1. Department of Learning Innovation, Leadership and Technology
  2. Student Resources
  3. Reference Guides
  4. Ph.D. IT Guidance

Ph.D. IT Guidance

Program Timeline

  1. After Acceptance: Plan and Follow Program of Courses

    1. Schedule a meeting with the program advisor indicated on your acceptance letter.
    2. Work with your program advisor to develop your program of courses and submit it to the LILT office within your first year.
    3. Enroll in courses as planned. Try to complete research courses before enrolling in ETT 742.

  2. Before/During ETT 743: Complete Candidacy Examination

    1. Identify a faculty member to ask to serve as chair of your candidacy exam committee. Work with them to form your committee.
    2. Work with your chair to submit a request for appointment of committee to conduct doctoral candidacy examination.
    3. Meet with your committee to develop your exam. The chair will provide due dates to the committee, as well as the due date for submission of your exam.
    4. Complete the candidacy exam. You'll receive your results within four weeks. The chair will submit the results to LILT and the Graduate School.

    If your first attempt at the exam is not successful, you may request a second attempt, the outcome of which is final.

    ETT 743 and the candidacy exam are evaluated separately. It's possible to pass one but not the other.

  3. Before/During First Semester of 799A: Form Dissertation Committee

    After successfully completing required coursework and the candidacy exam, you'll be advanced to candidacy. At this time, you may be referred to as ABD (all but dissertation), acknowledging your degree progress.

    1. Work with your advisor to fill out dissertation committee approval form. The completed form must be on file in the LILT department before your first semester in ETT 799A.
    2. Select your dissertation committee chair and work with them to form your doctoral dissertation committee.

  4. Second Semester of 799A: Develop Dissertation Proposal

    Meet with your committee to develop your proposal. Your proposal will include chapters 1-3, references and appendices.

  5. Third Semester of 799A: Get Proposal Approved

    1. Submit proposal to committee for approval by the deadline set by your chair.
    2. Request approval from LILT and the NIU Institutional Review Board (IRB) before conducting any research if your proposal involves human participants (including surveys/questionnaires). Learn more about human research approval.

  6. Fourth Semester of 799A: Write Dissertation and Conduct Pre-defense

    1. Visit the Graduate School for important dissertation dates and information and meet with your program advisor as needed if taking courses during this time.
    2. Schedule and conduct a pre-defense meeting with your committee. Revise your dissertation accordingly.

  7. Fifth Semester of 799A: Defend Dissertation

    1. Fill out a request for oral defense of dissertation and submit a copy of your dissertation to the Graduate School.
    2. Fill out a results of oral defense of thesis or dissertation form and participate in the oral defense of your dissertation. After your defense, your committee will complete the form and submit it to the Graduate School.

  8. After Defense: Receive Evaluations and Submit Final Versions

    1. Your oral defense and written dissertation are evaluated separately. You'll receive a clear pass, a pass or a fail on each.
    2. Submit post-defense and final versions of your dissertation to the Graduate School.

Coursework Requirements and Options

The program requires a minimum of 93 credit hours, 63 of which are graduate-level credits beyond those earned toward your approved master's degree. You can participate in an optional internship (ETT 786) or practicum (ETT 770) experience.

You can also choose to conduct independent study (ETT 797). After finding a faculty supervisor for your project, fill out an independent study and individualized project contract form. You can earn one to three credit hours a semester and repeat the course for a total of six credits (if you have multiple unique projects).

Refer to the Ph.D. IT section of the graduate catalog for more information on requirements.

Any deficiencies in your prior coursework will be listed in your acceptance letter. Students who don't have a master's degree in instructional technology from NIU often need to complete deficiency coursework, including ETT 510, ETR 520 and/or a course in learning or instructional theory

Contact your program advisor to discuss deficiency course selection. Deficiency courses do not count toward the credit hours for the doctoral degree.

Adequate Progress and Leaves of Absence

Once you enroll in 799A: Doctoral Research and Dissertation, you must continue to enroll in it for a minimum of three credit hours each semester until your final dissertation is formally approved by the Graduate School.

If your dissertation chair determines you're not making adequate progress, a grade of “U” may be recorded on your transcript and cannot be changed. A lack of progress will prohibit continued registration in 799A.

If circumstances prohibit you from making progress on your dissertation, you must request a leave of absence from the Graduate School. Otherwise, your admission to the Ph.D. program may be terminated.

Graduation Checklist

Your Tasks

  • Complete necessary credit hours.
  • Pass candidacy exam.
  • File IRB approval and human subjects form with Graduate School, if applicable.
  • Complete dissertation and submit pre-defense version to Graduate School.
  • Defend dissertation.
  • Submit post-defense and final versions of dissertation to Graduate School.
  • Complete online graduation application, with fee payment.

Candidacy Exam Chair Tasks

Dissertation Chair Tasks

Contact Us

Department of Learning Innovation, Leadership and Technology
Graham 223
DeKalb, IL 60115
815-753-9339
lilt@niu.edu

Connect With Us