Doctoral Milestones

Doctoral Milestones are designed to help guide the way through your PhD journey, by measuring your academic knowledge, preparing you to conduct original research, and write and defend a dissertation of your own original work, all within the timeline established by your program and the Graduate Faculty leadership at UWM. Individual programs design each milestone in the way that works best for their students and discipline.

There are three milestones: the Preliminary Examination, the Proposal Hearing, and Dissertator Status. The Doctoral Milestones web portal is where students will apply for each milestone, and where their major professor, the Graduate Program Representative, and the Graduate School will enter the approval and/or result of each milestone as they are completed.

Deadlines: Applications for the Preliminary Exam and Dissertator Status must be approved by the start of the semester. It is strongly recommended to submit these in the prior semester to allow time for the approval process.

Doctoral Milestones Instructional Guide

Questions? Please contact the Graduate School at gs-doctoralservices@uwm.edu.

Preliminary Examination

Doctoral preliminary examinations, commonly known as “prelims,” are designed to assess a doctoral candidate’s mastery of subject knowledge and application skills, and ensure adequate preparation for individual dissertation research. You must pass prelims within five years of initial enrollment in your doctoral program. The preliminary exam is a requirement for degree completion for all PhD students.

Your program establishes the timing and structure of the preliminary exam, as well as specific requirements and eligibility. Be sure to find out how the preliminary exam is scheduled and administered within your program. It may be helpful to ask other graduate students in your department about their experiences with prelims.

Prior to the start of the semester that you are eligible for the preliminary exam, you must submit the application for the Preliminary Examination in the Doctoral Milestones web portal. You will need to know who your major professor is, and the names of your doctoral committee members. You must have a minimum of two committee members in addition to your major professor. Your program may require more members, so be sure to check with them before you submit. After you submit, your major professor and Graduate Program Representative will be notified to review your committee and submit their approval. Eligibility is then verified by the Graduate School, and you are granted “Prelim Status” for the semester and year selected in your application.

Prelim Status is a coding in PAWS that allows the student the option of enrolling in one graduate credit with full-time enrollment status for that semester. This must be approved by the start of classes. Prelim applications submitted or approved after the start of classes may not be granted prelim status. This enrollment option is available for one semester only and does not fulfill doctoral residency requirements. It does fulfill minimum enrollment requirements for financial aid, Graduate School fellowships, graduate assistantships, and international students on a F1 visa. Your program may have different enrollment requirements for prelims, so you must confirm with your major professor or the Graduate Program Representative.

After the exam, your major professor will submit the result (Pass or Fail) in the web portal, after which the Graduate Program Representative will confirm. It then goes to the Graduate School for final approval and your official record in PAWS is updated to reflect the result. If you fail the prelim, your graduate program must provide you with their policy regarding continuation in the program. After you pass the preliminary exam, you are considered ready to undertake independent research. At this stage in your PhD journey, you may be considered a “candidate for degree”, or ABD (All But Dissertation), or a Dissertator. It is important to note that though your program may call you a dissertator, you do not have “dissertator status” until you apply for it in the Doctoral Milestones web portal.

Proposal Hearing

Your dissertation proposal describes your research topic in detail, presents a justification for why it’s important, and outlines your methodology for research. The purpose of the proposal is to demonstrate to your program that your research topic is suitable and manageable, and that your status as a scholar in this area meets the qualifications of your field. The proposal hearing is a requirement for degree completion for all PhD students.

During the semester of your proposal hearing, you must submit the application for the Proposal Hearing in the Doctoral Milestones web portal. You will enter the current working title of your dissertation, and you will need to know who your major professor is, and the names of your doctoral committee members. You must have a minimum of two committee members in addition to your major professor. Your program may require more members, so be sure to check with them before you submit. After the hearing, your major professor will submit the result (Pass or Fail) in the web portal, after which the Graduate Program Representative will confirm. It then goes to the Graduate School for final approval and your official record in PAWS is updated to reflect the result.

Some programs hold the proposal hearing in conjunction with the preliminary exam or combine them into one event. In this instance, you should submit the applications for the Preliminary Examination and the Proposal Hearing at the same time.

Your Proposal Hearing can take place before or after you achieve dissertator status, depending on the structure of your program. If your program permits you to advance to dissertator status before holding your Proposal Hearing, you will need to submit a Topic Summary or Abstract of your dissertation topic in the web portal before your application for dissertator status can be approved. This serves as a placeholder until your Proposal Hearing is held at a later date.

As you conduct your research and begin writing your dissertation, you and your advisor may decide that a change to your original proposal is needed. Any significant changes to the dissertation as presented in the proposal hearing must be approved. A new proposal and proposal hearing are required.

Dissertator Status

Dissertator Status is a coding in PAWS. It effectively changes the student’s program from being coded as a regular PhD student, to being coded as a dissertator. Dissertator status is not automatically granted after you pass the preliminary exam, you must apply for it in the Doctoral Milestones web portal. It is essential that dissertator status be approved before the first day of classes, so be sure to submit the application the semester before you plan to advance to dissertator status. While dissertator status is not a requirement for degree completion, it is almost always in the student’s best interest to have dissertator status.

Students with dissertator status are enrolled full-time with only three graduate credits. This does not fulfill doctoral residency requirements. It does fulfill minimum enrollment requirements for financial aid, Graduate School fellowships, graduate assistantships, and international students on a F1 visa. Students with dissertator status are also charged a reduced tuition rate. Once you attain dissertator status, you remain in that status for the duration of your time in the program.

Dissertators are required by Universities of Wisconsin System policy to be continuously enrolled in three graduate-level dissertation or research credits every semester until graduation. During any summers in which you use university facilities or faculty time, are a fellow or research assistant, or plan to graduate, you must register for three graduate-level dissertation or research credits in the regular eight-week summer session. Three is the minimum and maximum number of credits allowed. Some PhD programs do have additional enrollment options for dissertator status, so be sure to check with your program if you are unsure. Failure to adhere to the continuous enrollment policy can result in a hefty financial penalty at the time of graduation (dissertator default).

You are eligible to become a dissertator when you have:

• Passed the preliminary examination
• Passed the proposal hearing, or submitted a summary of the dissertation topic
• Met the doctoral academic year residency requirement
• Cleared any incomplete or “in progress” grades in non-research courses
• Maintained a 3.0 or higher cumulative GPA
• Completed all doctoral course requirements
• Completed the language requirement (if required)
• Completed other program requirements (if any)

You must submit the application for Dissertator Status in the Doctoral Milestones web portal before the start of the semester you plan to begin dissertator status. Select the semester and year you plan to begin dissertator status and the name of your major professor. Your application will be reviewed by your major professor and Graduate Program Representative to confirm you have met all program requirements to date. It will then be reviewed by the Graduate School to ensure you have met all the eligibility requirements for dissertator status.

Once dissertator status is approved, you are expected to be working solely on research and writing your dissertation, leading to the final dissertation defense and graduation. You are also automatically enrolled in the Graduate School’s Dissertation Base Camp in Canvas, a free resource designed to offer support through the final leg of your PhD journey.

Dissertation

Please see Thesis & Dissertation Formatting and Submission.

Graduation (Completing your degree)

Please see the Doctoral Graduation website.