{"id":92,"date":"2025-11-21T13:42:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T19:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/business-graduate-advising\/?page_id=92"},"modified":"2026-02-20T09:25:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T15:25:49","slug":"doctoral-program-key-milestones","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/business-graduate-advising\/doctoral\/doctoral-program-key-milestones\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctoral Program Key Milestones"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"uwm-l-row\">\n<div class=\"uwm-l-col\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-year-1\">Year 1<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Start coursework.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Complete one year of work as a project assistant.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Draft first-year paper.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Draft Program of Study.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-year-2\">Year 2<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Program of Study due first day of Fall courses.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Complete first-year paper by December 31.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Complete the majority of the required coursework.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Work as a project assistant or teaching assistant.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Prepare for and apply to take preliminary exams. Apply via <a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/graduateschool\/students\/academic-policies-and-procedures\/doctoral-resources\/doctoral-milestones\/\">Graduate School Milestones<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Take preliminary exams in Summer before year 3.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-year-3\">Year 3<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Complete remaining coursework if necessary.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Apply for dissertator status via <a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/graduateschool\/students\/academic-policies-and-procedures\/doctoral-resources\/doctoral-milestones\/\">Graduate School Milestones<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Select dissertation advisor and dissertation committee members.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Teach a course independently or work as a TA for a large lecture.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Work on dissertation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Prepare for dissertation proposal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Apply for proposal presentation via <a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/graduateschool\/students\/academic-policies-and-procedures\/doctoral-resources\/doctoral-milestones\/\">Graduate School Milestones<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Present dissertation proposal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-year-4\">Year 4<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Teach a course independently.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Go on the job market.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Apply for Graduation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Complete dissertation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Defend Dissertation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"uwm-l-col uwm-l-col--4 uwm-l-offset--1\">\n<div class=\"uwm-l-buttons--full\">\n<a class=\"uwm-c-button uwm-c-button--full uwm-u-mb-20\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/business-graduate-advising\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/780\/2025\/11\/PhD-Program-Key-Milestones-revised-Aug-2024.docx\" rel=\"\">Download Doctoral Key Milestones (DOCX)<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"content_block\" id=\"custom_post_widget-168\"><nav aria-label=\"Sidebar\" class=\"uwm-p-navigation-list uwm-p-navigation-list--gold-border \"><div class=\"uwm-p-navigation-list--title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/business-graduate-advising\/doctoral\/\">Doctoral<\/a><\/div><ul><li><a class=\"current\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/business-graduate-advising\/doctoral\/doctoral-program-key-milestones\/\"><span aria-current=\"page\">Doctoral Program Key Milestones<\/span><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/business-graduate-advising\/doctoral\/outstanding-doctoral-student-teaching-award\/\">Outstanding Doctoral Student Teaching Award<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/business-graduate-advising\/doctoral\/ask-a-mentor-program\/\">Ask a Mentor Program<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/business-graduate-advising\/doctoral\/new-instructor-quick-start-guide\/\">New Instructor Quick Start Guide<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/business-graduate-advising\/doctoral\/graduate-assistant-renewal-policy\/\">Graduate Assistant Renewal Policy<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/business-graduate-advising\/doctoral\/rapid-research-awards-policy\/\">Rapid Research Awards Policy<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/business-graduate-advising\/doctoral\/contact-list-and-other-campus-resources-for-doctoral-students\/\">Contact List and Other Campus Resources for Doctoral Students<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/business-graduate-advising\/doctoral\/general-guidelines-for-doctoral-program-faculty\/\">General Guidelines for Doctoral Program Faculty\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"parent":79,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[26211]},"class_list":["post-92","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - 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