Admission Standards

• Hold an earned Master’s degree from a regionally accredited U.S. college or university.  International Master’s degrees will be evaluated on an individual basis.
• Have a cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.25 on a 4.0 scale in all earned graduate coursework.
• Acceptance to the University of Memphis Graduate School.
• Submit a portfolio of professional work experience along with a detailed statement of educational and professional goals, along with three letters of recommendation.
• Submit an original, research-based writing sample of 20-30 pages.
• Submit a proposed Course of Study identifying specific courses (with substitutes) to be completed outside of the College of Professional and Liberal Studies DLS Core.
• Potential Interview with the Graduate Admissions Committee in the College of Professional and Liberal Studies.
• GRE is not required.

Program Requirements

• Earn 54 hours of post-master’s coursework at the 7000 and/or 8000 course level.
• Complete the 21 hours of College of Professional and Liberal Studies core requirements (including the 6-hour Dissertation/Capstone Project)
  • Foundations in Liberal Studies (3)
  • Research in Interdisciplinary Studies (3)
  • Data-Based Decision Making (3)
  • Liberal Studies Seminar (3)
  • Prospectus Design (3)
  • Dissertation/Capstone Project (6)
  • Students who have previously completed UNIV 7000 , UNIV 7100 , or a quantitative research methods course may petition the Graduate Coordinator to apply these courses for the degree, though total credits required will not be reduced.
  • Students who have previously completed UNIV 7200  will need to complete UNIV 8200  with a separate topic than UNIV 7200 .
• Complete 33 hours in two or more disciplines with no more than 18 hours in any one discipline.
• Successfully complete comprehensive exams and defend the Dissertation/Capstone Project.
• No more than two courses with a grade below B- may be counted towards the degree.
• Students whose GPA remains below 3.0 for more than 2 consecutive semesters may be dropped from the program.

Comprehensive Exams

During the final semester of course work, a student enrolls in Dissertation/Prospectus course. This course is administered by the director of the student’s dissertation, and in that course, the student will work with the director and committee members to draft a detailed proposal describing the research that will be conducted during the dissertation phase.

In addition to preparing the prospectus, students will prepare for their final comprehensive exams. The purpose of these exams is twofold:

1.  These examinations evaluate the student’s mastery of core DLS coursework.
2. These examinations validate the student as a proficient in the specific subject areas relevant to their specified dissertation project.

With these two aims in mind, the comprehensive examination process unfolds as follows:

Core Comprehensive Examinations:

This written examination is designed to evaluate the student’s mastery of DLS core courses, so students preparing for these exams should draw from material covered in UNIV 8000 (Foundations of Liberal Studies), UNIV 8100 (Research in Liberal Studies), and UNIV 8111 (Data Based Decision Making). The purpose of this exam is to ensure that students possess a strong grasp of Liberal Studies as a discrete field of inquiry, and the student should demonstrate broad familiarity with the history and theory within the field. This written examination will be administered online over one day, and students will have two hours to complete two questions covering material from each of the core classes above, for a total exam time of 6 hours. These open-book exams are administered twice per year and are evaluated by the core faculty in the DLS program on a Pass/Fail basis. Students must pass these examinations in order to take the Specified Area Examination, described below.

Specified Area Examination

This oral examination is designed to evaluate the student’s capability as a researcher in the specific areas within which they will be conducting their dissertation research. This two-hour examination is typically conducted via Zoom and consists of the following: 1)a 30-minute presentation given by the student in which the student shares a brief summary of her proposed research project, and 2) Questions and answers administered by the committee members regarding the presentation of the prospectus and the student’s familiarity with the research fields involved. Typically, during this section of the examination, each committee member will have up to 30 minutes to direct individualized questions to the candidate. At least two weeks before this examination, the student will have distributed the final draft of the prospectus to the committee, so the student should be prepared to address very specific questions and challenges for their research proposal. Unlike the Core Comprehensive Examination, this exam is scheduled at the convenience of the student and her committee but may only be completed following the successful completion of the Core Comprehensive Examination. The prospectus must be approved at the same time as the Specified Area Exam.  Failure of the prospectus results in failure of the Comprehensive Exams.  After completing the necessary paperwork to note the first time failure, a committee may allow a student to repeat only the prospectus if that was the only part that was not approved.

Upon successful completion of both the Core Comprehensive Examination and the Specified Area examination, the student is designated a doctoral candidate, and she will then enroll in Dissertation hours for the remainder of her career in the DLS program until the dissertation defense.

For Students Completing a Dissertation

• Dissertation Committee
  • The dissertation committee will normally consist of the student’s Comprehensive Exam committee, with, if needed, an appropriate qualitative or quantitative research specialist. At least one member from each of the student’s concentrations and at least one member from the College of Professional and Liberal Studies is required. The Chair of the dissertation committee must have full graduate faculty status, and will receive a monetary stipend to act as Chair for a student outside of their department. Typically, a committee will include four to five people. 

• Dissertation Expectations
  • The student’s committee must approve each dissertation prospectus. During the prospectus course (UNIV 8990), the dissertation will be outlined and approved by the committee with the expectation of appropriate professionalism, as well as academic rigor. Students are required to get this approved prior to registering for any dissertation hours.
  • Students completing a dissertation will create a research-based, interdisciplinary, original contribution that reflects the student’s ability to conduct independent research.

For Students Completing a Capstone Project

• Capstone Project Committee
  • The Capstone Project Committee will normally consist of the student’s Comprehensive Exam committee, with, if needed, an appropriate qualitative or quantitative research specialist. At least one member from each of the student’s concentrations and at least one member from the College of Professional and Liberal Studies is required. The Chair of the Capstone Project Committee must have full graduate faculty status, and will receive a monetary stipend to act as Chair for a student outside of their department. Typically, a committee will include four to five people.
• Capstone Project Expectations
  • The student’s committee must approve each capstone project. During the prospectus course (UNIV 8990), the project will be outlined and approved by the committee with the expectation of appropriate professionalism, as well as academic rigor. Students are required to get this approved prior to registering for any capstone project hours. 

  • Though each project will be individualized for each project focus, every project will be required to include the following components, but are not limited to these topics alone:
    • Needs Analysis
    • Inventory of other similar community-based resources 

    • Potential stakeholders 

    • Impact within the community (For example; cultural, environmental, 
policy, or political impacts)
    • Literature review
      • Include case studies of similar projects should be identified
    • Methodology
    • Potential Budget, Financial Plan, and Sustainability
    • Results/Findings
      • If implementation is not planned during the duration of the capstone project, then a pilot must be implemented and results/findings discussed at the Defense.
    • Recommendations

Dissertation/Capstone Project Defense

• Each student will provide either an electronic or hard copy of the written portion of her or his dissertation/capstone project to their committee members at least four 
weeks prior to the scheduled defense date. 

• The defense of the student’s dissertation/capstone project will normally be an oral defense. Students should be prepared to give a brief summary of their work to the committee before fielding questions. The defense of the dissertation/capstone project should not last more than two hours, after which the committee should inform the candidate of its decision. 

• As the University of Memphis offers dissertation and capstone hours on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory/In Progress basis, College of Professional and Liberal Studies will not assign final grades to a student’s dissertation or capstone project. Nonetheless, each student should obtain a Defense Assessment Rubric from the Graduate Studies Coordinator and provide a copy to each member of her/his committee along with one copy of the Graduate School’s “Final Defense Results Form” to the committee chair.