Qualifying Examination/Admission to Candidacy

---

Doctoral students admitted prior to Fall 2023, and any doctoral student completing a traditional (not improvement science) dissertation, will be required to complete and pass a Qualifying Examination. This exam will be announced and scheduled by the Ed.D. program director or student services coordinator and should be taken during the last semester in which the student is completing core doctoral coursework, or in the semester immediately after the completion of all core coursework requirements. In other words, students should take the Qualifying Examination as they transition into the dissertation phase of their program (they may have elective/professional specialization courses to complete; this does not disqualify the student from sitting for the Qualifying Exam). A successfully-completed Qualifying Examination will serve as the official Admission to Candidacy for these students and is a requirement for graduation.

The Qualifying Exam will be administered online in a timed format and cover topics related to topics concepts covered in leadership and research methods courses. Answers will be reviewed and scored by program faculty members. Students who fail any item on the exam will be given one (1) opportunity to retake the failed portion of the exam on a schedule determined by the Ed.D. program office. If, after retaking the failed portion of the exam, any item of the Qualifying Exam has been failed again, the student will be required to retake the entire Qualifying Examination the following semester. If, upon the second full administration of the Qualifying Exam, any portion of the exam has not been passed, the student will no longer be permitted to continue in the doctoral program.

Students admitted after Fall 2023, unless they are doing a traditional dissertation, will complete Admission to Candidacy upon their committee's approval of Chapters 1-3 of their dissertation-in-practice, up to but not including the results of their first intervention. See the WKU Ed.D. Student Handbook for more information about the content of those chapters.