What do you see as the two most important current trends/issues being discussed in the current scholarly literature regarding strategic decision making?

Learner Doctoral Dispositions At Grand Canyon University, doctoral learners:

• Are dedicated scholar-practitioners, passionate about their field, who become leaders in the disciplines and communities they serve

• Commit to producing scholarly research, which is ethical and academically honest

• Are self-directed, able to self-motivate toward their continued pursuit of knowledge and are responsible for their own learning

• Engage in reflective scholarly practice, asking questions of both self and others

• Actively communicate effectively and professionally with peers, faculty, and college staff

• Are accountable for the quality and academic integrity of their own scholarship and research agenda

• Are receptive to the feedback, analysis, and constructive critique from peers and faculty within their scholarly community

• Demonstrate how to design, execute, and present independent, academically rigorous research, that adds to the body of knowledge within their discipline

Learner Expectations Learner Contact Information In Loud Cloud (LC) post contact information on the My Profile page:

• Preferred phone number

• GCU email address

• In the Learner Dissertation Page (LDP) on the DC Network post contact information in the Email Forum page (only needed the first time):

• Preferred phone number.

• GCU email address.

• Complete learner profile in the DC Network.

Communication with Chair and Committee • Use the email forum in the LDP for all communications with chair and committee

(except personal phone calls).

• Respond to all chair and committee questions within 48 hours.

• Demonstrate professionalism and a respectful tone in all communications.

• Attend individual Zoom calls 2 times per class with their chair. o It is the chair’s responsibility to create 30-60-minute appointments for

learners to choose from 2 times per class. o It is the learner’s responsibility to select a time slot, make an appointment

with the chair, prepare the agenda, and show up for meetings. § For example, a faculty member may post that they will hold Office

hours on Thursday January 6, 2014, from 5pm to 8pm AZ time and that learners should select their time slot by making an appointment.

• Post a summary of all Zoom calls in the LDP Participation

• Post a minimum of twice per week in the LDP to give status updates, clarify timelines, ask questions, coordinate meetings, etc.

• For attendance purposes, post the following statement once per week in the LC Main Forum: "I am attending class, I am engaged in the writing of my dissertation, and I use my Learner Dissertation Page on the DC Network to communicate regularly with my dissertation chair/committee.”

• If there is not an LDP built for a learner, should post in the LC Main Forum (Otherwise, the LDP is required).

Proactive Measures

• Demonstrate an overall professional and respectful tone with others.

• Involve /copy their chair on any discussions with committee members.

• Embrace and use the feedback from the dissertation committee.

• Use the resources provided by the College of Doctoral Studies to complete the dissertation.

• Develop scholarly writing and research skills appropriate for doctoral level work. It is the responsibility of the learner, and not the committee members or the college reviewers, to ensure the dissertation meets all expectations and standards.

Timely Assignment Submissions and Feedback Expectations

• Submit dissertation artifacts to the appropriate folders on the LDP.

• In Weeks 1, 4, 7, 8, post copies of assignments to the appropriate LC drop boxes on time.

• The chair is to return work within 7 days of the learner’s assignment submission date.

o Major grading of proposals and dissertations can take up to 10 days.

• Review all submissions from the Grammar and Citation tool in LoudCloud and make revisions as needed.

Effective Assignment Revisions

• Chair and committee members will provide qualitative, holistic feedback to support the numerical score awarded for assignment or draft.

• Complete required revisions: o Each revision of a draft should incorporate all of the suggested changes

by the Committee. § Use track changes to make revisions to allow committee members

to see editorial changes o Each draft of dissertation materials should use the appropriate templates,

and the learner should use the embedded rubrics to self-score

• Once a draft is deemed “ready” by the chair for further review, the chair, not the learner should post the draft to the Email Forum in the Learner Dissertation Workspace in a message to the other committee members that they should review the draft corrections where needed

• All draft versions should be turned in and housed on the Learner Dissertation Page in the appropriate folder (Prospectus, Proposal, or Dissertation) and in the LC drop boxes.

Week 8 Assignments in Dissertation Courses • The Week 8 drop boxes in LC serve as a repository for proposal or dissertation

drafts that are ready to be sent to peer review only.

• Only use these drop boxes if the chair indicates the dissertation artifact is ready for a final draft submission of a proposal or dissertation.

• Individual Success Plan o Recommended: Transfer or edit their goals and timelines from the

Individual Success Plan to the LDP Calendar during Week 1 of each class.

Participation Feedback • Discussion Forum Feedback in Loud Cloud

o For grading purposes, faculty members will post grades for the Discussion Forum in LoudCloud within 7 days of each module end date.

§ These grades will not reflect number of posts as previously done, but rather, will be used to make sure learners are posting attendance (at least 1 time per week in LoudCloud) and regularly communicating with their chair via the Learner Dissertation Page (at least 2 times per week).

• Participation grades are published in the LC grade book.

Final Grades • Final grades, as well as grades for assignments, can be found in the LC grade

book. Other Duties Forms, Defenses, etc.

• Follow the Dissertation Milestones Guide as a checklist and communicate frequently with their chair in order to make progress and file appropriate forms.

• Prepare all IRB packages, according to the IRB Checklist for their chairs to review. IRB submissions are made by the chair, not the learner.

• Communicate and coordinate defense call dates and times with their chair and committee.

o Please do not reach out to other committee members for reviews or scheduling of defenses unless the chair has approved such actions.

Dissertation Expectations_01042021

What to Expect in the Dissertation Phase of the Doctoral Program

In the third year of the program of study, doctoral learners progress from standard content-based

courses to dissertation courses. The transition to doctoral level research, independent scholarship, and

progression through the dissertation courses and milestones is unique to doctoral pedagogy. The

doctoral learner assumes the responsibility for developing needed research skills, planning and

executing their dissertation research, and progressing through the dissertation milestones.

 All doctoral learners should familiarize themselves with the Doctoral Dispositions located in the

University Policy Handbook https://www.gcu.edu/academics/academic-policies.php, and

Learner Expectations located on the DC Network https://dc.gcu.edu.

 The College of Doctoral Studies recognizes the diversity of learners in our programs and the

varied interests in research topics for their dissertations in the Social Sciences. Dissertation

topics must, at a minimum, be aligned to the learners’ degree program in which the learner is

enrolled: General Psychology in the Ph.D. program; Leadership in the Ed.D. Organizational

Leadership program; Adult Instruction in the Ed.D. Teaching and Learning program;

Management in the DBA program; and Counseling Practice, Counselor Education, Clinical

Supervision or Advocacy/Leadership within the Counseling field in the Counselor Education

Ph.D. program.

 If there are questions regarding appropriate alignment of a dissertation topic to the program,

the respective program chair will be the final authority for approval decisions. Specifically,

although the College prefers a learner’s topic align with the program emphasis, this alignment is

not “required.” The College will remain flexible on the learner’s dissertation topic if it aligns with

the degree program in which the learner is enrolled. Please note the Ph.D. program in General

Psychology does not support clinically-based research.

 A chair and methodologist will be assigned in the first dissertation course (RES, TLC, DBA, PSY,

PCE 885). As independent scholars, learners are responsible for selecting a qualified content

expert to serve as the third committee member. Learners must work with their Student Services

Counselor (SSC) to add the content expert to their dissertation committee.

 Doctoral learners are expected to work with their chair and committee members to establish a

mutually agreeable communication plan. The College recommends that all communications be

conducted in the LoudCloud classroom, on the Learner Dissertation Page (LDP), and via Zoom

conferencing with recorded calls for reference as needed.

 Doctoral learners are expected to schedule a minimum of two Zoom conference calls per class,

ideally one Zoom call per four weeks of class, with their chair. Learner works with chair to select

the dates and times, and the chair schedules the meetings through Zoom. After each meeting,

Dissertation Expectations_01042021

the learner should post a meeting summary to the LDP as a record of what was discussed.

Learner should request the chair to record the meeting and post the link in the LDP.

 GCU is committed to keeping learners and their committees together throughout the

dissertation process. However, a change to the dissertation committee may be needed due to

personal, work, or health related reasons.

 Doctoral learners are expected to develop scholarly writing and research skills appropriate for

doctoral level work. It is the responsibility of the learner, not the chair, committee members, or

the college reviewers, to ensure the dissertation meets all expectations and doctoral level

writing standards. Dissertation committee members provide guidance through the GCU

dissertation milestones, but are not expected to edit documents, teach research or analysis

skills, or complete data analysis procedures on behalf of the learner.

 Doctoral learners are expected to display a high level of professional decorum in all aspects of

communication with the doctoral faculty, dissertation committee, administrative staff, academic

advisors, and fellow learners. Inappropriate behavior may be subject to disciplinary action per

university policy.

 Every dissertation study and timeline will be different based on the learner’s study and personal

time commitment to designing, conducting, and reporting on their original research. As such,

progression through the dissertation milestones is very individualized. CDS strongly

recommends doctoral learners commit a minimum of 25 hours per week for working on the

dissertation. Learners should set up a detailed dissertation project plan to establish a realistic

timeline for completing the dissertation milestones. Learners are expected to be proactive in

requesting help when needed, using the Dissertation Milestones Guide to both track their

progress and to identify next steps or tasks they need to complete. Learners must become

dissertation research project managers!

 GCU uses a rigorous, iterative peer-review process to ensure scholarly standards for all

dissertations. The quality and integrity of any single dissertation enhances the value of all

dissertations, which in turn increases the value of the doctoral degree conferred by the

university. Learners can expect multiple revisions of dissertation documents driven by any of

the committee members or GCU doctoral staff throughout the doctoral program. Integrating

requested edits and revisions or defending why they are not integrated is expected in the

learners’ role as an independent scholar. The number of revisions/iterative review cycles

needed is generally dependent on the learner incorporating feedback from committee members

and quality of submitted work.

For more information about dissertation standards, process, and research resources visit the DC

Network at https://dc.gcu.edu. Also review the College of Doctoral Studies sections of the Academic

Catalog and the University Policy Handbook for dissertation and program information at

https://www.gcu.edu/academics/academic-policies.php. Learners may also contact their SSC for

dissertation course scheduling and resources.