If the knowledge area is in higher education, the student will be asked to respond to essay questions for the comprehensive examination. The education comprehensive examination will focus on the core curriculum and may require historical, philosophical, theoretical, or practical analysis. Emphasis will be placed on the history and role of the community college in higher education, information and instructional technology, and on instructional and classroom assessment and research techniques.

The comprehensive exam documents students' readiness to progress to the next stage of their scholarly career and is submitted after all course work and internships are completed. It demonstrates the knowledge, aptitude and skill to “advance to candidacy” in one area of scholarly interest.  

III. ELIGIBILITY
In order to take the examinations, the student must have an overall 3.0 GPA and be in compliance with university policies; incomplete (IN) course(s) must be completed prior to scheduling the date of the examinations. Students must secure the approval of the Director of Academics for the Higher Education Program before scheduling the examinations.

IV. PLANNING FOR THE EXAMINATION
A. The student should keep the examinations in mind throughout the doctoral program. The development of a student's program of study should take into account the requirements of both comprehensive examination and portfolio. The student should realize that class work for individual courses might serve as valuable review material.

B. The student should not assume that passing grades in courses represents sufficient preparation for the comprehensive examination. Preparation usually requires a summary and synthesizing review of material covered in the courses taken by the student.

C. In planning for the examination, the student should first obtain an up-to-date transcript of all doctoral work and meet with the Director of Academics to ensure that all courses have been completed satisfactorily.

V. ADMINISTERING THE KNOWLEDGE AREA EXAMINATIONS
Students must arrange with their knowledge area advisor your discipline/knowledge area comprehensive.  You must submit the Knowledge Area Comprehensive Exam Form to their advisor, and then ask their advisor to submit the form to the Higher Education Program at mail stop 1B3. 

The knowledge area advisor administers the knowledge area examinations. Each knowledge area has its own guidelines and procedures for their comprehensive exam. The knowledge area advisor will forward a copy of the examination questions to the HEP Director of Academics one week prior to the scheduled examination.  

VI. PROCEDURES FOR THE HIGHER EDUCATION LEADERSHIP COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION

If you were admitted to the DACCE program prior to fall 2010, please see the old comprehensive exam requirements.

• Students may submit two questions for possible inclusion in the examination.  These questions will be reviewed and may be included, if appropriate.  Questions should be submitted two weeks prior to the exam.
• Examination questions remain the property of the Higher Education office.
• Answers on the examination are evaluated according to the following criteria: appropriate integration of theory, research, exemplary practice, and reference to authorities in the field; accurate and meaningful substance; documentation of major points and assertions with references to appropriate studies and authorities; evidence of knowledge and understanding of the areas in question; logical, well-organized structure; and clear grammatically correct writing.
• The student will be notified of the results of the examination within four weeks, using the following scale:

Pass: All requirements have been met for all questions.
Revisions Required: Majority of the questions received a Pass.
Fail: The majority of the answers did not fulfill the requirements.

• Any student who receives a Pass on the Higher Education and Knowledge Area Comprehensive Examinations may move to the proposal stage.

1. Any student who receives a Low Pass will have one opportunity to revise the work. Arrangements will be made by the Director of Academics, and revisions will take place in the office.
2. Any student who receives a Fail will have one opportunity to retake the examination. All questions must receive Pass (no revisions needed).
3. All University Policies will be in effect.

DOCTOR OF ARTS, HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAM PORTFOLIO:

For students admitted into the DA program prior to fall 2010 and whose knowledge area is Higher Education Administration/Leadership, you can choose to fulfil the old portfolio requirements. 

I. PURPOSE
Students complete a Higher Education Program Portfolio as the second comprehensive examination regardless of the knowledge area. The portfolio is an organized, selective collection of statements designed to facilitate a student's academic and professional development, and to provide a basis for evaluating degree progress. The portfolio represents the scope and depth of a student's goals, plans, and accomplishments in coursework, independent study, research, internships, and other advanced learning activities in both the knowledge area and the education core. The portfolio thus provides both a vehicle for self-reflection and a comprehensive record of a doctoral student's experiences and ongoing progress toward academic and professional goals.

Students use the portfolio to:

  • Define and clarify academic and professional goals
  • Formulate specific plans to achieve discipline related research and field-based activities
  • Reflect upon the process and results of their scholarly activities
  • Demonstrate readiness to proceed to the dissertation phase of the doctoral program

II. CONTENTS OF THE HEP PORTFOLIO

1.  Program of Study and Informal Transcript

2. Statement of Professional Practice and Scholarly Experience

A 1,500 word, self-reflective analysis of previous and current educational activities (including professional activities prior to entry into the DA program) and analysis of previous and current scholarly activities and accomplishments. For each activity, note the specific types of competence developed (e.g., curriculum development, classroom teaching experience, administrative experience, training in multicultural contexts, technological expertise, etc.) and how it relates to your scholarly interest. Consider the following questions:  

How has coursework shaped your aptitude and skill in your knowledge area, pedagogical practice, and

scholarly plans?  

What about your coursework has challenged you to think more analytically about your field? How does this relate to your scholarly interests?

What theories and research designs have helped you develop your analytic and integrative thinking?

What topics and issues in your field most interest you, and why?

What have you learned about yourself as a problem-solver—how do you go about identifying and shaping research that interests you? What competencies and skills do you anticipate developing while preparing for and creating your dissertation?

3. Revised Goals Statement

500-1,000 word description and analysis of your scholarly and professional goals. In your essay, give a sense of yourself and what matters to you as a professional educator. What values guide you as a professional? What are your short term and career goals? What future education and professional development will help you achieve these goals? If appropriate, include your original goals statement from the admissions process and/or a statement of teaching philosophy.

4. Field Statement

The field statement is a review of your scholarly interest and texts in the field accompanied by an extensive bibliography of the relevant texts. The field statement includes: a review of the major issues, problems, and texts in the field accompanied by a bibliography of the relevant texts. The field statement itself should be approximately 25-35 pp. double-spaced, with additional pages for bibliography (approximately 50-75 references). Style sheet for preparation of bibliography and for citation within the field statements should be agreed upon by the student and his or her committee. Students are not expected to have fully-formed dissertation projects at this stage. However, it is expected that a student’s dissertation topic will likely emerge from the interaction of these broad areas of inquiry, and that a student will work craft field research with the dissertation in mind.

The field statement should have the following components:

• Statement of problem
• Significance of problem
• Review of relevant literature
• Critique of literature
• Possible methodologies for inquiry

III. PROCEDURES

While preparing the portfolio, the student meets with the program’s Director or Director of Academics to ensure that the document is developed appropriately and reflects the student’s academic advancement. When the portfolio is completed, the student submits the document to two faculty members of the program approved by the Director of Academics to review and assess. These faculty members can be part of the student’s future dissertation committee.  The two faculty members must email the Director of Academics with their approval of the portfolio.

THE DISSERTATION

CONTINOUS ENROLLMENT

All registration for doctoral dissertation research (999) must be planned with the dissertation director and approved by the dean or director of the school, college, or institute. Dissertation research (999) is open only to doctoral students who have advanced to candidacy. Once enrolled in 999, students must maintain continuous registration in 999 each semester until graduation, excluding summers. Students who defend in the summer must be registered for at least 1 credit of 999 in the summer. Individual doctoral programs may require continuous registration beginning with 998. Graduation candidates who miss the library deadline for dissertation submission, but do submit officially before the next semester begins, do not have to register for 999 in that next semester, but must stay active to graduate.

PLEASE NOTE: The Higher Education Program is in the newly named College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Any students submitting a thesis or dissertation must have College of Humanities and Social Sciences on their thesis/dissertation signature sheets. The Dean will not sign any theses/dissertations that do not have this correct title of the College.

I. PURPOSE
Holders of the doctorate are expected to contribute to their discipline or profession through independent scholarship. The dissertation provides students with first-hand experience in making such a contribution, requiring them to identify and define a research problem or area of investigation; devising or selecting a methodology for systematically looking into the problem; and summarizing the results of that inquiry, noting how the findings make an original contribution to theory or educational practice.

II. NATURE OF THE DISSERTATION
A. The dissertation is the culmination of a student's doctoral program of study and must contribute new knowledge or a reinterpretation of existing knowledge to the area being investigated. To this end, dissertations can be theoretical in nature, employing rigorous research techniques to the investigation of questions focusing on pedagogy, the knowledge area, or a combination of both. The dissertation can also be practice-oriented, focusing on new and replicable ways of teaching within the student's knowledge area. If a student chooses to concentrate on the knowledge area, then one chapter or an appendix of the dissertation must discuss suitable instructional procedures related with the topic.

The dissertation is completed in two steps:
CTCH 998 Doctoral Dissertation Proposal
CTCH 999 Doctoral Dissertation

B. Regardless of the type of approach used, all dissertations must meet the following criteria:

• focus on clearly articulated questions related to the knowledge area, instructional practice, or educational leadership or a combination of these;
• employ an appropriate, replicable methodology for investigating these questions;
• build upon prior work in the profession or discipline, contributing new insights or knowledge;
• result in a written report that clearly communicates the research problem, the methodology employed, the findings, and the ways in which the study contributes new insights or knowledge; and
• be defendable as scholarly contributions, with well-founded arguments justifying the need for the study, the appropriateness of the methodology employed, and the soundness of the study findings.

C. The nature of the dissertation is a matter to be agreed upon between the student and the chair of the supervisory committee overseeing and evaluating the study. (The student's knowledge area advisor usually, but not always, serves as the chair of the committee.)

D.  Office of Research Integrity & Assurance (Human Subjects Review Board)

Before working with the Office of Research Integrity & Assurance, doctoral candidates must work with their chair and committee members to fine tune the submission. The dissertation committee chair must have time to review the submission and sign the appropriate paperwork before contacting ORIA.  (Commonly asked questions about ORIA)
Once a student receives approval, send a copy of the ORIA letter to the Higher Education office for the files.
If students change their research or need to extend their research, they must file with ORIA and notify HEP.

E.  The proposal - and the dissertation -- must be typewritten and must follow the format and guidelines specified in George Mason University's Guide for Preparing Graduate Theses, Dissertations and Projects, available on-line at http://thesis.gmu.edu/. Students must submit paper copies of their drafts; the program does not have the resources to print out each student’s document. 

III. ELIGIBILITY AND PLANNING
A. A student is permitted to register for CTCH 999 Doctoral Dissertation to work on the dissertation only after advancing to candidacy and successfully defending the proposal for the project.
B. Nonetheless, planning for the dissertation should begin early in the student's program so that appropriate academic background, writing, and research skills needed for completing it may be included in the student's program of study. For example, the student who plans around participant observation within a learning environment should check with his or her knowledge area advisor to determine if specific research courses, especially those focusing on qualitative methods, will be needed. As a student defines the study, it may be necessary to change the program of study accordingly, adding or substituting new courses that will lay the groundwork for the research methods to be employed.
C. Once the topic for the dissertation has been agreed to, the student, with the guidance of the knowledge area advisor, should begin informally to secure the cooperation of faculty who will serve on the doctoral supervision committee. The make-up and duties of the committee are described in Section IV below.

IV. DOCTORAL SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE
A. Before a student is to be considered for advancement to candidacy (course work, internships, comprehensive examinations, and proposal successfully completed), the student contacts the Director of Academics about the formal appointment of the doctoral dissertation committee. The Director of Academics submits the request to the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences who then appoints the committee.
B. The committee shall consist of a major professor preferably within the student's knowledge area and at least two other members of the graduate faculty, one of whom must be an approved member of the Higher Education faculty.
C. The committee shall approve the dissertation proposal and certify the successful defense of the completed dissertation.
D. The chair of the committee will serve as the student's major professor for the dissertation. Usually, but not always, he or she will be the student's knowledge area advisor. The chair of the doctoral committee is primarily responsible for directing a doctoral candidate's research and guiding the preparation. As the student begins to define a potential topic, (s)he might discover that it does not fall within the advisor's area of expertise or interest. In these cases, the student will need to identify another individual to serve as the major professor for the dissertation.

V. STEPS IN THE APPROVAL OF THE PROPOSAL
In order to register for CTCH 998/Doctoral Proposal, students must complete:

• all course work
• a signed program of study;
• completed, signed transfer of credits form (GMU extended studies
  courses included), if applicable;
• one internship completed and report filed;
• a chairperson to direct the student's progress in the proposal writing process.

Under the guidance of the chair, the student will prepare a written proposal detailing the nature of the project and specifying how it will make a contribution to theory and/or practice. The student should have a completed, signed proposal in one academic year from the first 998 registration date. This achievement facilitates timely research and writing progress.
Registration for CTCH 998/Proposal (3 credits):  Students must register for CTCH 998 with their dissertation chairs, who will provide them with the CRN code that is required for registration.

The following outline is suggested as the basic format of the proposal:

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Background, literature review
• Statement of the problem
• Hypotheses and research questions, where appropriate
• Research design and methodology
• Implications for theory or practice
• Limitations
• Bibliography or references

B. The student submits copies of the proposal to the committee chair for distribution to the committee members. The committee will have three options at this point: to accept the proposal as is; to accept the proposal with modifications; or to require the student to rewrite the proposal and defend the revised proposal at a later date. The student may also be asked to orally defend the proposal before the committee. Three attempts to defend the proposal are permitted. If the proposal is rejected for a third time, the student will be ineligible to continue with the program.
C.  Proposal Overview Meeting:  Students at the proposal stage must organize a meeting of all committee members to discuss the proposal and its components; revise the proposal according to the recommendations of the dissertation chair and committee for approval; print 2 copies of the proposal signature sheet and bring them to the overview meeting for committee signatures.

Proposal Completion and Advancement to Candidacy/Registration for CTCH 999 Dissertation
Students who plan to Advance to Candidacy, register for CTHC 999 (3 credits), must complete the following satisfactorily:

• All course work in the education core and knowledge area;
• 2 comprehensive examinations passed;
• 2 internships;
• approved proposal;

Advancement Process:
Paperwork to be submitted to the Academic Program Coordinator for review and audit:

• original proposal signature sheets;
• copy of  GMU unofficial transcript;
• new, clean program of study that matches the GMU transcript exactly;
• The Academic Program Coordinator will submit these materials to the Dean's office for official approval and letter of Advancement.

VI. STEPS IN THE APPROVAL OF THE DISSERTATION
The student must complete the requirements to be Advanced to Candidacy (see above). Once Advanced to Candidacy:
To receive credit for each semester a student registers for CTCH 999, the student must complete one of two processes:

• The completion of a dissertation chapter; or
• A five-page description of the research accomplished during the data collecting process.

This ensures the program's faculty that the doctoral candidate is continuing meaningful research and writing. In addition, this helps the student achieve graduation within the designated five-year time limit.  The above assignment is due on the last day of classes for each semester the student is enrolled in CTCH 999.
The procedure for the Dissertation level:

• Once the proposal is approved, the candidate proceeds to complete the dissertation by enrolling in CTCH 999 (Doctoral Dissertation Research).
• The student must be continuously enrolled while working on the dissertation and must be registered in the semester the degree is awarded.
• Once the dissertation is approved by the committee, the student must contact the Special Collections Office of Fenwick Library for CHSS dissertation format approval and transmittal sheet. The Higher Education Program office has the contact information.
• Editorial Assistance: Please note that a student is allowed to hire an editor for assistance on the final drafts of the dissertation. However, a student is not allowed to hire an editor for course work, for comprehensive examinations, and for proposals. When writing the proposal,a student is to work primarily with the dissertation chair and committee.

Following the successful defense of the dissertation, the student has two choices for final submission: Traditional or electronic option.

Traditional

• Two original manuscripts on white 100% cotton bond with
  original signatures by committee members in black ink.
• One CD ROM with PDF version (for UMI/ProQuest)
• One completed transmittal sheet
• One completed Survey of Earned Doctorates
• One completed UMI Publishing Agreement
• One check for $65 or $160* made payable to PQIL

Electronic (etd@Mason)

• One copy on 100% cotton paper
• One CD ROM with PDF version (for UMI/ProQuest)
• One PDF version on CD (for Library)
• One completed transmittal sheet
• Cone completed Survey of Earned Doctorates
• One completed UMI Publishing Agreement
• One check for $65 or $160* made payable to PQIL
• One completed MARS agreement
• One completed Electronic Submission Form

*Contact Sally Evans, the Dissertation Coordinator for more information regarding the publishing fee for PQIL at sevans13@gmu.edu or (703) 993-2222.

Click here to find out more about etd @ Mason.

VII. DISSERTATION REGISTRATION POLICIES
Dissertation Registration
All doctoral students whose knowledge areas are part of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences should send their 999 code requests to chssdiss@gmu.edu.  All doctoral students whose knowledge areas are part of the College of Science should send their requests for 999 registration codes to Melissa Hayes at mhayes5@gmu.edu.
The 999 requests must be sent via e-mail from the official George Mason e-mail account and contain the following information:

1. Student’s full name
2. Student’s G number
3. Discipline of the student (Higher Education Program)
4. The name of the student’s dissertation advisor
5. The number of 999 credits the student intends to register for*
*Students should be familiar with the dissertation policies listed in the university catalog.

Registering for One-Credit: Once a student has completed all but three credits of 999 required on the Program of Study, (s)he may take one credit at a time. PLEASE NOTE: Even though a student may have met the required dissertation hours as specified in the Program of Study, (s)he must nonetheless maintain continuous registration in 999 until final copies of the dissertation have been submitted for transmittal to the library.
Dissertation Grading: Final grading for the dissertation is "S" (Satisfactory). A grade of "IP" (In Progress) is assigned each semester until the dissertation has been approved and submitted to the College of Arts & Sciences. At that time the grade for all semesters is changed to "S.”

VIII. GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
Intent to Graduate:
Once the committee and the program's Director determine that the dissertation is ready for defense, the student is to register "Intent to Graduate," which is on the Registrar's web site at http://registrar.gmu.edu/graduation/apply.html
The semester's Schedule of Classes lists the dates to register intent.

Graduation Application:
After filing the Intent to Graduate Form, the student prints and fills out the “Graduation Application” form, also on the Registrar’s web site.  The student submits the form + a copy of the unofficial transcript to the Academic Program Coordinator for audit.  Check the web site Newsletter for each semester’s due dates.
Note: Students must be registered in the semester they graduate. For Summer graduations, students register once, not for a particular session.
Final Steps:
Once a student has successfully defended the dissertation, several steps must be completed for final submission:

• The student must be registered in the semester (s)he plans to graduate.
• The student must contact Sally Evans (sevans13@gmu.edu) for an appointment. Ms. Patton does the GMU format review. All dissertations must meet University format and style. Ms. Patton also signs the transmittal sheet, which is required for the Dean's signature on the final document.
• All corrections must be reviewed by the dissertation chair, and the chair must notify the Higher Education Program Director that the corrections have been completed.
• The dissertation must be printed on 100% cotton bond paper - two copies or one paper copy and one electronic copy. Students now have the opportunity to participate in the etd @ Mason program. Instead of turning two paper copies into the library students can now replace one of the paper copies with an electronic copy on CD which will be placed in MARS (Mason Archival Repository System) as their circulating copy.  For more information about the electronic copy option, please see the following site: http://thesis.gmu.edu/.
• One Xerox copy is required for Dissertation Abstracts + a check for submission.
• The student brings the transmittal sheet, the two cotton bond copies, the Xerox copy of the dissertation, and the check to the CHSS Graduate Academic Affairs Office for a signature.
• Each semester the Schedule of Classes and the Registrar's web site list the last day that dissertations are accepted for graduation.

Higher Education Program Dissertation Chair and Committee Responsibilities
The entire dissertation committee works in concert with the Higher Education Program to determine if the doctoral candidate's dissertation demonstrates original research that contributes new knowledge or a reinterpretation of existing knowledge to the area of investigation.
The dissertation chair serves as the major professor to the doctoral candidate as he/she prepares this final requirement of the Higher Education Program. Although the degree's title represents one program, it also represents the student's knowledge area, the Humanities and Social Sciences, and the University.  Listed below are the responsibilities of the Dissertation Chair, and any other University requirements apply:

For the Proposal (CTCH 998):

• Consult and meet with the student on a regular basis (approximately one a month).
• Advise in topic selection, appropriateness, and academic value
• Guide the student in the proposal writing process: for example, understanding the need for a clearly defined problem statement, precise research questions, viable methodology, focused literature review, and thorough bibliography.
• Determine if the data-gathering methods are valid and reliable.
• Recommend that the student contact GMU's Human Subjects Department if surveys, interviews, or similar methods are to be used or altered;
• Encourage each committee member to participate in discussions about creating and improving the proposal.
• Call at least one meeting of the entire committee to discuss and approve the proposal.
• Remain in contact with the Higher Education Program.

For the Dissertation (CTCH 999):

• Provide guidance and evaluation during the research and writing stages.
• Meet with the student on a regular basis, at least once a month is preferred.
• Read and review dissertation drafts in a timely manner.
• Offer substantive and concise recommendations for revisions.
• Contact committee members to update them briefly on the student's progress.
• Contact the Higher Education Program to update the Director/Academic Director about the student's progress.
• Make qualitative judgments about the candidate's written work: substance, style, grammar, design, etc.
• Serve as a mentor and consultant when the student appears discouraged.
• Approve the final draft for the dissertation defense.
• Notify the HEP Director of Academic that the student is ready to defend the dissertation.
• Attend and supervise the dissertation defense.
• Follow all Higher Education Program and University dissertation procedures.
• Attend Convocation.

Dissertation Committee Members Responsibilities:
The dissertation committee works with the chair to provide advice and consultation to the candidate throughout the processes of research and writing. The Higher Education Program recommends that dissertation committee members inform the candidate about any serious criticisms of the written text before the defense is scheduled. We hope that our defenses will be collegial conversations about the student's contributions to  scholarship in the knowledge area, the pedagogical implications of these contributions, and the future implications of the work.
For the Proposal (CTCH 998)

• Meet with the student during the semester
• Advise in topic selection, appropriateness, and academic value
• Offer expertise in the professor's area of study
• Read and review the proposal in a timely manner
• Discuss any recommendation for revision with the chair and the student
• Attend a proposal discussion meeting with the student and entire committee
• Sign the proposal

For the Dissertation (CTCH 999):

• Provide guidance and evaluation during the research and writing stages.
• Meet with the student during the dissertation registration semesters.
• Read and review the dissertation drafts in a timely manner.
• Offer substantive and concise recommendations for revisions.
• Discuss any problematic issues about the dissertation with the chair, student, and Higher Education Program.
• Make qualitative judgments about the candidate's written work.
• Approve the final draft for the dissertation defense.
• Attend the dissertation defense.
• Follow all Higher Education Program and University dissertation procedures.

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