HED Home Page

Prospective Students
• Masters
• Doctoral

Program Information
• Faculty
• HED Graduate Assistants
• Courses

Scholarship
• Doctoral Dissertations
• Masters Theses
• Independent Studies
• Publications by HED Students
• Faculty Publications

Current Students
• Association for Student Development
• Graduate Student Forms
• Information for Doctoral Students
• Information for Masters Students
• Links to Current Students
• Newsletter
• Scrapbook

Alumni
• Alumni Registry

Other Resources
• CAS
• Educational Policy Institute
• Perspectives on Higher Education Policy in Virginia
• Staffing Practices Online Handbook
• Student Affairs Links

University Links
• VT Graduate School
• VT Graduate Catalogue
• VT Home Page
• VT Division of Student Affairs

E-mail HED webmaster

Phases of Doctoral Study
Doctoral study consists of six phases that all students must complete. Each phase is marked by an administrative procedure. In general, students will complete these phases in the following order:

Phase 1: General admission. Students apply for and are offered initial admission to the program. Students complete 12-15 hours of coursework.

Phase 2: The Qualifying Exam. Upon completion of 12-15 hours, students ask three faculty members to serve on their Qualifying Exam committee. The Qualifying Exam serves two purposes. First, it serves as the final stage of admission to the program. Second, it is diagnostic, and allows the faculty to examine the student's planned program of study and suggest areas in which the student needs additional coursework.

To complete the Qualifying Exam, doctoral students complete these steps.

• In conjunction with the faculty advisor, students will prepare a Plan of Study form that details the courses the student plans to complete and a timeline for completing those courses.
• The Plan of Studies will be provided to the faculty committee (3 members).
• The student schedules a meeting with the committee to review this Plan. During the Exam students will discuss their professional goals with the committee. The student and committee will discuss whether the proposed Plan of Studies will assist the student in achieving these goals. Changes in the proposed Plan may be made during the Exam.

Revalidation of Course Work: In accordance with Graduate School Policy, all course work that is more than five years old must be revalidated. Students having such course work on their proposed plan of study will be examined on the content of these courses during the Qualifying Exam. Students may be asked to undertake additional efforts to revalidate courses after the Qualifying Exam if faculty members believe such efforts to be warranted. Students who must revalidate course work should obtain more information about this process from their major advisor.

Once committee signatures have been affixed to the Plan , it becomes the student's contract with the University. Assuming the student completes all the assigned courses and other requirements in the time frame indicated, the doctoral degree will be conferred. Subsequent changes to the Plan may be made if approved by the faculty advisor. The Qualifying Exam is also the faculty's final opportunity to approve admission to the program. Failure to pass the Qualifying Exam could result in the student's dismissal from the program.

Phase 3: Residency. All full-time students must complete a period of residency in which they are enrolled full-time at the University (12 or more semester hours per term). At least 24 hours of graduate level work must be completed during this residency period, and at least 15 of these hours must be courses other than dissertation units. Students should check with their faculty advisor to ensure that they meet the residency requirement during their tenure in the HED program.

Students completing the doctorate on a part-time basis must also meet residency requirements, but such requirements differ from those of full-time students. Part-time students may meet residency requirements in one of two ways. Those who are not employed by the university must complete 24 hours of coursework in consecutive semesters in which they are enrolled for at least 6 hours of course credit. Of the 24 hours no more than 9 hours may be dissertation and research hours. Part-time students who are employed full-time by the university may meet the requirement by enrolling for 6 hours in each of two consecutive semesters. Three units will be a class and the other three units will be a Residency Internship (RI). The RI will involve working closely with a faculty member on a scholarly project. Part-time students should talk with their advisors to ensure that they plan appropriately to fulfill their residency requirement.

Graduate School Policy: Residency for the Ph.D. in Education involves two consecutive regular semesters (exclusive of summers) of full-time enrollment to permit a close association between the candidate and the advisor/advisory committee. The dissertation for the Ph.D. demonstrates the candidate's ability to conceptualize, conduct, describe, and defend an original investigation that makes a significant contribution to the professional literature. A total of 96 graduate credits is required for the degree.

Phase 4: Written and Oral Preliminary Exam. Once students have completed (or nearly completed) all coursework other than the dissertation, they take the preliminary exam. The HESA preliminary exam is offered once each fall and spring semester. Students should declare their intention to take the preliminary exam as soon as they feel they are ready. They should meet with their respective advisor and the preliminary exam coordinator at their earliest convenience to discuss this process. A minimum of a four-person preliminary exam committee must be identified that includes the cognate professor. Complete details about the exam can be found on the HED web site (Preliminary Exam Guidelines).

The preliminary exam has two phases, a two-day written examination at the beginning of the semester, and an Oral Exam generally scheduled later in the semester . Students must pass the written examination before the oral examination can be scheduled. A student must pass the oral exam with no more than one negative vote. Faculty approval is indicated by their signature on the Preliminary Exam Results Card that must be picked up at the Graduate School on the day of the exam (before the exam).

Phase 5: Dissertation Prospectus Exam. Once students have successfully passed the preliminary exam they typically start their dissertation. In conjunction with the faculty advisor selected to chair the student's committee, students develop the idea for their dissertation research and ask a minimum of three other faculty members to serve on their dissertation committee. Students prepare a dissertation proposal, normally the first three chapters of the paper, and schedule a meeting to review this proposal with their committee. Once faculty signatures are affixed on the appropriate form , students conduct the research.

Phase 6: Dissertation Final Defense. Upon completing the research and writing the results of the study, the student reconvenes the faculty committee and presents a final, oral defense of the research project. The committee questions the student about the work, then votes to determine if the research meets the minimal dissertation requirements. If the faculty votes to accept the research, and signs the appropriate forms (picked up at the graduate school before the defense), the student's degree requirements are completed. To be eligible for graduation at the end of the semester, all final examinations must be completed and dissertations submitted at least 10 business days before the university commencement exercises. Please refer to the Graduate School website [www.grads.vt.edu] for details on deadlines.

Graduate School Policy on…
Scheduling Examinations
Examinations are usually administered during regular academic semesters or sessions, i.e., between the first day of classes for a given semester or session and ending with the last official day for examinations.

Examinations required by the Graduate School (Preliminary and Final), are scheduled through the Graduate School office. Requests to schedule the examination should be received at least two weeks before the date requested (Please note, ELPS requires that forms be submitted to Vicki Meadows THREE weeks prior to the scheduled exam date). Examination cards should be obtained from the Graduate School on the day of the examination. The card should be returned to the Graduate School office as soon as possible after the examination. Requests to schedule final examinations should include the time, date, building and room number, title of dissertation, and the names of the recommended examining committee.

Completion of Examination
To pass any of the required examinations, a candidate is allowed at most one negative vote. If a student fails an examination, one full semester (a minimum of 15 weeks) must elapse before the second examination is scheduled. Not more than two opportunities to pass any one examination are allowed. Students failing any of the mandatory examinations two times will be dropped from the university.

Questions about completing forms? Contact Vicki Meadows, HED secretary, vmeadows@vt.edu or Kathy Tickle, Program Support Technician for ELPS ktickle@vt.edu.

All the forms require Microsoft Word version 6.0 (or higher). All forms are word templates which allow you to type in your information through your computer or print and complete by hand.  Be careful when filling out any PC version forms as the formatting may change. You probably already have the Acrobat Reader software needed to read these files, but if you don't, download it now.  There are some forms listed in the manual that you must get from the Graduate School (anything with fees, for example). All forms are also available from the ELPS Graduate Secretary, Kathy Tickle (225 War Memorial Gym) or your program area secretary.

DOWNLOAD THE FORMS IN WORD OR PDF. Information about Virginia Tech's Electronic Dissertations, including guidelines, classes and viewing PDFs is online.

HED Program
308 E. Eggleston Hall (0302)
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0302
Phone: 540/231-5106 Fax: 540/231-7845

http://www.elps.vt.edu/hesa
hesa@vt.edu