College of Graduate Studies

Program of Study

Every EDD student must file a Program of Study (POS) with the College of Graduate Studies. This program is a formal list of courses the student intends to complete to fulfill the requirements for the degree and should consist solely of courses directly related to the EDD degree. A student should prepare the Program of Study in consultation with their Major Professor and Supervisory Committee. The program must be signed by the student, and approved by the Major Professor and Supervisory Committee. It is then submitted to the College of Graduate Studies for final approval. Students must file their Program of Study with the College of Graduate Studies not later than the end of the semester prior to the expected graduation term.

Please keep the following points in mind when preparing the Doctoral (EDD) Program of Study (POS):
A minimum of 63 hours is required for the EDD-Curriculum Studies degree program. A minimum of 75 hours is required for the EDD-Educational Administration degree program. These minimums include no less than nine (9) hours of dissertation credit.

No credits taken toward a Master’s degree may be counted toward the doctoral degree program.

Consult with your Major Professor and Supervisory Committee. The Official Doctoral Program of Study Form can be downloaded from the College of Graduate Studies website. The Official EDD Program of Study Form is available in WORD or PDF format that will permit you to print and complete the form. Print the file after completing the form, sign and forward to your advisor for his/her signature. The Program of Study must have all required signatures before being submitted to the College of Graduate Studies.

NOTE: the minimum number of credit hours required to complete degree requirements vary depending on the program. Course prefix codes, course numbers, course titles and the semester taken must be listed on the Program of Study as they are recorded on your transcript. Dissertation hours should be listed as a total, not by semester.

Transfer credit may be included on the Program of Study if approved by the major professor and supervisory committee. If transfer credits are included on the POS, the courses must be listed on the POS exactly as they appear on the transfer institution transcript and in the same format as #3 above.

EDD Curriculum Studies students may count up to 18 semester hours of previous credits (including transfer credits) earned beyond the Master’s degree toward EDD requirements.

EDD Educational Administration students may count up to 36 semester hours of previous credits (including transfer credits) earned beyond the Master’s degree toward EDD requirements.

Quarter hour course credits must be converted to the semester hour equivalent. To convert a quarter hour course to semester hours, multiply the number of quarter hours by 0.66.  Example: (5 quarter hours *0.66 = 3.3 semester hours.

Only a maximum of 6 credit hours of independent study may be applied toward a doctoral degree.

Courses designated as deficiencies or prerequisites by the department at the time of admission cannot be used on a Program of Study.

Time Limits to complete degree:All course requirements for the Ed.D. degree, except the dissertation, must be completed within a period of three years. This time requirement begins with the first registration for core (Tier II) courses on the student's approved program of doctoral study. In addition, a candidate for the Ed.D. degree who fails to complete all degree requirements within five years after passing the candidacy examinations and being admitted to degree candidacy will be withdrawn from the program, or must retake candidacy examinations to be reinstated.

Residency Requirements
EDD - Curriculum Studies: One academic year of continuous enrollment.

EDD - Educational Administration:Continuous enrollment over six (6) consecutive semesters including at least two semester of full-time enrollment on the Georgia Southern University campus. Must be enrolled in a minimum of three credits each semester until degree requirements are completed unless waiver of enrollment requirement is granted by Supervising Committee Chair. Student may be permitted to enroll in less than three hours if approved by the Committee Chair.

If changes need to be made in the Program of Study or the supervisory committee membership after initial approval by the College of Graduate Studies, a completed Amended Program of Study Form and/or a Doctoral Committee Change Form must be completed and submitted to the College of Graduate Studies for final approval. If there are extensive changes in the POS, a new Program of Study should be submitted.

A Reminder
When your Program of Study cannot be approved, either because it violates College of Graduate Studies guidelines or because you have not satisfied certain prerequisites, you, your major professor and your committee are confronted by delays and extra work. In an effort to help you avoid such problems we have listed below some of the more common reasons programs are returned.

• A course or courses listed has not been taken for graduate credit.
• The POS includes courses taken in a master’s degree program.
• The POS included deficiency or prerequisite courses.
• There is no transcript record of courses taken.
• Courses listed do not match those appearing on the student’s transcript. Course prefix codes, course numbers, course titles or credit hours must appear exactly as they appear on the transcripts.
• Not all of the committee members listed are members of the Graduate Faculty or the major professor is not approved to direct doctoral study.
• The College of Graduate Studies has not received official transcripts for all transfer courses, or such transcripts show that the courses in question do not qualify for transfer credit.
• The POS does not have the required signatures.
• There is no indication of proper approval for research involving human or animal subjects, recombinant DNA or biohazardous materials.

Comprehensive/Qualifying or Candidacy Examinations Curriculum Studies doctoral students must pass the candidacy examination before being admitted to candidacy. If a student does not pass all sections of the candidacy examination, the committee may grant one additional examination over the failed section(s) to be administered under conditions stipulated by the Candidacy Committee members. These conditions might include additional course work at the committee’s discretion. Students may not take the additional examination any earlier than the term following the first examination.

Educational Administration doctoral students will be given a comprehensive/qualifying examination (written and oral), which must be passed before being admitted to candidacy. If a student fails the comprehensive/qualifying examination for a second time, he/she will be removed from the doctoral program.

The results of the comprehensive/qualifying or candidacy examination are reported to the College of Graduate Studies on the Candidacy-Comprehensive Examination Report Form. The form must be signed by the committee members or those persons responsible for administering and grading of the examination. The format of the examination and the structure of the examining committee may differ among doctoral programs, and in some programs, the examining committee will differ from the supervisory committee. The Candidacy-Comprehensive Examination Report Form must be submitted to the College of Graduate Studies within one week of the determination of the results of the examination.

In the case of failure of the Comprehensive/Qualifying or Candidacy Examination, the supervisory committee may approve a second examination consistent with the program and College of Graduate Studies policies.

Candidacy

Candidacy is a designation that is granted when all of the following have successfully been met:

• Comprehensive/Qualifying Examinations Passed
• Program of Study Approved
• All course work has been completed
• Dissertation proposal or prospectus has been approved

Continuous enrollment
A doctoral student must be enrolled at Georgia Southern University during each semester when university facilities, staff or faculty time is being utilized including the final semester during which the degree is awarded.

Dissertation
A dissertation is required of all candidates for the awarding of a doctoral degree. Its purpose is to demonstrate the candidate’s ability to conduct significant research of the type appropriate to the academic discipline, to analyze the information obtained from the research, and to present the results in a form acceptable to the supervisory committee. A dissertation must be submitted in a form appropriate to the discipline.

The candidate must provide a copy of the dissertation to each member of the dissertation committee at least two weeks before the dissertation defense (see below).

Following a successful dissertation defense and approval of the final form of the dissertation by the committee, the candidate shall submit the dissertation in electronic dissertation/thesis format approved by the College of Graduate Studies by the dissertation submission deadline for the semester during which the degree is to be awarded.

Dissertation Defense
When the student is admitted to candidacy, the Dean of the College of Graduate Studies approves the supervisory committee. This committee is responsible for conducting the final dissertation defense in an orderly manner, evaluating the dissertation defense as a test of the candidate’s expertise, submitting the final Dissertation Defense Report and/or making other reports as appropriate or required.

When the dissertation has been approved and all other requirements have been met, the candidate is recommended to be awarded the doctoral degree.