Dissertation Committee

The dissertation committee is usually formed during the second academic year upon successful completion of the Comprehensive Exam. See: Dissertation Committee Members Form

The Director of Ed.D. will assist the student in determining a possible Dissertation Chair. The Dissertation Chair and Ed.D. Director will assist the student in selecting a dissertation committee of doctoral faculty members who will guide his or her doctoral research and will also serve on both the prospectus and dissertation committees. The Committee will include two to three (2-3) doctoral faculty and the Dissertation Chair. The Dissertation Chair and the members must meet the criteria for doctoral faculty. Committee members will work with the student to determine a plan of study and guide the dissertation. While researching and writing the dissertation, the student will be responsible for maintaining consistent communication with the Dissertation Chair and each member of the committee. Developing a schedule of meetings will be helpful. Each committee member will vote to determine if and when a student completes his or her Dissertation. 

Dissertation Chair

Dissertation Chairs are preferred to be full-time Webster University faculty. If there is no available full-time faculty who have the content area expertise needed for the dissertation, an adjunct, a staff member, or outside faculty may serve as Chair. A Chair who is not Webster University faculty or staff needs to be approved by the Ed.D. Director on a case-by-case basis. A Dissertation Chair should not have more than five (5) doctoral advisees at any term. The student’s Dissertation Chair should be selected according to the faculty member’s content expertise. This should include topic interest or subject matter expertise, experience in dissertation direction, or methodology expertise. The Dissertation Chair is responsible for guiding the student to produce doctoral-level original scholarship in the proposed topic area. The Director of the Ed.D. program must approve the selected Dissertation Chair. See: Checklist for the Dissertation Chair.

Committee Members  

Dissertation Committee Members can be full-time or adjunct faculty/staff at Webster University. Full-time or adjunct Webster faculty/staff should not be on more than seven (7) doctoral committees (including being Chair) at any term. Any committee member who is not a Webster University faculty or staff needs to be approved by the Ed.D. Director on a case-by-case basis. The student’s Dissertation Committee Members should be selected according to each faculty member’s content expertise. This should include topic interest or subject matter expertise, experience in dissertation guidance, or methodology expertise. Individuals who are not Webster University faculty may serve on committees if vetted by the Director of Ed.D. All members of the student’s committee share responsibility for ensuring that the student produces high-quality scholarship. See: Checklist for the Dissertation Committee Members

Per Office of Academic Affairs' guidelines, it is important to note that full-time administrators and staff at Webster cannot recieve stipends if they serve on dissertation committees, and doctoral students should avoid conflict of interest when inviting people on their committees; supervisors or colleagues at the same office should not serve on dissertation committees. 

Ideally, the Dissertation Chair and the Committee will remain consistent throughout the Prospectus and Dissertation Phases. There may be times when a change is necessary. Should this occur, the student must submit a new Dissertation Committee Members Form. See: Dissertation Committee Members Form

Prospectus

Students will write and successfully defend the Prospectus of his or her dissertation. The Prospectus is a draft of the first three (3) chapters of their dissertation: Introduction to the Problem, Literature Review, and Proposed Methodology. In the Prospectus, each chapter is usually about 20 pages in length, not including the references or title page. Students need to submit a complete document including all three chapters in one file, including a table of contents, references, and appendices. 

The university provides a handbook for students on general guidelines for preparing a graduate thesis or dissertation. The section titled “Thesis and Dissertation General Formatting Guidelines” provides detailed information on the elements, layout, format, and style of a dissertation; a sample is provided. A dissertation may be quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. 

During the research and writing phase of the Prospectus, a student will remain in close contact with his or her committee. Committee members should be familiar with a student’s work, offering critiques along the way that the student will discuss with his or her Dissertation Chair. The student should remain open-minded to feedback from the committee and be able to successfully defend his or her beliefs both orally and in writing. 

When the Dissertation Chair is satisfied that the student’s Prospectus is ready to be defended, he or she will schedule a Prospectus defense meeting. The student’s Prospectus Committee will decide if the proposed study is of doctoral level quality and if the student should/can continue in that direction. The final draft of the prospectus (at least 60 pages) should be sent to the dissertation committee and Director of EdD at least 14 days before the prospectus defense date. Any major concern from the committee will trigger a reset of the 14 days and a substantial revision of the final draft. The student’s prospectus defense will take place after completion of second-year courses. A student may be asked to repeat his or her defense, depending on the consensus of their committee. 

After a student’s successful prospectus defense, the Prospectus Signatory Sheet will be completed and submitted. See: Prospectus Signatory Sheet in the appendix. The final draft of IRB application (if human subjects are involved) should be presented to and agreed by the dissertation committee at the prospectus defense meeting. Agreement of the IRB application does not imply passing the defense.

The student is expected to not make any changes to the research design after the Prospectus Defense and IRB approval. Any necessary changes will need to be agreed by the IRB (via Change in Protocol Form), the Chair, and all Committee Members by email. Data collection should begin after successful Prospectus Defense and IRB approval. (Exception: Pilot studies which will not be included as data for the dissertation can be conducted before the Prospectus Defense. Pilot studies need to be IRB approved as well.) 

Dissertation

After successful completion of the prospectus defense, the student will proceed to the Dissertation phase. The Ed.D. student should seek to complete a Dissertation that contributes to the knowledge base of a specific discipline and transformative learning. The student will research, write, and further develop his or her Dissertation. The student’s Dissertation preparation will be supervised by his or her Dissertation Chair. The Dissertation Chair will determine when the student is ready for the final oral defense of his or her Dissertation.

The number of pages for a completed dissertation should be between 100 and 350 (excluding references and appendix). A reference for the structure of the dissertation is appended. Please note that the dissertation chairs make decision about the structure and so the headings and content do not have to conform to the appended document.

Responsibilities of the Doctoral Student 

The student is expected to engage in the active preparation of the dissertation process from the onset of the doctoral program. The student is responsible for choosing a topic, submitting proofread drafts of materials to the Dissertation Chair, preparing adequately for meetings, thoroughly reviewing all dissertation policies and procedures, and communicating on a regular basis with the Dissertation Chair via email, phone, or other communication modality. The student is responsible for the mechanics and edits of all documents including completing all forms necessary for Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, the prospectus, and the dissertation. 

The student is expected to maintain contact with the Dissertation Chair throughout the dissertation process to ensure that the research and writing adhere to the agreed-upon plan. As the project is the student’s responsibility, s/he must frequently keep the Dissertation Chair informed of progress. The student should contact the Dissertation Chair in the event of any significant changes in his/her personal or professional life which may interfere with program completion. The student needs to keep the Committee Members up to date on the development of their dissertation. Also, students are expected to maintain regular contact with the Director of Ed.D., Dr. Yin Lam Lee-Johnson, via email: yleejohnson31@webster.edu . 

Clarification Requests

If at any time a student believes the advice given by his or her Dissertation Chair is inadequate, the student may submit a written request for clarification to the Director of Ed.D. A copy of this request should also be submitted to the Office of the Dean of the School of Education. The Director of Ed.D. must respond to this request in writing within two (2) weeks of receipt, and a copy of the response shall be filed in the student’s permanent record.

The entire dissertation committee needs to unanimously vote yes to pass the prospectus or dissertation at the defense. If a student fails the defense, the Dissertation Committee will prepare a report including reasons for failure and requirements that must be met to defend again. The Dissertation Chair will file this report with the Director of Ed.D. within seven (7) days from the date of the defense. The student must complete a written permission form for a second defense from his or her Dissertation Chair and file the form with the Director of Ed.D. If the student is unable to pass the second defense, the student may be dismissed from the Ed.D. program.

Communicating with the Committee

The Dissertation Chair will determine when a document is ready for electronic review by the committee and will initiate communication amongst committee members. The student should avoid consulting the full committee for feedback without prior approval of the Dissertation Chair. Several meetings with the committee are required for the preparation of Prospectus defense and the final Dissertation defense. The Dissertation Chair will notify the School of Education’s Dean and the Director of Ed.D. of the date/time/location of all committee prospectus and defense meetings. Committee participation from a distance may be facilitated through video conference, phone conference, or other electronic media as approved.

Dissertation Defense

Each student is required to complete an oral defense of his or her Dissertation, administered by his or her doctoral committee.

Drafts of Dissertation

It is an expected practice to share Dissertation drafts with committee members via email. The documents should be saved in Microsoft Word or PDF format and clearly labeled with the researcher’s name and stage in the process (example: Jane Smith Prospectus Chapter 2). Students should adhere to the formatting guidelines provided in the general guidelines for preparing a graduate thesis or dissertation document, under the section titled “Thesis and Dissertation General Formatting Guidelines” which provides detailed information on the elements, layout, format, and style of a dissertation; a sample is provided. All final drafts of defense documents should be shared with the entire committee and Director of EdD at least fourteen (14) days before any defense date(s). Please note that tables, photos, charts, and illustrations from published venues are considered copyrighted materials. Any major concern from a member of the committee regarding the final drafts would trigger a reset of the 14 days for the oral defense. Include a permission release letter from the copyright owner(s) if copyrighted materials are included. Alternatively, please write a short summary with proper citations in lieu of using copyrighted materials in your dissertation. Please read this website as a reference: https://westernu.libguides.com/theses-dissertations/copyright Include the IRB approval letter at the appendix (if applicable). 

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Several university faculty members sit on the university’s IRB. The Board reviews and approves all human subjects’ research conducted by Webster University faculty, staff, and students. The IRB process must be completed before any contact with human subjects. For more information about the IRB process, go to Webster's IRB webpage.

To access the IRB forms, please follow the following steps:

1. Go to the Webster's IRB webpage.

2. Scroll down to "Researchers can find additional forms and information on Connections" and click on Connections. This link should take you to the Connections IRB page.

3. Click on "Forms and Application Checklist" located on the left side of the page.

4. Scroll down to the bottom and you should see all the forms you would need. When you click them, you will be given a preview of the form and be able to download it.

Publication of Dissertation

As part of the final process of the defense, students must submit their dissertation for publication. Students will need three (3) completed copies of their final project. See the “ProQuest Instructions for Electronic Submission” section in the “Graduate Thesis & Dissertation General Guidelines” handbook.

For information on dissertation publishing, please contact:

Heidi M. Vix, MLS 

Head of Resources Management Services

Emerson Library

(314) 246-6951

Post-oral-defense Guidelines

After successful oral defense of the dissertation, doctoral students should prepare for the following:

• Work with the EdD Director for submitting all the forms needed (Dissertation Signatory Form, Dissertation Committee Form, Dissertation Approval Form, and Petition to Graduate Form).

  • The Dissertation Signatory Form, Dissertation Committee Form, and Petition to Graduate Form are for internal use.

  • The Dissertation Approval Form needs to be signed and scanned and included in your dissertation.

• Prepare for the final edits of the dissertation and submit it to ProQuest when the approval form has been signed and scanned. Submission to ProQuest should be completed within one month of the oral defense. 

• Prepare for the commencement ceremony:

  • There is a publication deadline for the commencement booklet which is usually towards the end of March. If the doctoral candidate missed the publication deadline, their names will not be printed in the commencement booklet. Students whose names did not make the commencement booklet’s publication deadline may still walk with us on the current year’s commencement day, with permission from the School of Education. Please reach out to the Graduate Department of Education Representative before the end of March if you would like your names printed on the commencement booklet. 

  • It is the doctoral candidate’s choice for ordering regalia and walking with us on commencement day. Doctoral candidates can choose to order the regalia for keepsake and/or for commencement ceremony. The ordering will take approximately 3 weeks and the contact person is the University Bookstore (email: 0354mgr@follett.com; phone: 314 968 5936). 

Appendix

Ed.D. Dissertation Structure* 

Modified from Bloombert and Volpe (2016)

• Basic Organization:

1. Preliminary pages (Refer to the University's Dissertation Formatting Guidelines)

2. Main text

3. Supplemental materials

• Preliminary Pages

  • Title page

  • Signature page (with copyright)

  • Acknowledgements page (optional)

  • Abstract & Keywords

  • Dedication page (optional)

  • Table of Contents

  • List of Illustrations (if applicable)

  • List of Tables and or List of Figures (if applicable)

• Main text

  • Chapter One (Introduction)

    • Introduction/Contextualization/Background

    • Statement of the problem

      • Research Gap

      • Purpose of the study 

    • Conceptual/Theoretical framework

    • Definitions of key terminology

    • Organization of the dissertation

      • Overview of theoretical framework, literature review, and methodology (short paragraphs)

  • Chapter Two (Review of the Literature)

    • Introduction

    • Review of the literature

    • Research questions

    • Summary

  • Chapter Three (Research Methods/Methodology)

    • Introduction

    • Rationale for research approach

    • Research setting/context

    • Research sample and data sources

    • Data collection methods

    • Data analysis methods

    • Role of the researcher 

      • Researcher assumption/bias/positionality

    • Summary

  • Chapter Four (Results/Findings)

    • Introduction

    • In-depth Discussion of Findings

      • Data Analytical Framework

      • Synthesis of data

    • Relate the findings back to the literature review 

    • Answer/respond to the research questions

    • Answer the So-What question 

    • Issues of trustworthiness

    • Limitations and delimitations

    • Summary

  • Chapter Five (Conclusion and Recommendations)

    • Introduction

    • Discussion of the main findings and contribution to the knowledge base

    • Implication for future research

    • Concluding statements and recommendations

• References

  • Must be in proper APA format

• Appendix or Appendices (if applicable)

  • Copyright Release Form (for inclusion of copyrighted tables/illustrations/charts/diagrams)

*Terminologies and structure may vary based on the methodology and preference of dissertation chairs

*Students can refer to Perry et al. (2020) and work on a Dissertation in Practice (DiP) as well

References

Bloomberg, L. D., & Volpe, M. (2016). A Complete Dissertation: The Big Picture [PDF File]. In

       Sage Publications (Ed.), Completing Your Qualitative Dissertation: A Road Map From 

       Beginning to End (3rd ed., pp. 3–12). 

       https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/47686_ch_1.pdf 

Perry, J. A., Zambo, D., & Crow, R. (2020). The improvement science dissertation in practice: A guide for faculty,   

       committee members, and their students. Myers Education Press.

Webster University (2018). Graduate Thesis and Dissertation General Guidelines [PDF File]. 

        Retrieved from Graduate Thesis and Dissertation General Guidelines (webster.edu)  

Recently Published Dissertations