminar in Educational Leadership |
2 semester hours |
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EDL 810: |
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Administrative Ethics and Policy Making |
2 semester hours |
The course in leadership theory represents an advanced treatment of leadership theories, models, functions, and principles emerging from research studies in education, business,
industry, and service organizations. In the advanced seminar (EDL 795), students will explore current issues in educational leadership, and the implications of current research and scholarship to the field of educational leadership will be explored in the analysis of research in administration class. The field-based research class is designed to give the student experience in designing, conducting, and reporting the results of an applied research project. It should be noted that in consultation with his or her program advisor, a post-master's degree student (as compared to a post-specialist degree student) who does not wish to obtain the Sp.A. degree may complete four hours of additional coursework in research in lieu of EDL 713, Field-Based Research. This seminar course will be limited in enrollment to a maximum of 12 students. The full resources of the University faculty, EDL faculty, and professional constituents in the geographical area will be utilized. Finally, students will devote significant time to the study of administrative ethics and the process of policy development as well as the implications of policy implementation.
The remaining 12 semester hours in the major are composed of educational leadership courses identified by the student and his/her program advisor. Paramount in making selections about these courses are the student's career, personal, licensing, and professional goals. Upon completion of this individualized program of study in the major, the student will have the requisite knowledge needed to fill a leadership role in a preferred area of service.
Cognate
The adaptability of the program is again apparent in the opportunity for doctoral students and program advisors to construct a cognate which contributes significantly to a student's development as a professional educator and administrator. A cognate is an area of specialization developed through completion of a sequence of related courses that are designed to add depth to the student's doctoral program. In order to provide maximum flexibility in meeting individual student needs, the cognate may be completed in any one or a combination of graduate academic units, departments, schools, or Colleges of the University that offer a sufficient number of graduate-level courses. The scope and sequence of the cognate must be approved by the faculty and the head of the academic unit offering the cognate. In the case of an interdisciplinary cognate, the doctoral committee will approve the configuration of coursework using advice from faculty in appropriate academic units. A representative of the cognate area will serve as a member of the student's doctoral committee.
Research
The third major segment of the doctoral program is designed to enable the student to accomplish the following:
In order to meet these outcomes, the program of study includes the following 10 semester hours of coursework in research:
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EDP 651: |
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Inferential Statistics |
2 semester hours |
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EDP 652: |
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Analysis of Variance |
2 semester hours |
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EDL 712: |
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Analysis of Research in Administration |
2 semester hours |
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*EDL 713: |
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Field-Based Research |
4 semester hours |
*As noted earlier, in consultation with his or her program advisor, a post-master's degree student (as compared to a post-specialist degree student) who does not wish to obtain the Sp.A. degree may complete four hours of additional coursework in research in lieu of EDL 713, Field-Based Research.
The two statistics classes (EDP 651 and 652) which are offered by the Educational Psychology Program in the College of Education will prepare the student to organize data and apply and interpret statistics, including levels of measurement, frequency distribution and graphs, measures of central tendency, dispersion, relative position, relationship, and prediction. The course in analysis of research in administration (EDL 712 emphasizes research design options as well as the critical examination of research studies in various areas of administration. In the field-based research class, students develop and complete an applied (practical) research project in an educational setting.
Dissertation Research
Each student in the Ed.D. program will be required to complete a dissertation, a document representing an original research effort. The dissertation will focus on an area of particular interest to the student and the dissertation chair. The research may be conducted using a variety of research designs (causal-comparative, experimental, etc.) as well as approaches (quantitative or qualitative).
Overall, the doctoral student must register for a minimum of 16 semester credit hours of dissertation research; but he or she may not enroll in dissertation research until he or she has passed the Comprehensive Qualifying Examination and has been admitted to candidacy by the Graduate School. It should be noted that this stipulation does not preclude the student's working with the dissertation chair in formulating ideas about the
specific research topic. However, the approval of the dissertation proposal cannot occur until after the student has passed the Comprehensive Qualifying Examination.
In completing the first 2 semester hours of dissertation research, the student will be required to attend a dissertation research seminar. This seminar will be led by an EDL graduate faculty member with experience in directing doctoral dissertations and will focus on such topics as the generation of research ideas, selection of a research topic, construction of hypotheses, development of a sound research design, methods of presenting and analyzing data, beginning the research project, components of a good dissertation proposal, and general guidelines regarding the completion of the dissertation research.
Internship
The application of conceptual, technical, and human relations skills essential to successful educational leadership, i.e., the testing of theory against prevailing practice, is best observed and explored when there is direct involvement in administration. Students, serving as administrative interns, complete a minimum of 200 clock hours of service at the internship site in an area related to their career goals. The internship is supervised by an experienced educational administrator, a faculty member in the Department of Leadership and Counseling, and the Director of the Intern Program.
Two options for the internship are available. Option A allows a person to become thoroughly acquainted with the administrative operation of a school system, institution, or educational organization other than the one in which the individual is currently employed. Option B is designed for the student currently filling an administrative position and for whom an internship experience within the employing system or organization is judged to be meaningful by the faculty advisor and Director of the Intern Program. An individual electing this option is assigned to a superordinate. The focus of the experience is on a major project endorsed by the central administration or board of control and considered seriously for implementation when completed.
In both options, the relevance of the internship experience to the student's overall program is assured by early identification, on the part of all parties concerned, of the following:
The internship is normally completed as the final experience of the Sp.A. degree program. For students who do not wish to qualify for the Sp.A. degree, the internship must be completed prior to the completion of the Comprehensive Qualifying Examination.
Other Program Requirements
In addition to completion of the planned program of study, each student in the Ed.D. program must complete a residence experience and a Comprehensive Qualifying Examination. These important aspects of the doctoral program are described below.
Residence Requirement
The residence requirement must be completed after admission is granted to the Ed.D. program, and the faculty in the Department of Leadership and Counseling expect the student to become a member of a community of scholars during the residency experience. In order to satisfy this requirement, students must enroll in 16 semester hours of coursework during two successive semesters, i.e., Fall and Winter, Winter and Spring/Summer, or Spring/Summer and Fall, and must be available to participate in all activities planned for students who are in residence.
Comprehensive Qualifying Examination
Students involved in the Ed.D. program will take a 14-hour Comprehensive Qualifying Examination, i.e., 12 hours written and 2 hours oral, as a means of demonstrating their ability to integrate a wealth of information into a meaningful whole. Each student will be expected to show subject mastery of the major (educational leadership) and the cognate in terms of the literature base, concepts, philosophy, research, and issues/problems. Each student also must provide evidence that he or she can analyze and synthesize information as well as draw appropriate conclusions.
In terms of content, the written examination will contain both common and individualized elements, i.e., questions that all persons taking the examination during a particular semester must answer as well as questions designed specifically for a student by his/her doctoral committee. A three-member doctoral examination committee, selected from among the members of the EDL faculty, will prepare the common questions to which all candidates must respond. These questions, which will focus on the integration of information from the required courses in the 60-hour program, will be transmitted to the chairs of the appropriate student's committee for incorporation into
the Comprehensive Qualifying Examination. The doctoral committee for each student will then meet for the purpose of designing additional questions tailored to the student's individual program of study.
The EDL doctoral examination committee will review anonymous responses to the common questions and will communicate its assessment of the student's performance to the student's doctoral committee chair and the department head. Upon receipt of the examination committee's assessment, the doctoral committee will conduct an oral examination to determine the proficiency of the student. The committee chair will then transmit the results to the student as quickly as possible, and the department head will confirm the results in writing.
A student who does not pass the Comprehensive Qualifying Examination may (after a lapse of at least six months) take another examination. After the second written attempt, if the committee chooses to do so, the members may ask the student to participate in an intensive oral examination. If, after the oral examination, the committee members maintain that the student has not achieved the level of proficiency needed by a professional in the field of educational leadership, the recommendation will be made to the Graduate Dean that the student be dismissed from the Ed.D. program.
Program Articulation
The Ed.D. degree at Eastern Michigan University is a 60-hour post-master's program with two points of entry, i.e., after completion of a master's degree from an accredited institution or after completion of the Sp.A. degree at EMU. Using the Sp.A. as a foundation for the doctorate represents a creative approach to the provision of advanced graduate experiences for the educational practitioner. Clearly, obtaining the Sp.A. degree is important to the practitioner for several reasons including but not limited to enhanced professional recognition, expanded expertise in the areas of leadership and educational administration/management, and salary increases as well as promotions.
While the opportunity to build on such a pivotal degree is not available in most disciplines, the faculty in the Department of Leadership and Counseling have chosen to capitalize on a sound educational option as a means of providing service to a growing population of interested professionals. Thus, Eastern is on the forefront of a movement to provide a relevant, planned, rewarding program of study for individuals who have the desire and potential to fill key positions of leadership in school systems. As a means of ensuring quality controls and high academic standards, coursework taken enroute to
completion of the Sp.A. degree is restricted to EMU credits, except for 9 hours of post-master's coursework that may be used to satisfy doctoral program requirements.
The individual who completes the 32-hour Specialist of Arts degree in Educational Leadership at Eastern Michigan University, if admissible to the Ed.D. program, may apply up to 32 hours of Sp.A. coursework toward the doctorate, thus enabling him or her to complete the Ed.D. with a minimum of 28 semester hours. However, it is anticipated that most students will need additional hours in order to meet their professional and degree objectives. As described earlier all students are required to complete specific doctoral-level coursework.
The configuration of the program and the relationship between the Sp.A. and the Ed.D. degrees are outlined below.
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Component |
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Major |
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Cognate |
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Research |
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Dissertation Research |
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Internship |
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Total |
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Individuals who choose to enter the Ed.D. program as post-master's degree candidates may elect, but are not required, to obtain the Sp.A. degree enroute to the doctorate. Moreover, as noted earlier, with their program advisors' approval, post-master's degree students may elect to complete additional coursework instead of the field-based research requirement. Otherwise, the program requirements for the two groups of students (post-master's and post-specialist) remain identical.
Students admitted to the program with a master's degree in a subject area other than educational leadership are required to cover the subjects for the master's degree in educational leadership. The required courses are as follows:
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EDP 677: |
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Research Techniques |
02 semester hours |
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EDL 510: |
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Educational Organization |
02 semester hours |
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EDL 514: |
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Educational Leadership |
02 semester hours |
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EDL 618, 619, 620, 621, 623, 624, 625 |
02 semester hours |
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Other approved EDL courses |
08 semester hours |
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Total |
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16 semester hours |
Deficiencies in a student's program may vary from 2 to 18 semester hours depending on the subjects elected in the master's degree. For these individuals the doctoral program could represent a commitment of from 66-78 semester hours beyond the master's degree.
Normally, students who complete the Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership at Eastern will find that the program of study is designed to provide a strong foundation for success in the doctoral program and to ensure the application of appropriate coursework to the Ed.D. Students accepted into the doctoral program who have earned either master's or specialist degrees in disciplines other than educational leadership and/or from other institutions will need to complete more than the minimum 60 semester hours beyond the master's degree, or more than the required 28 hours beyond the specialist degree, in order to meet Ed.D requirements. In all instances, graduate credit earned in other disciplines or at other institutions will be evaluated by the program advisor for application to the Ed.D.; after reviewing transcripts of previous graduate coursework completed, the faculty advisor will identify any deficiencies that must be removed prior to involvement in doctoral-level coursework. Students with a master's degree from Eastern in a field other than educational leadership will typically have to complete 72 additional hours of coursework. Individuals who have earned a specialist degree from another accredited institution of higher education will need to complete a minimum of 51 hours of coursework at Eastern Michigan University.
General Policies and Procedures for Doctoral Programs
The University proposes to offer its first doctoral degree in the field of Educational Leadership as described above. However, pursuant to the full and routine regulation of doctoral programs at the University the Graduate Council has adopted general policies and procedures to govern doctoral programs at Eastern Michigan University. Those policies and procedures are outlined here.
The doctoral program requirements place emphasis on a comprehensive understanding of and demonstrated competence in a field of knowledge, familiarity with related or cognate disciplines, skills in the use of research techniques, and, therefore, responsibility for dissemination and advancement of knowledge. Meeting the requirements for the doctorate is measured primarily by examinations and by completion and defense of the dissertation.
It should be noted that the policies and procedures for doctoral programming will be undergoing evolutionary development and have an initial focus on the doctoral program in the Department of Leadership and Counseling.
Admission
To be eligible for admission to the Doctoral Program at Eastern Michigan University, the applicant must meet all Graduate School requirements for admission. These might include some or all of the following:
The applicant's academic record and test scores will be assessed by the Graduate School for admission to the University. The full dossier of materials submitted by the candidate will then be assessed by the department offering the doctoral program for an admissions recommendation. Once the department makes a recommendation, the Graduate School will review the department's admissions decision and will notify the applicant of his/her admissions status.
Chronological Outline of Doctoral Work
Directed Study: Registration in directed study must have advance approval of the student's adviser and advance authorization by the Graduate School. A form, "Petition and Authorization for Directed Study," must be approved by the student's adviser, the course instructor, and the Graduate School Dean before registration. The form must contain all relevant details, including an explicit course outline, rationale for the course, and information about the major academic requirements the student must successfully complete.
Failure on the Comprehensive Qualifying Examination will cause the student's overall performance in the program to be reviewed by the doctoral committee in consultation with the department head, which will recommend that either the student be dismissed from the program or will prescribe what must be done before re-examination is appropriate. Re-examination may not take place sooner than six months, but must occur within one year. The results of the second examination are final.
The Comprehensive Qualifying Examination Committee consists of no less than four members who are typically the same persons as the doctoral committee. The membership of this committee, once established may not, under normal circumstances, be changed until the examination has been passed. When unusual circumstances requiring a committee change occur, the Committee chair may recommend a change in the committee membership with the approval of the Graduate School.
Graduation Requirements
Successful completion of the plan of study, Comprehensive Qualifying Examination, and the dissertation will qualify the candidate to be recommended for graduation. Each student must file for graduation within the dates the University establishes for graduation/commencement.
Grade Point Average: To be recommended for the doctoral degree, the student must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.
Transfer Credit: Applicable graduate-course credit may be accepted from other accredited doctoral institutions and may be included in the candidate's program if approved by the student's doctoral committee, the department head, and the Graduate Dean. Credits requested for transfer must be consistent with the Graduate School's policy concerning time limits for completing degree requirements (seven years for doctoral programs). A maximum of nine semester hours of graduate transfer credit will be allowed.
Residency Requirement: The doctoral requirement for residence following the master's degree is met by completion of sixteen credit hours of coursework, exclusive of dissertation research during two adjacent semesters. Adjacent semesters are judged to meet the following pattern:
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Adjacent Semesters1 |
Credit Hour Enrollment |
Residency Requirement |
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Fall and Winter |
8 semester hours each |
16 credit hours |
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Winter and Spring/Summer |
8 semester hours each |
16 credit hours |
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Spring/Summer and Fall |
8 semester hours each |
16 credit hours |
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1Spring/Summer terms together constitute one term. |
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Only coursework taken on the University's main campus in Ypsilanti satisfies the residency requirement.
IMPORTANT: The student must be available to participate in all doctoral activities scheduled during this period. No exceptions will be made to this policy.
Dissertation Registration: Early consideration of a dissertation topic is suggested. Generally, a student will not be permitted to register for dissertation research credit until she/he has fulfilled all requirements for advancement to candidacy for the doctoral degree. The doctoral dissertation is to be an original piece of work which addresses an intellectually significant problem, makes a valuable contribution, and is publishable. Since group research efforts are common, there is a concern about that part of a total project which is attributable to and identified with the candidate. A multi-authored dissertation is not allowable. Ownership of the research contained in the dissertation must be cleared before the project is approved at the prospectus stage. In some cases, with the approval of the student's adviser and the Graduate School, an applicant may be allowed to register for up to (but not more than) four hours of dissertation direction before being admitted to candidacy. The final year of the student's program should properly center on the requirements of the dissertation.
Dissertation Outline: Prior to initiating research the doctoral student must prepare the Graduate School form Doctoral Dissertation Prospectus and Approval. The form is approved by the student's dissertation committee and the head of the department which offers the degree. A copy of the prospectus is forwarded to the Graduate School for the Dean's approval.
Time Limitations: Students have seven years to complete all requirements for the doctoral degree. This period begins with the end of the semester during which the
student was admitted to doctoral study and was completing work toward meeting the requirements for the degree. Credit earned after acceptance as a doctoral applicant may not be over seven years old at the time the degree is conferred, except when, on the recommendation of an adviser, up to ten credits previously earned at Eastern Michigan University may be specified for revalidation.
Adviser: The student's doctoral adviser may also serve as the chair of the dissertation committee and, in this role, represents the department in assisting the student in planning a program of study and research. The adviser also has the responsibility for assuring that the student meets degree requirements and, through the approval process, signs the Plan of Study, recommends candidacy, guides the student's research, approves the dissertation prospectus, serves on the Comprehensive Qualifying Examination Committee, and certifies to the Graduate School that the degree requirements have been fulfilled.
Oral Defense of Dissertation: Before the oral presentation and defense of the dissertation are scheduled, the dissertation format and appearance must be acceptable to the Graduate School. The dissertation must be presented to the dissertation committee at least two weeks prior to the scheduled oral presentation and dissertation defense. The committee will certify, in writing, that the dissertation has been reviewed and approved for the oral presentation and defense.
The oral defense of the dissertation shall be presented by the candidate who shall state the methodology, research, and results of the investigation. Conducted by the candidate's committee, and presided over by the chair of the dissertation committee, it will be publicized in advance to the entire University community by the major department. In the discussion following the presentation of a dissertation lecture, other matters pertaining to the dissertation and preparation of the research may be discussed as they are deemed relevant. The oral defense will be open to the general University community, but questions are generated only by the student's dissertation committee members.
The Doctoral Committee chairperson will obtain signatures from each committee member on the Oral Defense Approval Form at the conclusion of the oral defense and file this document at the Graduate School within 24 hours of the completion of the dissertation oral defense.
Three final unbound copies of the dissertation will be submitted to the Graduate School within fourteen calendar days after the lecture and oral defense. Graduation processing will take place upon receipt of these copies.
Graduation: The candidate for the doctoral degree must file an application for graduation not later than the end of the first week of classes during the semester in which he/she expects to complete the requirements for the degree. Consult the academic calendar in the Graduate Bulletin. If an application for a degree was filed for a previous semester in which the student did not graduate, a new application is necessary.
Eastern Michigan University believes that it has the personnel and resources to offer the proposed Ed.D. in Educational Leadership. The University believes there is a demonstrated need for the degree and substantial support for it both within the University and the larger community. The proposed degree is an extension of the University's long tradition in the field of education and, as such, represents a logical continuation of institutional purposes and traditions.