Committee
A
doctoral (Ed.D.) dissertation committee consists of a minimum of three
individuals, at least two of whom are Rutgers faculty members. Any full-time
faculty or staff member at Rutgers with an earned doctorate and appropriate
expertise is eligible to serve as a committee member if recommended by the
chair of a dissertation committee. A person with appropriate expertise outside
Rutgers may become a member of a specific dissertation committee if recommended
in writing by a committee chair and approved by the department chair. A vita
for an outside committee member must be provided.
It
is the student's responsibility to form a committee that is approved by the
dissertation chair. Each dissertation committee is composed so that the
following conditions are satisfied:
-
The chair should be a current member of the
Graduate School of Education faculty.
-
At least one member of the committee should be
affiliated with the program for which the student is fulfilling the Ed.D.
requirements.
-
At least one member of the committee should be
from outside the student's program area.
Subsequent changes in the
composition of a doctoral committee require concurrence among the chair of the
committee, the department chair, and the faculty members involved.
The
student must accept responsibility for developing an acceptable dissertation
proposal in consultation with his or her committee. When the proposal is ready
for committee consideration and action, the dissertation committee is formed by
the student in consultation with the student's adviser. An open defense is
required before the proposal can be given final approval and assigned.
An
announcement of the proposal defense, including a one-page
abstract, is to be submitted to the Office of Student and Academic Services two weeks prior
to the defense date. After the proposal has been successfully defended, two
copies of the approved proposal, signed by each committee member, are required
to be filed in the
Office of Student and Academic Services.
Preparation
Certain
requirements must be adhered to during the preparation of dissertations.
Specific regulations, such as those pertaining to format and style, must be
followed in order to ensure that the dissertation can be accepted by the school
for submission to the candidate's doctoral committee and to the university
library for filing. The final date for submission of the dissertation and
abstract is March 15.
A
copy of the final defense draft should be available to the committee at least
one month prior to the defense date. Upon completion of the oral defense, the
student is required to submit an electronic copy of the dissertation, including
the abstract, on the RUetd website: https://etd.libraries.rutgers.edu/login.php.
The electronic copy must include the names of the candidate's doctoral
committee without signatures. Additional materials required for final
submission include one paper copy of the abstract, one copy of the signed title
page, the receipted payment form, the ProQuest agreement forms, and survey
forms. All of the above forms must be submitted to the Office of Student and Academic
Services no later than the announced deadlines for completion of degree
requirements.
Dissertation Defense
The oral examination committee consists of the
members of the student's dissertation committee, chaired by the chair of the
committee, and conducted to provide a thorough and systematic examination of
the candidate on the content of the dissertation. Approval of a dissertation
requires a unanimous vote of the committee. The chair of the committee reports
the result of the examination to the Office of Student and Academic Services. All members
of the university community are invited to be present during the dissertation defense.
Dissertation defense are not held during the months of July and August. In exceptional
cases, with the unanimous consent of the members of the dissertation committee
and the concurrence of the department chair, arrangements may be made to hold
an examination during these months.
Publication
After a candidate has been awarded the
doctorate, the Graduate School of Education requires that the dissertation be
microfilmed. Therefore, the dissertation must be prepared with the same care as
if it were to appear in printed form. The abstract, which is to accompany the
dissertation and which must not exceed 350 words, will be published in Dissertation
Abstracts.
It also should be submitted ready for publication.
