dissertation supervisor dismissed; need advice

I am a doctoral candidate in Music Ed, was perfectly satisfied with my program, finished a second draft of my dissertation, and then found out that my dissertation supervisor was dismissed by the relatively new (came on board 1 year or so ago) Music Ed Chair for "contractual issues." I had not designated a committee, was focused on researching and writing my dissertation (philosophical lens), and my former supervisor was at the point of contacting the dept. chair to form my dissertation committee and get the reading going, when he was dismissed. The Music Ed Chair of this school holds all the cards in this situation, and is the sole person who assigns the dissertation supervisor and the committee members. While I was assured that I would have "all the time I need", I really want to get a supervisor and 2 readers, do whatever edits they suggest, and defend. Since I'll be starting with a new supervisor rather than someone who really believes in my work and has been with me since day 1, I really hope I don't get someone who wants me to completely change directions. Any advice is most welcome. I really want to finish this degree; I feel my research is worthwhile, and I still love my topic and conclusions.

 

Wow, that is terrible luck. The school should have given you some special consideration and allowed that professor to serve on your committee anyway. I don't know if that is possible, but it would be a lot more fair.

 

What kind of a school was that just out of curiosity. For-profit?
I would contact your advisor. Maybe he can pull you over another institution he is teaching at. Did you guys have so little communication going on that it all happend out of the blue?

 

It is a private, brick and mortar school that has been going since the 1800s--lots of good reputation, and the quality of the program has been good and rigorous. Regarding lack of communication, yes, there is very little of that, and it did happen out of the blue. It was one of those department politics situations, of which online students often don't hear anything until the unthinkable has happened. As an online student, I feel very isolated from my peers. I would contact my former supervisor, but he is now teaching in Europe, beginning a new program at an institution. I would love it if my entire degree, qualifying exams, and dissertation could move with him, and I could simply defend there (I'd even run up my credit card to fly there for my defense), but don't know if it is possible. I guess I won't find out until I ask...

 

Thank you for that advice ("All that really matters is who your advisor is."). Now I need to find a lion to house in my rabbit den. Or I need to move my rabbit den somewhere else entirely.

 

I wish my supervisor could have remained on the committee also. It seems like the reasonable thing to do.

 

Exactly; it's worth a shot.

 

I would give it a try if I were you. The ability to transfer is up to the institution (and, in the U.S. to the accrediting agency). For example, SACS requires that at least 1/2 of the credit hours of a graduate program must be at the university granting the degree, so someone would not be allowed to transfer an entire doctoral program from another institution and just do a dissertation.