Graduate Student Handbook

Forms

Dates and Deadlines

Forms

Graduate Assistantships provide an opportunity to apply graduate course learning in research, teaching, and learning environments that support faculty research and/or the Teacher Education undergraduate program. Students who are offered a Graduate Assistantship work on average 19 hours per week per10 pay periods $1600 per month for students pursuing a M.Ed. and $1800 per month for students pursuing a doctoral degree as well as a minimum monthly supplemental payment of $175/month. Graduate Assistantships receive twelve credits of tuition waiver per semester. Only students accepted into an MSU graduate program, who are not otherwise employed by MSU, and are enrolled in 6-credits per semester will be considered for a Graduate Assistantship. For Graduate Teaching Assistantships, applicants will need to be available to teach on-campus. Graduate Assistantship applications are distributed by the Department Head after admission and each semester for continuing students.

A three year graduate-level course rotation is available for planning purposes. Please note that courses are subject to change due to faculty availability and/or enrollment.

	The Graduate Student Lounge is located in Reid 431.  Feel free to use the lounge for working, meeting, and socializing.

All graduate students are members of the Department of Education Graduate Student Club (DEGS). The club facilitates writing groups, brown bags with faculty, and social events.

Look for College of EHHD student travel scholarships on the Office of Research Development page.

Computers: If you are employed as a Graduate Teaching Assistant or Graduate Research Assistant within the Department of Education, you will be provided with a computer and access to a printer. The computer will be issued to you, along with keys to your office, by the Department of Education Business Operations Manager.

Stata quantitative data analysis software is available on ten labeled computers in the education department lab in Reid 423. Stata is also provided on computers in the University Information Technology (UIT) run student labs including Reid 302, 305, and 306. When logging in, select Full Application suite. If an individual requires a licensed copy, requests should be sent to EHHD technology support.

NVivo qualitative data analysis software is available to MSU faculty, staff, students, and graduate teaching assistants via an MSU site-wide license. NVivo with a one year license may be installed on personally-owned or MSU-owned devices.

UIT Student Lab software

University licensed software

University IT support

Technology equipment checkouts are available in the Renne Library. These are short term checkouts for a period of hours or a few days.

Students are assigned an advisor at admission. Students  can change advisors using the Graduate Committee Request Form through MyInfo. The advisor facilitates the student’s degree progress and completion. The committee, as a whole, is subject to the approval of the Head of the Department of Education.

EdS and doctoral students should carefully select the chair after thorough conversations with tenured or tenure-track program faculty no later than the third semester of attendance. The graduate committee chair serves as the student’s primary advisor and will work with the student to select potential committee members. The chair facilitates the student’s degree progress and completion. Students can change chairs and committee members at any time by submitting the Graduate Committee Request Form through MyInfo. The committee, as a whole, is subject to the approval of the Head of the Department of Education.

The program of study (POS) acts as a contract between the student, the graduate committee, the department, and the Graduate School at Montana State University.  The program of study, jointly developed by the chair and the student, defines the minimum requirements for the degree. Other requirements as determined by the student's graduate committee may also be listed. Deadlines to submit the program of study are as follows: Certificate- end of 1st semester; Master’s- end of second semester; EdS and doctoral- end of third semester. POS requirements are located at http://www.montana.edu/gradschool/policy/index.html.

All first semester students are strongly encouraged to take EDU 600: Doctoral Seminar. Contact your advisor for guidance.

Doctoral students are assigned an advisor at the time of admission. Over the first three semesters, the student should carefully select his/her chair after thorough conversations with tenured or tenure-track program faculty who might have an interest in their doctoral research and/or the ability to work with them towards generating a defensible dissertation. The graduate committee chair serves as the student’s primary advisor, will give strong leadership and approval regarding the balance of the committee's potential membership. The chair will facilitate program approval, comprehensive exam planning and clarification, proposal hearing, and dissertation defense. Chairs and members of a student's committee are subject to change by submitting a Graduate Committee Request Form through MyInfo.

Each committee must consist of four members. The majority of the committee will be made up of faculty from the Department of Education, but due to the interdisciplinary nature of our degrees, is not limited to the degree-granting department. The graduate committee chair and the department head recommend the committee composition to The Graduate School for their approval.

The student, in collaboration with the advisor/chair, develops the dissertation committee using the below guidelines:

1. Student approaches faculty member to ask to chair
2. Student and chair collaboratively identify potential faculty members to serve on the committee. Committee members must be asked and must agree to serve.
3. When appropriate, an individual with a terminal degree who works in a practitioner setting can sit on the committee. This individual must be approved by the department head and Graduate School dean.*
4. The student’s Program of Study and Committee must be submitted to the Graduate School by the third semester of attendance (this includes summer when registered for credit).

The purpose of the doctoral comprehensive exam is to assess the students in depth understanding of their foundational knowledge, area of specialization, and research comprehension from their doctoral coursework. The exam allows students to synthesize what they have learned from their studies and reinforce an area of expertise within the field of study. The doctoral comprehensive exam is comprised of two parts: written and oral. The students’ doctoral committee evaluates each part of the exam separately, and students need to pass both parts of the exam for successful completion. Students must be enrolled in three credits during the semester in which they take the exam.  Note: doctoral comprehensive exam is not required for EdS.

The dissertation committee must be approved by the department head and Graduate School.*

The student, in collaboration with the chair, develops the dissertation committee using the below guidelines:

1. Student approaches faculty member to ask to chair
2. Student and chair collaboratively identify potential faculty members to serve on the committee. Committee members must be asked and must agree to serve.
3. When appropriate, an individual with a terminal degree who works in a practitioner setting can sit on the committee. This individual must be approved by the department head and Graduate School dean.*
4. The student’s Program of Study and Committee must be submitted to the Graduate School by the third semester of attendance (this includes summer when registered for credit).*

Note: The dissertation proposal and the comprehensive exam are two separate processes. Candidates are required to complete both a written/oral comprehensive exam and a dissertation proposal.

For Path #1, the proposal consists of a full draft of the first three chapters.

For Path #2, the proposal consists of a full draft of the chapters that include the following:

1. Complete description of the problem of practice
2. The context of the problem of practice
3. Relevant literature
4. Positionality
5. Theoretical foundations
6. Purpose and significance of the research
7. Research method

The dissertation proposal hearing is a departmental policy and may vary based on the dissertation avenue that the student pursues. Students should prepare the documents in adherence to the Graduate School format. Students work with their chair to prepare the dissertation proposal for committee review. Prior to the proposal hearing, the chair may solicit feedback on specific sections of the proposal from other committee members. Students should not expect other committee members to read sections of their draft pre-proposal unless it is initiated by the chair and committee member.

Once the chair and the student have decided that the proposal is ready for the hearing, the student sends the completed proposal to the committee members. The hearing occurs at least two weeks after the committee members have received the proposal. Students are responsible for scheduling the two-hour proposal hearing and securing a room. Rooms are scheduled through the Dean’s Office 406-994-3242. 

• No proposal hearings will be scheduled between 5/15-8/30 or over university breaks.
• Any exemptions to this policy must be approved by the department head or designee.

 

The EdD Dissertation is a scholarly endeavor that focuses on a Problem of Practice. The EdD dissertation is original, empirical research independently conducted by the candidate under the direction of the chair and committee.

The dissertation must adhere to the policies of the Graduate School.*

A Problem of Practice is a persistent, contextualized, and specific issue embedded in the work of a professional practitioner, the addressing of which has the potential to result in improved understanding, experience, and outcomes.*

Below are the two paths for the EdD dissertation:

The chair and student decide when the dissertation is ready to defend. The goal of the dissertation defense is for the student to demonstrate a deep and comprehensive understanding of the research process, and implications for practice. The dissertation defense is two hours in length. The first hour is open to the public. Students prepare a 40 minute PPT to share their dissertation with the public. Students should consult with their chair on the content of the PPT presentation. Following the first hour, the public is excused, and the student has a closed door meeting with the committee. During the closed door meeting, students engage in a scholarly conversation about their research and the final document. The chair is responsible for taking notes during the dissertation defense and for making sure the constructive feedback is clear to the student after the meeting.
Students must be enrolled in at least three credits during the semester in which they plan to graduate. The student must notify the Graduate Coordinator once the date and time of the defense has been confirmed in order to publicize the event.

• No dissertation defenses will be scheduled between 5/15-8/30 or over university breaks.
• Any exemptions to this policy must be approved by the department head or designee.

Chapter 1: Describes the problem of practice and the context of the problem. Providing a positionality statement or statement of self-location is appropriate for this chapter. Research questions to address the problem of practice are introduced.

Chapter 2: Provides a review of supporting literature, including the history of the problem of practice that the candidate will examine. Makes explicit the theoretical foundations upon which the work rests as well as the literature and contextual base. Provides explanation of the significance of the research. “The review of scholarship in the dissertation reports especially appropriate selections from the literature; it is targeted, selective, practical, and highly relevant.”*

Chapter 3: Provides a description and justification of the research methodology used to study the problem of practice. The research question(s) should drive the methodology.

Chapter 4: Reports the results of the research.

Chapter 5: Revisits positionality/self-location as a result of conducting the research. Reflects on lessons learned by the doctoral candidate as well as the impact of the study of the problem of practice. Provides recommendations for addressing the problem of practice. Recommendations may be pragmatic, methodological, conceptual, and/or theoretical. Identifies a trajectory post-matriculation which embodies the mindset of a scholarly practitioner.

Note: The chair and student determine the chapter structure and products communicating the results of the research. Below is a sample chapter structure.

Chapter 1: Describes the problem of practice and the context of the problem. Providing a positionality statement or statement of self-location is appropriate for this chapter. Research questions to address the problem of practice are introduced.

Chapter 2: Provides a review of supporting literature, including the history of the problem of practice that the candidate will examine. Provides explanation of the significance of the research. “The review of scholarship in the dissertation reports especially appropriate selections from the literature; it is targeted, selective, practical, and highly relevant.”

Chapter 3: Provides a description of the research method used to study the problem of practice. The research question(s) should drive the methodology. Reports the results of the research.

Chapters 4-6: Three separate products that communicate the results of the research and/or are developed as a result of the research. Products may include but are not limited to:

• Grant proposal
• Program evaluation
• Publishable manuscript for a professional audience (professional journal such as Educational Leadership, Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, Mathematics Teacher, etc.)
• White paper/policy brief
• Instructional or professional resource
• Creative representation of the research results (such as film, theater production, visual art, literary writing, musical composition, etc.)

Products submitted for external review (e.g., grant proposal, manuscript) need not be accepted by the external entity in order to be included in the dissertation. It is recognized that candidates may collaborate with others in communicating the results of their original research through these products. Candidates must include a one-page statement of contribution to the collaborative product at the beginning of the chapter that includes the product.

Chapter 7: Revisits positionality/self-location as a result of conducting the research. Reflects on lessons learned by the doctoral candidate as well as the impact of the study of the problem of practice. Provides recommendations for addressing the problem of practice. Recommendations may be pragmatic, methodological, conceptual, and/or theoretical. Identifies a trajectory post-matriculation which embodies the mindset of a scholarly practitioner.

• The written comprehensive exam covers three cognate areas:
  1. Foundations of Higher Education
  2. Specialization
  3. Research
• Students work with their chair to develop appropriate content of the exam questions based on their area of specialization.
  • Each exam question is 20 pages in length excluding tables, figures, and references, and will adhere to APA format.
  • The exam responses will be returned in Microsoft Word ormat.
  • Students have 17 days to complete the written comprehensive exam. The chair sends the exam to the student by email at 9:00 AM on Friday. The student returns the exam responses to the chair by email by 5:00 PM Monday. 
  • The student may contact the chair any time during the exam process with questions or concerns.

• Students may not copy and paste from previous coursework into their written comprehensive exam. This is considered a violation of the MSU Conduct Guidelines and Grievance Procedures for Students under the “Multiple Submissions” category.
  • However, students are encouraged to build upon, modify, and adapt previous course work, transferring that knowledge and understandings to the new context in the written exam.
  • The goal is to use that previous coursework to create new knowledge and understandings.

• The chair disseminates the exam responses to the committee. Committee members will have two weeks to read and evaluate the content and written competency of the responses.
• Students who pass the written exam will move forward to the oral portion of the exam. Students work with their chair to schedule the date for the oral exam.
• In the event of a failed written exam, the chair communicates the results to the student and feedback is provided to prepare the student to retake the written exam. If any portion of the exam is failed the entire written comprehensive exam is failed.
  • The student will not advance to the oral comprehensive exam.
  • According to Graduate School policy, at least six (6) months must elapse before the second (2nd) attempt at the examination. The student cannot retake the written exam before or during the next semester.
  • If a student fails one question but has adequate responses on the other questions, the student only retakes the failed question.

• The committee chair sends documentation to the student and the graduate coordinator about which questions of the exam were passed and failed.
• The formal report is filed with the Graduate School. 

• The oral exam is an opportunity for students to engage in a scholarly conversation with the doctoral committee about their knowledge of the field.
• The oral portion of the exam is scheduled no earlier than 2 weeks from submission of the written work. This timeframe allows the committee to have at least two weeks to read the exam.
• The oral is exam is two hours in length.
• The chair facilitates the oral exam and determines the order of questioning. The committee’s questions may address any part of the written exam or related to relevant coursework. The nature of the questions is intended to (1) expand on what is written, (2) clarify any ideas or analysis of the work, and (3) stimulate thinking to create a rich, scholarly conversation.
• During the final 20 minutes of the oral exam, students are excused from the room while the committee deliberates on the evaluation of the students’ oral responses. The committee decides on whether the student “passed” the oral portion of the exam.
• If the student passes the exam, the committee is not expected to provide the candidate with any formal written feedback. In the event that the committee decides a student did not pass the oral exam, the chair prepares a document of recommendations for retaking the oral exam. Graduate School policy states at least six (6) months must elapse before the second (2nd) attempt at the examination. The student cannot retake the exam before the next semester. 

• The written comprehensive exam will be three questions, each focusing on one of the following general categories intended to assess the student’s comprehensive understandings resulting from the entirety of the student’s doctoral work:
  1. Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning
  2. Research
  3. Concentration
• Conciseness and precision in the student’s responses are encouraged.
  • Responses to each question should be 10-15 pages (not including references) and adhere to APA formatting.
  • Students will have 10 days to complete the written comprehensive exam and will work with their chair to schedule the administration dates of the written exam.
  • The student may contact the chair any time during the exam process with questions or concerns.
• Students may not copy and paste from previous coursework into their written comprehensive exam. This is considered a violation of the MSU Conduct Guidelines and Grievance Procedures for Students under the “Multiple Submissions” category.
  • However, students are encouraged to build upon, modify, and adapt previous course work, transferring that knowledge and understandings to the new context in the written exam.
  • The goal is to use that previous coursework to create new knowledge and understandings.
• The chair disseminates the exam responses to the committee. Committee members will have two weeks to read and evaluate the content and written competency of the responses.
• Students who pass the written exam will move forward to the oral portion of the exam. Students work with their chair to schedule the date for the oral exam.
• In the event of a failed written exam, the chair will communicate the result to the student and set a date for the committee to meet with the student to discuss next steps. If any portion of the exam is failed the entire written comprehensive exam is failed.
  • The student will not advance to the oral comprehensive exam. 
  • According to Graduate School policy, at least six (6) months must elapse before the second (2nd) attempt at the examination. The student cannot retake the written exam before or during the next semester.
  • If a student fails one question but has adequate responses on the other questions, the student only retakes the failed question.
• The committee chair sends documentation to the student and the graduate coordinator about which questions of the exam were passed and failed.
• The formal report is filed with the Graduate School. 

• To give the committee ample time to review the student’s written responses, the oral exam will be scheduled no less than two weeks after the written exam due date.
• For the oral exam, the committee will meet with the student for roughly two hours. In certain circumstances, the exam may take longer.
• The chair will facilitate the oral exam and determine the order of questioning.
• At the completion of the questioning and in the absence of the student, the entire committee will discuss their evaluation of the outcome of the examination.
• The chair will work with the committee to make a final determination regarding passing or failing both the written and comprehensive components of the examination.
• The student’s doctoral committee and the department head are responsible for submitting a written notice of the outcome of the examination to the student and to the Graduate School within five business days. 

• The Written Comprehensive Examination is composed of one question from each of three primary areas:
  • Educational Foundations (e.g., synthesis of theoretical and empirical literature regarding various aspects of educational leadership),
  • Educational Research (demonstration of mastery of aspects of both qualitative and quantitative projects such as sampling, validity, reliability, data analysis) pertaining to the student’s intended area of research  (e.g., school leadership in rural contexts),
  • Literature Review (a relevant review of the extant research and literature associated with the student’s intended dissertation study).
• Conciseness and precision in the student’s responses are encouraged.
  • Responses to each question should be 10-15 pages (not including references) and adhere to APA formatting.
  • Students will have 14  days to complete the written comprehensive exam and will work with their chair to schedule the administration dates of the exam.
  • The student may contact the chair any time during the exam process with questions or concerns.
• Students may not copy and paste from previous coursework into their written comprehensive exam. This is considered a violation of the MSU Conduct Guidelines and Grievance Procedures for Students under the “Multiple Submissions” category.
  • However, students are encouraged to build upon, modify, and adapt previous course work, transferring that knowledge and understandings to the new context in the written exam.
  • The goal is to use that previous coursework to create new knowledge and understandings.
• The chair disseminates the exam responses to the committee. Committee members will have two weeks to read and evaluate the content and written competency of the responses.
• Students who pass the written exam will move forward to the oral portion of the exam. Students work with their chair to schedule the date for the oral exam.
• In the event of a failed written exam, the chair communicates the result to the student and feedback is provided to prepare the student to retake the written exam. If any portion of the exam is failed the entire written comprehensive exam is failed.
  • The student will not advance to the oral comprehensive exam. 
  • According to Graduate School policy, at least six (6) months must elapse before the second (2nd) attempt at the examination. The student cannot retake the written exam before or during the next semester.
  • If a student fails one question but has adequate responses on the other questions, the student only retakes the failed question.
• The committee chair sends documentation to the student and the graduate coordinator about which questions of the exam were passed and failed.
• The formal report is filed with the Graduate School. 

• The chair will schedule a two-hour oral exam for the student to address questions from the written comprehensive examination. The chair will facilitate the meeting and determine the order of questioning.
• At the completion of the questioning and in the absence of the student, the entire committee will discuss their evaluation of the outcome of the examination. The chair will work with the committee to make a final determination regarding passing or failing both the written and oral comprehensive components of the examination. 
• The student will be notified immediately about the outcome of the exam. 
• Students who fail one or both portions of the Comprehensive Exam will have a second opportunity to re-take all or a portion of the exam that was failed. Graduate School policy states at least six (6) months must elapse before the second (2^nd) attempt at the examination. The student cannot retake the exam before the next semester.
• The committee chair sends documentation to the student and the graduate coordinator about which questions of the exam were passed and failed.
• The graduate committee and department head are responsible for submitting written notice of the results of the comprehensive examination to the student and to the Graduate School no later than five (5) business days after the examination is held or after each section is administered.