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Candidacy Paper Requirements: Doctorate of Education

Purpose

The purpose of the candidacy paper is to show evidence that the potential candidate is capable of conducting, writing, and presenting a comprehensive research project. Prior research projects (e.g., master’s thesis, published research articles, and evaluation reports) can be submitted and must be defended before the examining committee. However, the most productive use of the candidacy requirement would be to use the candidacy study as an initial phase of the dissertation.

The paper should include the following components (if appropriate):

• a theoretical/conceptual framework
• a review of the research/literature
• description of methods or inquiry procedures
• summary and discussion of findings
• conclusion and implications of results

The paper should be of publishable quality and or presentable at a state or nation conference, following guidelines appropriate for the discipline, e.g., see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. However, the candidacy paper might take a different form than that described above, such as a historical or qualitative study. Nevertheless, the work must reflect the in-depth scholarly inquiry.

The three-member examining committee must include at least two tenure-track members of the department faculty.

Guidelines

• Successful defense of candidacy paper is required for advancement to candidacy.
• A faculty member from the department must direct the preparation of the paper and the defense.
• The Examining Committee is composed of three members, two of whom are full-time faculty members. One of those full-time faculty members will direct the study.
• The paper must be circulated to the committee members at least five working days prior to the oral examination by an examining Committee. Announced of the date, time, and place is not sent out electronically to College faculty through the Office of Student Services.
• At the completion of the candidacy paper defense, the chair completes the Departmental Candidacy Report, http://www.coe.uh.edu/docs/gso/dept_candidacy.pdf (Form E), with signatures of the examining committee, and sends it on to the Office of Student Services.