Course Registration
Once admitted to candidacy, the student must enroll each long semester in the dissertation course until the final oral defense meeting is successfully completed. Students need not enroll in the summer for dissertation unless they are, in fact, actively working on it and using the time of their supervisor or committee members (this includes conducting the dissertation proposal meeting).
The first semester students must enroll in EDP 399R/699R/999R (the R stands for Reading). (The different numbers reflect the number of hours the student selects, which varies depending on the need for UT-based scholarships and employment, non-UT-based grants and scholarships, or loan-based funding—contact the specific entity for more information.) Following the first semester of dissertation course enrollment, the student consistently enrolls in EDP 399W/699W/999W (the W stands for Writing). (Enrollment in 399W does not mean you get to stop reading literature relevant to your dissertation!)
For students who would like to begin work on their dissertation, but are not yet admitted to candidacy: Register for EDP 395 under the supervision of a temporary adviser. If the student’s candidacy papers are approved within the first 12 class days of a semester, the student should drop EDP 395 and add EDP 399R for that semester.
Policy for School Psychology and Counseling Psychology Students on Internship
Because School Psychology and Counseling Psychology students are encouraged to complete and defend their dissertation prior to going on internship, the Graduate Dean has approved the following policy:
School and Counseling Psychology students who successfully defend their dissertation by the deadline date for graduation in a semester prior to commencing their year-long clinical internship do not need to register for dissertation hours during the period of their internship, which runs from fall of each year through the following summer. These students do need to continuously register for the required internship hours over the fall, spring, and summer of their internship. It is assumed that students who have defended their dissertation prior to the internship will graduate in the summer following the internship. It is no longer necessary for students to register for dissertation hours during the internship or during the semester they graduate if they have met the criteria outlined above in this section.
Students in this category are not exempt from the responsibility for filing the graduation form and fulfilling other Graduate School requirements by the applicable deadline dates in the summer session in which they intend to graduate.
Students in this category will submit their dissertations the semester they graduate (not the semester of their final oral).
Students who are not eligible for the above policy must follow standard rules requiring contin uous registration for dissertation hours until graduation. For example, if School Psychology or Counseling Psychology students defend dissertations while on internship during the fall, spring, or summer, they will still have to continuously register for dissertation hours until they graduate. Let this be incentive for steady progress on your dissertation!
