Special Education (EdD)

The Director of the Doctoral Program in Special Education meets with doctoral students when they are admitted to the program. Doctoral students are guided through the process of forming a doctoral committee, which begins with the selection of a chair for the doctoral committee. Doctoral students are encouraged to select chairs whose scholarly interest match topics they may wish to pursue for dissertation.

Chairs of the doctoral committee will guide students in the selection of committee members—usually during the first year of doctoral study. Upon the recommendation of the departmental program director, the dean of the Graduate School will appoint the candidate’s committee.

Doctoral students will then consult with their committee to finalize a plan of study and guide development of the dissertation. The plan of study will be filed in the departmental office and the Graduate School.

The committee will consist of either four or five voting members, depending on your program of study.

All committees will consist of:

• two members from the major (i.e., Special Education)
• an at-large member from a field or department not already represented
• a voting member for each cognate or focused area of study as identified on your program of study