siue graduate school thesis guidelines

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Exit Requirements

If you are completing your degree in Creative Writing, Literature, or Teaching English as a Second Language, then you may need to complete a thesis (in fact, for Creative Writing, a thesis is your only exit option).

Literature exit  requirement options

Teaching English as a Second Language exit requirements

Teaching of Writing exit requirement options

The guide below will help you find your way through the steps required at both the department and University levels.

Once you've determined upon the thesis option for your M. A. program exit requirement, you'll need to do several things in order to ensure that you're beginning the process in a way that will facilitate a smooth and relatively trouble-free experience. 

ENG 599: Thesis  

This is the course in which you enroll when you are ready to begin serious work on your thesis. While the Director of Graduate Studies will be the "instructor of record" for this course, you will work closely with your committee and committee chair during the time you are enrolled in the course.  ENG 599 must be taken twice, for a total of 6 credit hours. While we strongly encourage students take the course for 3 hours in two different semesters, you may, with the permission of your advisors, enroll for all 6 hours in one term if you wish.  It is not unusual, frankly, for students to underestimate the amount of time and energy required for the writing of a thesis, which is, after all, typically 60-75 pages in length, at least. If after taking ENG 599 for 6 credit hours your thesis is still not complete, you may enroll in UNIV 500 in subsequent semesters, a low-cost course that carries no credit hours but allows you to maintain access to various campus resources, including the library and computer labs. Your transcript will show a "DE" ("deferred") grade for ENG 599 until your thesis has been successfully defended and all the paperwork processed. This grade does not affect your GPA. 

The Committee  

Establishing a committee comes first, and the first step in this process is selecting a committee chair. Typically your thesis committee chair will be a professor with whom you have taken at least one class, who has expertise in your intended field of research, and with whom you have a very good working relationship. It is standard procedure for the student to approach the faculty member directly (and preferably in person) about serving as committee chair.  Once your committee chair is in place, you need to line up the other members of the committee. Thesis committees must consist of at least three faculty members, all of whom must have "graduate faculty" status. While typically this matter of "graduate" status won't be an issue, it is sometimes the case that for very recently hired, or recently retired, members of the Department the paperwork has not been completed; you may wish to check with your committee chair, the Department Chair, or the Director of Graduate Studies. Note also that while the three members of the committee need not all be from the Department of English, it is the case that all three members must be SIUE faculty. If you wish to add someone who has faculty status at another university, that person will have to be a fourth committee member.  Selecting the other members of your thesis committee is best done in consultation with the committee chair. You will probably have some sense of faculty members you wish to work with, but your chair may be able to suggest other possibilities. You and your thesis will be best served by having a committee whose members have expertise that is at least close to your intended research area.  Some thesis committee chairs may wish to approach these other potential committee members themselves, while others will encourage you to make that contact directly. Each particular situation is different, and depends upon a number of variables. What is most important, in this matter and throughout the entire thesis process, is that your committee chair be kept closely informed.  Once a committee has been established, the next step is to discuss your project with your committee. Ideally, you and your chair will have several discussions or email exchanges in which you begin to refine and focus your thesis project, and it is most helpful if your entire committee is involved at some point. A successful thesis experience involves many things, and one of those is having committee members who are never surprised and who never feel left out. 

The Prospectus  

TESL and Literature require students to submit a formal Prospectus (typically these are 5 or fewer pages in length) and produce a Bibliography as a way of establishing the necessary focus and definition of your project. Creative Writing requires the approval of a reading list (you can find out more information about each specialization's requirements on their own exit requirements page). Each member of your committee should review the prospectus/reading list and sign the Prospectus and Reading List Approval form , which should be turned in to the Director of Graduate Studies. 

Registration of Thesis Title  (no longer required)

As of Spring 2021, this form is no longer being used. 

The Graduate School has several strict thesis submission deadlines that must be followed in order to complete the degree in an intended semester. Please examine these closely when choosing a defense date, preparing drafts, and submitting the final thesis.

The Work in Progress 

Once your committee is in place and you've registered your thesis title, you're ready to begin work. While the specifics will vary, it is expected that you will meet with your committee chair, if not the entire committee, on a regular basis. Again, a successful thesis-writing experience is one that has no surprises. Maintain regular contact with your chair and committee members. You and your chair should develop a plan regarding whether additional committee members receive all drafts or only a close-to-finished draft of the thesis.  As you work on your thesis, carefully review all of the Graduate School's Guidelines, including the document "Guidelines for the Preparation of a Thesis," which provides some general guidelines and, most importantly, all of the layout and mechanical requirements of the final thesis. The Graduate School is strict about holding theses to the requirements spelled out in this document; careful reading of it is not optional. Students are required to submit a draft of the thesis to the Graduate School for a formatting check by the Friday of the last week of classes.

The Thesis Defense 

You and your entire committee will need to agree upon a date and time for the thesis defense. Typically these last one hour.   You should work to schedule your defense with your committee early in the semester; also give yourself time to make the revisions that your committee suggests at your defense. In other words, you would be best served to schedule your defense BEFORE finals week.  After determining a suitable date, you or (more typically) your thesis advisor will notify the Department's Director of Graduate Studies of the proposed thesis defense; the Director will then reserve a room for the defense. (Defenses are commonly held either in seminar classrooms or in conference rooms in the offices of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, on the 3rd floor of Peck Hall.) Thesis defenses are open to the public, and may be attended by the Director of Graduate Studies, the Department Chair, other interested faculty, and other graduate students. In fact, you may want to consider attending a defense sometime before your own, to better get a feel for the process; talk with your committee chair about this.  A typical thesis defense will begin with a brief (10 to 15 minute) presentation by the candidate of her or his research findings; this is essentially a summary of the thesis, although it may cover other topics as well. This is followed, usually, by a question-and-answer period for the remainder of the hour. 

Once a defense is successfully completed, the committee will sign the "Summary of Completion Form" which your committee chair will have previously filled out . This form, which is critical in the bureaucratic processing of degree completion, must be returned to the Director of Graduate Studies for a signature and further processing.

Submitting the Final Thesis 

All information about the Electronic Dissertations and Thesis submission process can be found  here . 

It is fairly common for students to be instructed, at the defense, to make further minor changes to the thesis. Once those emendations are made, confirm their satisfactory completion with your committee or committee chair before submitting the finished thesis as per the Graduate School's EDT Guidelines. Be sure to read carefully and follow scrupulously the "Guidelines for the Preparation of a Thesis" when preparing and submitting your thesis. There are two special caveats about this final submission:

• There is a $95 charge for submitting the final thesis. 
• The University now makes all theses publicly available through ProQuest. This means that your thesis will shortly end up on Google Books. This is due to the University's stated commitment to Open Access publication, which seeks to make research freely and widely available for use. However, you do have the option to forgo open access publication either for a period or indefinitely. This is called an embargo. You will be asked when you submit the thesis whether or not you would like to embargo the thesis for 1 or two years, but Prof. Valerie Vogrin , the Director of Graduate Studies, will e-mail the graduate school if you would like a more extensive or even an indefinite embargo. You may choose any period of time for an embargo and there are different schools of thought concerning the benefits and disadvantages of open access publication for the author. This article give some helpful information about the issue, but you should also talk to your director about your decision.

On the day that you submit your finished thesis using the EDT process, please also send a completed PDF copy to the Department's Director of Graduate Studies. Once the final thesis is submitted to and accepted by the Graduate School, the thesis part of your M. A. program is complete. Final granting of the degree will follow the resolution of any issues noted on your graduation check, including the completion of any outstanding requirements (such as a DE grade from ENG 599). 

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is authorized to operate as a postsecondary educational institution by the  Illinois Board of Higher Education .

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Home > ETD

Theses, Dissertations, and Culminating Projects

Theses, dissertations, and projects from 2023 2023.

New Graduate Nurse Professional Development Planning , Cassandra Adkins

Second-victimhood Among Anesthesia Providers & the Effects on Patient Outcomes , Erika Aitken

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A Multifaceted Approach to Promoting Speaking Up Behavior in a Community Hospital , Carrie Carls

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Use of Anticipatory Guidelines in Late Infants and Toddlers 12 to 24 Months in Primary Care , Claire E. Eller

Hyperoxemia Education to Nurses to Increase the Adherence to Oxygen Weaning Goals in Inpatient COPD Patients. , Katherine Ellingson

Expansion of Heart Failure Education from Hospital to Clinic , Abigail M. Fischer

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Postdural Puncture Headaches and the Development of a Treatment Protocol , Matthew Gill

Emergency Department Nurse Preceptor Development , Allison Helmerichs

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CBT Technology Implementation with Pediatric and Adolescent Populations , Tracey W. Kreipe, Heath Gage, and Sandra Obiebi

Just Culture in Undergraduate Nursing Academia , Marcie Leonard

Foley Catheter Algorithm , Chary Mathew

A Community Health Outreach Project Focused on Developing and Implementing a Culturally Competent Tobacco Cessation Education Toolkit , Tori Mattingly, Wesley Ferrill, and Lechi Nkwocha

Amniotic Fluid Embolism Diagnosis & Treatment Pathway , Jeremy May

Implementing an EMR System in a Small Psychiatric Practice , Brandy McCrudden

Improving Student Registered Nurse Anesthesiologists’ Skills and Confidence Through High-fidelity Simulation , Daniel McGee and Robert Stein

A Modified DBT-Informed Art Therapy Group Curriculum with a Focus on Neurodiversity Acceptance , Megan Moyer

Management of Ineffective Epidural for Cesarean Section , MIRIAM NDENECHO

Art Therapy: Mechanisms of Change and Identity: A Heuristic Study , Kirsten O'Loughlin

The Effects of Postpartum Hemorrhage Simulation , kera olson

Diversity in Nurse Anesthesia Education: Understanding the Perspective of Racial-Ethnic Minority Nurse Anesthesia Students , Lorette osun and Jeannette Ineza

Art as Experienced by a Female Combat Veteran Using the El Duende Process Painting. , Bonita Owen

Standardization of Perioperative Management of the Breastfeeding Women , Amrutha Panakkal

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Short Term Medical Mission GERD and Ulcer Treatment Guideline , Robin Risky

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Telehealth Integration in Primary Care , Ashley Simons

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Subcutaneous infusions for comfort care patients , kelci steeples

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STI education for adolescents , Maryann Van Ryn and Lucy Nyrongo

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Prophylactic Tranexamic Acid Administration to Prevent Postpartum Hemorrhage After Cesarean Delivery in Patients at High Risk of Severe Postpartum Bleeding , Alexandra White and Stephanie Lafikes

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Theses, Dissertations, and Projects from 2022 2022

Introduction of Enhanced Recovery After Cesarean Section (ERAC) Protocol , Kwame Adu-Affum

Vasovagal Syncope During Venipuncture:Alleviating Symptoms Through Leg Muscle Tension and Moving Toes Sequentially , Velina Andrewski

Pediatric Distraction Methods for the Perioperative Period , Jennifer L. Ashton and Katherine M. Rosner

Improving Staff Education on Lung Cancer Screening at the Illinois Correctional Facilities for the Justice-Involved Individuals , Natalie Bethel and Jillian Youngquist

An Extended Literature Review Exploring How Relational Cultural Therapy and Emotion Recognition Impact the Therapeutic Alliance , Prairie Boschulte

Exploring Challenges and Triumphs within the Transgender Community through Comics-Based Research , Carly Caldwell

Development of Evidence-Based Rubrics and Instructional Videos for Anesthesia Induction Sequences , James P. Canny and Nathan M. Carroll

Exploring the Use of Telehealth in a School-Based Health Center , Kourtney Chapman, Mia Rhodes, and Jordan Smith

Identifying Facilitators and Barriers for a Successful Student Registered Nurse Anesthetist’s Clinical Experience , James Clancy and Adam Bruinius

Implementation of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery for Adult Cervical Spine Fusion Patients: A Quality Improvement Project , Ashley Darin-Messmer

Critical Care Orientation Escape Room , Leah Deaton

The Effectiveness of Using the Anatomage Table as a Learning Adjunct to Peripheral Nerve Blocks Among Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists , Paige Dickey, Melissa Gerlach, and Mary Zerlan

Empowering Nurses to Recognize Post-Stroke Depression in the African American Community , Deidra Frisbie and Robin Simon

Conducting a Root Cause Analysis to Improve Intake Processes and Record Review in Home Health , Christina Guerrero

Implementation of PrEP Protocol in Primary Care , Myia Harper and Catalina West

Implementation of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire in a Primary Care Setting , Michele Hartke

Implementation of Routine Screening to Detect Early Cases of Depression and Anxiety in Hispanic Adolescents in the Primary Care Setting , LaToya Hayward

The Development of an Evidenced-Based Guideline for the Anesthetic Management of Surgical Cases Utilizing Evoked Potential Monitoring , Brent Hitchens and Darrell Risinger

Integrating Mental Health into Primary Care , Lori Hopwood and April Schmidt

Physician Use of the RAPID3 to Guide Rheumatology Follow-Up: A Retrospective Examination , Karen Howard

Establishing a Neonatal Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) Team , Rebecca Hunt

Controlling Hypertension: A Self Blood Pressure Monitoring Program plus Health Coaching compared to Health Coaching Alone , Jordan Joynt and Alex Watson

Utilizing a Personal Health Coach in the Management of T2DM , Emily Killebrew, Matthew Huelsman, Verah Bonareri, and Terri Furfaro

Implementation of Written Discharge Instructions for Common Diagnoses in the Urgent Care Setting , Melissa Kulp and Kristin Elmore

Best Practice in the Perioperative Anesthetic Management of Infants with Gastroschisis , Emily R. Lester

Increasing Obesity Education in an Underserved Latino Population , Morgan Lippert and Kelsey Beard

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Improving Healthcare Team Communication with Limited English Proficiency Families in the NICU , Ivonne Mandell

Increasing HPV Vaccination in Adolescents , Emily Martin and Emily Hartmann

Improving no show rates in a GI Endoscopy outpatient lab , Mark McAteer

Creating a guideline for STI testing in the pediatric population , Alexandria Molaro, Alexandra Evans, and Alex Niebrugge

Implementation of Routine Screening with Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) of Adults with Crohn’s Disease , Jo A. Muller-Krause

Computer-Based Learning Module: Local Anesthetic Systemic Toxicity , Nhan Nguyen

Dexmedetomidine as an Adjunct Therapy to Neuraxial Anesthesia in Labor and Delivery , Anthony Nungesser

Anticipatory Guidance for Parents/Caregivers of Pediatric Patients Ages 0-12 Months , Cody Palmer and Anna Hagnauer

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The Implementation of a Mental Health Screening Protocol in an Occupational Health Setting , Chandra A. Pierson-Rye

Neuraxial Anesthesia for Total Joint Arthroplasty , Katherine Pozzo

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MS Thesis Requirements | Graduate | Computer Science | SIU

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College of Engineering, Computing, Technology, and Mathematics

Current students, ms degree thesis requirements.

(LIST APPEARS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER)

 FIRST YEAR OF PROGRAM

1. Transferring prior credits  - If you have any CS Master's program courses from prior programs (including courses taken as a non-declared graduate student) that you want credit to be transferred to our program, you must submit a memo from your prior program's Graduate Program Director or Computer Science Chair to our Graduate Program Assistant. The memo must be on School of Computing letterhead, indicate the course numbers, the semester and year the courses were taken, and the statement that the courses were not used to meet the requirements of any previous degree program.

2. Meet with Graduate Program Director  - You must meet with the Graduate Program Director as soon as possible to discuss your program agenda, course selection, possible research advisor choices, etc. NOTE: If you did not take CS 401, CS 420, and CS 455 in your bachelor's degree or in your master's degree here, then you must register for CS 401, CS 420, and CS 455 as soon as possible. If you have questions about this you must make an appointment to see the Graduate Program Director for him to review your file.

3.  Thesis Research Topic and Thesis Defense Committee Advisor  - If you are doing Thesis option, you should select a Thesis Committee advisor and research topic area no later than the end of the second semester. The advisor and you will decide when you should register for Thesis Research [CS 599 Section (advisor's 700-number)].

4.  Thesis Committee Members  - At least one semester prior to your planned thesis defense, you and your advisor should select two (2) additional committee members and provide the Graduate Program assistant with their names. This information should be submitted to the Graduate Program Assistant on a paper or email with your name, the committee members' names, and noting which one is the committee Chair (your advisor's name), so a Committee Approval Form can be prepared and submitted to the Graduate School by the Graduate Program Assistant.

FINAL SEMESTER

A student who has been admitted to the graduate program in Computer Science can meet the requirements for the Master's of Science degree by completing 30 hours of graduate credit subject to the following constraints:

1. Apply to Graduate  - No later than the Friday of the second week of the semester in which you wish to graduate, you must apply for graduation with the Graduate School. The form may be obtained on the Graduate School Forms web page. This is the only form from the Graduate School which does not have to be given to the Graduate Program Assistant first; it can be given to and filled out directly by your thesis advisor.

2.  Thesis Proposal  - At least one month prior to the final oral exam, you should present an outline of the research project to your committee and solicit their comments and suggestions. This may be done through a proposal meeting (but this is to be decided by your advisor). If you need to set up a proposal, reserve the Conference Room and any necessary presentation equipment through the same steps outlined below under Item 4.

3.  Thesis Pre-Preparation  - You can start writing your thesis at any time before your defense date. You are responsible for having your thesis meet the format requirements of the Graduate School. These may be found on the Web under the Graduate School at " Guidelines for Thesis and Dissertations ".

Responsibility for proofreading the grammar, punctuation and formatting rests with you. Your Thesis advisor can make recommendations but should not have to take their valuable time to do any more for you. The advisor is there to help in the topic and research, not the proofreading. Make sure you allow plenty of time to write and proof your thesis. You should utilize the SIUC Writing Center for assistance: https://write.siu.edu/ .

4.  Defense (or Proposal) Scheduling  - No less than two (2) weeks prior to your defense, you must set a date for defense agreed upon by your Committee members. Deadlines for proposals are not as strict.

Only after ALL the Committee members have agreed on a date,

A) You must confirm with the Main Office to the availability of the Conference Room for a specific time and date prior to completing the announcement form.

B) All students must complete the following Announcement Form for their Defense (or Proposal). Any presentation equipment must be requested within the submission form. 

The form will require that you provide the final formal title of the thesis (or working title for a proposal), approved by the thesis advisor, so papers for the defense may be automatically electronically generated sufficiently in advance for announcing on our website and throughout the School of Computing.

5. The Graduate Program Assistant will prepare the appropriate forms prior to the oral examination and give them to the advisor just prior to or on the day of the oral examination.

6. After the defense, the advisor will return the completed Exit Info and Approval forms to the Graduate Program Assistant.

7. You should make committee-recommended corrections and revisions to your thesis. Using the Format Templates from the Graduate School web page: 

https://gradschool.siu.edu/thesis-dissertation-researchpaper/etd-templates.html  

Merge all the pages into one PDF file, save it and have your committee members review it once more for changes and to check your reference citations for format. REMEMBER: The ProQuest UMI company, which the Graduate School uses for theses submission, checks for plagiarism and copyright permission in your paper. Therefore, make sure you have cited everything properly and received and documented any copyright permission.

8. You will then submit your committee-approved thesis electronically to the CS Main Office Assistant. Make any necessary changes to your thesis first before submitting this version to the Graduate School because if the document does not meet the professional standards expected of graduate level work, the computer science program has the right to refuse clearing you for graduation.

9. Follow the "Steps" in the ETD Submission Process at the following webpage:

https://gradschool.siu.edu/thesis-dissertation-researchpaper/etd-submission.html

Upon receipt of your electronic submission, Dr. Ratna Sinha will send you an email either approving your draft or making recommendations for formatting or citation changes to it. Once you have received an "approved" email, forward it to the Graduate Program Assistant ( [email protected] ). Any questions should be referred to Dr. Ratna Sinha (Woody B114; 618-453-4570).

The Graduate School provides a good checklist to help you at this stage of the process, see  https://gradschool.siu.edu/_common/documents/ETD_checklist.pdf .

10. Your Committee Chair should submit a PDF of your final approved thesis to the Graduate Program Assistant  at [email protected] .  The Graduate Program Assistant will provide you with one (1) copy of the Thesis Approval form and one (1) copy of the Oral Defense form to take to the Graduate School.

11. You must return all keys, FOBs and/or books belonging to the School of Computing to either the Graduate Program Assistant or the Main Office Assistant.

NOTE: If you are an international student going on Optional Practical Training you must turn in all of your School of Computing issued keys, FOBs, software or textbooks before leaving for OPT. If you should return, you may make arrangements to borrow a lab key for the time you are here.

12. The School of Computing Program Graduation Clearance form received by the School of Computing from the Graduate School will be signed only when the Graduate Program Assistant has received all the above required items (thesis versions, approval email, textbooks, keys, etc.).

SPECIAL NOTE: You must continue to be registered for at least course CS 601 (Continuing Enrollment) for EACH semester (excluding Summer) until you complete all the requirements for your degree and obtain final approval for graduation from the Graduate School.

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SIUE Graduate School Announces 2022 Outstanding Thesis and Dissertation Awards

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Graduate School has announced the recipients of the Outstanding Thesis and Dissertation Awards. The awards recognize a master’s student’s thesis and a doctoral student’s dissertation that have been identified as outstanding among all those completed in the previous academic year. The recipients were recognized at the Graduate School Awards Reception in October and received a $500 cash prize.

Alexa Agne completed a master’s in kinesiology in August and was awarded the Outstanding These Award for her thesis, “Acute Glucose Responses Following Combined Arm and Leg Cycling.” Patrick Ayres, PhD, who completed his degree in August, earned the Outstanding Dissertation Award for his work, entitled “The Conservative Heart of the Nation: Political Conservatism in the Civil War Era West.”

“Alexa is the best graduate student I have ever worked with thanks to her energy, enthusiasm, and work ethic,” said Bryan Smith, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Applied Health. “She essentially composed a mini dissertation in a span of a little more than one year, even though her thesis project required her to become familiar with a completely different area of research than what she had done previously.”

“Ayres’ dissertation is exceptionally researched and an outstanding piece of scholarship,” said Erik Alexander, PhD, associate professor in the Department of History and Ayres’ dissertation chair. “His dissertation offers important contributions to our understanding of the sectional conflict in the nineteenth century, complicating the traditional interpretation of the conflict as one strictly between the North and South.”

Ayres persevered during the pandemic when many archives had not yet opened their doors to scholars by identifying important and relevant sources through digital databases and other published collections. It is expected that his dissertation will prove to be an important contribution to historical debates surrounding the causes of the Civil War and the evolution of conservative political ideology in America. It is a groundbreaking addition to the emerging field of Midwest History.

Ayres also received the Outstanding Thesis Award following completion of his master's in history in fall 2019. Ayres is currently working on submitting an article for publication, and he plans to enter academia in the near future. Photos: (L-R) Jerry Weinberg, PhD, professor and associate provost, Alexa Agne, MS, and Denise Cobb, PhD, provost.

(L-R) Jerry Weinberg, PhD, professor and associate provost, Patrick Ayres, PhD, and Denise Cobb, PhD, provost.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is authorized to operate as a postsecondary educational institution by the  Illinois Board of Higher Education .

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Ph.D. Policies and Procedures | School of Education | SIU

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Application and Admission

Admission to a doctoral program in the Graduate School typically requires that the student hold a master’s degree or its equivalent, have a minimum grade point average of 3.00 across all graduate work, and that the candidate be accepted by the academic unit (concentration) to which he or she applies. The faculty of each concentration may establish, at their discretion, a higher grade point average requirement (above the Graduate School minimum) for admission to their program.

Students seeking a doctoral degree in the School of Education must submit applications to the SIU Graduate School and individual programs concurrently.

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Ph.D. Policies and Procedures manual for Spring 2023 admission

Financial Aid

Graduate assistantship.

A limited number of graduate assistantships (GAs) are available in a variety of locations across campus, including academic units, research centers, administrative units, and service units. This type of appointment represents the most common type of financial award offered by the University.

A GA must be an admitted student in a degree program. Non-declared students are typically not eligible for graduate assistantships.

For available GA appointments and selection criteria, students should inquire directly with the Graduate Director or Chair of the department to which they have been admitted or to the appointing officer of a research center, administrative unit, or service unit.

The typical GA appointment is a 50% appointment (20 hours per week) and lasts for one academic year (9 months). Some 25% appointments, requiring 10 hours per week, are available. A student may hold two simultaneous quarter-time (25%) appointments on campus without special approval.

GA appointments may be either on a semester-pay basis or a fiscal-pay basis. If available, doctoral students can receive up to four years (48 months) of graduate assistantship support. In terms of tuition scholarships, see the SIU Graduate School Guidelines.

Salary schedules for GA appointments vary between units. Information about the specific conditions of the appointment should be directed to the department or unit making the appointment.

Awards and Scholarships

A limited number of awards, scholarships, and fellowships are available to doctoral students in the School of Education. 

Preliminary Examination

Candidacy status can only be awarded after students successfully complete the preliminary examination. This examination will include those areas established as appropriate by the department or concentration. Faculty from the respective concentration areas will determine who will be responsible for preparing, evaluating, and certifying successful completion of the examination.

The preliminary examination is an assessment of the breadth and depth of a student’s knowledge in educational foundations and his/her concentration area, and his/her ability to access, analyze, and synthesize research through writing.

The examination will be offered at least two times a year and will be administered on the fifth week of each semester. The appropriate departmental representative will be responsible for selecting the examination location and monitoring the examination.

Students completing preliminary examinations will be notified about their results no later than 30 calendar days after examinations are completed. Notification may vary for the departments (or concentrations) where preliminary examinations are offered during the summer semester.

Eligibility

A student may take the preliminary examination after having successfully completed all (or most) coursework listed on the student’s Program of Study. Exceptions to this policy can only be granted by both the committee chairperson and the director of graduate studies. The student must seek and receive approval from the dissertation committee chair to take the preliminary examination.

If a student fails the examination on the initial attempt, then he/she may take the exam up to two additional times (contingent on the student’s concentration) before being removed from the doctoral program.

Advancement to Candidacy

Upon passing the preliminary examination, the student is advanced to candidacy.

This advancement signifies that the doctoral student is capable of conducting independent research with the guidance of his/her dissertation committee. The chairperson of the student’s doctoral committee should initiate the advancement to candidacy forms and submit four copies to the Dean of the School.

A student must be admitted to candidacy at least six months prior to graduation. Once admitted to candidacy, students may register for additional dissertation hours (up to a total of 24 credit hours). As doctoral candidates, students have five (5) years to complete their dissertation.

Degree Requirements

Program of study requirement.

The required coursework is as follows:

• The School of Education core doctoral seminars - two (2) x three (3) semester hour seminars in education, including: EDUC 510 - Introduction to Doctoral Studies in Education; and either EDUC 511 - Doctoral Seminar in Philosophical & Cultural Foundations of Education or EDUC 512 - Doctoral Seminar in Behavioral & Learning Foundations of Education. These must be taken after the student has been accepted into the SOE doctoral program.
• Research methods courses - See next section for more information.
• Core coursework in the concentration area - the number of hours required varies by department (or concentration); departmental (or concentration) core coursework must be completed before preliminary examinations (see specific departments (or concentrations) for core requirements).
• Elective courses - the number of hours required varies by department (or concentration). The student’s doctoral committee must approve elective courses.
• Dissertation hours - a minimum of 24 semester hours must be devoted to dissertation work. No doctoral student is allowed to register for more the six dissertation hours until candidacy has been achieved.

Transfer credit hours are subject to approval by each student's doctoral committee. All graduate credit hours earned at an accredited university that have not been applied toward fulfillment of requirements for another degree are eligible for consideration but cannot apply to the residency requirement set by the Graduate School (see Graduate Catalog). No credit will be given for transfer courses in which a student has earned less than a B grade. Prerequisite courses required as a condition of admission may not be included in the minimum credit hour requirement.

Research Methods Requirement

The Ph.D. in Education is a research-oriented degree. The research methods requirement is an integral part of the student’s program and is intended to allow the student to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct systematic intellectual inquiry.

Specific technical and methodological competencies are developed through research methods coursework. Some classes are required of all students, while others are chosen for their relevancy to the area of concentration and individual student’s research interests. They must be successfully completed before preliminary examinations. These classes should prepare a student with the skills and competencies necessary to:

• Pose a research problem or question grounded in the current research literature.
• Identify a data collection system or strategy appropriate to the identified problem or question.
• Analyze and interpret data presented in a variety of formats.
• Craft meaningful conclusions relative to collected data, theoretical frameworks, conceptual models, or current practice.
• Communicate research results in a professional and competent manner.

All students must complete at least nine (9) credit hours in approved courses to fulfill the Research Methods Requirement. All students are required to take EAHE 587 (Introduction to Qualitative Research), EDUC 505 (Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods in Education), and one additional cross-departmental graduate-level course in research methodology. Students with previous coursework in introductory research methods can petition to replace these introductory courses with higher-level research methodology coursework. (See Appendix A for a listing of suggested courses in Quantitative, Qualitative, Mixed Methods and Historiography.) Some academic concentrations may require additional research methods courses. Some student’s doctoral committees may encourage or require them to take additional methodology coursework, beyond their program’s minimum research requirements.

Residency Requirement

The residency requirement for the doctoral degree must be fulfilled after admission to the program and prior to advancement to candidacy (i.e., by the time students have successfully passed the preliminary examination). Residency is met by completing 24 graduate credit hours on campus as a doctoral student within a period not to exceed four calendar years. Transfer credits do not apply to residency.

No more than six semester-hours of deferred dissertation credit may be applied toward the fulfillment of the 24 semester hour residency requirement.

Credit hours earned in concentrated courses and workshops may apply toward fulfillment of the residency requirements if the student is concurrently registered for a course spanning the full term.

No more than six semester hours of short course or workshop credit may be applied to the 24 semester hour residency requirement.

Continuing Registration Requirement

Students who have registered for the maximum number of dissertation credit hours (24) required for the doctoral degree, but have not finished their degree program, and are in the process of completing their dissertations, must register for continuing enrollment credit (one credit hour per semester). In addition, students in a graduate program but not enrolled in 601 by the first week of the fall or the spring semester will automatically be registered in and charged tuition for 1 hour of 601. This hour will be dropped if the student subsequently enrolls in a class that semester or is granted a leave of absence by his/her graduate program by the 8th week of the semester. See the  Graduate School 601 Enrollment Policy .

This course is offered by each concentration (i.e., COUN 601, CI 601, EAHE 601, HED 601, QUAN 601, SPED 601, WED 601). Concurrent registration in any other course is not permitted.

Students registering for continuing enrollment credit are assessed only tuition and the Student Center Fee for credit hours associated with registration. Since no other student fees are assessed, students taking continuing enrollment credits are not eligible for the benefits of any other programs, such as the Recreation Center, Health Service and Student Medical Benefits, and the Students' Attorney Program. Students who need the benefits requiring fees must register for additional dissertation hours, instead of continuing enrollment credits.

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Standards for the preparation of theses and dissertations are established by graduate faculty at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and the administration of the Graduate School. All revisions are subject to the approval of the Graduate School.

The Graduate Council  is on record as saying a successful thesis or dissertation usually represents the most extensive and intensive scholarly work the student has performed to date. Completing the thesis or dissertation will lead the student up to the cutting edge of research (however defined by the discipline) conducted at that time in his or her field of research. A thesis or dissertation must address a significant question and demonstrate that its author can interpret findings and formulate conclusions that are the result of INDEPENDENT thinking and sustained evaluation of source materials. These findings must be expressed in clear and grammatical language that is well organized into cogent and coherent argument. A thesis or dissertation that contains the student's published or in press manuscripts (or excerpts from these manuscripts) shall, in the preface, describe these materials and their contribution to the dissertation. In the case of multi-authored manuscripts, the student's contribution to each such manuscript must be clearly delineated in the preface and attested to in a separate statement by the chair of the dissertation committee addressed to the Graduate School.

The thesis or dissertation is a final document and not a copy document for submission to a journal. The Graduate School Guidelines, which reflect the formatting recommendations of University Microfilms International (UMI) as well as many of the recent advancements in publication technology, specify these important differences. They are: (1) the thesis or dissertation must not carry running headings; (2) tables and figures are placed where they belong in the thesis or dissertation and no notation, such as "Table 1 here," is placed in the text.

Given that the Graduate School enforces general rules and departments may impose more restrictive ones, the above language has clear, unequivocal implications:

• Departments, not the Graduate School, shall decide whether or not students may include their own previously published, in press, or multi-authored materials (e.g. journal articles or excerpts therefrom), and how many they may include, in their dissertations. This is a matter of departmental discretion, decided in accordance with each department's relevant procedures.
• Departments are not required to permit students to include their own previously published materials in their dissertations.
• A dissertation may not consist solely of previously published materials, formatted as published. A dissertation does not consist solely of journal articles, photocopied and stapled together. (See next point)
• Whether they include students' previously published materials or not, dissertations must meet the formatting requirements of the Graduate School's "Guidelines for Preparation and Submission of Dissertations," they must be prepared for electronic submission, and they must conform to their respective departmental style manuals.

General Instructions

Filing of theses and dissertations with the graduate school.

APPROVAL FORMS . The Graduate School must have an original Approval form and Oral Defense form signed by the student's committee and generally the department chair. Note: Some departments prefer to submit the forms directly to the Graduate School. If that is the case with your department, the Graduate School will hold your paper pending the submission of the approval sheets.

RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS . Students who used human subjects in their thesis or dissertation research must submit a copy of their Human Subjects Committee approval form to the Graduate School prior to the final ETD submission deadline. SIU has a policy governing all faculty, staff, and student research which involves human subjects. A human subject is defined as any individual whom a researcher contacts in person, by mail, or by phone, and makes a request for information. The SIU Institutional Review Board for any research involving human subjects is located in the Office of Sponsored Projects Administration , in Woody Hall. For further information, please call 618-453-4540 or email [email protected] .

COPYRIGHT . It is the student's responsibility to obtain permission to reproduce copyrighted material, such as adapting all or part of a table or figure from a copyrighted source, for inclusion in their thesis or dissertation. When permission is granted, the reproduced table or figure must be noted with the original author and copyright holder, and the permission letter / email should be included in the appendices.

ETD SUBMISSION FEE.  The fee for submission of an electronic thesis and dissertation is $25.00 (Library fee). If the thesis / dissertation is to be copyrighted (optional), an additional fee of $75.00 is due.

SURVEY OF EARNED DOCTORATES. All graduating doctoral students are required to complete an online survey. Survey must be submitted online prior to the final ETD submission deadline. COPIES OF THESES / DISSERTATIONS . The University Bookstore in the Student Center will arrange for theses and dissertations to be professionally bound. Call 618-536-3321 for more information about binding your paper if you wish a bound copy for yourself or for your department. (This service has been known to be quicker and less expensive than ordering bound copies through ProQuest.)

Organization of Pages

The organization of the pages of your paper should be as follows:

• Copyright statement (when applicable)
• Approval page
• Acknowledgments (not required)
• Dedication (not required)
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables (when applicable)
• List of Figures (when applicable)
• Exhibits (when tables and figures are not distributed in chapters)
• Bibliography or References (use title appropriate to program style manual)
• Appendices (not required)

Charts, Tables, and Figures

• Generally, students will use the computer to design figures and graphs.
• Table heading and style of headings must follow the style manual chosen. Generally, table titles are above the table and figure titles are below the figure, but the placement selected must be followed consistently.
• Spacing within the table may be single or double spaced based on the readability of the data.
• Font style and size should be consistent throughout the document, unless a table requires a smaller size. Six (6) point font should be the smallest used. Titles should be consistent in size and style of font as used throughout the document.
• There should be a judicious use of spacing to "set off" tables, charts, and figures; typically, one or two double-spaces before and after the table. Again, once spacing is chosen, you must be consistent throughout.

MAPS.  Oversize maps may be included as a supplemental file.  

APPENDICES.  List of terms, definitions, questionnaires, and other supplemental information which is useful, but not essential, to the body of the thesis or dissertation may be included in an appendix.

MARGINS. Margins are flexible within the appendix, but keep in mind that the left binding edge will cover 1 inch of data. Page numbers need to continue within the appendix with the same font and in the same position on the page as in the text. The Graduate School consultants can advise you about this if needed. 

COLOR.  Color is permitted.

MULTIMEDIA . Audio and video may be included to enhance presentation.

Formatting Guidelines

DO NOT USE COPIES OF THESES AND DISSERTATIONS IN THE LIBRARY FOR FORMATTING GUIDELINES SINCE POLICIES CHANGE.

• Ariel, Bookman, Courier, Times New Roman
• The body of the document should use a 10 or 12 point font. Headings and subheadings may go up one size and up to 14 point but must be of the same font style as the body of the text. 
• Bold  format may be used only as specified by the style manual chosen.
• Italics  may be used only as specified by the style manual chosen. In general, it may be used for Genera, species, letters, words or phrases cited as a linguistic example, and foreign words.
• The body of the document must be double spaced.
• Extended direct quotations should be presented consistently with the style manual selected.
• Chapters should be left justified.

MARGINS AND INDENTATIONS

• Margins are one inch all around. Opening pages (Table of Contents, Chapters, Bibliography, etc.) that are required by the manual style to have a set top margin may have a larger than one inch top margin on those pages. Charts, tables, and figures may have greater margins than listed but may not go into the required margins.
• Paragraph indentations should be uniform five spaces. There should be no extra spacing between paragraphs.

The following guidelines are for the pages preceding the text, i.e. Abstract, Acknowledgments, Preface, and Table of Contents. 

• The pages preceding the text should be numbered in small Roman numbers. The numerals should be centered between the one inch margin on the left and the one inch margin on the right, and one-half inch up from the bottom edge of the paper. The first page starts from the Abstract with Roman numeral i. 
• Text pages, bibliography, and appendices should follow the style manual chosen. Numbers should consist of numerals only, without punctuation, embellishment, or running headers. Paging should be continuous including the bibliography, appendices, and vita. Except for preceding pages, the style must be adhered to throughout the document. The first page of text starts with Arabic numeral 1.

This recent guideline revision supersedes all previous editions. Take this into consideration as you review previous theses / dissertations from the library or your department.

Roles and Responsibilities

The Graduate Student's Responsibility

• Subject matter and content
• Organization and format
• Editorial, linguistic and bibliographic quality
• Quality of text, figures, and photocopy
• Quality of data, evidence, and logical reasoning presented
• Presentation of the manuscript based on the current style manual of the field and Graduate School Guidelines

The Advisory Committee's Responsibility

• Approval of the subject matter and methodology of the research
• Approval of the organization, content and format
• Review of the quality of data and evidence, logical reasoning, and the editorial, linguistic, and bibliographic quality
• Evaluation of the thesis or dissertation as a basis for certification that the student has fulfilled the requirements of the degree for which the student is a candidate

The Thesis Editor's Responsibility

• Providing counsel and advice upon request by students and members of the student's committee about the format aspects of theses and dissertation preparation
• Checking the final draft of each thesis or dissertation to insure that it has been prepared in conformity with the requirements of this Guide

Departmental Style Manual

Each department has selected one or more preferred style manuals and all students within the department are to use one of those styles.

Alternately, a department may also elect to use the style of a particular scholarly journal in the discipline as a basis for presenting the thesis or dissertation.  Whichever type of style is selected, it must be used consistently throughout the document.

*APA: American Psychological Association Publication Manual

*MLA: Modern Language Association Handbook for Writers of Research Papers

You may submit your pdf to the   ProQuest   submission site directly.

ALL REVISIONS ARE DUE BY THE DEADLINE DATE!  NO EXCEPTIONS!

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