PhD Process

There are many major hurdles in this pursuit of a PhD (doctorate).  On April 8th, I jumped the first hurdle.  After talking with my mom she asked, or suggested, if I could make the hurdles a round number like...six.

Why? D-O-C-T-O-R

So here's the deal:

D: Defend prospectus for publishable paper
O: Defend publishable paper
C: Pass prelims (exams)
T: Pass orals
O: Defend prospectus for the dissertation
R: Defend the dissertation

So that my friends is it in a nutshell.  Clearly, I also have to pass all my classes, but those are the major hurdles.  So on April 8th, I successfully defended my prospectus for the publishable paper.  Essentially it's a mini dissertation process.  By defending, I got my committee together, explained my research and they gave me the 'go'.  From there, I submitted my IRB form (internal review board, who evaluates that your research is not harmful, etc), and received the 'go' from them as well.

Now it's officially, I'm free to do research around faculty-student interactions.

Step one complete: D...now working on the O