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The Doctoral degree program is the highest professional
degree and is designed primarily for top-level education practitioners
and university researchers. The College offers both Ph.D. and Ed.D.
degrees in Secondary CTL. Programs at the doctoral level are designed
to prepare advanced practitioners for school positions or for professorships
in institutions of higher education.
There are two types of doctorates available in
the Department of Secondary Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning (CTL).
One is for students who intend to become researchers in a given
field. The other is for students who intend to become highly skilled
practitioners and school leaders. Normally, three years of teaching
are required to enter either of the programs.
The Doctor of Philosophy degree is mainly focused
on research and theory. Program requirements include the acquisition
of special skills that would be useful in conducting scholarly investigation
and traditional research. The Doctor of Education degree includes
a focus on facilitating the development of action researchers and
experienced practitioners.
The doctoral programs in the Department of Secondary Curriculum,
Teaching, and Learning (CTL) are intensive and demand much time
and effort by both students and faculty. Consequently, a screening
of possible candidates for the doctoral degree is essential. This
step may be taken only after earning a master's degree at this or
another institution. The screening procedure is scheduled once during
the fall and spring semesters.
Before a student can be considered by a specific program, proof
must be furnished of admission to the Graduate School. Application
and procedures for admission may be obtained by writing The Graduate
School Admissions, The University of Alabama, Box 870118, Tuscaloosa,
AL 35487-0118. This
procedure takes a minimum of six weeks to complete. This application
is kept in the Graduate School. Students can access Graduate School
information at http://graduate.ua.edu.
It is the student's responsibility to complete the procedures required
by the Graduate School for admission. The student can check with
the Graduate School's front desk (205) 348-5921 for a status report
on the admission process. No action will be pursued by the department
until this step has been completed.
Procedures for screening into the doctoral program in Secondary
CTL are separate from admission procedures for the Graduate School.
Applicants should be aware that the steps outlined below must be
completed and returned to the departmental office (204 Graves Hall)
for the purpose of establishing a screening folder. The screening
process and admission to the appropriate program must be completed
before completion of 15 hours of doctoral coursework (those courses
not counted toward another degree or certification requirement)
and after at least one doctoral core course has been completed.
This step is accomplished through completing the application form
and returning it to the department chair, Secondary CTL, Box 870232,
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0232.
The student should word-process a letter to the Secondary CTL faculty
expressing his/her interest in the program. The following information
should be included:
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A concise expression of student's goals or professional plans
indicating how this program would benefit him/her in achieving
the goals.
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Any special conditions which should be considered in the student's
particular case. For example, if the student has a leave of
absence for only one year, the statement should include that
information.
A curriculum vita must accompany the declaration of intent and the
letter of intent.
Applicants who have progressed through each of the preceding steps
in the screening process must complete the diagnostic examination
which is scheduled one day each semester. The purpose of the examination
is to assess the student's ability to write, research, and analyze.
The student will be given a journal article to read and will then
write an extemporaneous critical analysis. Students who have not
been admitted to the Graduate School and/or completed steps 1-4
will be asked to wait until these are completed before scheduling
the diagnostic examination.
Interviews with each doctoral applicant will be held on the afternoon
of the diagnostic examination. It is the student's responsibility
to attend the scheduled interview which typically lasts about 20
minutes. Questions about the status of the application can be directed
to (205) 348-6058.
Students will be notified by the department chair usually within
four weeks of the faculty interview regarding the recommendation
of the faculty. After the student has received official notification,
he/she may contact the department chair for further information
or questions.
Immediately after being screened and accepted into the program,
the student will select a program planning chair. The chair must
be a full member of the graduate faculty and a faculty member who
is in the same program in which the student is studying. Together
the student and the chair will identify four other members to serve
on the program planning committee. Normally, at least two must be
from the student's department and at least one member must be from
outside the department. Consult with your program planning chair
for specific guidelines on forming your committee. This committee
will be responsible for helping the student develop his/her plan
of study, as well as writing the student's major comprehensive examinations.
It is the student's responsibility to ask the other four members
to serve on the committee. The student will obtain, complete, and
distribute copies of the Appointment/Change of Doctoral Program
Advisory Committee form listing the committee members of the program
planning committee. The form is available in 204 Graves Hall.
The student also needs to arrange for the transfer of any credit
from other colleges. Transcripts from other institutions must be
sent to the Graduate School. The Request for Transfer of Graduate
Credit for Application to a Degree Program form (available from
the Graduate School) needs to be completed in order to have the
credit evaluated and University of Alabama equivalence established.
This transfer of credit form should be sent to the chair of the
student's program planning committee who will evaluate course equivalencies.
This should be done prior to the program planning committee meeting.
By the end of the first semester of enrollment following screening,
the student must convene the program planning committee for the
purpose of outlining and approving the program of study. Prior to
this meeting, the student and the major advisor should convene a
meeting of the program advisory committee. At this meeting, the
student provides each member with a written summary of graduate
study to date. The student and the committee then plan a program
of study to meet the academic and professional needs of the student
and fulfill all requirements of the department, the College of Education,
and the Graduate School. The program advisory committee continues
to assist the student in program planning and advisement until the
student satisfactorily completes all major and minor comprehensive
examinations.
The goals of the comprehensive examinations are (a) to give students
an opportunity to reflect on and integrate the knowledge and skills
they have acquired from the program in the context of a useful educational
activity, and (b) to give the faculty the opportunity to evaluate
whether students show sufficient breadth and depth of knowledge
and skills in their particular fields. Ph.D. candidates must demonstrate
competence in the major and minor fields. Ed.D. students must demonstrate
competence in the broad area of knowledge and any areas of specialization
specified in the student's program of study.
Students are eligible to take the examination when
they have completed all coursework in the major and at least 80%
of all total coursework. It is the student's responsibility to complete
the Application for Doctoral Major/Minor Exams (available in 204
Graves Hall). The student must submit the request to take the major
examination during the first two weeks of the semester the exam
is to be taken. This request form must be signed by the program
planning committee chair.
Students will be provided with 3-4 broad questions that are to be
completed independently. The date will be determined by the student
in conjunction with the Chair of the student's Doctoral Program
Advisory Committee. The questions must be returned within 10 calendar
days. Each question will include appropriate subsections to ensure
that all areas of study are assessed. Faculty members from the student's
advisory committee will write the questions and may assist students
by clarifying any details about the questions. NO ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE
MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE FACULTY MEMBERS OR ANY OTHER INDIVIDUALS.
Students are required to give numerous and appropriate
references to the sources they use and to include a reference section
in their examinations. Plagiarism on the exam will be considered
academic misconduct, resulting in automatic failure of the examination
and possible termination from the program. Students who are unclear
on what constitutes plagiarism or the improper paraphrasing of others'
work are advised to ask for guidelines from department faculty.
Students wishing additional clarification on a question can approach
the faculty member who wrote the question. An oral exam may be required
at the discretion of the student's exam committee. The word-processed
responses for each question should be comprehensive. Each response
is not to exceed 10 typed, double-spaced pages with one-inch margins.
The comprehensive exam is considered to be passed when all questions
are passed. A student may retake the exam once if all questions
are not passed. A student failing one or more questions is required
to retake only the part of the exam that was not passed. The student
may not retake any portion of the exam until the next regularly
scheduled exam (which would be the next academic semester). Students
have only one chance to retake any part of the exam. Students will
receive a letter in approximately 4 weeks indicating the results
of the exam.
Before the student can begin work on the dissertation proposal,
all comprehensive and minor examinations must be passed. The dissertation
committee is responsible for assisting the doctoral student in developing
and conducting dissertation research. Once the dissertation committee
is formed, the student's program planning committee is disbanded.
To form the dissertation committee, the student meets with the chair
of the program advisory committee to discuss a potential dissertation
topic and identify faculty with relevant expertise who, by virtue
of full membership in the graduate education faculty, may chair
the dissertation committee. The student then requests such a faculty
member to chair the dissertation committee, and together they recommend
at least four additional members of the committee, at least one
of whom is from outside the department of Secondary Curriculum,
Teaching, and Learning. Selection of the committee chairperson and
members should be based on the relationship between the expertise
and scholarly interests of the faculty members and the student's
proposed dissertation topic. The student should prepare the Appointment/Change
of Doctoral Dissertation Committee form for committee members to
sign. This must be done even if the same committee is retained.
This form can be secured from 204 Graves Hall.
The dissertation committee chair provides intense
counseling in selecting the dissertation problem, developing the
proposal, coordinating input from committee members, chairing committee
meetings, guiding the student's dissertation research, guiding the
writing of the dissertation, and chairing the oral defense of the
dissertation. The dissertation committee assists the student in
developing the proposal, conducting dissertation research, writing
the dissertation, and judging the adequacy of the student's dissertation
defense.
Close cooperation and involvement of all committee
members are expected at all stages of the dissertation process,
from the development of the proposal to successful oral defense
of the dissertation. The student, in consultation with the chair
of the committee, is responsible for scheduling committee meetings.
The dissertation proposal should include an introduction and rationale
for the problem, statement of the problem, research questions or
hypotheses, a comprehensive review of literature and research, a
description of the methods of inquiry or research methods to be
employed in investigation of the research questions and/or hypotheses,
and the results of pilot studies where appropriate. The proposal
will essentially consist of the first three chapters of the dissertation.
Prior to the formal proposal meeting of the doctoral dissertation
committee, the student should gain input from all committee members.
The dissertation proposal must be provided to members of the committee
at least two weeks prior to the proposal meeting. Upon approval
of the proposal, each member of the committee will sign the Application
For Admission To Candidacy form which is available from the Graduate
School. The student will obtain and prepare the form prior to the
proposal defense. If the proposal is not approved, the candidate
must modify the dissertation proposal in accordance with the suggestions
of the committee and must meet again with the committee to secure
approval of the revised proposal.
Students cannot submit a proposal and defend the dissertation in
the same academic semester. Interim and Summer (sessions one and
two) constitute one academic semester.
The candidate may then proceed to complete the dissertation. The
candidate should submit a completed version of the dissertation
to each member of the committee at least two weeks before the scheduled
meeting. This must be a complete, well-organized, and typed copy
prepared in accordance with the manual approved by the Graduate
School (A Manual for Students Preparing Theses and Dissertations).
The student must be sure to adhere to all guidelines for dissertations
included in the manual.
At least 10 working days prior to defending the dissertation,
the student must send an abstract of the dissertation to all faculty
in the College of Education with an invitation to attend the defense
that indicates time and place of the defense. Students should send
the announcement of their defense to the faculty by the College
of Education's e-mail system.
To send the announcement to all faculty, the student should compose
the announcement as an e-mail message and address it to the College's
public mailing lists.
A hard copy of the announcement must be sent to Beverly York, Graduate
School, 102 Rose Administration.
The announcement should have a format as follows:
- AN INVITATION TO A DISSERTATION DEFENSE
- Name of Student
- Name of Program (i.e. Elementary Education Studies, Secondary
Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning; etc.) -
- Names of Dissertation Chair and Committee Members -
- Title of Degree - Ph.D. or Ed.D.
- Date of Defense
- Time of Defense
- Location of Defense
- Title of Dissertation
- Copy of Abstract
The candidate next shall engage in an oral defense
before the doctoral dissertation committee. The Announcement of
Thesis and Dissertation Defense form (available from the Graduate
School) must be completed by the student and submitted to the Graduate
School at least two weeks before the dissertation defense. In addition,
the student must distribute an abstract of the dissertation to all
faculty in the College of Education and an invitation to attend
the defense that indicates time and place of the defense. This can
be done via e-mail. Before the defense, the student must secure
the Dissertation, and Oral Defense Results form from the department
office in 204 Graves Hall and submit it to the chair of the dissertation
committee. This form is signed by the dissertation committee members
after the defense. The committee chair will then send the form to
the Dean of the Graduate School.
The student will submit, in final approved form, two copies of the
final dissertation and two copies of the abstract to the Graduate
School. Another final copy of the dissertation and abstract must
be submitted to the dissertation chair. Although it is not required,
it is customary to provide copies of the dissertation to the committee
members.
At the time of registration for the final semester of graduate study,
the student must apply to the Graduate School for the advanced degree.
The form Application for Advanced Degree (available from the Graduate
School) is required for this purpose and must be completed in duplicate
and submitted to the Graduate School.
A thesis/dissertation title card must be submitted
to the Graduate School early in this semester. At least six weeks
before graduation, the candidate must deposit in the Office of the
Graduate School two copies of the dissertation (reproduced in an
acceptable manner on 100-percent rag bond paper) approved by the
members of the dissertation committee and the department chair.
The dissertation must be accompanied by a receipt for the binding
fee. The candidate must also deposit with the Dean of the Graduate
School two copies of an abstract of the dissertation, consisting
of not more than 350 words, approved by the chair of the Dissertation
Committee and the department chair. Approval of the dissertation
by the graduate dean is necessary before graduation. The Graduate
School has other deadlines that must be met during this semester.
A list of deadlines should be secured from the Graduate School by
the student to be sure all deadlines are met (available at http://www.ua.edu/academic/colleges/graduate/).
Doctoral programs of study may include appropriate coursework which
has been earned seven years prior to the date of the student's admission
to the doctoral program. All degree requirements must be completed
within seven years of the date of the student's admission to the
Graduate School for doctoral study.
A minimum of three academic years of graduate study
beyond the master's degree is required for completion of the Ed.D.
and Ph.D. programs in the College of Education. At least one academic
year of doctoral study must be spent in continuous residence as
a full-time student on the campus of The University of Alabama.
Doctoral program advisory committees may approve one of the alternatives
listed in the Graduate Catalog for meeting residence requirements.
In addition, Ed.D. students may complete the alternative residency
experience included in this handbook.
The Alternative Doctoral Residency Program (ADR)
Ed.D. Degrees in Secondary Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning
Many potential doctoral degree students are unable
to pursue a terminal degree because of institutional requirements
for full-time residence study. These "residency" requirements
usually specify a minimum of two consecutive semesters of full-time
study consisting of at least 9 semester hours of coursework each.
Persons with families, full-time careers, or persons who live considerable
distances from a doctoral institution are often unable to make the
time and/or financial commitment required by doctoral degree residency
programs.
With these problems in mind, the faculty in SCTL
at The University of Alabama developed an Alternative Doctoral Residency
(ADR) Program for Ed.D. candidates. The ADR Program allows Ed.D.
students to satisfy the residency requirements of the Graduate School
through a continuous 15-month combination of summer school study
and academic year weekend college courses. Specifically, the total
of 24 semester hours of the ADR Program requires:
First Summer - Attend one or both summer school
session and complete a minimum of 6 semester hours of advisor-approved
Ed.D. program courses. These courses must be taken on-campus. Gadsden
Center or transfer credit is unacceptable. Note: Summer school is
divided into two terms. Students may register for a maximum of 6
semester hours during each summer semester. Thus, a student attending
both semesters could take 12 hours of course work during the summer.
Fall Semester - Register for a minimum of 6 semester
hours of advisor-approved Ed.D. program courses. These courses must
be taken on-campus.
Spring Semester - Register for a minimum of 6 semester
hours of advisor-approved Ed.D. program courses. These courses must
be taken on-campus.
Second Summer - As in the first summer session,
each student must register for a minimum of 6 semester hours of
advisor-approved Ed.D. program courses. All of the summer school
conditions described above apply.
When all of the above requirements have been met,
the department chair will write a letter to the Dean of the Graduate
School stating that the student has satisfactorily met Ed.D. residency
requirements through the ADR program.
In order to be admitted to the ADR Program, a student
should have been admitted to the Graduate School, should have successfully
completed the screening process for admission to the doctoral program
in Secondary CTL and should have secured permission from the screening
committee to meet residency requirements through the ADR Program.
Interested students should secure permission from the department
chair no later than May 1 of the year in which the first summer
session of ADR courses will be taken.
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