Almost ABD on Doctorate Thread...Any Options?

Just the other day on this forum I was reading about transferring into a doctoral program after already completing hours at another institution. For the life of me, I can't find the thread. I hate to ask and appear clueless, but I'm willing to take the chance. Where is it located?

Here's why I ask:

A friend of mine has only the final research courses (3) and dissertation courses (3 or 4, I think) taken at an online university which will remain nameless. However, because of some extreme dissatisfaction and disappointment (and this may be a knee-jerk reaction), he is searching out other options. Are there any? The work is toward the Ed.D. in education general.

Thanks as always.

basrsu

 

Options? Many. I'm not sure if any are palatable, though. (Remember, no school is going to publish their willingness to accept someone in this sitaution and allow them to continue without substantial re-work.)

1. Go back and renegotiate. That's what I did. (My issues weren't academics, but too much time out of the program.)

2. Start over. Sorry, but doctoral programs are not just an accumulation of credits; they're comprehensive programs designed to bring one through the doctoral journey. One cannot expect a school to just take some other school's training of the candidate at face value. Starting over is hard, but it might be necessary.

3. Do a dissertation-only "big book" program. While this, too, represents starting over, the candidate may be able to leverage his/her previous learning and avoid the foundational readings and learnings often expected. But then again, maybe not.

4. Get to know a faculty advisor at another school, then negotiate. It is essential to remember that everything at the graduate level is subject to negotiation. The published rules might say one thing, but you might be able to negotiate a different situation with like-minded folks from another school.

5. Quit. Who needs the aggravation anyway?

Hope this helps. I recommend numbers 1 and 4, BTW.

 

Just curious...what do you mean "NAMELESS?" Is that means unaccredited institution?

 

The other option of course is to finish at the nameless school.

Shawn

 

Tekman writes, Just curious...what do you mean "NAMELESS?" Is that means unaccredited institution?


"Nameless" means that I'm not willing to disclose the name of the university, but it is fully regionally accredited.

basrsu

 

This is reminiscent of a recent similar thread on DegreeDiscussion re a near ABD @ NCU. You may find the responses there helpful.

 

Could you be referring to this http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27520 thread?

 

Yes, Ted, that's it. I feel like a real dolt. I just noticed the link to the thread is right there on the opening page of degreeinfo. Duh!

basrsu

P.S. So, after reading through all this, I am assuming there is no such thing as an ABD program at an RA school.

 

Probably the reason you didn't see it at first was because it is located over in Accredited/State Approved/Unaccredited Discussions rather than Distance Learning Discuissions. It would have shown up on the opening page only after someone made new posts to the thread.

It would be highly unofficial if such a thing (an ABD doctoral program) did exist, so it wouldn't be in their college catalogues or on their websites, but you can always try to negotiate your best deal. Probably the best options are to try to re-open your candidacy at your old school or write a dissertation-only doctorate at a British (or Australian or South African or Indian) university.

 

Don't some of the universities on the "UK PhD by research" thread offer EdD degrees? I went through it quickly, but your friend could try to take his/her proposal to a UK school and continue ABD there.

 

In one of my doctoral seminars some time ago, the professor related the following story:

An ABD accounting student at one very well-known private research university managed to get well beyond his dissertation advisor's expertise. The advisor, a research giant in his own right, called a colleague at a Big Ten school (one of the M's) that was THE expert in the narrow area of the dissertation and arranged for the student to transfer in the middle of his DISSERTATION PHASE.

The student finished his dissertation at the Big Ten school. I don't remember the names, but recall that all three of the individuals involved - the first dissertation advisor, the second, and the student were very big names in accounting research around the time I heard the story.

I'm certain that this transfer occurred outside of any published university policies. But bear in mind, this was a world-class researcher convincing another world-class researcher that the student would become a giant in his field.

Incidentally, my doctoral program accepted an ABD student on the grounds that he take a couple of doctoral seminars in the area of his dissertation and write one-or-two comp questions. He lasted just a couple of weeks when he discovered that our seminars were a bit more rigorous than he had been led to believe at his previous institution. That being said - he WAS accepted into the program, but not quite as an ABD.

 

Actually at my school we piloted a program much like this where a ABD had to take only a few courses then comps to regain ABD status, and finish his dissertation. At this point his dissertation is not completed but hes at that comps point.

 

You would have to find out what the degree title Doctor of Education actually means in the UK. In some countries outside of the US the Doctor of Education would be a professional doctorate (which would be coursework plus dissertation much like our doctorates) and in others the Doctor of Education would be a higher doctorate (a degree higher than the Doctor of Philosophy, usually involving an extensive project integrating the entire corpus of one's published work). However, the UK and other countries with the dissertation-only doctorate should have lots of Doctor of Philosophy in Education degrees on offer.

 

I seem to remember Dr. Bear relating a similar story in one of his Bears' Guides. But, you're right, usually when you transfer into another doctoral program while on ABD status, it is one of those highly unofficial things where you've exceeded your dissertation adviser's ability to provide any further guidance/mentoring and he/she conveniently happens to know someone else at a different university who would be a more appropriate dissertation adviser considering your research interests.