Navigating The Dissertation
  • I: From Start to Proposal Defense
    • 1: Types >
      • Introduction for Types of Dissertations
      • Overview of the Dissertation
      • Self-Assessment Exercise
      • What is a Dissertation Committee
      • Different Types of Dissertations
    • 2: Overview >
      • Introduction for Overview of the Dissertation Process
      • Responsibilities: the Chair, the Team and You
      • Sorting Exercise
      • Stages of a Dissertation
      • Managing Your Time
      • Create Your Own Timeline
      • Working with a Writing Partner
      • Key Deadlines
      • Self Assessment Exercise
      • Additional Resources
    • 3: Background >
      • Purpose and Goals
      • Read and Evaluate Chapter 1 Exemplars
      • Draft an Introduction of the Study
      • Outline the Background of the Problem
      • Draft your Statement of the Problem
      • Draft your Purpose of the Study
      • Draft your Significance of the Study
      • List the Possible Limitations and Delimitations
      • Explicate the Definition of Terms
      • Outline the Organization of the Study
      • Recommended Resources and Readings
    • 4: Lit Review >
      • Purpose and Goals
      • Purpose of the Literature Review
      • What is the Literature?
      • Article Summary Table
      • Writing a Short Literature Review
      • Outline for Literature Review
      • Synthesizing the Literature Review
      • Recommended Resources and Readings
    • 5: Methods >
      • Purpose and Goals
      • Purpose of the Methodology Chapter
      • Topics to Include
      • Preparing to Write the Methodology Chapter
      • Self-Assessment Exercise
      • Confidentiality
      • Building the Components for Chapter Three
      • Recommended Resources and Readings
    • 6: Qualify Exam & IRB >
      • Preparing for Your Qualifying Exam (aka Proposal Defense)
      • What is Needed for Your Proposal Defense?
      • Submitting Your Best Draft
      • Preparing Your Abstract for IRB
      • Use of Self-Assessment
      • Preparing Your PowerPoint
      • During Your Proposal Defense
      • After Your Proposal Defense
  • II: Data Collection and Analysis
    • 1: IRB
    • 2: Data Collection >
      • Pre-observation – Issues to consider
      • During Observations
      • Wrapping Up
      • Recommended Resources and Readings (Qualitative)
      • Quantitative Data Collection
      • Recommended Resources and Readings (Quantitative)
    • 3: Data Analysis >
      • Qualitative: Before you Start
      • Qualitative: During Analysis
      • Qualitative: After Analysis
      • Qualitative: Recommended Resources and Readings
      • Quantitative: Deciding on the Right Analysis
      • Quantitative: Data Management and Cleaning
      • Quantitative: Keep Track of your Analysis
  • III: Findings, Discussion, and Final Defense
    • 1: Chapter 4 >
      • The Purpose of Chapter 4
      • The Elements of Chapter 4
      • Presenting Results (Quantitative)
      • Presenting Findings (Qualitative)
      • Chapter 4 Considerations
      • Recommended Resources and Readings
    • 2: Chapter 5 >
      • The Purpose of Chapter 5
      • Preparing Your Abstract for the Graduate School
      • Draft the Introduction for Chapter 5
      • Draft the Summary of Findings
      • Draft Implications for Practice
      • Draft your Recommendations for Research
      • Draft your Conclusions
      • Recommended Resources and Readings
    • 3: Preparing for Defense >
      • What is Needed
      • Submitting Your Best Draft
      • Use of Self-Assessment
      • Preparing Your PowerPoint
      • What Happens During the Final Defense?
      • What Happens After the Final Defense?
      • Graduation

Key Deadlines
Topic 2: Overview of the Dissertation Process


What are the key deadlines you should be tracking? Perhaps the syllabus for 792 outlines the due dates for drafts of components of chapters one, two and three. If so, those are good deadlines to follow. However, they are in place to keep you on track to the more significant deadlines: defending your proposal, defending your final draft, and uploading the draft into the University's system. So let's work backwards:

When will my degree be conferred? USC confers degrees three times a year: May, August and December. While the final defense is a major milestone, you are not really done until the University has accepted your draft (meaning, that you have uploaded it and received verification from the University). And that upload date triggers the date of the conferral of your degree by the University. As an example, below is the schedule for a May conferral:


 

Degree Conferral Date: May (year of graduation)

Deadline to upload thesis or dissertation manuscript: First of April  (day and time sensitive)

Deadline to submit completed documents, including signatures: End of March (day and time sensitive)


Notice that there are two tasks: the submission of "completed documents” (these include your signature pages from your defense, which, when signed and dated, indicate that the draft is done except for very minor edits). That deadline comes about 2 MONTHS before conferral date (which, for the Spring conferral, is usually the day of Commencement). 

Think about that for a minute. To be able to turn in the forms that indicate that virtually no more revisions are needed, two months before Commencement, you would need to defend AND complete any revisions well in advance. The second deadline is the upload deadline, which is about 6 weeks before the conferral date.

What do I have to do, academically, to participate in Commencement? The faculty has determined that in order to participate in Commencement in May, a student would need for each of the three conferral dates (May, August, December), to turn in final documents about two months prior and upload a completed document about six weeks prior. Therefore, most Ed.D. students aim for the August conferral date, which means defending before June, turning in your documents no later than about mid-June, and uploading around the first of July. If you follow those deadlines, you will have graduated in 3 years! Thus, for an August conferral date, students would have:


  1. successfully defended their proposal;
  2. completed the IRB process;
  3. completed any data collection;
  4. submitted a solid draft of the remaining chapters; and either have defended the full dissertation or have a defense scheduled that would permit uploading by July 1.
Only students who are having their degrees conferred the previous December, current May or August may participate in that year's commencement. Anyone needing to wait until December or later (i.e., defending after June 1) participates in commencement the following year. You'll receive more information about commencement as you get closer to the event. You can contact your Academic Adviser for specific details.





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