Milestone 4: Dissertation Proposal (Prospectus) Meeting

Students should develop their Dissertation Proposal (which may also act as a draft “Methods” chapter of a dissertation). Students should discuss expectations for this Proposal with their advisor and plan to schedule their Proposal (Prospectus) meeting with their doctoral committee. Proposal (Prospectus) meetings should be scheduled for one hour.

Prior to the Proposal Meeting, students should identify who will serve as their Final Exam committee members. These are very often the same committee members who were part of the Preliminary Oral Examination, but the University of Minnesota’s Graduate School requires that students confirm their final Final Exam committee through a Graduate School form. Students should note that their advisor may not serve as chair for the final defense, so should check with their advisor about which committee member would be a suitable chair. In addition, at least two members of the Final Exam committee must be tenure-stream faculty at the University of Minnesota.

Scheduling of the Proposal (Prospectus) Meeting follows the same procedures as the Preliminary Oral Examination. Students are responsible for sending calendar holds for all committee members, developing Zoom links, or scheduling meeting rooms for these events (please contact Savannah Greaves at greav022@umn.edu or the 206 Burton Hall front desk for help with room scheduling). Proposal meetings require a one-hour block of time. Students frequently use an electronic scheduling tool or use faculty UMN Google calendars to check committee availability. The Proposal Meeting is not an examination, so no scheduling is needed through the Graduate School. 

The proposal meeting is not an examination but rather a meeting focused on the dissertation proposal and the student’s plans on how to execute their dissertation research. The student must distribute the proposal to the participating committee members at least two weeks before the proposal meeting. College of Education and Human Development policy requires that at least 3 of the 4 committee member attend. These include the student’s advisor, the external/outside member, plus a least one of the remaining two inside committee members to be present at the Dissertation Proposal (Prospectus) Meeting. If one committee member cannot attend, they are required to provide the student with written feedback on their Dissertation Proposal. Note that CIDE and HRD students are required to have all their committee members attend this meeting.

The committee members are responsible for reviewing and approving the proposal, which presents the proposed content and methods of the study. The graduate faculty have the responsibility to ensure that the proposed study meets both high standards for the rigorous conduct of research and high ethical standards. For this reason, students must present very specific methods for the conduct of the proposed research. Approval will not be granted until the written proposal indicates that the student is prepared to apply to the Human Subjects Committee and then, after receiving IRB approval, to initiate the research.

The proposal approval process not only serves to ensure the integrity of research conducted at the University, but it also serves as a safeguard for students whose procedures or findings might be called into question in the future. During the Dissertation Proposal (Prospectus) Meeting students discuss their proposed research methods with their committee. At the conclusion of the meeting, committee members either agree to let the student proceed, or ask for revisions prior to moving forward with the dissertation process. The Dissertation Proposal (Prospectus) is the last formal meeting between student with their committee prior to the Final Oral Defense. Typically the student will work exclusively with their adviser(s) when working one executing and writing up their dissertation projects. If students are asked to provide revisions, a follow-up meeting may be scheduled, or approval of revisions may occur over email. The committee will make recommendations on required revisions prior to the end of the Dissertation Proposal (Prospectus) meeting.

If the student is given approval to proceed, they should launch a Thesis Panel Prospectus Approval Form in the meeting, which will be routed to the Coordinator of Graduate Studies. Once feedback is incorporated into the Dissertation Proposal (Prospectus), students begin the Institutional Review Board (IRB process) and declare their final exam committee, even if the membership is the same as the Preliminary Exam committee,  to the Graduate School if they have not already done so.

Upon successful completion of the Prospectus Meeting, the student will meet with their adviser to discuss steps needed for research approval for their dissertation project. Any research that involves human participants on or off campus must be approved by the University's Institutional Review Board (IRB) prior to data collection. Additional IRB approvals may also be needed if research is being conducted in schools, sovereign nations within the US borders (i.e., Tribal nations), other universities, or in other settings outside of the US. The student cannot initiate the research before obtaining IRB approval(s) to conduct the research. Prior to submitting any forms to the IRB, students must complete online ethics training through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI).

The University of Minnesota accepts all proposals to conduct human participant research through its Ethical Oversight Submission System (ETHOS). Students wishing to consult with IRB staff prior to submitting forms may schedule a consultation with staff or email irb@umn.edu.

An IRB application is started by logging into ETHOS with University of Minnesota login credentials (student UMN internet ID and password) and clicking “Create New Study.” At the bottom of the Ethos login page are several types of application protocols to complete. Most OLPD students will use Form 580: Social Template Protocol to apply for IRB approval, but all students should consult with their advisor before applying for IRB approval. The University of Minnesota IRB also requires an electronic approval by advisors for all submissions. Student advisors will be electronically alerted once you have submitted your application in ETHOS. No dissertation research can commence until the University of Minnesota IRB (and other IRBs if necessary) have approved the study or have determined that the study does not constitute human subjects research.

Students can visit the University of Minnesota’s Graduate School Degree Completion Steps document at any time for abbreviated explanations of degree steps, such as those in this milestone.